July 7, 2025 • 32 mins
In Hour 2, Mark Thompson and the Conway crew track the latest on the Rancho Fire in Laguna, where progress is being made. Mark then takes a step back to reflect on the wildfires that rocked LA six months ago, highlighting how far the city has come—and how far it still has to go. KFI’s own Heather Brooker shares a powerful audio retrospective from the frontlines of KFI’s wildfire coverage, offering a deeply personal lens on the crisis. The hour closes on a lighter note, with the crew’s July 4th plans and a look at the rising trend of drone shows replacing traditional fireworks.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's KFI AM six forty and you're listening to the
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
We're watching a fire progress closure. This is down. This
is Orange County, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Yeah, Angel's got a lot of details on it. Way
at Angel.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (00:18):
So, right after I did my lockout, I received two
messages from the City of Laguna Beach. The first one
saying that Laguna Canyon Road is now has reopened southbound.
That's inbound from Eltoro Road to Coast Highway. And as
we speak here, we're also hearing that the hard closure
along Coast Highway has been canceled as well.
Speaker 6 (00:41):
Coast Highway has.
Speaker 5 (00:42):
Reopened between Laguna Canyon Road and Crown Valley Parkway. So
if you're there and you still see that it's off limits,
they're lifting it right now.
Speaker 6 (00:52):
So the word is out.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Coast Highway has reopened between Crown Valley Parkway and Laguna
Canyon Road, and inbound lanes of Laguna Canyon Road now
open from Eltoro Road.
Speaker 7 (01:05):
Yeehaw.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
No, yeah, that is good news. And so the fire
is the situation is what with the fire, Well.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
The fire is still being extinguished, but it's it's still
an active scene, but it's surrounded forward movement.
Speaker 6 (01:22):
Okay, yeah, sure, let's call us around it. There you go,
Well I want to call it.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I like the lingo. I like the jargon. You know,
I'm a big one for jargon. And with when you
said what you said, uh, right after I did my
lockout the following information. So lockout is the thing you
do where you say, I'm Angel Martinez, and what is
your lockout?
Speaker 6 (01:48):
With Southern I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
I'm gonna do it Mark Thompson's style with Southern California's
most accurate traffic reports.
Speaker 6 (01:57):
I see, I'm Angel Martinez.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Is that the way I said to you? That's yeah.
I thought it was fine, but I thought delivered a
little side of mockery, which I could have done without.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
I even put the American idol.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Oh yeah, I see it was that. I noticed that. Yeah,
I got it. The crops, well done, well done, well done.
Speaking of fires, we are looking at six months. It's
been six months since the Eton and Palisage fires, and
I mean twenty three thousand acres seven thousand structures in
(02:37):
the Pacific Palisage area. Twelve people lost their lives and
there are finally the last areas that were still shut
down that are now open on PCH for example, and
they're doing tons of construction the community trying to rebuild there.
(03:00):
And you know, in I think in Altadena, ninety five
percent of those properties that were eligible had all the
debris removal removed. They've awarded twenty seven million dollars to families,
to workers and small businesses impacted by the fire. So
we are looking at the fire six months later, and
(03:21):
that's crazy.
Speaker 8 (03:21):
To think that it's been six months. The Policyats fire
absolutely destroyed and devastated this community. You have areas like
this behind me that remind you of what took place
six months ago today, but you also have areas like
this empty lot that have been cleared from all that debris,
and it shows you that the rebuilding process has started.
But this fire was unlike anything we've seen before.
Speaker 7 (03:43):
It's just utter devastation. When you take a look at
complete neighborhoods just wiped out by this fire, we have
a feeling that this thing is going to go very soon.
But just check this out. We have fire crews all
up and down the city center. But once again, all
these restaurants all these iconic places that people love here
in Malibu have just burned to the ground.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And isn't that so much part of the process of
building back? And I was just reading about building black
and you've got to build back to a community that
is still diminished, right, Like everybody's not there. It's not
a question of just reopening your store, your restaurant. The
people who went to your store and restaurant aren't living
there anymore. They've had to move. Even if they're rebuilding,
(04:26):
it'll take a while before all that stuff's rebuilt. So
even as billionaire Rick Caruso wants the Palisades Village shopping
center to bring people back, he's reopening, and a long
time Palisades clothing store owner, Alice Walker, her place burned
(04:47):
to the ground, but she's going to reopen in that
same shopping center. The problem becomes, the ongoing challenge becomes
what region in the community or adjacent to the community
comes to keep you going, to keep you vital, to
keep your business afloat. It's hard. I mean, six months later,
(05:10):
we still don't have many parts of our community rebuilt.
And so I want all of these businesses, as we
all do, to reopen and to be thriving. It's just
so hard right now when you have that loss of structures, homes,
the entire community will take years to build back to
(05:34):
where it was. So I think the will is there
and even the way is there to rebuild and to reopen.
But the question is simply will there be enough foot
traffic to keep a lot of these commercial businesses running.
So these are short I want to say, they're sort
(05:56):
of in that category of we'll have to wait and see.
But meantime, residents who are trying to build back, both
in the Eaten fire area of Altadena and in the
Palisades fire area, they're now dealing with, Okay, we've gotten clearing,
we've also got sort of an expedited schedule in terms
of what we're allowed to build back and how quickly
we're allowed to build back. But still, how long will
(06:19):
it take? How long will it take to get the materials,
how long will it take to get the blueprints, how
long will it take to get the clearances and the
crews to get on some kind of schedule to build
this entire region back. And then of course there's the
emotional impact. I mean, it's devastating, I mean, you've lost everything.
(06:40):
Your community isn't there. It's not just you rebuilding your life,
it's others rebuilding their lives in the museum of their lives.
Their home has been lost. All of the contents, all
of that emotion, all that significance is gone, and there
(07:00):
is a real emotional wreckage that these communities have to
deal with. And many of these areas that are affected
and will be affected involve a breadth of people, some
of whom have the means to hang on, and some
of whom don't have the means to hang on. It's
(07:21):
a real problem. Six months later, I mean, to the
credit of everyone, the communities pulled together. They got the
debris clearance going, they began to put the infrastructure in
place to build back. I mean, it really is a
credit to a lot of people that these communities are
on track to build back. I'm just pointing up a
(07:43):
few of the things that have to come together further
for things to really get to the finish line. When
we come back six months after Eton and Palisades, there
are signs of recovery, and there's signs of challenges and
our own Heather Brooker on the entire region six months
(08:07):
post fire. We'll have that next.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, it has been six months since the tragic fires
involving Altadena, the Eaton fire and Palisades in Malibu, the
Palisage fires. And six months after this devastation, we look
back at the hope and also the damage done and
communities stepping back up. And we do it with our
(08:40):
own newsroom. Is it Heather Brooker? Yes, sir, all right,
wish with her standing by. Here's a look back.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
I don't see this house.
