February 9, 2025 • 34 mins
Mayor Bass gives update on recovery, rebuilding efforts in Pacific Palisades 1 month after wildfire erupted. Governor Newsome says communities are going to "have to rethink land use". Following Fires, State Farm Requests 22% Rate Hike for Homeowner Policies. LAUSD announces plans to rebuild schools wrecked by Palisades Fire. News For Your Kitchen Table...or Couch. Mobile homes by the beach: In Pacific Palisades, a middle-class dream is destroyed. Interview with Fire Captain Alek Edwards.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand, KFI.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Tiffany Hobbs here with you from five to seven
tonight on this Big Game Eve. I don't think we
can say the other tagline right, that might may cost
the station money this.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Big Game Eve.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I hope your day's been beautiful. I hope you're enjoying
this break in the rain. Undoubtedly there will be another
storm coming soon. And yes, as Neil said at the
beginning of his show on the Fork Report, you know,
we go forward into the news cycle when we are
anticipating rain, and one of the things that people say
often is, you.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Know, we need it, you know we need that rain,
And yeah, we do, we do.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
But a break is still very nice. It's been a
beautiful day here in the Southland, and I hope you
were able to get out in it in some way.
I spent my morning doing the opposite. I went nowhere,
I stayed in side and I watched this new show
on Hulu called Paradise. Kayla, have you seen Paradise? I
(01:07):
have not, but do tell Andrew Caravella. Have you seen Paradise? No,
I started a different show.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Shame, finger of shame wagging in your direction. What about you?
Or I will Paradise on Hulu. Yeah, I'm a Sterling K.
Sharp fan.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, Sterling K. Brown, Absolutely sterling he is sharp. You know,
Sterling k isn't very sharp. But yes, it is a
Hulu vehicle. It is a Sterling K. Brown production, and
he is acting in it in the main role. I
cannot give it away. I will not give it away.
I want you to watch it because it is that good.
If you like those government kind of espionage type of
(01:42):
shows and peeking behind the iron curtain kind of seeing
what's going on in government, this is your show. Lots
of twists and turns. But again, I cannot tell you
more because that would be spoiling all of the fun.
But do know that it does in fact involve a
very special place called Paradise. That's the only thing I
(02:04):
will tell you. It's a thriller. It is well written.
And while also watching this series and not leaving, you know,
to go out and actually enjoy the weather, I found
myself kind of at the same time.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I'm not a good series watcher.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I'll kind of break away and start scrolling my phone.
You might do that too, kind of during the commercials.
I know Hulu has commercials, but I was scrolling on
my phone and I was reading this article that came
across the wire, and I forget exactly where the article
came from, but it talks about a community in Timpe, Arizona,
(02:42):
that is totally carless. It is a carless community. They
give you or the residents, free e bikes, they give
you these free metro passes, and the main objective of
this community, this plan community in Arizona, is for people
to live a more eco friendly, green lifestyle that is
(03:05):
centered within this neighborhood that has been constructed to prevent
people from using conventional transportation. And the thing about it
is people inside of the community love it. People outside
of the community have questions, like myself or very concerned.
And I'm going to actually talk about this community next
week because I feel like I need to share this
(03:27):
with you given that carless communities and fifteen minute cities
seem to be on the very short list of plans
for Southern California, California at large, and I feel like
this city in Arizona is in fact a preview for
what southern California may be facing in the next few
years if our local government does in fact get their way.
(03:53):
But like I said, we do have too much to
cover today's we're not going to talk about that. But
speaking of cities, it has been one month since the
Palisades and Eaten fires.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Can you believe it?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We went from January taking four years to pass by
to one month now passing since the fires actually started.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
And in that one month.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
There have been a lot of really interesting stories, a
lot of developments, a lot of news.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
As the news.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Cycle continues, those updates seemed to become fewer and fewer.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
It just in nature of news. It was a huge
deal two.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Weeks ago, and since then it has kind of waned
a bit. We've had the ice protests, we've had the
weather changes, we've had awards shows. We have a lot
of things that are in our news cycle that have
prevented the fires from being at the top of the heap.
But Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom were at a news
(04:56):
conference yesterday and their update during this news conference actually
put the fires back a top of the news cycle
because four major developments. Four major things came out of
that news conference. There is audio from Governor Newsom that
(05:17):
I want to play for you, and one of the
things that came out of the news conference is this
very interesting idea of land rezoning, Raoul.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Can we play that audio. It's coming at a.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Po box to your question of should we move into
the wui that goes back to the gold Rush? Who
came first? And so you tell communities that have been
around since the beginning of this state being around, you've
got to vacate because now you're too proximate in a
world of climate change to the beauty and the magistry
(05:57):
of the state. So it's tough. But but obviously land
us as to radically be rethinking.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
So if you were like me, your eyebrows probably went
up because you have no idea what Governor Newsom said
in that clip. I've listened to it now ten times,
and each time I become even more confused by this
word salad that he seemed to spew to explain something away.
(06:26):
We'll talk more about what Governor Newsom meant, what he said,
and what he actually potentially meant, as well as what
four main things came out of that news conference with
Mayor Bass yesterday that was held to commemorate the one
month anniversary of the fires as well. At five point thirty,
I want you to make sure you stay here because
(06:49):
we will be talking to Captain Alec Edwards. He's a
fire captain and he lives or lived at a beautiful
community in the Pacific Palisades. He'll tell you in his
own words, what happened that day on January seventh, as
the Palisades fire occurred in his neighborhood, and how he
(07:10):
and neighbors attempted to fight that fire, but what came
out of it as a result. We'll talk to Alec
after five point thirty, and when we come back, we'll
get into this news conference from Mayor Bass and Governor
Newsom right here on KFI AM six forty Live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio at Tiffany Hobbs Here with you at
Saturdays with Tiffany from five to seven.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand k
I AM.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Six forty live everywhere on the iHeart Radio at Tiffany Hobbs.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Here with you at Saturdays.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
With Tiffany until seven o'clock tonight and we were just
talking about a news conference, a joint news conference between
Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass in which both of
them updated the status of the fire recovery, the Palisades
fire and Eaten fires, which are now one month out
to the day. It's been one month exactly. And while
(08:06):
the news cycle may not be covering every in and
out of the fire recovery, there have been a number
of developments, a lot of updates, many of which were
talked about during this news conference. But I want you
to hear again what Governor Newsom had to say when
it comes to the idea of rebuilding.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Had a peel box to your question of should we
move into the wui? That goes back to the gold rush?
