Speaker 1 (00:00):
… for the wildfires and the windstorms that are impacting LA County. We welcome you. Run of show for today, we have speakers. There's a speakers list. Please help yourselves to one of those. After that, we will segue to question and answer with members of the press. Allow me to introduce to you our first speaker, Los Angeles County Chair of the Board of Supervisors Kathryn Barger.
Kathryn Barger (00:24):
Thank you, Helen. Thank you for joining us here today. Earlier this week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared today, January 9th, a day of mourning in solidarity with the federal government in honor of the passing of former President James Earl Carter. Ironically, today has turned into a day of mourning for more reasons than the one, as we mourn the loss of lives and property across our county.
(00:51)
While we are still facing significant threats, I am hopeful that the tide is turning. Thank you, Chief Marrone. Thank you, Chief Crowley. Yesterday afternoon, as the winds died down, we saw the return of aerial drops and aerial firefighting. A truly, truly welcome site. First and foremost, I want to assure our residents in Los Angeles County that the City of LA and the county are working hard and working hand in hand to bring every resource available to the table.
(01:23)
Last night, the county opened the Pomona Fairplex as an additional shelter for those evacuating and those who have suffered losses. The Fairplex will also continue to take in large animals that are in need of a home. The county is working to harness and utilize the incredible outpouring of generosity from individuals, nonprofits, and companies that want to help. We have heard that many companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Lyft are offering free or subsidized services for those impacted by the fires in Los Angeles County. The county will be sharing all of these resources through our recovery.lacounty.gov website.
(02:08)
In addition, the state has activated CAL FIRE Management Team 3 and assigned them to the Eaton Canyon incident. They will be joining Federal Management Team 5 in their ongoing efforts, we hope as early as tomorrow. CAL FIRE Team 3 will be tasked with overseeing victim search operations and damage inspections to facilitate debris removal operations and setting up disaster recovery assistance centers. This will allow Federal Management Team 5 to focus on firefighting operations and the active front.
(02:45)
As Supervisor Horvath mentioned yesterday, wildfires do not care about jurisdictional boundaries. Between the city and the county, we are managing the various resources that are coming online with the increasing demands on our first responders. I saw this firsthand driving through the streets of Altadena yesterday. Driving up Lake Avenue, the devastation could not be missed. The number of homes, businesses, and buildings that were on the fire dwarfed in any sense of available resources.
(03:21)
Altadena is a very unique and special part of the fifth district. It is a community that embodies the spirit of a big small town. A community full of rich culture, history, and one that passionately supports the small businesses that drive its economy in the community. It is also one of the only communities in Los Angeles County that manages the urban-wildland interface.
(03:51)
Altadena is a resilient community. They have seen some significant battles before, but the scale of the impact today is larger than anything that I have seen in my career. The loss of historic resources at Eaton Canyon Nature Center, Farnsworth Park, and the Altadena Golf course cannot be measured. I saw fire engines and companies from El Dorado County and other parts of California joining Los Angeles County Fire in an effort to protect life and property.
(04:27)
In the midst of the emergency, we've all seen individuals who are targeting vulnerable communities by burglarizing and looting homes. This is simply unacceptable. You'll be hearing from our DA, Hochman, shortly, regarding his efforts to hold these individuals accountable, and I promise you, you will be held accountable. Shame on those who are preying on our residents during this time of crisis. The emergency order will be strictly enforced by the Sheriff's Department who are proactively patrolling to protect these communities from looting and any criminal activity. They have made 20 arrests of individuals who will be held accountable for the actions that they've taken.
(05:17)
I want to thank President Joe Biden and Governor Gavin Newsom for pledging to bring federal and state resources to help Los Angeles County in our moment of need. President Biden's disaster declaration includes the promise of public assistance and individual assistance. We will begin the process of rebuilding. We will have critical resources available to ensure the residents of our communities are not fighting these battles alone.
(05:46)
I intend to bring in a motion with Supervisor Horvath as my co-author, to ratify the county's emergency proclamation at the next Board of Supervisors meeting. Make no mistake, this board and this county will continue to do everything in our power to ensure the safety of our residents as we look forward to the path of recovery. With that, I would like to introduce Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Actually, we're going to [inaudible 00:06:21] supervisor with the mayor. Let's announce the elected officials.
Kathryn Barger (06:21):
Okay, so who are we going to-
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Mayor Bass.
Kathryn Barger (06:22):
Mayor Bass. I'd like to introduce LA City Mayor Bass.
Karen Bass (06:29):
Thank you, Supervisor. One voice. That is the way we speak and that is the way we stand here united. Los Angeles will stand united and stand strong.
(06:42)
So, first of all, my thoughts are with the thousands of Angelenos who are impacted by this emergency. As more Angelenos were forced to make the terrifying decision to evacuate. Our priorities, of course, are to keep Angelenos safe and to protect homes. The winds continue to be of a historic nature and a key factor of this firestorm. For much of Tuesday, the unprecedented winds prevented air operations to continue. However, as of yesterday, the winds have allowed for air operations and that has enabled significant progress against the fires in Hollywood and Studio City last night. And as of 7:30 this morning, evacuation orders in Hollywood have been lifted.
(07:32)
Angelenos cooperated. The community stood together, they evacuated, and Angelenos should continue to proceed with caution. Air operations are continuing rapidly in the Palisades, in Sylmar, and across our region. We continue to see our heroes, from our LA firefighters and from personnel, families, neighbors from across the county and the state. We thank you. However, we continue to confront a big one-level firestorm. Historic winds and extensive drought have created a perfect storm that has driven people from their homes and have taken people's homes and that has taken people's lives.
(08:17)
I've been in the fire zones and you can see how fast and devastating these wind-driven fires are. I know people from all over the nation are asking how they can help. So, here are two essential ways. First of all, support the California Community Foundation Wildlife Recovery Fund at calfun.org, and support the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation at supportlafd.org. And in addition to shelters, Airbnb is offering free temporary housing. Go to 211la.org for more information.