Speaker 10 (08:52):
It started with a strong wind warning. Santa Anna's are
nothing new for people who live in southern California. But
this this what's different.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
That is a wall of flame.
Speaker 8 (09:03):
Three.
Speaker 11 (09:03):
Bill, We've got some strong winds on the way. This
is a particularly dangerous situation. This is about as bad
as it gets in terms of fire weather.
Speaker 10 (09:15):
At ten twenty nine in the morning on Tuesday, January seventh,
the first nine to one to one call was made
to the LA Fire Department about a brush fire near
homes in the affluent Pacific Palisades community.
Speaker 12 (09:26):
This is Gari and Shannon and the Palisades right now
they say this beast started at about ten acres. That
was the quickest estimate you could get already at ten acres,
but with the potential to spread to two hundred acres
within twenty minutes.
Speaker 10 (09:40):
According to dispatch reports, the first firefighters arrived within twenty
minutes on the ground and with aerial support, but by
then the flames, propelled by unrelenting winds of more than
sixty to eighty miles per hour, had more than doubled.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
The first flames just near goat peak if you know
that is, and it's headed down towards the states thirty
to forty mile an hour sustained.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Winds, and then gusts could be higher than that.
Speaker 10 (10:05):
Over the next few hours, there would be a mad
scramble of people trying to gather what they could of
their belongings and get down the hill to safety. While
firefighters and other first responders tried to get closer to
the flames, they were quickly overwhelmed and surrounded with a
fast moving fire, an intense smoke that blackened the sky
makers zero percent containment. Preliminary reports estimate the damage.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
Or destroyed structures to be in the thousands.
Speaker 10 (10:34):
The devastation was almost immediate and widespread. More than ten
thousand homes or under evacuation orders. A man named Curtis
told reporters he lost everything.
Speaker 9 (10:44):
I mean everybody bluffs, not just this community, the community
next door.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I'm sure all the people up there blust everything.
Speaker 13 (10:52):
Uh, it's just pretty devastating.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
This is pretty devastating.
Speaker 9 (10:58):
I don't think LA's seen anything like this before, not
even New earth Quake.
Speaker 10 (11:02):
People tried to save what they could, but with the
rugged terrain and narrow streets in the Palisades, it was
nearly impossible to try to escape as the streets became gridlocked.
Some even abandoned their cars, fleeing on foot, which made
it difficult for firefighters to get trucks to the fire line.
The rest of Los Angeles and the world listen to
radio reports and watched video of local news and on
(11:24):
social media showing the chaos, confusion, and heartbreak unfold as
people fought for their lives and watched their homes burn.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Don't know, I'm gonna go sit and watch the news
all day, and while.
Speaker 10 (11:36):
The Palisades fire tore down the hillside and into Malibu
with no signs of slowing, down, a new threat emerged.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
We're talking about this fire in the Palisades, but you've
got news that there's something else going on.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
There's a charted out as ten acres. Now it's bigger,
Eaton Canyon on the east end of al Sadena and
the border of Pasadena. They got bullbrush response from Melle
County and Pasadena on.
Speaker 10 (11:58):
It, and from the National Weather Service in La told
kfi's Tim Conway Junior. Forty miles across town, near the
quiet community of Altadina, a new fire had sparked in
Eton Canyon. Residents reported seeing flames at six ten, but
evacuations weren't ordered until more than an hour later, and
within the hour the fire had reached homes and many
(12:20):
people began to self evacuate.
Speaker 14 (12:22):
I wish I could explain how the Santa Ana winds
really are on any given day, that they are going
eighty miles an hour, and despite the fires themselves, it
was just like an absolute windstorm. We've heard about fires
in our area for years. I mean, we live in
the mountains. It's a very normal thing. Never have we
thought about something being as close as it was until
(12:43):
we received a text message with a photo that showed
the fire just a few miles from our home behind
our church.
Speaker 10 (12:50):
Lauren Ben and her daughter Laurie recalled the terrifying winds
and heavy smoke that filled the air as they left
behind the home that had been in their family for generations.
Speaker 14 (13:00):
And then we realized how serious the fires were, that
there might be a chance to evacuate that night.
Speaker 15 (13:05):
The winds were at the east ninety five miles per hours,
and even when we were packing the cars, the hood
kept falling on our heads because of the wind was
thrown small little tornadoes in the road, and then trees
were down, wires were down. It was one of the
most scary things.
Speaker 16 (13:27):
Cafi's continuing coverage of the fires plural not only the
Palisades fire, but also the emerging Eaten Canyon fire were.
Speaker 10 (13:35):
Getting An entire nursing home was forced to evacuate before
first responders arrived. The images of the elderly and in
firms surrounded by smoke and flames were hard to watch. Reportedly,
firefighters called for backup multiple times but were told none
were available. Good, they said, hydrants failed, and the flames
grew stronger, overtaking historic homes and businesses within minutes. One
(13:58):
firefighter even used a pool to a trash can with water.
Speaker 17 (14:02):
And we have zero percent containment. We have several reported
injuries and over one thousand structures damaged and destroyed.
Speaker 10 (14:12):
Former LA Fire Chief Kristan Crowley and La County Fire
Chief Anthony Maroney told the public that the extreme wind
and drought created a rare and deadly combination that made
it nearly impossible to stop the wildfires in the Palisades
and Altadena. On January seventh, it would be twenty four
days before the last flames of the Palisades and Eaton
Canyon were finally put out. When the smoke cleared and
(14:35):
embers died down. Thirty people were killed, twelve in the Palisades,
eighteen in the Altadena area. More than sixteen thousand structures
were destroyed, most of them homes. The Palisades and Eaten
fires were among the most destructive in California history, with
an estimated ninety four billion dollars to one hundred and
sixty four billion in total capital and property loss. With
(15:01):
so much devastation and loss, how do these communities begin
to recover? Now six months later, there's finally a ray
of hope.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
The K six forty live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app
And that's a bit of Heather Brookers look back on
six months post fire, the Eton fire and the Palisades fire,
And there I found it chilling just to listen to,
you know, the original reports, the original moments where we
discovered there was this fire and you had a sense
(15:37):
for it. Just how completely overwhelmed all of us were
with both the information and imagine all of those charged
with helping these communities, firefighters, police officers, first responders, et cetera.
The future, though, is bright, and Heather continues with Part two.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
In a moment, you're listening to Tim Conway Jr. Maya
from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
We're looking back six months later at the fires that
devastated southern California from KFI News. Heather Brooker has part
two of our look back.