Who came first? And so you tell communities that have
been around since the beginning of this state being around,
you've got to vacate because now you're too proximate in
a world of climate change to the beauty and the
(08:48):
magistry of the state. So it's tough. But obviously land
use as too radically be rethinking.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
What what does that even mean?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
And starting with the statement, what the heck does move
into the WOUI mean I feel like that was the
first and hopefully last time I'll ever hear him say
the word WOOI. It just sounds dirty and wrong coming
from him. But regardless of the meaning of that particular word,
what did that entire statement mean? It has a lot
(09:20):
of people questioning what is going to happen when it
comes to moving back into these burned out communities. Let
me tell you the four main takeaways from this news conference.
It was said that the focus now has shifted to
clearing the hazardous material, the hazardous debris, and that both
(09:42):
cities are working with the EPA and the Army Corps
of Engineers. As you know, there's been a lot of
controversy around clearing this toxic and hazardous debris because neither community,
the Palisades or Altadenapacadena areas want that toxic debris in
their vicinity, and so now both cities are trying to
(10:04):
reconcile with the EPA, with the Army Corps of Engineers
just where that debris will be placed. A second development
that came out is that the EPA has inspected more
than thirty one hundred properties and has removed hazardous waste
from more than eight hundred properties, So there are thousands
(10:27):
of properties, thousands upon thousands in Pasadena and Altadena and
the Palisades, and as of now, eight hundred properties have
had hazardous waste removed from their areas. They also went
on to say that that completion, the completion of this
specific phase they call it Phase one, was projected to
(10:48):
take thirty days, but it has been expedited and should
be done now by the end of February. So they
are saying that removing the hazardous waste is in fact
speeding up. A third development or update, is that the
Mayor's office has deployed the online LA Disaster Relief Navigator site,
(11:12):
which has now helped a thousand individuals download recovery action plans.
That's the LA Disaster Relief Navigator. It's an app or
a site where people can go on and access resources online.
There Also, next week will be an opening of a
rebuilding office where residents can access resources related to rebuilding
(11:36):
and permitting.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
That's the fourth update.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
This rebuilding office will be open next week and residents
and community members can go to this actual office, a
physical office, so not online, and they can access resources
relate it to rebuilding and permitting, So that came out
of that news conference, a joint news comp between Mayor
(12:01):
Bass and Governor Newsom just yesterday, as they continue to
update the public on what is going on as a
result of the Palisades fire and eaten fires. I was
looking today the very first home has now sold in
Alta Dina, the burned out home, and it sold for
four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, well below the asking price,
(12:27):
and surprise, surprise, there was a bidding war for this property.
It listed a couple of days ago and it sold
in record time. And they are saying this particular broker,
as well as other brokers and agents, that more houses
will be sold because people are now facing whether or
(12:47):
not they're going to hold on to their lots or
sell and kind of liquidate their assets. But the very
first home has now sold, and then there's LAUSDS. We're
talking about residents and home ownership. But for an update,
when it comes to the Los Angeles Unified School District
(13:07):
and the three schools, there were three schools that were
burned completely or close to completely. Those schools are looking
at a rebuilding timeline where students should be able to
return to their campuses in twenty twenty eight. Twenty twenty eight,
(13:30):
Palisades High School burned partially. Students there are doing virtual
learning and their principle says that that is not sustainable.
They don't want to have another situation like they did
with COVID, so they're looking at new options of being
able to convene on a different campus. And then you
have Palisades Charter Elementary which was relocated to Brentwood Science
(13:54):
Magnet and Marquez's Charter Elementary which relocated to Nora Sterry Elementary.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Again.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
The projected timeline for this two point two billion dollar
reconstruction is twenty twenty eight. Something else that hopefully will
see reconstruction is a beautiful development off of pch across
from will Rogers State Beach. It is called the Tahitian
(14:23):
Terrace and it's a mobile home park that has been
known as a beautiful hidden gym, a special secret in
the Palisades. Well, unfortunately it burned down, but I do
want to tell you quite a bit of information about
this very special mobile home park. I'm going to give
you some history and then we will also talk to
(14:44):
Captain Alec Edwards on the other side of the break.
He lived at the Tahitian Terrace and he fought to
save it during the Palisades fire. We'll hear from Captain
Edwards in his own words what happened that day and
in to the evening, as well as what they are
hoping comes out of this horrific tragedy and whether or
(15:06):
not their community will be able to rebuild. K I
AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
K i AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Tiffany Hobbs here with you. It's Saturdays with Tiffany, and
I want to tell you.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I want to clue you in to a very special secret.
And yeah it's a secret no more, because I'll be
telling you some information about this very special place because
we don't want it to be lost. We don't want
it to be yet another casualty of the fires in
the Palisades and in the Pasadena and Altadina areas. This
(15:51):
really special place is something that if you've driven down
PCCh either north or southbound, and you've looked up at
any point. As you are nearing Santa Monica in that
border and you're kind of going through the Pacific Palisades,
you might have noticed a sign for something called the
(16:12):
Tahitian Terrace Mobile Park ring a bell. It's a place
where when I looked up, I had kind of these
wistful dreams. I wondered, what is that there's a mobile
home park in the Palisades.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
And when you looked at it, it towered over pch
and had this wonderful exposure to the coastline. Definitely coveted land,
prime real estate. It's right across from will Rogers State Beach.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Again. This Tahitian Terrace.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Mobile Park tucked away in the hillside, and there were
one hundred and fifty eight mobile and prefabricated homes, homes
that were owned, and plots that were rented, rent controlled
in fact, so people who lived there never left. You'd
be hard pressed to find any availability in the Tahitian
(17:11):
Terrace if you got in, if you were so lucky
to get into that community, you did not dare leave.
And there were residents there who were into their eighties
and nineties who had lived there since the inception of
this planned community. They lived on palm lined code of
sacs with names such as Aloha Drive, Kiki Place, and
(17:35):
Bali Lane. The Tahitian Terrace again carved into this beautiful
hillside adjacent to Tumescal Canyon Road. Opened in nineteen sixty two,
it was the golden age for mobile home parks, as
they were popping up all around the country after World
War Two. In his nineteen sixty two book Travels with
(17:59):
Charlie and so of America, author John Steinbeck marveled at
the houses, including those in Tahitian Terraces, saying, quote, these
new things under the sun, of their great numbers, the
parks where they sit down in uneasy permanence, They were
a phenomenon, and for the Tahitian Terraces, to withstand the
(18:21):
ever changing nature of the Palisades and Los Angeles at large,
a very special jewel. By nineteen seventy nine, residents of
the Tahitian Terrace but Terraces were paying between two hundred
and four hundred dollars a month for their ocean view homes.
