1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Can't. I am six forty. You're listening to the John 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:06,880 Speaker 1: Cobelt podcast on the iHeartRadio app. We are on every 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,559 Speaker 1: day from one until four and after four o'clock John 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: Cobelt's show on demand on the iHeart app. And that's 5 00:00:13,039 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: the podcast same as the radio show. So whatever you missed, 6 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: you can listen to it. There. We we are beyond 7 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:23,360 Speaker 1: loaded today. I'm going to get right into it. Los 8 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: Angeles Times had a story they broke at about eight 9 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: thirty this morning, and the story is that there is 10 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: a large reservoir in Pacific Palisades, a one hundred and 11 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:40,600 Speaker 1: seventeen million gallon water storage complex in the heart of 12 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: Pacific Palisades. It was dry, it was closed for repairs. 13 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,760 Speaker 1: It's called the Santa Inez Reservoir one hundred and seventeen 14 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: million galler water storage. Give you an idea how huge 15 00:00:55,040 --> 00:01:00,920 Speaker 1: that is. When the fire happened, there were three storage tanks. 16 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: Firefighters were using. The three storage tanks. Each held a 17 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:10,319 Speaker 1: million gallons each, that's three million gallons total. And in 18 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: seventeen hours, those three tanks ran dry and they couldn't 19 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: be refilled fast enough to be useful, and fire hydrants 20 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: were dry and that's part of the reason that the 21 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:25,960 Speaker 1: fire burned so furiously out of control. The firefighters didn't 22 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: have water as a weapon to douse the fire. And 23 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,319 Speaker 1: then we find out now three days later there was 24 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: one hundred and seventeen million gallon storage complex. They had 25 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: three million, and it ran dry in a day. One 26 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:47,039 Speaker 1: hundred and seventeen million. It's hard to believe. We're going 27 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: to talk now with Martin Adams. He's the former general 28 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: manager of the DWP and an expert on the water system. 29 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: And Martin, welcome to the show. How are you. 30 00:01:57,880 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 2: Thank you, John glanting to talk. 31 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: To you, well, thank you, thank you for coming on. 32 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: At first glance, this looks so outrageous, unbelievable. How could 33 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: this be. 34 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 3: So it? 35 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 2: You know, it's a it's unfortunate that Standing As Reservoir 36 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 2: was was out for a maintenance at this time. But 37 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 2: I'll tell you it's it's been out before and it's 38 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 2: the water coming for for the to fight the fire 39 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,040 Speaker 2: of the Palisades. All originates in our Stone Canyon Conflex, 40 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 2: which is up in bel Air behind UCLA, and that 41 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 2: pushes the water west on sunset and the very end 42 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 2: of that line is the sandy As reservoir. It's more 43 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:40,240 Speaker 2: than one hundred feet below the other reservoir, and so 44 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 2: a lot of times it could use to help with 45 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 2: high summertime demands, or maybe if there's a pipe break, 46 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 2: so to make sure there's water in the community. But 47 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 2: with it out of service, the systems been functioning very 48 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 2: well without anyone knowing any difference at all. In this case, 49 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 2: what you saw was this about a three or four 50 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 2: fold incre in the peak demand ever experienced on the pipeline, 51 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 2: and basically the so much water moving in the pipe 52 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 2: that it dropped the pressure. If standing hasn't been there, 53 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,080 Speaker 2: we might have had a little bit of pressure relief 54 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,239 Speaker 2: for a while. But the reality is that out of 55 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 2: one hundred and seventeen million gallons, a lot of that 56 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,520 Speaker 2: is dead storage and the bottom of the canyon because 57 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 2: of the shape of the canyon that's in and there 58 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 2: probably would have been, you know, some amount of usable water. 59 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 2: It would have helped for some time, but it wouldn't 60 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,079 Speaker 2: have saved the day, not compared to the fire flows 61 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:31,399 Speaker 2: that were pulled out of that pipeline. 62 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: About how many millions of gallons could you have gotten 63 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: out of that reservoir if it was functioning well, you know. 64 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 2: I was just doing some rough calculations. Do you assume 65 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 2: it probably if you assumed the third of the reservoir 66 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 2: was what we call dead storage because it's basically filling 67 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 2: up the bottom of the canyon. If the reservoir had 68 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:52,520 Speaker 2: been the rest of it, maybe half have been full, 69 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 2: even which I don't know that would have been the number. 