(08:57)
This, as we know, is a regional crisis, so working together is the only way we will get through this. That's why I've been in constant contact with my colleagues at the county, state, and federal level. President Biden, Governor Newsom, have assured us of full state and federal support. And of course, County Chair Barger and I are fully coordinated, as I am with all of the local elected officials. And our fire departments, police departments, utilities and other critical agencies are coordinated as well. We have pre-deployed, we are executing a strategy, and we are adapting to conditions on the ground in real time.
(09:41)
This is absolutely an unprecedented, historic firestorm, but we are all hands on deck. We need to continue to cooperate. We need to evacuate when asked to do so. We need to help others, help our neighbors. And first and foremost, we need to stay united. We need to stay strong. A united LA is the way we will recover, is the way we rebuild our communities. And with that, I believe I am introducing supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Lindsey Horvath (10:25):
Okay. Thanks. Good morning. The strength and resilience of Los Angeles County is more than anything we are seeing on the ground. I know this because of the relentless fight that our first responders, our firefighters, our law enforcement officials are putting forward, giving it everything they've got to take on each of these fires throughout the region.
(10:51)
That being said, this is testing even the strongest among us. Last night, I personally received an alert from Nixle that I too was under evacuation warning, and I was put in the shoes of tens of thousands of Angelenos who have been facing this from the moment the fires broke out. No one should have to choose which priceless memento they're going to take with them or leave behind in order to stay safe, for their families to stay safe, for their communities to be safe.
(11:29)
I've heard from so many community members about the pricelessness of the community centers, the faith centers. I know that in the Palisades alone, there are more than 20,000 Jewish community members, and I was contacted by the Jewish Federation, and the work that they are doing throughout region to support the Jewish community we've heard with the Eaton fire, the loss of so many faith centers throughout the Palisades fire, and so much more. These are not just structures. These are places where people have made lasting memories, memories they will hold onto, but as they look at their community now, their hearts break, and we are in mourning with them. This is a time of grief and that is why it is tremendous that our governor and our president and all of the leaders behind me, and all of the leaders throughout Los Angeles are standing strong for all of our Angelenos who are suffering great heartache.
(12:42)
The Pacific Palisades has suffered immense loss and my heart goes out to all of the residents who are continuing to try to understand what is left of their homes. In the Topanga Canyon, I've been speaking with residents throughout the night. And I know that OneTopanga and TCEP have been in constant communication with those on the ground, and we are in communication with them to ensure that we are supporting Topangans on the ground. I know there's this morning a fire active behind the lumber yard, and the chief has personally deployed resources to ensure that we are actively fighting the fires in Topanga. Topanga Canyon is a treasure and we are fighting to protect it.
(13:27)
Sunset Mesa, when you look at what is left, is heartbreaking. The community members of Malibu and Santa Monica, which last night declared a curfew because of the tragedy that they're experiencing on top of the fire, people trying to take advantage of this crisis. It's absolutely unacceptable and we will all stand together to keep each and every neighborhood safe.
(13:52)
The Hollywood Hills, my heart broke with you last night. I am grateful for the swift work and the aerial assault that took place in order to protect our Hollywood Hills quickly. When you saw a home go up in flames in Studio City, you wondered if that was going to be the next outburst. The residents of Studio City, we stand with you. And in Sylmar, we have at least achieved some containment of the Hurst fire, but we have a long way to go and we are watching and standing with you.
(14:29)
This is a moment where we will share detailed updates, but we will not forget that behind each of these updates is a person who deserves our support. With that, gas shutoffs continue to affect more than 15,000 people in Malibu from Brentwood Country Club to Pepperdine. A boil water advisory remains in effect for the Sunset Mesa community from Topanga Beach and Coastline Drive to the south, on Shore Heights Drive on the north, and Topanga Canyon to Carbon Canyon Road in Malibu, including communities of Big Rock and Carbon Mesa.
(15:04)
Metro fares remain suspended today thanks to the leadership of Metro Board Chair Hahn and our CEO Stephanie Wiggins. If you have essential travel today, please do so safely away from the areas of the evacuation orders. If you do not have essential travel, please remain indoors.
(15:24)
For the latest updates and service impacts, you can go to alerts.metro. net. LA County Assessor Jeffrey Prang has shared property tax installment deferral applications, misfortune/calamity damage reassessment applications, and disaster relief FAQ for property owners affected by the fires at assessor.lacounty.gov. All LAUSD schools and Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District schools in the third district are closed.
(15:56)
With that, mental health supports are available through the county's Department of Mental Health. You can call (800) 854-7771. Please use this resource. We know you are experiencing traumatic pain and we want to do our best to help start healing.
(16:15)
Thank you for the outpouring of support from across the county and across the country. Emergency Network LA is coordinating volunteers and support through enla.org. Our county is doing everything possible to respond to these fires until they are contained. And as Chair Barger referenced, today is a day of mourning. And in the words of former President Carter, "Our faith calls us to do all that we can wherever we can, with all we can." And in this spirit, indeed, in this moment, this moment calls us to do the same. Thank you. Next, I'd like to welcome LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.
Anthony Marrone (17:01):
So, good morning. Thank you, Supervisor Horvath. I will be providing an Eaton fire update in addition to a region 1 update. The Eaton fire remains estimated to be 10,600 acres and growth has been significantly stopped, and we have 0% containment.
(17:25)
We have over 879 firefighting personnel assigned, and mutual aid resources continue to arrive to assist with this firefight. From this point forward, incident fatality information and reporting will be the responsibility of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. We have several reported injuries and over 1,000 structures damaged and destroyed. The cause of the fire remains unknown
Anthony Marrone (18:00):
And it continues to be under active investigation. As I stated yesterday, as soon as the cause is determined, we will advise the media. The Lidia fire that started yesterday in Acton has been 40% contained and forward progress has been stopped. It is limited to 348 acres. The number of resources assigned to this fire siege event has increased significantly and we have a much better posture than we did on Tuesday and Wednesday. Out of state resources continue to arrive in Los Angeles County and city, and we are appreciative to our fire partners from throughout the Western United States for providing assistance to Los Angeles County in our time of need.