Back then that was even a steal, and as of
(18:44):
twenty twenty five, that affordability continued. Many of the residents
knew each other. It was a very close knit community,
an eclectic community. Some might actually describe it as Bohemian.
You had your artist you had your sculptors, your painters,
your actors, You had your educators. You had your retirees,
(19:06):
people who again never intended to leave. You had people
who passed down homes to other generations that you had
residents who inherited homes from their parents themselves being raised
at the Tahitian Terraces.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
It was a jewel.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
And I speak about it in the past tense because
on January seventh, as the Palisades fire raged on, it
set its sights on the Tahitian Terrists community. Now we
have on. I want to introduce to you a very
special person. His name is Alec Edwards. Alec Edwards is
(19:46):
a fire captain. He lived at the Tahitian Terrace. He
had lived there for a few years with his wife,
Becky and their daughter, their toddler aged daughter, and they
had a beautiful home, their dream home. In fact, the
day that the Palisades fire began, Alec was actually off
and after making sure that his family was safe and
(20:09):
evacuated from the community, Alec and other residents stayed behind
to battle the fire that consumed their neighborhood. Alec is
just a stellar human and the fact that he is
here with us I count as just an absolute honor.
Alec has spoken about his experiences that day online, and
(20:33):
I actually invited Alec onto the show after he shared
the timeline of events that day during the Palisades fire,
and he said, then I noticed that speaking publicly about
what he went through, not only was he expecting that
to help others who were navigating what was going on,
(20:53):
but that it also was cathartic and therapeutic for him
as well to share his experience. So I asked Alec
to come on and talk to us about the events
of that fateful night. Please welcome Captain Alec Edwards to
the show.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
Hi, Alec, Hey, Hey Tiffany, how are you.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
I'm well.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Thank you so much for coming on with us and
giving us your time. This can't be easy by any
stretch of the imagination, and I really appreciate you being
willing to describe what happened at the Tahitian Terrace in
your own words. This article that La Times wrote and
the chronicling they did the profiling they did is beautiful,
(21:35):
but it pales in comparison to actually hearing it directly
from you. So thank you again for coming on with us.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Absolutely, thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk
about my like you've described it, the jewel of my life,
where we had our family. And I only got to
be there for six and a half years, but I
loved it there, and yeah, we fought to try to
save it.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
You know, before you get into the fighting part, because
I'm going to dedicate a lot more time to you
retelling your story. Tell us a little bit about what
attracted you initially to the Tahitian Terrace.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
There are so many places you could have bought. Why
buy there?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Yeah, So I grew up in Santa Monica. I'm a surfer.
Before I was a fire captain, I was a surfer,
and my entire life I drove up pch going surfing,
and I always kind of saw this sign for Tahitian terrasts,
but I didn't know anybody that lived there and kind
of always just thought, hmm, I don't know what that is.
Kind of like you said, we were experience. And then
when I met my wife, Becky, one of her best
(22:36):
friends lived in the park and that was something different,
and so we started visiting her and going to dinners there,
and then we just got really lucky. There was elderly
lady who was moving out and wanted someone to take
her her home. Her her children didn't want it, they
lived out of state, and she wanted someone who was
going to move in and not demolish it, but just
(22:58):
live in the place that she lived and have a
family that and so she made sure that we got it.
And so we moved in and we had an ocean
view and we could five minutes. It was some of
our favorite surf spots, and you know, it was funny.
We moved in because my wife's best friend lived there
and a couple other friends that we had made from
being there lived there. And then when we moved in,
(23:19):
after about a year, my wife's best friend moved to
Portugal and another one got married and ended up in
San Diego, and the people that we had originally moved
there to be around had left, and we were left
with this amazing community of other people that we had
become best friends with. I mean people that I counted
as family. Honestly.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds incredible. It sounds incredible. Alec.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
You know the time is actually against us and we
have a lot more to cover, and I want you
to continue telling us about the Tahitian Terras and about
how special it was to you, so special in fact,
that you were willing to risk your life that day
to fight for your community. Can I hold you thank
for another segment and we can do that when.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
We come back. Absolutely, thank you wonderful. We're talking to
Captain Fire.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Captain Alec Edwards, resident of the Tahitian Terrace, a mobile
home park tucked away adjacent to Tamesco Canyon there in
the Pacific Palisades, right off of PCH a beautiful community.
And we'll hear from Alec directly about what happened the
day of the Palisades fire and his very ambitious quest
(24:26):
along with neighbors to save their community. We'll do that
on the other side of the break. KFI AM six
forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Tiffany Hobs here.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
With you, and we are talking to Fire Captain Alec Edwards.
He is a longtime fire captain and was a six
year resident of the Tahitian Terrace mobile home park in
the Palisades. Unfortunately a victim a major casualty that mobile
home park of the Palisades fire, and the La Times
(25:09):
did a very long story about the Tahitian Terris as
well as about the neighbors, some of the neighbors who
stayed behind to try to fight that Palisades fire. And
rather than me just telling you excerpts from the story,
I reached out to Alec, who I've known for almost
twenty years now and I've watched as he's navigated this
(25:32):
personal loss publicly by sharing about what happened that day,
and I thought, you know, come on, KFI, talk to
our audience and let them know directly from yourself, from
you personally, what you went through. So Alec, again, thank
you for coming on with us. And you were telling
us about living at the Tahitian Terras, can you tell
(25:55):
us what happened that day?
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Yeah, thank you to So that day, right around ten am,
we got started getting alerts that there was a fire,
and you could see it from pretty much everywhere in
the palisade. There was just this big plume of smoke
coming from up in the mountains. We knew there was
a lot of wind that day, and so my wife
got home from work early, packed up the kid, and
(26:20):
they evacuated around twelve thirty. I stayed back, thinking that,
you know, I just had some garden hose with me,
and I thought, if there's any embers that fly over,
I'll try to put them out. Our area traditionally has
never really been affected by these wildfires, but this one
was different. And right around three o'clock the wind shifted
(26:41):
and it started blowing directly at us. Yeah, it was wild.