Speaker 10 (16:16):
As daylight broke on January eighth, the full scope of
the catastrophe was still coming into view. Fire was devouring
everything in the Palisades and Altadena, from schools and churches
to mobile home parks and celebrity estates, along with state
parks and iconic restaurants. Thousands of people left without homes,
businesses were gutted, and many people remained unaccounted for, and
(16:39):
the flames were still raging. It would be twenty four
days until the last ember was extinguished.
Speaker 18 (16:45):
On Really, the entire hill foothills above us was just
completely in flames.
Speaker 10 (16:50):
Jose Alenzuela is a longtime Altadena resident an owner of
Altadina Grocery Outlet, a staple in the community. He says,
thankfully his family and his employees were safe from the fires,
and shockingly, his grocery store was spared from destruction.
Speaker 18 (17:04):
We suffer very minor actual structural damage to our building,
which is just again can't really make sense of it.
But everything around us, unfortunately, and I mean literally everything
around us, has burned to the ground.
Speaker 10 (17:21):
In the months since the fire, he has felt the
real heat of loss.
Speaker 18 (17:25):
When we open, we pretty much dropped fifty percent. We
know it's going to come back and we will rebuild,
and we are looking forward and pushing ahead, but the
reality is going to be a little while. You know,
there's no people living in our community at this moment.
Speaker 10 (17:42):
In fact, many of the businesses that remain in the
fire areas are struggling to keep their doors open.
Speaker 19 (17:46):
Websters has been here since nineteen twenty six, so we
are ninety nine years old in Altadena.
Speaker 10 (17:53):
Meredith Miller, who owns the historic Webster's Community Pharmacy, says
she and her husband scrambled the night of the fire
to find another pharmacy that could temporarily handle their customer's
prescriptions and ensure patients had access to their medications.
Speaker 19 (18:06):
You know, there's a Bank of America that shares basically
shares the parking lot here, and they burned down, so
at that point, you know, we kind of figured it
was over for us. When we got back in here
in mid February, we had to literally destroy everything, so.
Speaker 7 (18:23):
That was tough.
Speaker 19 (18:25):
Every pill, every item on the shelf had to go.
And so when we got back in here, we were
basically empty and starting all over again.
Speaker 10 (18:34):
What were those first few weeks like after you reopened
your business.
Speaker 19 (18:38):
So the first couple of weeks of being here were frankly,
very difficult for everybody. There were a lot of tears,
a lot of trauma, a lot of shock. People kind
of just in a daze coming in. They needed to
get a prescription, and all we did was hug and feel,
you know, and just be grateful that we were all
(18:59):
a lot and that we were going to overcome this somehow.
Speaker 10 (19:04):
There's still a long way to go for residents to
recover and rebuild. Altadena Town Council Chair Victoria Nap says
there is no set timeline for full restoration, but progress
is steadily being made.
Speaker 20 (19:16):
Rebuilding is just getting underway. There are homes the first
that were the first permits that were issued that are underway.
Speaker 10 (19:25):
Nap lost her home, as did many of her friends
and neighbors.
Speaker 20 (19:29):
But we were the first neighborhood, or among the first
neighborhoods to be evacuated.
Speaker 15 (19:35):
She says.
Speaker 10 (19:35):
The biggest need in the community right now is financial.
Speaker 20 (19:38):
What folks are facing now is the real financial reality
of rebuilding a home from the foundation up. We are
battling with the insurance commissioner. We are battling with insurers.
Anyone who is paid a premium into their policy to
(19:59):
protect them in situations like this is deserving of having
their full payout as quickly as possible, and that isn't happening.
Speaker 10 (20:08):
According to the La County Permitting Progress Dashboard, they've received
over one thousand applications to rebuild in fire zone areas
and eighty five building permits have been issued so far.
Forty three of those are for single family homes and
only one of those homes is in the Palisades. Despite
the average weight time of fifty one days, the Army
Corps of Engineer says, debris cleanup is months ahead of schedule.
Speaker 21 (20:30):
We were thinking it would take about a year, and
now we are. I think when I look at both
fires were now ninety three ninety four percent complete.
Speaker 10 (20:41):
Colonel jose Abashaw with the Army Corps of Engineers says
they removed debris, fire, ash, asbestos, and the foundation if necessary,
then hand over the land back to the owner. He says,
making sure the soil is stable is an essential part
of their job. What has been the biggest challenge then
in clearing these wildfire zones, especially in the more hillside
areas like the Palisades.
Speaker 21 (21:03):
So you had it right there, you know, logistics is
it drives the entire operation right and so you know
the hillside properties, especially in the Palisade and the cliff
side properties, they have been really challenging.
Speaker 10 (21:21):
And how does the speed of this wildfire recovery differ
from other wildfire recovery efforts.
Speaker 21 (21:26):
You know, this one has been unique from a lot
of different aspects. We also have a really huge industrial
base to rely on. You know, we have lots of
potential contractors in California that can come and searge assets.
So that has been a huge benefit here. Another huge
benefit has been just a partnership so between the county,
(21:49):
the state, federal government all working in Unison across town.
Speaker 10 (21:56):
Places like the Real Inn and Moonshadows along Pch and
Malibu were completely destroyed. Now six months later, one sign
of hope that things are moving forward, the iconic restaurant
Gladstone's has opened its ocean side deck for business.
Speaker 13 (22:10):
We saw this public deck where everyone can come and
hang out. And this is open in the public all
the time. You don't have to buy stuff from us.
You can come visit. If you're visiting your property that's
here and just don't have a place to hang out,
this is the spot.
Speaker 10 (22:21):
Both communities face a long road ahead. Recovery will take months,
even years, but Californians are no stranger to resilience. As
the physical reconstruction moves slowly forward, the emotional scars remain.
Residents of the Palisades and Alta Dina are determined to
keep their communities in the spotlight, not just for the
next six months, but for years and generations to come.
Speaker 20 (22:44):
This devastation has bonded us for sure, but it's been
it has it's been hard.
Speaker 18 (22:50):
We're strong community, we know we're going to overcome this,
but I think it's important for us to continue to
share the story.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Indeed, indeed, great reporting, great look back, and we hope
the best for all the communities affected, and that you
think about it as really many of the communities that
weren't just part of the burn damage, the ripple effect
extends to all of us. So thanks again to Heather
Brooker on a look back six months post fire. When
(23:22):
we come back fourth of July weekend, what did this
wild staff you're a KFI do for the fourth of
July weekend? I know we're going to have some very
good stories a fourth of July revelry when we return,
Angel and Crozier, Steffoosh, Matt, this is a party crew.
(23:47):
I can only imagine what it's going to be. We'll
get into it next. Also, there was a development at
Big Bear over the holidays, and it was related to fireworks.