(18:54)
Regarding the current red flag warning, the National Weather Service predicts the warning will remain in effect for Los Angeles County and the majority of Ventura County through Friday. I would like to also acknowledge the presence of Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell from the US Fire Administration, who flew out with her team from Washington DC last night to be with Fire Chief Crowley and I so they could witness firsthand the challenges and the devastation that have resulted.
(19:31)
Lastly, I want to acknowledge the tireless efforts of my LA County Fire Department personnel, both on the front lines and those behind the scenes, who continuously place themselves in harm's way to protect residents and property in our great county of Los Angeles. Thank you for always being there and continue to be safe as they take care of themselves, those around them, and the people we serve and protect. Thank you.
(20:03)
And I'd now like to invite up Fire Chief Kristin Crowley of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley (20:14):
Thank you, Chief Marrone.
(20:16)
So good morning. We continue to battle multiple major brush fires in the city of Los Angeles and across the Los Angeles region. Today, we expect winds to subside somewhat, which will allow fire crews to increase containment lines. However, and I want to be very clear here as well, we are still under red flag warning with extreme fire behavior possibilities.
(20:45)
Before I give you an update on several fires in the city of Los Angeles, I have to take a moment for all the right reasons to thank the residents of Los Angeles and our surrounding areas for heeding our instructions today. It is absolutely imperative that as we move into day three of this firestorm, all members of our Los Angeles community maintain vigilance. I will now give you an update of our activities that occurred overnight.
(21:24)
Palisades fire, as we know started January 7th at 10:30 hours in the morning. Size at this point is 17,234 acres. We're in unified command, LAFD, CAL FIRE, LA County Fire, LAPD, and LA Sheriffs. 0% containment. Extreme fire behavior continues to challenge firefighting efforts for the Palisades area. Wind gusts are up to 60 miles per hour and are expected to resume throughout the entire day. Firefighters and air resources will continue to work to protect the community and infrastructures and gain control so that we can contain this fire.
(22:14)
Damage assessments are ongoing at the Palisades fire. However, preliminary reports estimate the damage or destroyed structures to be in the thousands. It is safe to say that the Palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles. We will continue to provide additional information as it becomes available.
(22:43)
I'll move on to the Hurst fire. January 7th, start. The size, 855 acres. We're unified in command, LAFD, United States Fire Service, Angeles National Forest, and LAPD. 0% containment. Firefighters held the fire within a planned containment area and are successful and we have established a perimeter. Crews were able to get a handle on a few of the flare-ups over the night. We will continue to strengthen our containment lines and create a number of dozer lines to minimize the fire growth.
(23:22)
Next, Woodley fire. Started on January 8th. The size, 30 acres. Containment, fully contained and we are using fire patrols to monitor the area for any flare-ups. The fire has been declared as a knockdown and there are no current threats.
(23:41)
Next, the Sunset fire, which is in the Runyon Canyon area, started last night, January 8th. Size, 42.8 acres. Forward progress, I'm very glad to share with everybody, was stopped and the crews are working to put out spot fires within the perimeters to keep the wind from spreading any additional embers. As of 7:30 this morning, all evacuation orders have been lifted. This fire was rapidly and aggressively attacked by using coordinated air and ground fire suppression efforts. Residents heeded our timely evacuation orders, more information to come on that.
(24:22)
Next up, the Sunswept fire, which is in the Studio City area. As I talked about all the previous incidents, on top of this our fire department was faced with another massive challenge, a very large structure fire encompassing two large hillside homes with heavy fire, which exposed brush, broke out in the Studio City area of Los Angeles. The high winds caused the fire to extend within the adjacent brush, potentially causing another additional brush fire. Our LAFD poured all available resources into this fire and through a combined effort, were successful in preventing another devastating brush fire. Our firefighters stopped the forward progress at just under one acre. Also, to be clear, all of the incidents that I just spoke about are all under an active investigation.
(25:24)
Let's talk about the preparations for today. The LAFD continues to augment and recall all of our firefighters to fill every single available seat on every single available apparatus within the city of Los Angeles. Firefighters continue to move into the Southern California region from across the western region of the United States, and we are very, very grateful for any assistance that we are receiving. Weather conditions are beginning to turn favorably, which will allow us to increase our containment lines. Again, our primary focus remains on impacting and affecting rescues and saving lives while protecting property.
(26:04)
The multiple incidents across the city and the region continue to tax our firefighters. However, rest assured that every single firefighter, first responder, law enforcement officer across the region remains 100% committed to protecting our communities. Here's your call to action. Stay informed with trusted news and official updates. Be prepared to evacuate if you live near wild land area. Follow all evacuation warnings and orders without delay. We also ask the public to stay off the roadways and away from any impacted areas, which we want to make sure there's zero room for any other issues when it comes to delays for our firefighters, first responders to get to where we need to go.
(26:51)
I want to take just a moment to thank every single Los Angeles resident who's been impacted by this for staying vigilant, supporting our first responders and helping your neighbors. Thank you to Mayor Bass, our city leadership, everybody that is here. As you can see, we stand with every single community member, business, anybody that's been negatively impacted by all of these incidents. We stand with you. We're going to remain strong with you as well, and I tell you we're throwing everything at this that we possibly can and we're going to move through this and continue to support one another.
(27:27)
With that, I will go ahead and introduce our next speaker, which is Sheriff Luna. Sir.
Sheriff Luna (27:36):
Good morning. Robert Luna, the Sheriff of Los Angeles County. Currently, we have well over 400 sheriffs personnel that are still actively deployed to the fires. In addition to our normal staffing for patrol related functions throughout the county of Los Angeles. Deputies continue to assist our residents with evacuations. They're performing a lot of humanitarian missions. So many stories to share, don't have time right now. Providing food and blankets to people, rescuing people who unfortunately did not evacuate when they were asked to.
(28:11)
So you've heard it over and over up here, a lot of the stories of heroic actions by our deputy sheriffs, police officers or firefighters, a lot of them are taking place from people who did not choose to evacuate, putting their own lives at risk. So please, if you're asked to evacuate, evacuate because it's not only your life, you're putting in danger.