I've never seen winds like that before. I've been a
firefighter for quite a minute few years, and it was
pretty wild. So and then right around that time, a firefighter,
a friend of one of my neighbors, showed up in
the park with fire, actual fire hose and novels, and
(27:03):
we thought, oh, we might actually be able to do
something here. And so he and I and this man
named JB who is a retired military and one of
my neighbors. He stayed back and the three of us
ended up tapping into a fire hydrant, and as the
fire came into our park, we started trying to save houses. Okay, yeah,
And right around then is when in La City, lafd
(27:26):
rig showed up and a CalFire rig showed up, and
so we tied in with them, and they were generous
enough to let us pull some host They let us
pull some hoses off their engine as well, and all
of us started just going to work trying to say
what we could. Wow.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Wow, that's just you know, when you think about the
effort of you guys who were there, the neighbors coming together,
trying what you can with the kind of I guess
you would say that the meager supplies.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
You had a regular.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Garden hose, but then being able to access your larger hoses.
And then fortunately a truck shows up and you guys
are you're professional, so you're able to just combine efforts.
So now there's this organic effort to fight the fire.
I just I can't imagine what that was like for
(28:12):
you as a firefighter who this is your career, this
is what you do for strangers, but you're doing this
for your own community.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
It was hard. It was really hard. The end of
my street, some people that I really love once their
house burn to the ground. Was really difficult.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Thank you, Alec.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
I know this is really hard for you, and heart
doesn't seem like a big enough word to be honest,
Thank you so much for just trying to get through this.
And I hear this emotion. It's still very raw.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Yeah, but we you know, we tried to do what
we could. It was it was surreal. I mean people
that earlier that day, my lovely neighbor who makes dog
food had just dropped drop dog food off for us,
and a couple hours later, I'm squirting her porch down
trying to stop her house from burning down. It was
absolutely surreal for us. Yeah, yeah, it was. And so
(29:12):
I stayed until basically I could tell my house was
catching on fire, and I turned around and my car
was about to catch on fire, and I knew I
had to go, and there just wasn't anything we could
do at that point. You know, my entire street was
on fire, and if I stayed any longer, I was
going to be trapped. And so I left. The l
(29:32):
City guys, the CalFire guys, they all had to leave
to if you walked through our park you would find
remnants of hose where they had to just ditch them
and flee for their own live which is not when
we normally do as firefighters. This fire was different, and
those guys really pushed themselves and tried to save our
park as best they could. I really have a lot
of respect for both CalFire and LSD for trying to
(29:52):
save our park.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Thank you for saying that, because there have been quite
a few questions that have arisen out of the fires
across other than California about the firefighting effort. There were
communities or neighbors neighborhoods where people said, you know, they
didn't see a truck or the truck didn't stay very long.
And I appreciate you speaking about your experience because it
does dispel any myth that may be growing out of
(30:17):
this that firefighters weren't trying.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Oh no, they were trying. These guys. I mean they
had already been fighting it for a couple hours when
they came into my park, and these guys pushed it
to the limit. I mean they were there after I left,
Like I said, I had to go because my car
was going to catch on fire, and they were still
there and I'm sure they had to leave shortly after,
and Tiffany, there was just nothing we could do.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
You know.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
I was on the Woldy in twenty eighteen in Malibu.
This fire was completely different. It was like a hurricane
with fire and it you couldn't there was nothing to do.
I hate to say it that way, but they really were.
We tried. I tried so hard, but I you know,
if we would have lost. It's amazing to me that
we didn't lose any firefighters in this and these fires
because just what happened.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Unprecedented is the word that people are saying.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
Absolutely, and you know, it's weird to be on the
civilian side of this. I was off duty that day,
and I just kudos to all the guys that were
out there working and really putting their lives on the
line trying to save people's properties.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I'm going to ask you a two part question.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
You've so graciously and humbly walked us through the faithful
events of that day and into that night as the
Palisades fire took over your community, the Tahitian Terrace. We're
talking to Fire Captain Alec Edwards, a resident himself of
the Tahitian Terrace. Where are you now? Where are you
and your family now? And are their plans? Are their
(31:45):
hopes that you'll be able to return.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
So we were fortunate enough to find an apartment in
Santa Monica, near where I grew up. We just got
very lucky and so my family as of now is
safe and comfortable and we're okay, but we want to rebuild.
We have our whole community is we're still a community,
even though we don't have our houses. We have a
great hoa led by some wonderful people, and they've kept
(32:12):
us all in touch and we all want to come back.
We don't know if it'll ever be the same, but
we're going to try to make it, make it what
it was. We've been in touch with our council member,
Tracy Park. She wants us back, and we're all ready
to rebuild and try to come back there as soon
as possible. Because that's home and that it was a
jewel and it was a community and a neighborhood and
(32:35):
just a wonderful place to live. We all want to
come back, and.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I hope you do. I really hope that you are able.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Like the other mobile home communities in the Palisades are
able to in fact rebuild because they are so special
and they are so uniquely a part of not only
the southern California landscape there in the Palisades on the coast,
but they're just they're helpful. They're helpful people who want
that slice of home ownership where it may not have
(33:04):
been afforded to them before, and these these developments really
gave people that opportunity. Alec Where can people keep up
with what you are doing? Maybe stay abreast through you
of what you may need to get back into your community,
any sort of news you want to share about the
(33:24):
redevelopment or rebuilding process.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Where can people keep up with you?
Speaker 5 (33:29):
The Early Times article, I think she's going to be
doing a series of I'm keeping up with us. If
anyone has the generosity in their heart and wants to donate,
there is a go fundme for the residents of our park.
A lot of people, like you said, were retired on
fixed incomes, and there is going to be updates on news.
If anyone wants to just google Taitian terrorists go fund me,
(33:51):
they'll find it and that money goes directly to people.
Fill out a form and it's the residents that were
lower income or fixed income that need help. A lot
of us were underinsured, and so some of us are
going to be owing more on our mortgages than our
insurance is going to cover us. So all that money
goes to just helping us rebuild and come back and
be part of the community that we were before. So yeah,
(34:14):
and there'll be updates on that, I'm sure, Alec.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
I wish you all the best, buddy. I love you,
I am here for you, and you are welcome back
anytime to KFI to talk about what you're going through
and what you need.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
Okay, Tiffany are the best. I love you so much.