We will update the situation with the bald Eagles. We'll
do that next.
Speaker 9 (24:07):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
And we're just wrapping up the Fourth of July festivities.
I can only imagine our staff, I was saying, I mean,
these are people, and you know you see this played
out every day here with a jois de vive, you know,
a lust for life. These are the people you want
to be the nucleus of any kind of social event
(24:35):
you might be putting together. I mean you you get
it again. You can feel it every day here on
the Conway Show. And so it's with great anticipation that
I ask these people, all of the staff here, what
did you do for this great Fourth of July weekend?
I am going to start with Michael Krozer.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Mark, it was an electric day on Friday, July fourth.
Came into work, oh and do a little work. Then
I left at seven.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, that's still time to see some of the festivity.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Show was over. Yes, I got home by eight o'clock
and Jen and I had just enough time to turn
on the jacuzzie hop into jacuzzi and we could see
over the top of some buildings over on our side
to the east of us, we could see the remnants
of a fireworks show that took part, and we had
(25:31):
a good time and went to sleep.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Oh that's sweet. Well, I mean in a way that
wasn't such a bad day. You still got home with
the Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
No, I got to be here. I got to work
on the Tim Conway show.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Tim was here. But you know, hey, I think working
on a holiday can be a good thing. No one's around. Yeah,
we're in this industry.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
You're kind of Your travel was awesome to and fro
work on it.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Say that it has to be true.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Yeah, I'm about worth it.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah, Angel Martinez, are you connected to us right now
to the speaking of travel, to the point that you
could give us a sense of what year fourth of
July was? Like?
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Absolutely? Absolutely so.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
As you know, I have a dog, and like most
dogs are, they don't really they're not fond of those
exploding sounds, popping sounds.
Speaker 14 (26:19):
And.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
It is.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
And so I have some friends who also have, you know,
some older dogs who really are not fond of those
sounds as well.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
So I went up to their house.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
And we hung out for the day, barbecued hung out
by the pool, played with the dogs, and then as
the sun started to drop, La Harbor is pretty close by,
so you could start to hear all of the kaboo
going out in the harbor. And I have a little
bird as well, and he was at home, so my
(26:52):
idea was to get back home before the big firework
displays start, because I didn't want him to be alone show.
So we hustled and we got we drove home. But
you know what, driving down that four oh five as
the sun's dropping on the fourth of July was like
driving through a firework tunnel making your way through Westminster.
(27:17):
They were these huge fireworks were going off right over
the freeway. My dog's freaking out in the backseat and
she's got her little seatbelt on and stuff, so she
was okay, But.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I did, are these fireworks displays? Are they? They're illegal fireworks?
Is what you're talking about.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Well, the firework displays I was talking about are the legal,
planned ones that go off you know in the neighbor.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Community by community has them?
Speaker 5 (27:43):
Sure, yes, yes, But the ones along that were blowing
up just right above my car on the four oh five,
I don't think we're planned events.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, I can't imagine that the community has planned a
fireworks display its going off right over the four five.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
No, but the concept of a firework tunnel is kind
of cool though, and it was kind of cool, but
it was freaking my dog out. So anyway, we got
home and once you passed hopped on the seventy three,
all was calm and well, and got home, fed my
dog a little melowtonin Calming Bar sure any dog owners
out there, and got the bird and hung out and
(28:26):
and watched episodes of Sex in the City.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Oh there you go. Sure, yeah, yeah, so it was
a soft landing. I love that.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
Yeah, it was a great night.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
That's really really cool. Uh, Steffushi, you also worked, I
believe on the fourth of July, right, that is true,
just not here. Not here.
Speaker 16 (28:46):
You went for the more lucrative option, which was what
doing lyft and uber all through the weekend, and it
was pretty busy. It was pretty good, so I couldn't
complain about it. Was it surge pricing in front of
that period that definitely happened on Friday night. Thursday was
just like another because since the fourth Fella of Friday,
I knew a lot of people were going to go
out on Thursday night because it's basically like an added Friday.
(29:11):
So people were going out, people are having fun, and
I gotta say, I'm really lucky. Like I would say,
like ninety eight percent of the people that I picked
up weren't even like drunk, you know, to inebriated, and
everyone was super cool. I think everyone was just in
a good mood. I think because of all the news
that's been on, it's kind of nice to have a
little bit of a distraction for like a day or two.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Sure, and yeah, I do most people. This is interesting
because you made me think of it with what you
were just saying. Are most of your rods in the
evening with people who are inebriated? Well, definitely.
Speaker 16 (29:44):
I mean before yeah, before I used to work full
time Monday through Thursdays, but I don't I'd stop at
like five or six. But Friday and Saturday night, yeah,
I mean that's basically people going out because that's when
you can make the most money in the shortest amount
of time.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Because people call because they have decided to drink and
they don't want to drive themselves exactly.
Speaker 16 (30:04):
It's people come out of bars, clubs, house parties, you know,
the usual. And you know, it's also cool because no traffic,
so it's just zipping around all over the city.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So that was one of your better days at nights.
Oh yeah, that's why I had to make sure I
was there. Oh and I got to go to Mo's party,
so that was really fun. Oh most party got to
He had.
Speaker 16 (30:21):
Me on as a guest, and then there was like
a dance party and they had a bunch of food,
so I got fed and I was like a nice
little break on the fourth and then after that it
just continued on my way throughout the night.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
That's very cool. Well that's a very special And Matt,
did you do anything special? No, not do for Matt,
feeling for share and nothing nothing too special.
Speaker 10 (30:41):
No, I was like Angel with my dog, watching out
for my dog.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
It is true if you have dogs, it's really a
traumatic thing. And you know, I know it'll never stop
because it's sort of fall part of our culture. The
beauty of fireworks's plays are there, but the it's so disruptive.
Speaker 14 (30:58):
I know.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
I'm going to say I know one to three, maybe
four people who've lost their dogs during fireworks displays, and
you know, yeah, and they've lost them forever. I mean,
it's just it's really sad, so not to mention there's
kind of an environmental thing. But the only reason I
mentioned it is because eventually I would think the drone
(31:21):
stuff is going to get so good. They can do
so much with the lighting and effects that are displayed
in any number of ways by these drone shows. I'm
hoping that that begins to even replace a lot of
these fireworks displays that are so disruptive. But no question
about it, it's part of the culture, you know, sort of
(31:42):
what we do. So Prime Day is also something we do.