(28:34)
We continue to conduct roving patrols, manning hard road closures, providing security in evacuation areas to prevent anyone who may be tempted to engage in criminal behavior like looting. It was mentioned earlier before by the supervisor, and I'm going to make this crystal clear to everybody out there, over last night and this morning we are up to 20, 20 individuals who chose to go into our areas and deprive these poor people who have been through so much of their property. Absolutely unacceptable. And I'm going to give direction to our department members, as you know, when we have an evacuation order, by law if you remain in that area you are guilty of a misdemeanor. If you commit certain crimes, it could jump up to a felony. I'm going to be asking our employees to start enforcing that.
(29:40)
That is very different than a curfew. Why? Because it's 24/7. I don't have to wait for the sun to go down or the sun to come up. If you are in one of these areas and you do not belong there, you are going to be subject to arrest. I hope that is as clear as I can make it because our first choice isn't to do enforcement, it's not to make arrests, it's to help people. But if people choose to commit crimes, they're going to be held accountable, and the DA who is standing next to me will clarify even that a little bit further.
(30:14)
This continues to be a fluid and evolving crisis and the numbers that we release throughout this incident are going to fluctuate. So anything we say is subject to change. We're getting information from our boots on the ground. It's very chaotic out there because it's still so fluid. So forgive us if we give a number and then we have to modify those numbers. I talked about the 20 arrests that have been made so far. Unfortunately, I do expect that to go up. We're not going to tolerate that kind of activity. We have substantially increase our deployment of deputies at the fixed traffic post and are trying to limit and clear out any unauthorized vehicles or people in these areas.
(30:58)
I do want to talk as we are summonsing more resources. I have been in contact with the chief of the Office of Emergency Services for the State of California, obviously that's done at the direction of Governor Newsom. From the get-go of this he has offered any and all resources to us and law enforcement and they're doing the same for fire, but I'll specifically talk about policing. The California National Guard is on standby at our direction, specifically my direction, and we along with my partner Jim McDonnell at the LAPD, are currently in discussions if we are going to need them or how we would deploy them as the hours go on. So stand by for that information as the hours tick on.
(31:48)
Chief Marrone mentioned this regarding any death toll information. Yes, we had preliminary numbers yesterday. I got to be honest with you, as I reviewed some of those last night and this morning, I was not satisfied with some of the information that we're getting. And it's not the fault of our people, the people that are working under very difficult conditions are doing their best to do what they need to do. At one point we'll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas, some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them, where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us hopefully not discover too many fatalities. That's our prayer. But this is a crisis and we don't know what to expect, but we're ready for everything. So all information, at least on the county side of this equation, we're working with our coroner's office. We'll figure out those numbers. So be patient with us when you ask us about death toll numbers, right now, frankly, we don't know yet, we eventually will.
(32:54)
Evacuations overall for Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Lidia fires, the number in both county and city areas evacuation orders are impacting 179,783 residents. That's nearly 180,000 people in Los Angeles County that are currently under evacuation orders, with another close to 200,000 residents that are under evacuation warnings. I cannot emphasize enough that I urge residents that are asked to evacuate to follow our warnings. I gave some examples earlier. I'm going out through my staff, hey, give me some stories where our deputies are just constantly putting their life on the line and in every example I'm given is as a result of somebody who chose not to evacuate. I don't want to tell those stories anymore. I don't want to give stories of our first responders being injured, specifically our communities being injured. Please, if you're told to evacuate, evacuate.
(33:59)
Two of our sheriff sub-stations are out of power, running on generators. That's both our Altadena and Crescenta Valley stations. They're right in the thick of things. They're engaged in all of the work that I've described. Described the issues of mutual aid, we'll consistently evaluate and reevaluate the needs for more law enforcement personnel. But I can tell you I'm getting calls from all over this region from other sheriffs and police chiefs, everybody wants to help. And that's awesome. That's part of our profession. Very proud to be part of it.
(34:33)
The last thing I'll say is for any specific information regarding evacuation orders or warnings or any road closures and there's a lot of them, please go to Lacounty.gov/emergency. Thank you very much. And with that, I am going to introduce the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, Jim McDonnell.
Chief Jim McDonnell (34:58):
Good morning. And I'll start off with a sincere thank you to all who have cooperated and supported the first responders and others who've been out there doing the best they can to make this as manageable as it can be. We're still on full tactical alert at the LAPD in support of our fire partners to be able to accomplish their mission. We're assisting with safety as well as the evacuation sites. You heard the Sheriff quote the numbers of people who are out there using those. And again, we want to provide every level of safety we can for those involved in that effort.
(35:33)
We've been joined by our Port Police and Los Angeles World Airport Police partners as part of the city family in doing the jobs that we're doing as we move forward today. But I want to thank our team. Many of our team and many of the people are here behind me, have left their families in fire areas to come to work, to be able to help others. We've had a large number of people who have been evacuated. A large
Chief Jim McDonnell (36:00):
Large number of people in this group here who either family or friends have lost their own homes and lost everything they own, and are dealing with taking care of young families at the same time while they're trying to balance the needs of work with the needs and responsibilities of family. We truly are all in this together and we have to look at it that way as we move forward. The advice I would give is consistent with what you've heard. The air is not healthy for people who are challenged from a respiratory standpoint. So if you don't have to come into an area that's so impacted, please don't. Traffic, we are trying to maintain ingress and egress to our emergency areas for first responders in particular. We had, as you heard, people coming in still from other states to be able to help in the fire suppression effort and we need them to be able to get in and be able to do what they need to do as easily as possible.
(36:56)
The evacuations, they will probably still continue as the winds pick up. So we want to be able to do that as effectively as we can. Again, I said thank you for the cooperation, but I ask for additional cooperation should the need arise as we move forward. This is anything but predictable. We're thankful for the wind conditions we have now and the ability for our fire partners to try and make up for lost time to be able to put containment around several of our burn areas and to be able to move forward on that. But again, I just want to say that you've heard from, and you'll hear in a minute from the DA, but from the sheriff, about our crime suppression efforts. For those who want to take advantage of others, we're there. We're going to be there and we're going to be working to hold you accountable for what you're doing in that regard.