Thank you for all your friendship.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
You're so welcome.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
Speaker 1 (34:37):
KFI AM six forty on demand
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand, KFI.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
I'm Tiffany Hobbs here with you from five to seven
tonight on this Big Game Eve. I don't think we
can say the other tagline right, that might may cost
the station money this.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Big Game Eve.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I hope your day's been beautiful. I hope you're enjoying
this break in the rain. Undoubtedly there will be another
storm coming soon. And yes, as Neil said at the
beginning of his show on the Fork Report, you know,
we go forward into the news cycle when we are
anticipating rain, and one of the things that people say
often is, you.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Know, we need it, you know we need that rain,
And yeah, we do, we do.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
But a break is still very nice. It's been a
beautiful day here in the Southland, and I hope you
were able to get out in it in some way.
I spent my morning doing the opposite. I went nowhere,
I stayed in side and I watched this new show
on Hulu called Paradise. Kayla, have you seen Paradise? I
(01:07):
have not, but do tell Andrew Caravella. Have you seen Paradise? No,
I started a different show.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Shame, finger of shame wagging in your direction. What about you?
Or I will Paradise on Hulu. Yeah, I'm a Sterling K.
Sharp fan.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, Sterling K. Brown, Absolutely sterling he is sharp. You know,
Sterling k isn't very sharp. But yes, it is a
Hulu vehicle. It is a Sterling K. Brown production, and
he is acting in it in the main role. I
cannot give it away. I will not give it away.
I want you to watch it because it is that good.
If you like those government kind of espionage type of
(01:42):
shows and peeking behind the iron curtain kind of seeing
what's going on in government, this is your show. Lots
of twists and turns. But again, I cannot tell you
more because that would be spoiling all of the fun.
But do know that it does in fact involve a
very special place called Paradise. That's the only thing I
(02:04):
will tell you. It's a thriller. It is well written.
And while also watching this series and not leaving, you know,
to go out and actually enjoy the weather, I found
myself kind of at the same time.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
I'm not a good series watcher.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
I'll kind of break away and start scrolling my phone.
You might do that too, kind of during the commercials.
I know Hulu has commercials, but I was scrolling on
my phone and I was reading this article that came
across the wire, and I forget exactly where the article
came from, but it talks about a community in Timpe, Arizona,
(02:42):
that is totally carless. It is a carless community. They
give you or the residents, free e bikes, they give
you these free metro passes, and the main objective of
this community, this plan community in Arizona, is for people
to live a more eco friendly, green lifestyle that is
(03:05):
centered within this neighborhood that has been constructed to prevent
people from using conventional transportation. And the thing about it
is people inside of the community love it. People outside
of the community have questions, like myself or very concerned.
And I'm going to actually talk about this community next
week because I feel like I need to share this
(03:27):
with you given that carless communities and fifteen minute cities
seem to be on the very short list of plans
for Southern California, California at large, and I feel like
this city in Arizona is in fact a preview for
what southern California may be facing in the next few
years if our local government does in fact get their way.
(03:53):
But like I said, we do have too much to
cover today's we're not going to talk about that. But
speaking of cities, it has been one month since the
Palisades and Eaten fires.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
Can you believe it?
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We went from January taking four years to pass by
to one month now passing since the fires actually started.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
And in that one month.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
There have been a lot of really interesting stories, a
lot of developments, a lot of news.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
As the news.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Cycle continues, those updates seemed to become fewer and fewer.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
It just in nature of news. It was a huge
deal two.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Weeks ago, and since then it has kind of waned
a bit. We've had the ice protests, we've had the
weather changes, we've had awards shows. We have a lot
of things that are in our news cycle that have
prevented the fires from being at the top of the heap.
But Mayor Bass and Governor Newsom were at a news
(04:56):
conference yesterday and their update during this news conference actually
put the fires back a top of the news cycle
because four major developments. Four major things came out of
that news conference. There is audio from Governor Newsom that
(05:17):
I want to play for you, and one of the
things that came out of the news conference is this
very interesting idea of land rezoning, Raoul.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Can we play that audio. It's coming at a.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Po box to your question of should we move into
the wui that goes back to the gold Rush? Who
came first? And so you tell communities that have been
around since the beginning of this state being around, you've
got to vacate because now you're too proximate in a
world of climate change to the beauty and the magistry
(05:57):
of the state. So it's tough. But but obviously land
us as to radically be rethinking.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
So if you were like me, your eyebrows probably went
up because you have no idea what Governor Newsom said
in that clip. I've listened to it now ten times,
and each time I become even more confused by this
word salad that he seemed to spew to explain something away.
(06:26):
We'll talk more about what Governor Newsom meant, what he said,
and what he actually potentially meant, as well as what
four main things came out of that news conference with
Mayor Bass yesterday that was held to commemorate the one
month anniversary of the fires as well. At five point thirty,
I want you to make sure you stay here because
(06:49):
we will be talking to Captain Alec Edwards. He's a
fire captain and he lives or lived at a beautiful
community in the Pacific Palisades. He'll tell you in his
own words, what happened that day on January seventh, as
the Palisades fire occurred in his neighborhood, and how he
(07:10):
and neighbors attempted to fight that fire, but what came
out of it as a result. We'll talk to Alec
after five point thirty, and when we come back, we'll
get into this news conference from Mayor Bass and Governor
Newsom right here on KFI AM six forty Live everywhere
on the iHeartRadio at Tiffany Hobbs Here with you at
Saturdays with Tiffany from five to seven.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand k
I AM.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Six forty live everywhere on the iHeart Radio at Tiffany Hobbs.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Here with you at Saturdays.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
With Tiffany until seven o'clock tonight and we were just
talking about a news conference, a joint news conference between
Governor Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass in which both of
them updated the status of the fire recovery, the Palisades
fire and Eaten fires, which are now one month out
to the day. It's been one month exactly. And while
(08:06):
the news cycle may not be covering every in and
out of the fire recovery, there have been a number
of developments, a lot of updates, many of which were
talked about during this news conference. But I want you
to hear again what Governor Newsom had to say when
it comes to the idea of rebuilding.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Had a peel box to your question of should we
move into the wui? That goes back to the gold rush?
Who came first? And so you tell communities that have
been around since the beginning of this state being around,
you've got to vacate because now you're too proximate in
a world of climate change to the beauty and the
(08:48):
magistry of the state. So it's tough. But obviously land
use as too radically be rethinking.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
What what does that even mean?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
And starting with the statement, what the heck does move
into the WOUI mean I feel like that was the
first and hopefully last time I'll ever hear him say
the word WOOI. It just sounds dirty and wrong coming
from him. But regardless of the meaning of that particular word,
what did that entire statement mean? It has a lot
(09:20):
of people questioning what is going to happen when it
comes to moving back into these burned out communities. Let
me tell you the four main takeaways from this news conference.