70 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 2: But that was a good start, especially in the winter time, 71 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 2: because they would have had to make sure that reservoir 72 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 2: is fluctuating, not have water quality problems in the Palisades 73 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: because water sitting for a long time and storage is 74 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 2: a bad thing. You know, you could have maybe you 75 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:09,080 Speaker 2: could have had thirty or forty million goallns. It'd be usable. 76 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 2: Recognizing then of the fire, they were pulling probably fifty 77 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 2: or sixty million gallons a day into the systems. 78 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I know, but they only had three 79 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 1: million in those tanks, and that lasted seventeen hours, So 80 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,720 Speaker 1: it seems like thirty million, thirty million whin the last 81 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: ten times seventeen hours. 82 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 2: It would it would help to refill the tanks and 83 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 2: so the tanks, you know, the tanks are higher elevation 84 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:33,280 Speaker 2: than the reservoir. So there's three different tanks that and 85 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 2: they kind of steer step up into the palisades as 86 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 2: more homes are developed, and the tanks for size to 87 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,799 Speaker 2: fight a home fire or a couple of houses on fire, 88 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 2: you know, based on how a water system is constructed, 89 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 2: so they had that storage capability to do that. They 90 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,600 Speaker 2: would never have had the capability no matter how big. 91 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 2: You know, those tanks are even refilling to fight the 92 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 2: number of hydrants in those upper systems that were being 93 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 2: demanded on, even with the pumps running full trying to 94 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 2: keep those tanks up to speed. There's just never that 95 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: kind of water put into the system to fight, you know, 96 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 2: for fires using that many hydros at one time. 97 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: The bel air fire would help, would help, It had 98 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: to help. If you would have you know, ten times 99 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,080 Speaker 1: as much water available, it must it would have had 100 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: a major impact at least time wise. 101 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 2: It would help. It would it would. It would give 102 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 2: you some water and some more pressure for some period 103 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 2: of time until that ran out as well. And and 104 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 2: there's also because of the elevated tanks, you're limited by 105 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 2: the pumps that can pump to them, so it's not 106 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 2: you can't move forty million gallons into into those three 107 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:39,000 Speaker 2: million gallons. You can only move as fast as those 108 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 2: pumps can keep up, and and the fire and the 109 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 2: flows and the demands would have exceeded even what those 110 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 2: pump stations could do. So it would have made it. 111 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:49,880 Speaker 2: It would have made some difference early on, but it 112 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 2: would not have made a difference in the long run. 113 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,960 Speaker 2: You still would end up in the same situation and 114 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 2: not have enough water in those elevations, just because the 115 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 2: system was never designed to handle the wildfire. 116 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: That gets to the next area I want to discuss. 117 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: There was a huge, huge fires you probably know in 118 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: Bela Are in nineteen sixty one. Seems like similar to 119 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:10,200 Speaker 1: this Palisades fire. 120 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 2: And the largest fire. 121 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's gigantic. Why in sixty three years 122 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: has the city, the DWP, the county have they not 123 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: developed a better water distribution system for fires. You keep 124 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: kept saying several times that, well, what we have isn't 125 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,200 Speaker 1: designed for wildfires. But after that huge wildfire in bal 126 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: A bell Air, which was so terribly destructive, why didn't 127 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: they built a system to handle wildfires because it was 128 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: guaranteed to happen again, Well, it's. 129 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 2: A good question. I mean, you know, and there's been 130 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,280 Speaker 2: fires in the Palisades area almost every year, and all 131 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,159 Speaker 2: those fires have been put out successfully. And so typically 132 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,720 Speaker 2: your wildfire's combination of protaking structures on the ground as 133 