(37:46)
But as this runs its course, fatigue will certainly become a significant factor for those who are both directly involved in the operation as well as members of our community. So again, we are very thankful for the people who are doing this on all of our behalf, but we need to stick together. We need to support each other. And this is a thing where morale is a big deal for both the community and all of our folks. So take care of each other out there and let's do the best we can. Thank you. Sorry. Now, I've mentioned our DA Hochman. It's now my pleasure to introduce the newly elected district attorney of Los Angeles County, Nathan Hochman.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Yesterday I bore witness by walking and driving through Pacific Palisades. I ended up in my sister's house, a house where she and her husband had raised four boys, celebrated birthdays, barbecues and whatnot, and that house has been burned to the ground. And not just her house, but all her neighbors. Up and down, each one of the blocks I traveled, those houses no longer exist. They are now basically rubble. And I haven't seen something like that and I've lived here almost over 60 years in the entire time I've been here. It looked apocalyptic.
(39:13)
Not since the 1990s when Los Angeles was hit with the fires, the flood, the earthquake, and the riots, have I seen such disaster occur here in our city. But like back then, Los Angeles has true grit. It has resilience. And it will rebuild, and it will rebuild better than ever. But along the way, there might be people out there who want to take advantage of the people who are suffering these tragic losses. These criminals need to hear, as they've heard from the sheriff, as they've heard from Chief McDonnell, an unmistakably clear message, that if you want to go ahead and loot, if you want to commit burglary, if you want to engage in grand theft, if you want to engage in these internet scams where you're going to take advantage of people who are going to be seeking insurance and government benefits, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished to the full extent of the law.
(40:17)
And the reason I want to send this warning now is, I don't want any mistake later. That somehow they thought, "Oh, it's not a big deal." It's a huge deal. These acts are despicable. And we will prosecute them with maximal punishment. So I want to make sure that message is received loud and clear. Because the first responders in this situation had been simply heroic. As I was in Pacific Palisades, I not only saw fire departments from LA County and LA City, I saw Rialto, Poway, Redding, fire engines from across this entire state that have come to our rescue.
(40:56)
And thank you. Thank you to all the first responders. When it comes to law enforcement, it's an all-hands-on-deck operation with law enforcement and the DA's office. Again, detectives are putting on uniforms and getting out there on the streets to protect us. We owe them a huge thank you. And from the DA's office, if we do get these cases, please be on notice that we are going to try and deter you from committing the crimes in the first place. But if you do commit these crimes, do not expect anything else than maximal punishment. I'll now introduce LA County Public Works director, Mark Pestrella
Kathryn Barger (41:40):
Thank you [inaudible 00:41:43].
Speaker 3 (41:45):
Good morning. As was stated, my name is Mark Pestrella. I'm the director of the Los Angeles County Public Works agency. First I want to say my heart of course goes out to everyone affected by the devastating event. I personally toured many of the areas yesterday and met with residents. And as everyone here has described, it's an absolute tragedy. Including the life safety support system, our infrastructure that has been destroyed, that supports life in these communities. I know from personal experience that [inaudible 00:42:16] a loss from a wildfire, and I have tremendous respect for our firefighters and other first responders. Our police force, the sheriff's department for the work they are currently doing. In fact, our current mission, which has been going 24/7, for three days now, is to support our fire department and our sheriff's department and the local PDs in their efforts to save lives.
(42:39)
That is our number one mission right now and what we are currently continuing to do unfortunately, as this event is still active. We are also focusing on the inevitable recovery and repopulation of the areas that we will build back and build back strong. The current focus is on utility restoration. And I know many people are already asking about that. Your sewer, water, your power system, and the transportation system have all been significantly damaged. The heat of this system, the wind that blew also knocked down thousands of trees into the roadway. So what we have is a tremendous amount of debris throughout the communities that have had experienced this fire. This debris has been moved enough to let our firefighters and our sheriff and PD into the area to do their work, but it's going to need to be processed and moved safely out of the area. And we are working on a coordinated effort across LA County to do debris removal that it will be necessary to restore the community back to its former way of life. The debris can be hazardous. The debris that is on the private property is considered hazardous and may be toxic. And so I want to warn everybody now that is either there who has remained behind or who is visiting the areas, as was mentioned earlier, it is not safe. It is not safe to touch the debris. It is not safe to remove the debris yourselves. There is a process for that and we will be mobilizing with the city of Los Angeles to provide a health review of every property and make sure that when we move that debris, that it's done in a way that's safe, and safe for you and for the other residents who remain behind in the area.
(44:20)
We are also working on water supply system. The water supply system currently is still supplying fire suppression. Last night we got to see the wonderful use of our reservoirs, the city's reservoirs and our reservoirs to take water from the reservoirs and actually use firefighting event, aerial attacks to the system. You saw what a difference that made in the firefight last night. And those reservoirs are full and continue to be ready and at the disposal of our firefighting friends. The municipal water system continues to suffer poor water quality due to the introduction of ash and debris into our reservoirs and into our filtration systems. So there are specific areas that we are asking for water to be boiled. I would just say with all caution, anyone who's remained behind, if there is any residence in your area that is burned to the ground and you are still there, you should just go ahead and boil water.
(45:14)
We will be actively coming to communities in the next day, within this day or next day, delivering water, delivering domestic water to people who remain in the fire zone area. LA County will be coordinating that effort not only for the District 29, but also we'll be working with the city of LA to deliver water to residents who've remained behind. Or who again have partial damage and are maybe staying in their homes. I want to again just mention that a firefight with multiple fire hydrants drawing the water from municipal water systems for several hours is just not sustainable. That's why the air support is so important. Our residents in the Sunset Mesa, Topanga Beach area, coastline drive out on the south, to Shores Heights drive on the north are up in the area. This is a partial damaged area or threatened area. The Topanga Canyon road, The Carbon Canyon Road, Mesa as well is another area that's threatened.