It was said that the focus now has shifted to
clearing the hazardous material, the hazardous debris, and that both
(09:42):
cities are working with the EPA and the Army Corps
of Engineers. As you know, there's been a lot of
controversy around clearing this toxic and hazardous debris because neither community,
the Palisades or Altadenapacadena areas want that toxic debris in
their vicinity, and so now both cities are trying to
(10:04):
reconcile with the EPA, with the Army Corps of Engineers
just where that debris will be placed. A second development
that came out is that the EPA has inspected more
than thirty one hundred properties and has removed hazardous waste
from more than eight hundred properties, So there are thousands
(10:27):
of properties, thousands upon thousands in Pasadena and Altadena and
the Palisades, and as of now, eight hundred properties have
had hazardous waste removed from their areas. They also went
on to say that that completion, the completion of this
specific phase they call it Phase one, was projected to
(10:48):
take thirty days, but it has been expedited and should
be done now by the end of February. So they
are saying that removing the hazardous waste is in fact
speeding up. A third development or update, is that the
Mayor's office has deployed the online LA Disaster Relief Navigator site,
(11:12):
which has now helped a thousand individuals download recovery action plans.
That's the LA Disaster Relief Navigator. It's an app or
a site where people can go on and access resources online.
There Also, next week will be an opening of a
rebuilding office where residents can access resources related to rebuilding
(11:36):
and permitting.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
That's the fourth update.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
This rebuilding office will be open next week and residents
and community members can go to this actual office, a
physical office, so not online, and they can access resources
relate it to rebuilding and permitting, So that came out
of that news conference, a joint news comp between Mayor
(12:01):
Bass and Governor Newsom just yesterday, as they continue to
update the public on what is going on as a
result of the Palisades fire and eaten fires. I was
looking today the very first home has now sold in
Alta Dina, the burned out home, and it sold for
four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, well below the asking price,
(12:27):
and surprise, surprise, there was a bidding war for this property.
It listed a couple of days ago and it sold
in record time. And they are saying this particular broker,
as well as other brokers and agents, that more houses
will be sold because people are now facing whether or
(12:47):
not they're going to hold on to their lots or
sell and kind of liquidate their assets. But the very
first home has now sold, and then there's LAUSDS. We're
talking about residents and home ownership. But for an update,
when it comes to the Los Angeles Unified School District
(13:07):
and the three schools, there were three schools that were
burned completely or close to completely. Those schools are looking
at a rebuilding timeline where students should be able to
return to their campuses in twenty twenty eight. Twenty twenty eight,
(13:30):
Palisades High School burned partially. Students there are doing virtual
learning and their principle says that that is not sustainable.
They don't want to have another situation like they did
with COVID, so they're looking at new options of being
able to convene on a different campus. And then you
have Palisades Charter Elementary which was relocated to Brentwood Science
(13:54):
Magnet and Marquez's Charter Elementary which relocated to Nora Sterry Elementary.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
Again.
Speaker 2 (14:01):
The projected timeline for this two point two billion dollar
reconstruction is twenty twenty eight. Something else that hopefully will
see reconstruction is a beautiful development off of pch across
from will Rogers State Beach. It is called the Tahitian
(14:23):
Terrace and it's a mobile home park that has been
known as a beautiful hidden gym, a special secret in
the Palisades. Well, unfortunately it burned down, but I do
want to tell you quite a bit of information about
this very special mobile home park. I'm going to give
you some history and then we will also talk to
(14:44):
Captain Alec Edwards on the other side of the break.
He lived at the Tahitian Terrace and he fought to
save it during the Palisades fire. We'll hear from Captain
Edwards in his own words what happened that day and
in to the evening, as well as what they are
hoping comes out of this horrific tragedy and whether or
(15:06):
not their community will be able to rebuild. K I
AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
K i AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Tiffany Hobbs here with you. It's Saturdays with Tiffany, and
I want to tell you.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
I want to clue you in to a very special secret.
And yeah it's a secret no more, because I'll be
telling you some information about this very special place because
we don't want it to be lost. We don't want
it to be yet another casualty of the fires in
the Palisades and in the Pasadena and Altadina areas. This
(15:51):
really special place is something that if you've driven down
PCCh either north or southbound, and you've looked up at
any point. As you are nearing Santa Monica in that
border and you're kind of going through the Pacific Palisades,
you might have noticed a sign for something called the
(16:12):
Tahitian Terrace Mobile Park ring a bell. It's a place
where when I looked up, I had kind of these
wistful dreams. I wondered, what is that there's a mobile
home park in the Palisades.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
Wow?
Speaker 2 (16:29):
And when you looked at it, it towered over pch
and had this wonderful exposure to the coastline. Definitely coveted land,
prime real estate. It's right across from will Rogers State Beach.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Again. This Tahitian Terrace.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Mobile Park tucked away in the hillside, and there were
one hundred and fifty eight mobile and prefabricated homes, homes
that were owned, and plots that were rented, rent controlled
in fact, so people who lived there never left. You'd
be hard pressed to find any availability in the Tahitian
(17:11):
Terrace if you got in, if you were so lucky
to get into that community, you did not dare leave.
And there were residents there who were into their eighties
and nineties who had lived there since the inception of
this planned community. They lived on palm lined code of
sacs with names such as Aloha Drive, Kiki Place, and
(17:35):
Bali Lane. The Tahitian Terrace again carved into this beautiful
hillside adjacent to Tumescal Canyon Road. Opened in nineteen sixty two,
it was the golden age for mobile home parks, as
they were popping up all around the country after World
War Two. In his nineteen sixty two book Travels with
(17:59):
Charlie and so of America, author John Steinbeck marveled at
the houses, including those in Tahitian Terraces, saying, quote, these
new things under the sun, of their great numbers, the
parks where they sit down in uneasy permanence, They were
a phenomenon, and for the Tahitian Terraces, to withstand the
(18:21):
ever changing nature of the Palisades and Los Angeles at large,
a very special jewel. By nineteen seventy nine, residents of
the Tahitian Terrace but Terraces were paying between two hundred
and four hundred dollars a month for their ocean view homes.