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 2: well as using aircraft, because that's really where you're fighting, 134 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 2: the wildfire boundary. And you know, the city has such 135 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 2: things as brush clearance regulations and other things all to 136 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,040 Speaker 2: reduce the incidents of a number of homes catching fire. 137 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 2: And those things came out of the Bell Air Fire 138 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 2: brush clearance, safe boundaries and those sort of things. So 139 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 2: it is a kind of a group effort not just 140 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 2: providing more water, but providing also a safe barrier for 141 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 2: the communities. And those have been successful all the way 142 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 2: until we got a ninety mile an hour wind blowing 143 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 2: inversideways to the community and just catching structure out of structure. 144 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:32,400 Speaker 1: Do the government agencies they do? They do the commuter 145 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: like computer modeling, like what would happen if we got 146 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: the mother of all Santa Ana wins and it would 147 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: be blowing ninety miles an hour, how quickly the fire 148 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: would spread? What could we do to mitigate things? It's 149 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 1: the preparation aspect to this that I think is what's 150 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: angering and frustrating a lot of people. 151 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, when they do modeling, they look 152 00:07:54,720 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 2: at aircraft's refilling of water, how far away the turnaround time? Again, 153 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 2: defensible borders, you know, what is that interface between wildland 154 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 2: and urban setting and and those things are planned for, 155 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:12,320 Speaker 2: but there's not a water system built anywhere that would 156 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 2: put out an entire community on fire at once. And uh, 157 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 2: you know, part part of it is, you know, how 158 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 2: much infrasturgery could you build on the thought that this 159 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 2: may happen? And no one's ever really envisioned a fire 160 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:26,840 Speaker 2: like this, this kind of scope happening before. And it's 161 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 2: probably something that's changed and changing that we have to 162 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 2: address now, but it's that it's never been part. 163 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: Of That's what I'm saying is if you do the 164 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: computer modeling, uh, you eventually one of the answers would be, well, 165 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: here's the worst case scenario, here's what could happen, and 166 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,960 Speaker 1: what would it cost to build a system that would 167 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:45,679 Speaker 1: reason reasonably combat it. 168 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:49,559 Speaker 2: Yeah, and you and you'd see you know, modeling of 169 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 2: fire paths and and where where the fire department would 170 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 2: look to attack it, you know, and the resources that 171 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,840 Speaker 2: they would need. You know, practically speaking, it would be 172 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 2: it would be extremely difficult to provide an infinite amount 173 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 2: of water to any one location, and knowing that that's 174 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 2: the right location in the city, you know you have 175 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 2: large reservoirs, but you know the pipes and infrastructure to 176 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 2: take to get in there. Frankly speaking, you probably you 177 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:17,839 Speaker 2: probably wouldn't be able to afford to live in the 178 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 2: palacet ads because because to provide for the entire comuity 179 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 2: catching on fire at once would be astronomical And it's 180 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 2: just something Nelready ever visioned happening in your. 181 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: Time as general manager, though. Did were you part of 182 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:35,319 Speaker 1: any meetings, any think tank style discussions what if? What 183 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:37,880 Speaker 1: could we do? What what are we going to do 184 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: with the worst case scenario? Because I think to a 185 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,600 Speaker 1: lot of people it seems like the response was, hey, 186 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:44,440 Speaker 1: can't do anything about this, we just have to let 187 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: it burn. 188 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 2: Well, And I don't think that's you know, I mean, 189 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,840 Speaker 2: I know maybe what it appears to people, but you know, 190 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 2: there's there's there's finite resources of everything, where there's water, 191 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 2: where there's firefighting apparatus, firefighters themselves, and and and that's 192 00:09:58,040 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 2: always the question, how do you deploy when you have 193 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 2: this kind of catastrophic situations, you know. 194 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 1: We do do planning. 