(46:14)
So all of what I just talked about applies to you residents who are there. Now, what can we do… What can the public do? What you should be doing as we sort of still active fire. If you… Again, I will reiterate that it's extremely important to listen to the sheriff and to PD. When you are asked to evacuate, to evacuate immediately. Do not hesitate. Do not wait. Your life is not worth it. The systems that you're leaving behind, they are going to be impacted and they cannot be restarted easily. So I know a lot of people are talking about starting up. If you're thinking about creating your own water and sewer and power system at your home, I want you to be very careful about that. That is not something that a licensed contractor should be doing or our utility folks. Please don't do that.
(47:01)
As I said yesterday, if you're leaving your home, I want to make sure that you close that home up tight, and that you leave access for firefighters by not closing gates or creating a situation where they can't get to your home to fight off fire. The road system is impacted heavily throughout LA County, including city and county areas. There are multiple, in fact hundreds of signals that are currently flashing red. I want to remind everybody that you treat that as a stop sign, and you stop for that flashing. And if you come to a barricade, you need to turn around. Because those streets are closed for the purpose of recovery and not for looky-loos. Please do not argue with the sheriffs that are there or the PD. If the road is closed, there's a good reason for it. It's because it's not safe for you to be in that area. And that safety includes the debris that I was talking about, trees down, potholes, road systems destroyed.
(47:57)
There could be brakes in the roadway that could cause major damage to your vehicle. So I'm asking that you comply with all road closures until further notice. We are a available as a 24/7 agency. You can reach our department at 1-800-675-HELP. We do need every citizen… This is something else you can do. If you see something, please tell us about it. Whether it's a gas leak, whether it's a utility line down, if it's a signal that's malfunctioning, if it's a sewer system leak. Any of those things that keep our life safety system going, we need to know about them so we can catalog them and get to them.
(48:34)
Please know, and I do need to mention that all of the utility workers, not just my folks at LA County Public Works, but the folks at the city of Los Angeles, the folks at the Southern California Edison, the gas company, we are all coordinating with each other to restore your systems. And our folks are all working 24/7. There are many heroic stories like the sheriff and fire have of our utility folks out in the middle of the night, 24/7, getting those systems back up into place. And I want to thank all of the utility workers who are out there doing their job, who are not going home to family at night. They're actually working 24/7 as well. With that, I want to introduce the CEO and chief engineer of the Department of Water and Power, Janisse Quinones.
Speaker 4 (49:23):
Good morning. I am Janisse Quinones, CEO and chief engineer of LADWP. LADWP crews continue to work around the clock to restore power and support firefighting efforts. On the power front we have restored about 200,000 customers so far since the windstorm started. And as of this morning, we have approximately 95,000 customers out. We have 118 crews, DWP crews, working around the clock to restore powers as fast and as safe as possible. We're expecting our mutual aid crews coming from PG&E to arrive today and support the restoration efforts. Our restoration times are ranging from 24 to 48 hours. We are prioritizing wires down. So if you see a wire down, please call 911, and we'll send crews immediately to make the area safe. However, if you live in the fire-impacted areas or near those areas, you might experience longer outages. Mainly because either our equipment has been compromised due to the fire, we're not able to access the area yet, or we're proactively shutting down the power for the safety of firefighters and first responders.
(50:38)
On the water side, the boil water notice for Palisades on zip code 90272 continues in effect. And it will continue in effect for at least 48 hours. I have water quality engineers taking samples around the system to ensure that the water quality remains a priority for our consumers. We continue to support LAFD [inaudible 00:51:01] and water supply issues and firefighting response, including opening our water reservoirs, as mentioned by Mark yesterday. Hollywood Reservoir was a critical asset when we were fighting the Sunset fire. So all our reservoirs are open, that are open [inaudible 00:51:22] for air assets. And we continue to work around the clock with other water agencies to increase the supply and pressure of the water system, including Metropolitan Water District. I want to end this by thanking DWP crews and personnel for their commitment and efforts to support the restoration of LA. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (51:47):
Thank you very much for that. And now [inaudible 00:51:49].
Kathryn Barger (51:49):
Yeah. I also want to… We recognized President Biden and Governor Newsom, but we also have here with us today Congressmember George Whitesides, Congressmember Laura Friedman, Senator Sasha Renee Perez, Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez, and Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart. Make no mistake, we are all working together and I want to thank you all for being here. I know our Congress representatives flew in and we appreciate it and we are all in this together. With that, we'll take some questions.
Speaker 5 (52:22):
Thank you, Chair [inaudible 00:52:24]. So just a couple rules of the road. So I'll call on you. When you get called upon, please announce your name and which media outlet you are with, and we'll start right here in the middle.
Josh Haskell (52:32):
Jonathan Vigliotti with CBS News for Mayor Bass, please. Mayor, LA County is in a panic state. It began two days ago with the Palisades fire. My crew and I arrived shortly after it started. And for several hours we watched as hundreds of homes in our neighborhood burned to the ground. We did not see a single fire engine. We watched as good Samaritans guided traffic. There was fear and there was a lot of confusion. You were out of the country at the time. Shortly after the fire started, a press release was put out warning of this fire behavior. My question to you is what explains this lack of preparation and rapid response?
Karen Bass (53:16):
Let me just say first and foremost, my number one focus, and I think the focus of all of us here with one voice is that we have to protect lives, we have to save lives, and we have to save homes. Rest assured that when that-
Josh Haskell (53:30):
But that did not happen.
Karen Bass (53:31):
Rest assured… Let me finish. Rest assured, when that is done, when we are safe, when lives have been saved and homes have been saved, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, what didn't work, and to correct or to hold accountable anybody, department, individual, et cetera. But my focus right now is on the lives and
Karen Bass (54:00):
… on the homes.
Josh Haskell (54:01):
Do you think your leadership was effective while responding to this disaster?
Karen Bass (54:05):
I just said what I believe is the most important thing for us to do right now, and that is going to continue to be my focus. Thank you.
Josh Haskell (54:13):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (54:13):
Thank you. Let's go to the middle with the laptop.