In the next hour the best deals in the Amazon
Prime Day sale world. We talk to a veteran, a
veteran Prime Day shopper will get to that in the
next hour. Mark Thompson here for Tim Conway Junior with
(32:03):
KO five am, six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
It's KFI AM six forty and you're listening to the
Conway Show on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
We're watching a fire progress closure. This is down. This
is Orange County, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Yeah, Angel's got a lot of details on it. Way
at Angel.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (00:18):
So, right after I did my lockout, I received two
messages from the City of Laguna Beach. The first one
saying that Laguna Canyon Road is now has reopened southbound.
That's inbound from Eltoro Road to Coast Highway. And as
we speak here, we're also hearing that the hard closure
along Coast Highway has been canceled as well.
Speaker 6 (00:41):
Coast Highway has.
Speaker 5 (00:42):
Reopened between Laguna Canyon Road and Crown Valley Parkway. So
if you're there and you still see that it's off limits,
they're lifting it right now.
Speaker 6 (00:52):
So the word is out.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Coast Highway has reopened between Crown Valley Parkway and Laguna
Canyon Road, and inbound lanes of Laguna Canyon Road now
open from Eltoro Road.
Speaker 7 (01:05):
Yeehaw.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
No, yeah, that is good news. And so the fire
is the situation is what with the fire, Well.
Speaker 5 (01:13):
The fire is still being extinguished, but it's it's still
an active scene, but it's surrounded forward movement.
Speaker 6 (01:22):
Okay, yeah, sure, let's call us around it. There you go,
Well I want to call it.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I like the lingo. I like the jargon. You know,
I'm a big one for jargon. And with when you
said what you said, uh, right after I did my
lockout the following information. So lockout is the thing you
do where you say, I'm Angel Martinez, and what is
your lockout?
Speaker 6 (01:48):
With Southern I'm gonna do it.
Speaker 5 (01:49):
I'm gonna do it Mark Thompson's style with Southern California's
most accurate traffic reports.
Speaker 6 (01:57):
I see, I'm Angel Martinez.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Is that the way I said to you? That's yeah.
I thought it was fine, but I thought delivered a
little side of mockery, which I could have done without.
Speaker 6 (02:08):
I even put the American idol.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
Oh yeah, I see it was that. I noticed that. Yeah,
I got it. The crops, well done, well done, well done.
Speaking of fires, we are looking at six months. It's
been six months since the Eton and Palisage fires, and
I mean twenty three thousand acres seven thousand structures in
(02:37):
the Pacific Palisage area. Twelve people lost their lives and
there are finally the last areas that were still shut
down that are now open on PCH for example, and
they're doing tons of construction the community trying to rebuild there.
(03:00):
And you know, in I think in Altadena, ninety five
percent of those properties that were eligible had all the
debris removal removed. They've awarded twenty seven million dollars to families,
to workers and small businesses impacted by the fire. So
we are looking at the fire six months later, and
(03:21):
that's crazy.
Speaker 8 (03:21):
To think that it's been six months. The Policyats fire
absolutely destroyed and devastated this community. You have areas like
this behind me that remind you of what took place
six months ago today, but you also have areas like
this empty lot that have been cleared from all that debris,
and it shows you that the rebuilding process has started.
But this fire was unlike anything we've seen before.
Speaker 7 (03:43):
It's just utter devastation. When you take a look at
complete neighborhoods just wiped out by this fire, we have
a feeling that this thing is going to go very soon.
But just check this out. We have fire crews all
up and down the city center. But once again, all
these restaurants all these iconic places that people love here
in Malibu have just burned to the ground.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
And isn't that so much part of the process of
building back? And I was just reading about building black
and you've got to build back to a community that
is still diminished, right, Like everybody's not there. It's not
a question of just reopening your store, your restaurant. The
people who went to your store and restaurant aren't living
there anymore. They've had to move. Even if they're rebuilding,
(04:26):
it'll take a while before all that stuff's rebuilt. So
even as billionaire Rick Caruso wants the Palisades Village shopping
center to bring people back, he's reopening, and a long
time Palisades clothing store owner, Alice Walker, her place burned
(04:47):
to the ground, but she's going to reopen in that
same shopping center. The problem becomes, the ongoing challenge becomes
what region in the community or adjacent to the community
comes to keep you going, to keep you vital, to
keep your business afloat. It's hard. I mean, six months later,
(05:10):
we still don't have many parts of our community rebuilt.
And so I want all of these businesses, as we
all do, to reopen and to be thriving. It's just
so hard right now when you have that loss of structures, homes,
the entire community will take years to build back to
(05:34):
where it was. So I think the will is there
and even the way is there to rebuild and to reopen.
But the question is simply will there be enough foot
traffic to keep a lot of these commercial businesses running.
So these are short I want to say, they're sort
(05:56):
of in that category of we'll have to wait and see.
But meantime, residents who are trying to build back, both
in the Eaten fire area of Altadena and in the
Palisades fire area, they're now dealing with, Okay, we've gotten clearing,
we've also got sort of an expedited schedule in terms
of what we're allowed to build back and how quickly
we're allowed to build back. But still, how long will
(06:19):
it take? How long will it take to get the materials,
how long will it take to get the blueprints, how
long will it take to get the clearances and the
crews to get on some kind of schedule to build
this entire region back. And then of course there's the
emotional impact. I mean, it's devastating, I mean, you've lost everything.
(06:40):
Your community isn't there. It's not just you rebuilding your life,
it's others rebuilding their lives in the museum of their lives.
Their home has been lost. All of the contents, all
of that emotion, all that significance is gone, and there
(07:00):
is a real emotional wreckage that these communities have to
deal with. And many of these areas that are affected
and will be affected involve a breadth of people, some
of whom have the means to hang on, and some
of whom don't have the means to hang on. It's
(07:21):
a real problem. Six months later, I mean, to the
credit of everyone, the communities pulled together. They got the
debris clearance going, they began to put the infrastructure in
place to build back. I mean, it really is a
credit to a lot of people that these communities are
on track to build back. I'm just pointing up a
(07:43):
few of the things that have to come together further
for things to really get to the finish line. When
we come back six months after Eton and Palisades, there
are signs of recovery, and there's signs of challenges and
our own Heather Brooker on the entire region six months
(08:07):
post fire. We'll have that next.
Speaker 9 (08:10):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, it has been six months since the tragic fires
involving Altadena, the Eaton fire and Palisades in Malibu, the
Palisage fires. And six months after this devastation, we look
back at the hope and also the damage done and
communities stepping back up. And we do it with our
(08:40):
own newsroom. Is it Heather Brooker? Yes, sir, all right,
wish with her standing by. Here's a look back.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
I don't see this house.
Speaker 10 (08:52):
It started with a strong wind warning. Santa Anna's are
nothing new for people who live in southern California. But
this this what's different.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
That is a wall of flame.
Speaker 8 (09:03):
Three.