195 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 2: We do when we look at at Sinna's reservoir and 196 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 2: helicopter sites. We did a lot of planning on where 197 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 2: things would be reselled, what turnaround time, what resources would 198 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 2: assist the fire department. But again, I think it's it 199 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 2: was hard to predict a fire like this with with 200 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 2: the winds We've never seen you know, coming to me 201 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,800 Speaker 2: actually sweeping through a neighborhood and texting structure after structure. 202 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, but Santa Ana. Santa Ana wins happen every year, 203 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: and they happen often at predictable times. They frequently do 204 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: happen in January, and we do have dry drought years 205 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: We've had We've had a number of them, and I've 206 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 1: looked at the records going back one hundred and fifty years. 207 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: This is not unusual. Periodically you do get a year 208 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: like this. So why would a water storage unit that 209 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: could hold one hundred and seventeen million gallons, why would 210 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: it be shut down for maintenance during a possible fire 211 00:11:04,240 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 1: during this drought during the Santa Ana win season. This 212 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: seems like the worst time to have it shut down. 213 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,480 Speaker 2: Right. Well, it's it's not a good time to get 214 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 2: shut down, although typically if you have work to you 215 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 2: try to do it in the winter time when your 216 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 2: regular demands are low. And it wasn't just routine maintenance 217 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,720 Speaker 2: they had. They had to do a cover repair for 218 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 2: water quality reasons. And so my understanding is it was 219 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 2: down to facilitate repair of the cover, you know, so 220 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 2: that it could be put back in service. Otherwise it 221 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 2: wouldn't be able to continue to deserve drinking water to 222 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 2: the community. So that's why it had to be out 223 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 2: of service and be maintained. There's no great time a 224 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 2: year to have any and out of service, but the 225 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 2: winter time is typically the best time because you know, 226 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:50,320 Speaker 2: that's when you have lower demands overall and the water 227 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 2: system in any water system. 228 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,080 Speaker 1: All right, Martin Adams, former GWP general manager, thank you 229 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:55,560 Speaker 1: for coming on. 230 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:57,720 Speaker 2: Thank you, John, my pleasure. 231 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: All right, We've got plenty to do. 232 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 3: You're listening to John Cobelt on demand from KFI AM 233 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 3: six forty. 234 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: We just finished talking with Martin Adams, the former d 235 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: WP general manager. He was the one before this current 236 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: lady Genis Quinonez and they Ali Times had an exclusive 237 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: story this morning that there was there is a one 238 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: hundred and seventeen million gallon reservoir in the Palisades that 239 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: they closed for maintenance and it's city empty right now. 240 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 1: That really one hundred and seventeen million gallons, To give 241 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: you a perspective. The water storage that they did have 242 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: available were three million gallon storage tanks, so total of 243 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: three million gallons. And then they ran out of water 244 00:12:55,480 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: in seventeen hours. And Martin Adams was saying, well, probably 245 00:13:01,360 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: the only usable part of this storage facility might have 246 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: been thirty to forty million gallons. Well, okay, and that 247 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: means it would be ten to twelve times as much 248 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: water available. It should last another ten to twelve days. 249 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: He didn't think the end it would matter. I don't 250 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:22,120 Speaker 1: agree with that, because if you have ten times as 251 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:26,319 Speaker 1: much water available and full water pressure, it's got to 252 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: have an effect having all the fire hydrants dry and 253 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,080 Speaker 1: having very low water pressure and eventually running out within 254 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:39,440 Speaker 1: a day. If having an extra forty million gallons isn't 255 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 1: going to help, then we the fire department shouldn't even 256 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: show up then, right. And I understand that this was 257 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: an unusual Santa Anna, But what I find a lot 258 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,880 Speaker 1: of public officials are doing. You know, the Newsome Bass 259 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: crowd is, they're preying on people's ignorance. I've gone out 260 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: of my way to look up weather records around here 261 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:04,720 Speaker 1: because I'm so fed up with the lies and the 262 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,560 Speaker 1: bs that Newsom and Bass tell. 263 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 4: Hey John, yes, so Newsome. He just posted on x 264 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 4: I'm calling for an independent investigation into the loss of 265 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:20,520 Speaker 4: water pressure to local fire hydrants and the reported unavailability 266 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 4: of water supplies from the Santa Ynez Reservoir. We need 267 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,040 Speaker 4: answers to ensure this does not happen again, and we 268 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 4: have every resource available to fight these catastrophic fires. 