Speaker 6 (54:15):
Before we go on, I want to introduce, because this is an important announcement we made. The US Forest Service Fire Chief Robert Garcia has an announcement regarding a decision being made on the National Forest.
Robert Garcia (54:26):
Thank you supervisor, and I'll be brief. I just wanted to share that in the overnight hours last night, the US Forest Service, in an effort to reduce calls for service and reduce potential risks for wildfire, we've made a decision until further notice that the Angeles National Forest is closed. And so we'll get some additional information out to press release, that kind of information on the details of that closure. But it's similar to the types of orders that the county and the city have instituted regarding curfews and access and that type of thing. So the Angeles National Forest will be closed until further notice, likely till we get through this current fire weather event.
Speaker 5 (54:57):
Thank you for that. We'll go in the middle. Name and media outlet please.
Thomas Fuller (55:01):
Hi, Thomas Fuller from the New York Times. For Chief Luna, I just wanted to follow up on what you said about you weren't satisfied with the information that you were getting on fatalities. It's been widely reported that there were at least five deaths. Do you believe that death toll is not accurate and do you think it's less than that?
Sheriff Luna (55:24):
Based on all the information that I've received in the last probably eight hours, I want to be more confident in the specific information that I'm getting. So what we're doing now is going back through everything because you got to understand the urgency, the chaotic nature of what we're dealing with and we're still in the middle of that.
(55:47)
So I want to make sure that as we go forward, at least for the sheriff's department, we're actually having our homicide unit involved because they don't only do murder investigations. They do death investigations. That I'm going to change the system and verify each number because I don't care if it's just one, that's somebody's family. That's somebody we love and care for. So I want to make sure that's solid before we start presenting that information.
(56:12)
Unfortunately, based on the preliminary information I've seen, at least in the two large fires that we're dealing with on each side of the county, unfortunately I think the death toll will rise. I hope I'm wrong, but I think it's going to rise.
Speaker 5 (56:27):
Thank you for that. Let's go right over here in the front.
Josh Haskell (56:31):
Yeah, Josh Haskell, ABC7 Eyewitness News. Mayor Bass, I've been on the fire lines the last two days. I've never seen firefighters this desperate. At fire hydrants, water not coming out. The pressure so low, the number one tool that they use to fight these fires not there. How frustrated are you about that?
(56:50)
And also, I'm getting texts right now from the Palisades Highlands Community where almost 48 hours after this fire started, there's not resources up there. The hydrants aren't working. Where's the National Guard? Where are miles and miles of water tenders? How are we addressing this? Your reaction.
Karen Bass (57:06):
Well, and first of all, you asked me was I frustrated by this? Of course, because we all know that this has been an unprecedented event. We also know that fire hydrants are not constructed to deal with this type of massive devastation and that the number one problem, especially on Wednesday, was the fact that we weren't able to do the air support because of the winds. And so of course, I am absolutely frustrated by that. I am not sure that is correct, that there are no resources up there. But rest assured, as soon as we are done here, I will follow up on that.
Josh Haskell (57:45):
But those homes, the first day and a half, there were homes up there that had been protected by the fire. And then I went up there yesterday and there -
Karen Bass (57:54):
That had been protected?
Josh Haskell (57:55):
That basically had been saved. Obviously, the fire's moving different directions, but when I went up there yesterday, there were not a lot of resources. We drove around and then I know that things got worse up there. I'm just wondering now that we move 48 hours past, how are we addressing these water problems that are continuing and is it acceptable that they continue?
Karen Bass (58:13):
Well, let me just say that the water problems are a little better now because the winds are such that we can go up and have the air support. And you know that that was the reason that the devastation was so bad, the unprecedented wind. The strength of the wind and the fact that the air support could not go up. Thank you.
Josh Haskell (58:33):
And if Chief Crowley wants to talk to this, there have been many fires before where air support is not available and we depend upon these ground resources and crews. Was there a plan in place for that? And did the resources get here quickly enough? And talk about an update to air support today.
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley (58:51):
Right. So thank you for that question. As we know, and you heard all of the incidents that are occurring at this point, Palisades was the first brush fire that we were attacking at that moment. You talk about specific pre-deploying. We put resources in place pre-deploying knowing that the winds were coming. With that, when the fire did light and take off, rapid response, very dynamic situation, air to ground resources coordinating.
(59:20)
Now with the winds, I don't think we can overstate that enough. There's no excuse in regard to the winds were too much. But the reality is the winds are so dynamic and at that tipping point, when our resources, air resources were grounded, that changes our strategies and tactics. We called for the world in regard to the number of resources and what we needed, who we needed, immediate need. Every single resources that was available at that moment responded.
(59:49)
You talked about 48 hours later, where are we now? Right? Again, I already spoke on if we don't have water, we find water, we use water tenders, we draft water. The fire department, first responders, we're going to do everything in our absolute effort to do what we can do with what we've got. The good news is with the wind subsiding, you're going to see water drops, you're going to see rotary, you're going to see fixed wings all day unless something changes. Again, I did say 60 mile an hour wind gusts even today. So very, very dynamic situation.
(01:00:27)
With that also, you said about the other homes, no fire resources there. As winds change, our resources change. We redistribute, we move and that's the dynamic situation that we are in even in day three. That's what I wanted to say about that. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (01:00:46):
Chief, we'll go right behind. Go ahead.
Bob DeCastro (01:00:47):
Thank you very much. Madam Mayor, I have another question for you. Bob DeCastro over here from Good Day LA, FOX 11. Another issue, another concern about resources and in particular staffing as well. And we heard from firefighters even on the front lines expressing frustrations about, obviously it's a challenge right now. They're bringing in firefighters from all across the Western region, but can you address the criticism now over the budget issue and the slashing $17 million [inaudible 01:01:21] budget?
Karen Bass (01:01:20):
You know, I think if you go back and look at the reductions that were made, there were no reductions that were made that would've impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days. And then there was a little bit-
Bob DeCastro (01:01:34):
More firefighter on the front line would've helped.