Speaker 11 (09:03):
Bill, We've got some strong winds on the way. This
is a particularly dangerous situation. This is about as bad
as it gets in terms of fire weather.
Speaker 10 (09:15):
At ten twenty nine in the morning on Tuesday, January seventh,
the first nine to one to one call was made
to the LA Fire Department about a brush fire near
homes in the affluent Pacific Palisades community.
Speaker 12 (09:26):
This is Gari and Shannon and the Palisades right now
they say this beast started at about ten acres. That
was the quickest estimate you could get already at ten acres,
but with the potential to spread to two hundred acres
within twenty minutes.
Speaker 10 (09:40):
According to dispatch reports, the first firefighters arrived within twenty
minutes on the ground and with aerial support, but by
then the flames, propelled by unrelenting winds of more than
sixty to eighty miles per hour, had more than doubled.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
The first flames just near goat peak if you know
that is, and it's headed down towards the states thirty
to forty mile an hour sustained.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Winds, and then gusts could be higher than that.
Speaker 10 (10:05):
Over the next few hours, there would be a mad
scramble of people trying to gather what they could of
their belongings and get down the hill to safety. While
firefighters and other first responders tried to get closer to
the flames, they were quickly overwhelmed and surrounded with a
fast moving fire, an intense smoke that blackened the sky
makers zero percent containment. Preliminary reports estimate the damage.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
Or destroyed structures to be in the thousands.
Speaker 10 (10:34):
The devastation was almost immediate and widespread. More than ten
thousand homes or under evacuation orders. A man named Curtis
told reporters he lost everything.
Speaker 9 (10:44):
I mean everybody bluffs, not just this community, the community
next door.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
I'm sure all the people up there blust everything.
Speaker 13 (10:52):
Uh, it's just pretty devastating.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
This is pretty devastating.
Speaker 9 (10:58):
I don't think LA's seen anything like this before, not
even New earth Quake.
Speaker 10 (11:02):
People tried to save what they could, but with the
rugged terrain and narrow streets in the Palisades, it was
nearly impossible to try to escape as the streets became gridlocked.
Some even abandoned their cars, fleeing on foot, which made
it difficult for firefighters to get trucks to the fire line.
The rest of Los Angeles and the world listen to
radio reports and watched video of local news and on
(11:24):
social media showing the chaos, confusion, and heartbreak unfold as
people fought for their lives and watched their homes burn.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Don't know, I'm gonna go sit and watch the news
all day, and while.
Speaker 10 (11:36):
The Palisades fire tore down the hillside and into Malibu
with no signs of slowing, down, a new threat emerged.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
We're talking about this fire in the Palisades, but you've
got news that there's something else going on.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
There's a charted out as ten acres. Now it's bigger,
Eaton Canyon on the east end of al Sadena and
the border of Pasadena. They got bullbrush response from Melle
County and Pasadena on.
Speaker 10 (11:58):
It, and from the National Weather Service in La told
kfi's Tim Conway Junior. Forty miles across town, near the
quiet community of Altadina, a new fire had sparked in
Eton Canyon. Residents reported seeing flames at six ten, but
evacuations weren't ordered until more than an hour later, and
within the hour the fire had reached homes and many
(12:20):
people began to self evacuate.
Speaker 14 (12:22):
I wish I could explain how the Santa Ana winds
really are on any given day, that they are going
eighty miles an hour, and despite the fires themselves, it
was just like an absolute windstorm. We've heard about fires
in our area for years. I mean, we live in
the mountains. It's a very normal thing. Never have we
thought about something being as close as it was until
(12:43):
we received a text message with a photo that showed
the fire just a few miles from our home behind
our church.
Speaker 10 (12:50):
Lauren Ben and her daughter Laurie recalled the terrifying winds
and heavy smoke that filled the air as they left
behind the home that had been in their family for generations.
Speaker 14 (13:00):
And then we realized how serious the fires were, that
there might be a chance to evacuate that night.
Speaker 15 (13:05):
The winds were at the east ninety five miles per hours,
and even when we were packing the cars, the hood
kept falling on our heads because of the wind was
thrown small little tornadoes in the road, and then trees
were down, wires were down. It was one of the
most scary things.
Speaker 16 (13:27):
Cafi's continuing coverage of the fires plural not only the
Palisades fire, but also the emerging Eaten Canyon fire were.
Speaker 10 (13:35):
Getting An entire nursing home was forced to evacuate before
first responders arrived. The images of the elderly and in
firms surrounded by smoke and flames were hard to watch. Reportedly,
firefighters called for backup multiple times but were told none
were available. Good, they said, hydrants failed, and the flames
grew stronger, overtaking historic homes and businesses within minutes. One
(13:58):
firefighter even used a pool to a trash can with water.
Speaker 17 (14:02):
And we have zero percent containment. We have several reported
injuries and over one thousand structures damaged and destroyed.
Speaker 10 (14:12):
Former LA Fire Chief Kristan Crowley and La County Fire
Chief Anthony Maroney told the public that the extreme wind
and drought created a rare and deadly combination that made
it nearly impossible to stop the wildfires in the Palisades
and Altadena. On January seventh, it would be twenty four
days before the last flames of the Palisades and Eaton
Canyon were finally put out. When the smoke cleared and
(14:35):
embers died down. Thirty people were killed, twelve in the Palisades,
eighteen in the Altadena area. More than sixteen thousand structures
were destroyed, most of them homes. The Palisades and Eaten
fires were among the most destructive in California history, with
an estimated ninety four billion dollars to one hundred and
sixty four billion in total capital and property loss. With
(15:01):
so much devastation and loss, how do these communities begin
to recover? Now six months later, there's finally a ray
of hope.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
The K six forty live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app
And that's a bit of Heather Brookers look back on
six months post fire, the Eton fire and the Palisades fire,
And there I found it chilling just to listen to,
you know, the original reports, the original moments where we
discovered there was this fire and you had a sense
(15:37):
for it. Just how completely overwhelmed all of us were
with both the information and imagine all of those charged
with helping these communities, firefighters, police officers, first responders, et cetera.
The future, though, is bright, and Heather continues with Part two.
Speaker 9 (15:56):
In a moment, you're listening to Tim Conway Jr. Maya
from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
We're looking back six months later at the fires that
devastated southern California from KFI News. Heather Brooker has part
two of our look back.
Speaker 10 (16:16):
As daylight broke on January eighth, the full scope of
the catastrophe was still coming into view. Fire was devouring
everything in the Palisades and Altadena, from schools and churches
to mobile home parks and celebrity estates, along with state
parks and iconic restaurants. Thousands of people left without homes,
businesses were gutted, and many people remained unaccounted for, and
(16:39):
the flames were still raging. It would be twenty four
days until the last ember was extinguished.