269 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: They should have known in advance. That's what I was 270 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,920 Speaker 1: trying to get at with Martin Adams. You know when 271 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,680 Speaker 1: the Santa Ana wins blow, when they're coming back next week. 272 00:14:40,760 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: John Newsom is the one who runs around saying, oh, 273 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: you don't have a fire season anymore. It's a fire air. Ah, 274 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: you know, because of climate change, a fire ear runs 275 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: all year. Okay, if that's true, then why aren't we 276 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: at a high alert all year? They certainly come in 277 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: Jai January. I know this for sure. I know this 278 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: for sure. There are always high winds, and they're usually 279 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: around Martin Luther King Day. I've actually tracked this over 280 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:14,080 Speaker 1: the years. When I first got to Los Angeles in 281 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: November of ninety two, I came in the middle of 282 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: a Santa Ana wind event. We were staying in Burbank, 283 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 1: just down the road at the old Oakwood Apartments. That's 284 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: where they put us up temporarily. Wake up in November. 285 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,520 Speaker 1: Now I'm coming from New York City. I wake up 286 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: in November and it's ninety degrees and the wind is 287 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: blowing at like forty miles an hour, and I felt 288 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: like I'd stepped on the onto the planet Venus. And 289 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 1: that was my first I'm here less than a day, 290 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,040 Speaker 1: and I figured out the Santa Anna's. Oh wow, it's 291 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: really hot and the winds blow really hard, and they 292 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,760 Speaker 1: come in the fall, and they come in January. And 293 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: that's why if you look, I looked at a list 294 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:56,760 Speaker 1: of fires generally October, November and into January. I looked 295 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,840 Speaker 1: up once all the fires in Malibu. Look it up 296 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:04,960 Speaker 1: on Wikipedia. There's a long, long list of Malibu fires. 297 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: So what I'm getting at here is how come the 298 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: La City Fire Department is severely underfunded? How come. They 299 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 1: haven't done the computer modelings and spent the money so 300 00:16:22,120 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: that they would have a force and they'd have resources, 301 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:29,960 Speaker 1: and they'd have reservoirs for a worst case scenario, because 302 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,920 Speaker 1: whatever would cost, it'd be way cheaper and than know 303 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: what's coming now. Acuweather has an estimate that it's gonna 304 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: this is going to cost one hundred and fifty billion dollars. 305 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: I am sure we could have installed a water storage 306 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 1: system for less than one hundred and fifty billion. 307 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 4: So now the big question is are they going to 308 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,000 Speaker 4: Are they going to make any changes before next week? 309 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 4: Because the red flag warning is going to be here 310 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 4: on Tuesday. We're expecting high winds and you know what, 311 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 4: there's a chance a ten percent chance of rain on Thursday. 312 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 4: So we have no rain for that red flag morning. 313 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,160 Speaker 1: And the place and we have Santa Ana wins. They 314 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: go from the northeast to the southwest. They go through 315 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:14,240 Speaker 1: the mountainous areas. All right, you're not going to get 316 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: a massive wildfire in Torrents, for example, or in Venice. 317 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: You're going to get it in the Foothills, Palisades, Brentwood, 318 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: bel Air, Westwood, into Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Hollywood Hills 319 00:17:36,280 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: on this side of the on that side of the mountain, 320 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: and that's where you're going to get it. Then on 321 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 1: this side of the mountain. But you know it's different 322 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:44,200 Speaker 1: because it's on a different side of the mountain. But 323 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:48,879 Speaker 1: it's obvious it's Tresanna and Sino Studio City. There's a 324 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,399 Speaker 1: limited number of places that could have this. You have 325 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,119 Speaker 1: all these city and county resources. They have been underfunded, 326 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: they've had their budgets cut. Why how much money have 327 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:07,199 Speaker 1: we spent on a legal aliens, homeless people, criminals, drug addicts, vagrants, 328 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 1: high speed rail, fifty billion dollars to fraudulent criminals during 329 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: the COVID unemployment scam, and the list goes on and on. 330 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 1: Hundreds of billions of dollars. We've spent crap on the 331 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: fire system. And now Gavin Newsom wants to do an investigation. 