Karen Bass (01:01:34):
There was a little bit of confusion because money was allocated to be distributed later on, which was actually going to support salaries and other parts of the fire department that were distributed a little later. So I think it's most important to understand that we were in tough budgetary times. Everybody knew that, but that the impact of our budget really did not impact what we've been going through over the last few days. Again, back to the unprecedented windstorm, wind at such ferocity that we haven't seen in years is the context in which we were dealing with it. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (01:02:17):
Thank you. Let's go over here on this side. Did you have your hand up with the blue? Name and media outlet please.
Grace Toohey (01:02:26):
Hi, Grace Toohey with the Los Angeles Times. I was hoping Chief Crowley could talk a little bit more about the start of the Palisades fire. I know we don't know why it started, but we'd heard that it started possibly in a garden in someone's backyard. If you could confirm that.
(01:02:41)
And then how long do we know it took for it to actually reach homes? And I know you said that resources were pre-deployed, but do we know were there actually fire crews in the Palisades when it did start?
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley (01:02:53):
Right. So I'll start with your second question and then we'll go back. Actually, we'll start with your first one. As for where the start of the fire was in the Palisades fire, again, currently under active investigation. We have our arson investigators that are out right now as we speak and they are actively investigating. As soon as we have information, we will share that with all of you. I know there's obviously, for the right reasons, a lot of interest in that. So with that, we'll circle back.
(01:03:24)
When we come to pre-deployment, yes, we had our local fire stations that are assigned. Fire Station 69, Fire Station 23 in the Palisades area. They were fully staffed. Also, pre-deployment in those areas and we can also share the exact locations of where they were, how much we bolstered in regard to resources in the Palisades area. And also, mind you, we pre-deploy in the very high fire hazard severity zones knowing that those are the communities most at risk during a wind event. So not only did we pre-deploy in the Palisades area, but also in other critical areas within the city. I don't know exactly, but we certainly can get that to you. Thank you.
Dakota Smith (01:04:07):
Hi, Dakota Smith with the LA Times. I have a two part question again for the two fire chiefs. First off, have unauthorized drones been a problem and have they hurt firefighting efforts? Secondly, in terms of the LAFD hydrants, was there any scaling back of the inspection of those hydrants in the last year and did that affect the firefighting effort to Chief Crowley?
Fire Chief Kristin Crowley (01:04:32):
Sure. So as for your first question with the drones, I don't have any information on that. So I can't share anything with you on that. In regard to the hydrants, historically, January is our hydrant testing phase. What I can tell you is we work closely with the Department of Water and Power. Those hydrants themselves are DWP's hydrants. They're to service the fire department. We partner with DWP in regard to that testing.
(01:05:02)
Now the very dynamic situation of where we are currently with the wild land season, if you may, there was a decision to postpone in regard to the January start date. We have all year to test them. And also mind you, our local fire stations are every single day going up and down the streets and looking at our hydrants. If there's any damage to hydrants, we report those as well. We are just kicking off that timeframe of the beginning of the year when we normally would. What we did was postpone that because of the call volume that we're dealing with and we're working closely with DWP at that point. I don't think it negatively impacted our abilities in this specific area. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (01:05:43):
Thank you. In the third row there.
David Zahniser (01:05:46):
David Zahniser with the Los Angeles Times. I have a two part budget question. My first part is can you talk about the reserve fund? Last year there was a lot of concern that the reserve fund had fallen below 4% and was heading toward that 2.75 number that I think makes it difficult for the city to authorize spending. Do you know how low it has gotten at this point and how quickly you're burning through the reserve?
Karen Bass (01:06:17):
Do you want to go with your second question too?
David Zahniser (01:06:19):
Sure.
Karen Bass (01:06:19):
Go ahead.
David Zahniser (01:06:20):
The second question is, do you have any concern about blowing through the reserve before the state and federal money will arrive?
Karen Bass (01:06:29):
So let me just say that as I said a few minutes ago, our number one priority right now is to save lives, to protect lives, to save homes. I'm not here to talk about the status of our budget. If you would like to do that on another occasion, that would be fine. In terms of the reserve fund, I don't have those concerns right now. And I will say that after our first priority, then we will look back at everything that was done to do an evaluation to see what worked and what didn't work. Thank you.
Speaker 5 (01:07:04):
Thank you. We are over time, however, we will have one-on-one interviews.
Speaker 6 (01:07:08):
CAL FIRE wants to give an update on structures, et cetera to get a clarification. I think it's important for you to highlight numbers.
Todd Hopkins (01:07:16):
Thank you. Excuse me. Good morning. My name's Todd Hopkins. I'm one of the incident commanders for the CAL FIRE Incident Management teams. Of the thousands of structures, I just want to clarify that have been destroyed, we get this initial intel from intel flights and what they do is they pick up heat signatures and we base off those heat signatures an estimate of what structures are destroyed.
(01:07:41)
What I want to clarify is that a structure doesn't necessarily mean that it's a residential structure or a commercial structure. It could be a vehicle, it could be an outbuilding. So we do have people, damage inspection teams, that are on the ground that will go out to every single home. They will catalog whether a house is destroyed, if it's partially destroyed or just damaged. And all that information will be turned over to the city and to the county once the damage inspection teams get done.
(01:08:12)
So although we know that there are many homes destroyed, the thousands of structures can mean many different things besides just a home.
Speaker 7 (01:08:23):
But is this thousands plural that have been destroyed?
Todd Hopkins (01:08:24):
Thousands of structures, yes, but that could be a motor home, that could be a car, that could be a shed. It could be a residential structure. So I just wanted to make that clarification.
Speaker 5 (01:08:33):
Thank you very much and we are end of press conference one-on-ones. We also have Spanish. We will conduct that over here to the side with Sheriff Luna and a representative from LA City Fire. Thank you.
Todd Hopkins (01:08:44):
Thanks again.
Speaker 6 (01:08:44):
Thank you for clarifying that. I think that was important to clarify. I didn't get it. Now I get it.
Todd Hopkins (01:08:49):
[inaudible 01:08:57].