Back then that was even a steal, and as of
(18:44):
twenty twenty five, that affordability continued. Many of the residents
knew each other. It was a very close knit community,
an eclectic community. Some might actually describe it as Bohemian.
You had your artist you had your sculptors, your painters,
your actors, You had your educators. You had your retirees,
(19:06):
people who again never intended to leave. You had people
who passed down homes to other generations that you had
residents who inherited homes from their parents themselves being raised
at the Tahitian Terraces.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
It was a jewel.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
And I speak about it in the past tense because
on January seventh, as the Palisades fire raged on, it
set its sights on the Tahitian Terrists community. Now we
have on. I want to introduce to you a very
special person. His name is Alec Edwards. Alec Edwards is
(19:46):
a fire captain. He lived at the Tahitian Terrace. He
had lived there for a few years with his wife,
Becky and their daughter, their toddler aged daughter, and they
had a beautiful home, their dream home. In fact, the
day that the Palisades fire began, Alec was actually off
and after making sure that his family was safe and
(20:09):
evacuated from the community, Alec and other residents stayed behind
to battle the fire that consumed their neighborhood. Alec is
just a stellar human and the fact that he is
here with us I count as just an absolute honor.
Alec has spoken about his experiences that day online, and
(20:33):
I actually invited Alec onto the show after he shared
the timeline of events that day during the Palisades fire,
and he said, then I noticed that speaking publicly about
what he went through, not only was he expecting that
to help others who were navigating what was going on,
(20:53):
but that it also was cathartic and therapeutic for him
as well to share his experience. So I asked Alec
to come on and talk to us about the events
of that fateful night. Please welcome Captain Alec Edwards to
the show.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
Hi, Alec, Hey, Hey Tiffany, how are you.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
I'm well.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Thank you so much for coming on with us and
giving us your time. This can't be easy by any
stretch of the imagination, and I really appreciate you being
willing to describe what happened at the Tahitian Terrace in
your own words. This article that La Times wrote and
the chronicling they did the profiling they did is beautiful,
(21:35):
but it pales in comparison to actually hearing it directly
from you. So thank you again for coming on with us.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
Absolutely, thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk
about my like you've described it, the jewel of my life,
where we had our family. And I only got to
be there for six and a half years, but I
loved it there, and yeah, we fought to try to
save it.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
You know, before you get into the fighting part, because
I'm going to dedicate a lot more time to you
retelling your story. Tell us a little bit about what
attracted you initially to the Tahitian Terrace.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
There are so many places you could have bought. Why
buy there?
Speaker 5 (22:14):
Yeah, So I grew up in Santa Monica. I'm a surfer.
Before I was a fire captain, I was a surfer,
and my entire life I drove up pch going surfing,
and I always kind of saw this sign for Tahitian terrasts,
but I didn't know anybody that lived there and kind
of always just thought, hmm, I don't know what that is.
Kind of like you said, we were experience. And then
when I met my wife, Becky, one of her best
(22:36):
friends lived in the park and that was something different,
and so we started visiting her and going to dinners there,
and then we just got really lucky. There was elderly
lady who was moving out and wanted someone to take
her her home. Her her children didn't want it, they
lived out of state, and she wanted someone who was
going to move in and not demolish it, but just
(22:58):
live in the place that she lived and have a
family that and so she made sure that we got it.
And so we moved in and we had an ocean
view and we could five minutes. It was some of
our favorite surf spots, and you know, it was funny.
We moved in because my wife's best friend lived there
and a couple other friends that we had made from
being there lived there. And then when we moved in,
(23:19):
after about a year, my wife's best friend moved to
Portugal and another one got married and ended up in
San Diego, and the people that we had originally moved
there to be around had left, and we were left
with this amazing community of other people that we had
become best friends with. I mean people that I counted
as family. Honestly.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds incredible. It sounds incredible. Alec.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
You know the time is actually against us and we
have a lot more to cover, and I want you
to continue telling us about the Tahitian Terras and about
how special it was to you, so special in fact,
that you were willing to risk your life that day
to fight for your community. Can I hold you thank
for another segment and we can do that when.
Speaker 3 (24:01):
We come back. Absolutely, thank you wonderful. We're talking to
Captain Fire.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
Captain Alec Edwards, resident of the Tahitian Terrace, a mobile
home park tucked away adjacent to Tamesco Canyon there in
the Pacific Palisades, right off of PCH a beautiful community.
And we'll hear from Alec directly about what happened the
day of the Palisades fire and his very ambitious quest
(24:26):
along with neighbors to save their community. We'll do that
on the other side of the break. KFI AM six
forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. It's Saturdays with Tiffany.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
KFI AM six forty Live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Tiffany Hobs here.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
With you, and we are talking to Fire Captain Alec Edwards.
He is a longtime fire captain and was a six
year resident of the Tahitian Terrace mobile home park in
the Palisades. Unfortunately a victim a major casualty that mobile
home park of the Palisades fire, and the La Times
(25:09):
did a very long story about the Tahitian Terris as
well as about the neighbors, some of the neighbors who
stayed behind to try to fight that Palisades fire. And
rather than me just telling you excerpts from the story,
I reached out to Alec, who I've known for almost
twenty years now and I've watched as he's navigated this
(25:32):
personal loss publicly by sharing about what happened that day,
and I thought, you know, come on, KFI, talk to
our audience and let them know directly from yourself, from
you personally, what you went through. So Alec, again, thank
you for coming on with us. And you were telling
us about living at the Tahitian Terras, can you tell
(25:55):
us what happened that day?
Speaker 5 (25:59):
Yeah, thank you to So that day, right around ten am,
we got started getting alerts that there was a fire,
and you could see it from pretty much everywhere in
the palisade. There was just this big plume of smoke
coming from up in the mountains. We knew there was
a lot of wind that day, and so my wife
got home from work early, packed up the kid, and
(26:20):
they evacuated around twelve thirty. I stayed back, thinking that,
you know, I just had some garden hose with me,
and I thought, if there's any embers that fly over,
I'll try to put them out. Our area traditionally has
never really been affected by these wildfires, but this one
was different. And right around three o'clock the wind shifted
(26:41):
and it started blowing directly at us. Yeah, it was wild.