Speaker 18 (16:45):
On Really, the entire hill foothills above us was just
completely in flames.
Speaker 10 (16:50):
Jose Alenzuela is a longtime Altadena resident an owner of
Altadina Grocery Outlet, a staple in the community. He says,
thankfully his family and his employees were safe from the fires,
and shockingly, his grocery store was spared from destruction.
Speaker 18 (17:04):
We suffer very minor actual structural damage to our building,
which is just again can't really make sense of it.
But everything around us, unfortunately, and I mean literally everything
around us, has burned to the ground.
Speaker 10 (17:21):
In the months since the fire, he has felt the
real heat of loss.
Speaker 18 (17:25):
When we open, we pretty much dropped fifty percent. We
know it's going to come back and we will rebuild,
and we are looking forward and pushing ahead, but the
reality is going to be a little while. You know,
there's no people living in our community at this moment.
Speaker 10 (17:42):
In fact, many of the businesses that remain in the
fire areas are struggling to keep their doors open.
Speaker 19 (17:46):
Websters has been here since nineteen twenty six, so we
are ninety nine years old in Altadena.
Speaker 10 (17:53):
Meredith Miller, who owns the historic Webster's Community Pharmacy, says
she and her husband scrambled the night of the fire
to find another pharmacy that could temporarily handle their customer's
prescriptions and ensure patients had access to their medications.
Speaker 19 (18:06):
You know, there's a Bank of America that shares basically
shares the parking lot here, and they burned down, so
at that point, you know, we kind of figured it
was over for us. When we got back in here
in mid February, we had to literally destroy everything, so.
Speaker 7 (18:23):
That was tough.
Speaker 19 (18:25):
Every pill, every item on the shelf had to go.
And so when we got back in here, we were
basically empty and starting all over again.
Speaker 10 (18:34):
What were those first few weeks like after you reopened
your business.
Speaker 19 (18:38):
So the first couple of weeks of being here were frankly,
very difficult for everybody. There were a lot of tears,
a lot of trauma, a lot of shock. People kind
of just in a daze coming in. They needed to
get a prescription, and all we did was hug and feel,
you know, and just be grateful that we were all
(18:59):
a lot and that we were going to overcome this somehow.
Speaker 10 (19:04):
There's still a long way to go for residents to
recover and rebuild. Altadena Town Council Chair Victoria Nap says
there is no set timeline for full restoration, but progress
is steadily being made.
Speaker 20 (19:16):
Rebuilding is just getting underway. There are homes the first
that were the first permits that were issued that are underway.
Speaker 10 (19:25):
Nap lost her home, as did many of her friends
and neighbors.
Speaker 20 (19:29):
But we were the first neighborhood, or among the first
neighborhoods to be evacuated.
Speaker 15 (19:35):
She says.
Speaker 10 (19:35):
The biggest need in the community right now is financial.
Speaker 20 (19:38):
What folks are facing now is the real financial reality
of rebuilding a home from the foundation up. We are
battling with the insurance commissioner. We are battling with insurers.
Anyone who is paid a premium into their policy to
(19:59):
protect them in situations like this is deserving of having
their full payout as quickly as possible, and that isn't happening.
Speaker 10 (20:08):
According to the La County Permitting Progress Dashboard, they've received
over one thousand applications to rebuild in fire zone areas
and eighty five building permits have been issued so far.
Forty three of those are for single family homes and
only one of those homes is in the Palisades. Despite
the average weight time of fifty one days, the Army
Corps of Engineer says, debris cleanup is months ahead of schedule.
Speaker 21 (20:30):
We were thinking it would take about a year, and
now we are. I think when I look at both
fires were now ninety three ninety four percent complete.
Speaker 10 (20:41):
Colonel jose Abashaw with the Army Corps of Engineers says
they removed debris, fire, ash, asbestos, and the foundation if necessary,
then hand over the land back to the owner. He says,
making sure the soil is stable is an essential part
of their job. What has been the biggest challenge then
in clearing these wildfire zones, especially in the more hillside
areas like the Palisades.
Speaker 21 (21:03):
So you had it right there, you know, logistics is
it drives the entire operation right and so you know
the hillside properties, especially in the Palisade and the cliff
side properties, they have been really challenging.
Speaker 10 (21:21):
And how does the speed of this wildfire recovery differ
from other wildfire recovery efforts.
Speaker 21 (21:26):
You know, this one has been unique from a lot
of different aspects. We also have a really huge industrial
base to rely on. You know, we have lots of
potential contractors in California that can come and searge assets.
So that has been a huge benefit here. Another huge
benefit has been just a partnership so between the county,
(21:49):
the state, federal government all working in Unison across town.
Speaker 10 (21:56):
Places like the Real Inn and Moonshadows along Pch and
Malibu were completely destroyed. Now six months later, one sign
of hope that things are moving forward, the iconic restaurant
Gladstone's has opened its ocean side deck for business.
Speaker 13 (22:10):
We saw this public deck where everyone can come and
hang out. And this is open in the public all
the time. You don't have to buy stuff from us.
You can come visit. If you're visiting your property that's
here and just don't have a place to hang out,
this is the spot.
Speaker 10 (22:21):
Both communities face a long road ahead. Recovery will take months,
even years, but Californians are no stranger to resilience. As
the physical reconstruction moves slowly forward, the emotional scars remain.
Residents of the Palisades and Alta Dina are determined to
keep their communities in the spotlight, not just for the
next six months, but for years and generations to come.
Speaker 20 (22:44):
This devastation has bonded us for sure, but it's been
it has it's been hard.
Speaker 18 (22:50):
We're strong community, we know we're going to overcome this,
but I think it's important for us to continue to
share the story.
Speaker 2 (23:01):
Indeed, indeed, great reporting, great look back, and we hope
the best for all the communities affected, and that you
think about it as really many of the communities that
weren't just part of the burn damage, the ripple effect
extends to all of us. So thanks again to Heather
Brooker on a look back six months post fire. When
(23:22):
we come back fourth of July weekend, what did this
wild staff you're a KFI do for the fourth of
July weekend? I know we're going to have some very
good stories a fourth of July revelry when we return,
Angel and Crozier, Steffoosh, Matt, this is a party crew.
(23:47):
I can only imagine what it's going to be. We'll
get into it next. Also, there was a development at
Big Bear over the holidays, and it was related to fireworks.
We will update the situation with the bald Eagles. We'll
do that next.
Speaker 9 (24:07):
You're listening to Tim Conway Junior on demand from KFI
AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
And we're just wrapping up the Fourth of July festivities.