I've never seen winds like that before. I've been a
firefighter for quite a minute few years, and it was
pretty wild. So and then right around that time, a firefighter,
a friend of one of my neighbors, showed up in
the park with fire, actual fire hose and novels, and
(27:03):
we thought, oh, we might actually be able to do
something here. And so he and I and this man
named JB who is a retired military and one of
my neighbors. He stayed back and the three of us
ended up tapping into a fire hydrant, and as the
fire came into our park, we started trying to save houses. Okay, yeah,
And right around then is when in La City, lafd
(27:26):
rig showed up and a CalFire rig showed up, and
so we tied in with them, and they were generous
enough to let us pull some host They let us
pull some hoses off their engine as well, and all
of us started just going to work trying to say
what we could. Wow.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Wow, that's just you know, when you think about the
effort of you guys who were there, the neighbors coming together,
trying what you can with the kind of I guess
you would say that the meager supplies.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
You had a regular.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
Garden hose, but then being able to access your larger hoses.
And then fortunately a truck shows up and you guys
are you're professional, so you're able to just combine efforts.
So now there's this organic effort to fight the fire.
I just I can't imagine what that was like for
(28:12):
you as a firefighter who this is your career, this
is what you do for strangers, but you're doing this
for your own community.
Speaker 5 (28:22):
It was hard. It was really hard. The end of
my street, some people that I really love once their
house burn to the ground. Was really difficult.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
Thank you, Alec.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
I know this is really hard for you, and heart
doesn't seem like a big enough word to be honest,
Thank you so much for just trying to get through this.
And I hear this emotion. It's still very raw.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Yeah, but we you know, we tried to do what
we could. It was it was surreal. I mean people
that earlier that day, my lovely neighbor who makes dog
food had just dropped drop dog food off for us,
and a couple hours later, I'm squirting her porch down
trying to stop her house from burning down. It was
absolutely surreal for us. Yeah, yeah, it was. And so
(29:12):
I stayed until basically I could tell my house was
catching on fire, and I turned around and my car
was about to catch on fire, and I knew I
had to go, and there just wasn't anything we could
do at that point. You know, my entire street was
on fire, and if I stayed any longer, I was
going to be trapped. And so I left. The l
(29:32):
City guys, the CalFire guys, they all had to leave
to if you walked through our park you would find
remnants of hose where they had to just ditch them
and flee for their own live which is not when
we normally do as firefighters. This fire was different, and
those guys really pushed themselves and tried to save our
park as best they could. I really have a lot
of respect for both CalFire and LSD for trying to
(29:52):
save our park.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Thank you for saying that, because there have been quite
a few questions that have arisen out of the fires
across other than California about the firefighting effort. There were
communities or neighbors neighborhoods where people said, you know, they
didn't see a truck or the truck didn't stay very long.
And I appreciate you speaking about your experience because it
does dispel any myth that may be growing out of
(30:17):
this that firefighters weren't trying.
Speaker 5 (30:21):
Oh no, they were trying. These guys. I mean they
had already been fighting it for a couple hours when
they came into my park, and these guys pushed it
to the limit. I mean they were there after I left,
Like I said, I had to go because my car
was going to catch on fire, and they were still
there and I'm sure they had to leave shortly after,
and Tiffany, there was just nothing we could do.
Speaker 4 (30:41):
You know.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
I was on the Woldy in twenty eighteen in Malibu.
This fire was completely different. It was like a hurricane
with fire and it you couldn't there was nothing to do.
I hate to say it that way, but they really were.
We tried. I tried so hard, but I you know,
if we would have lost. It's amazing to me that
we didn't lose any firefighters in this and these fires
because just what happened.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Unprecedented is the word that people are saying.
Speaker 5 (31:06):
Absolutely, and you know, it's weird to be on the
civilian side of this. I was off duty that day,
and I just kudos to all the guys that were
out there working and really putting their lives on the
line trying to save people's properties.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I'm going to ask you a two part question.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
You've so graciously and humbly walked us through the faithful
events of that day and into that night as the
Palisades fire took over your community, the Tahitian Terrace. We're
talking to Fire Captain Alec Edwards, a resident himself of
the Tahitian Terrace. Where are you now? Where are you
and your family now? And are their plans? Are their
(31:45):
hopes that you'll be able to return.
Speaker 5 (31:49):
So we were fortunate enough to find an apartment in
Santa Monica, near where I grew up. We just got
very lucky and so my family as of now is
safe and comfortable and we're okay, but we want to rebuild.
We have our whole community is we're still a community,
even though we don't have our houses. We have a
great hoa led by some wonderful people, and they've kept
(32:12):
us all in touch and we all want to come back.
We don't know if it'll ever be the same, but
we're going to try to make it, make it what
it was. We've been in touch with our council member,
Tracy Park. She wants us back, and we're all ready
to rebuild and try to come back there as soon
as possible. Because that's home and that it was a
jewel and it was a community and a neighborhood and
(32:35):
just a wonderful place to live. We all want to
come back, and.
Speaker 3 (32:38):
I hope you do. I really hope that you are able.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Like the other mobile home communities in the Palisades are
able to in fact rebuild because they are so special
and they are so uniquely a part of not only
the southern California landscape there in the Palisades on the coast,
but they're just they're helpful. They're helpful people who want
that slice of home ownership where it may not have
(33:04):
been afforded to them before, and these these developments really
gave people that opportunity. Alec Where can people keep up
with what you are doing? Maybe stay abreast through you
of what you may need to get back into your community,
any sort of news you want to share about the
(33:24):
redevelopment or rebuilding process.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
Where can people keep up with you?
Speaker 5 (33:29):
The Early Times article, I think she's going to be
doing a series of I'm keeping up with us. If
anyone has the generosity in their heart and wants to donate,
there is a go fundme for the residents of our park.
A lot of people, like you said, were retired on
fixed incomes, and there is going to be updates on news.
If anyone wants to just google Taitian terrorists go fund me,
(33:51):
they'll find it and that money goes directly to people.
Fill out a form and it's the residents that were
lower income or fixed income that need help. A lot
of us were underinsured, and so some of us are
going to be owing more on our mortgages than our
insurance is going to cover us. So all that money
goes to just helping us rebuild and come back and
be part of the community that we were before. So yeah,
(34:14):
and there'll be updates on that, I'm sure, Alec.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
I wish you all the best, buddy. I love you,
I am here for you, and you are welcome back
anytime to KFI to talk about what you're going through
and what you need.
Speaker 5 (34:26):
Okay, Tiffany are the best. I love you so much.
Thank you for all your friendship.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
You're so welcome.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app
Speaker 1 (34:37):
KFI AM six forty on demand
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!