I can only imagine our staff, I was saying, I mean,
these are people, and you know you see this played
out every day here with a jois de vive, you know,
a lust for life. These are the people you want
to be the nucleus of any kind of social event
(24:35):
you might be putting together. I mean you you get
it again. You can feel it every day here on
the Conway Show. And so it's with great anticipation that
I ask these people, all of the staff here, what
did you do for this great Fourth of July weekend?
I am going to start with Michael Krozer.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Mark, it was an electric day on Friday, July fourth.
Came into work, oh and do a little work. Then
I left at seven.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Yeah, that's still time to see some of the festivity.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Show was over. Yes, I got home by eight o'clock
and Jen and I had just enough time to turn
on the jacuzzie hop into jacuzzi and we could see
over the top of some buildings over on our side
to the east of us, we could see the remnants
of a fireworks show that took part, and we had
(25:31):
a good time and went to sleep.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Oh that's sweet. Well, I mean in a way that
wasn't such a bad day. You still got home with
the Yeah.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
No, I got to be here. I got to work
on the Tim Conway show.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
Tim was here. But you know, hey, I think working
on a holiday can be a good thing. No one's around. Yeah,
we're in this industry.
Speaker 4 (25:47):
You're kind of Your travel was awesome to and fro
work on it.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
Say that it has to be true.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Yeah, I'm about worth it.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Yeah, Angel Martinez, are you connected to us right now
to the speaking of travel, to the point that you
could give us a sense of what year fourth of
July was? Like?
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Absolutely? Absolutely so.
Speaker 5 (26:06):
As you know, I have a dog, and like most
dogs are, they don't really they're not fond of those
exploding sounds, popping sounds.
Speaker 14 (26:19):
And.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
It is.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
And so I have some friends who also have, you know,
some older dogs who really are not fond of those
sounds as well.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
So I went up to their house.
Speaker 5 (26:30):
And we hung out for the day, barbecued hung out
by the pool, played with the dogs, and then as
the sun started to drop, La Harbor is pretty close by,
so you could start to hear all of the kaboo
going out in the harbor. And I have a little
bird as well, and he was at home, so my
(26:52):
idea was to get back home before the big firework
displays start, because I didn't want him to be alone show.
So we hustled and we got we drove home. But
you know what, driving down that four oh five as
the sun's dropping on the fourth of July was like
driving through a firework tunnel making your way through Westminster.
(27:17):
They were these huge fireworks were going off right over
the freeway. My dog's freaking out in the backseat and
she's got her little seatbelt on and stuff, so she
was okay, But.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
I did, are these fireworks displays? Are they? They're illegal fireworks?
Is what you're talking about.
Speaker 5 (27:35):
Well, the firework displays I was talking about are the legal,
planned ones that go off you know in the neighbor.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Community by community has them?
Speaker 5 (27:43):
Sure, yes, yes, But the ones along that were blowing
up just right above my car on the four oh five,
I don't think we're planned events.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, I can't imagine that the community has planned a
fireworks display its going off right over the four five.
Speaker 5 (28:00):
No, but the concept of a firework tunnel is kind
of cool though, and it was kind of cool, but
it was freaking my dog out. So anyway, we got
home and once you passed hopped on the seventy three,
all was calm and well, and got home, fed my
dog a little melowtonin Calming Bar sure any dog owners
out there, and got the bird and hung out and
(28:26):
and watched episodes of Sex in the City.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Oh there you go. Sure, yeah, yeah, so it was
a soft landing. I love that.
Speaker 6 (28:34):
Yeah, it was a great night.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
That's really really cool. Uh, Steffushi, you also worked, I
believe on the fourth of July, right, that is true,
just not here. Not here.
Speaker 16 (28:46):
You went for the more lucrative option, which was what
doing lyft and uber all through the weekend, and it
was pretty busy. It was pretty good, so I couldn't
complain about it. Was it surge pricing in front of
that period that definitely happened on Friday night. Thursday was
just like another because since the fourth Fella of Friday,
I knew a lot of people were going to go
out on Thursday night because it's basically like an added Friday.
(29:11):
So people were going out, people are having fun, and
I gotta say, I'm really lucky. Like I would say,
like ninety eight percent of the people that I picked
up weren't even like drunk, you know, to inebriated, and
everyone was super cool. I think everyone was just in
a good mood. I think because of all the news
that's been on, it's kind of nice to have a
little bit of a distraction for like a day or two.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Sure, and yeah, I do most people. This is interesting
because you made me think of it with what you
were just saying. Are most of your rods in the
evening with people who are inebriated? Well, definitely.
Speaker 16 (29:44):
I mean before yeah, before I used to work full
time Monday through Thursdays, but I don't I'd stop at
like five or six. But Friday and Saturday night, yeah,
I mean that's basically people going out because that's when
you can make the most money in the shortest amount
of time.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
Because people call because they have decided to drink and
they don't want to drive themselves exactly.
Speaker 16 (30:04):
It's people come out of bars, clubs, house parties, you know,
the usual. And you know, it's also cool because no traffic,
so it's just zipping around all over the city.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
So that was one of your better days at nights.
Oh yeah, that's why I had to make sure I
was there. Oh and I got to go to Mo's party,
so that was really fun. Oh most party got to
He had.
Speaker 16 (30:21):
Me on as a guest, and then there was like
a dance party and they had a bunch of food,
so I got fed and I was like a nice
little break on the fourth and then after that it
just continued on my way throughout the night.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
That's very cool. Well that's a very special And Matt,
did you do anything special? No, not do for Matt,
feeling for share and nothing nothing too special.
Speaker 10 (30:41):
No, I was like Angel with my dog, watching out
for my dog.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
It is true if you have dogs, it's really a
traumatic thing. And you know, I know it'll never stop
because it's sort of fall part of our culture. The
beauty of fireworks's plays are there, but the it's so disruptive.
Speaker 14 (30:58):
I know.
Speaker 2 (30:59):
I'm going to say I know one to three, maybe
four people who've lost their dogs during fireworks displays, and
you know, yeah, and they've lost them forever. I mean,
it's just it's really sad, so not to mention there's
kind of an environmental thing. But the only reason I
mentioned it is because eventually I would think the drone
(31:21):
stuff is going to get so good. They can do
so much with the lighting and effects that are displayed
in any number of ways by these drone shows. I'm
hoping that that begins to even replace a lot of
these fireworks displays that are so disruptive. But no question
about it, it's part of the culture, you know, sort of
(31:42):
what we do. So Prime Day is also something we do.
In the next hour the best deals in the Amazon
Prime Day sale world. We talk to a veteran, a
veteran Prime Day shopper will get to that in the
next hour. Mark Thompson here for Tim Conway Junior with
(32:03):
KO five am, six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Tim Conway Jr. on Demand News
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.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.