332 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 1: You know why, he's got somebody monitoring our show. That's 333 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 1: what he's got. Now they're running scared by the way, 334 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:44,520 Speaker 1: has Bass and Newsom resigned yet? And do they need 335 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: any help packing up their offices? Because I think I 336 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,600 Speaker 1: could put a posse together and we could be in 337 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:53,280 Speaker 1: downtown LA in less than an hour to help Karen 338 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: Bass out of her office and we could be in Sacramento. 339 00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: What about three hours. They should be removed from office. 340 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:10,480 Speaker 1: They should both resign. This is a career ending fatal injury. 341 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:16,119 Speaker 1: The two of them and their characters came out, and 342 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:18,439 Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about the two incidents coming up 343 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:24,240 Speaker 1: sometime soon. How because pressure high pressure reveals a person's character, 344 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: and we found out Bass's character, and we found out 345 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,080 Speaker 1: Newsom's character and it matched exactly what I always thought 346 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:35,520 Speaker 1: about them. I also want to play we have this here, Yes, 347 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,919 Speaker 1: I want to play Gigi Grassiett's interview Fox eleven. She 348 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:45,440 Speaker 1: was pressing the fire department chief Kristin Crowley, and Crowley 349 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,240 Speaker 1: was trying to defend herself by saying that the fire 350 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: department's underfunded. 351 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 3: You're listening to John Cobel's on demand from KFI AM. 352 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 1: Six forty John Cobelt chok I AM six forty Live 353 00:19:58,119 --> 00:20:02,159 Speaker 1: everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. We've just been telling you 354 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 1: about the Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades. They had 355 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: a reservoir on Pacific Palisades that holds one hundred and 356 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: seventeen million gallons of water. I'm not making this up. 357 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:17,160 Speaker 1: This is one of the lead stories in the La Times. 358 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:22,680 Speaker 1: It sits empty right now because it's been under maintenance. 359 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:28,000 Speaker 1: They're repairing the cover. I don't know how long they've 360 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:29,640 Speaker 1: been repairing it, and I don't know why they would 361 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: do the maintenance during fire season. During the Santa Ana 362 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:39,880 Speaker 1: wins season, Droughts happen frequently in southern California. Santa Ana 363 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: winds blow every year several times a year. Fires happen 364 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: every year in California, a number of them. This was 365 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 1: not at a character. The only thing unprecedented was the 366 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 1: lack of preparation and the lack of response by our city, county, 367 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: and state government. That's why this damage is beyond all reason. 368 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: Because even though we've had thousands of Santa Ana wind events, 369 00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: dozens of droughts, hundreds of fires, nobody at the city, county, 370 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: or state government level was prepared to put out the 371 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:25,040 Speaker 1: effing fire. That's the truth. Karen Bass was in Africa. 372 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:32,280 Speaker 1: She's told on Thursday, Thursday, extreme fire danger. On Saturday, 373 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: she goes to Africa. The fires start on Tuesday. She 374 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: doesn't come back till Wednesday, six days after the first warning, 375 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: and now she's acting all petulant and angry and condescending. 376 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: You notice how nice Karen Bass has disappeared miss smiley face, 377 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,280 Speaker 1: because she's under pressure now and how you're finding out. 378 00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 1: I told you this when she was running against Rick Caruso. 379 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,399 Speaker 1: She's never run anything before. She was a legislator. She 380 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: chaired committees and commissions. She never ran anything, never ran 381 00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:13,120 Speaker 1: a level of government, never ran a business, never ran 382 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 1: even a girl Scout troop. She's in over her head 383 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,400 Speaker 1: and now she's getting angry because she doesn't know what 384 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: to do. It's like the homeless situation. She doesn't know 385 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: what to do. She stuffed a few in some old 386 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 1: motels and then the shields a parade for herself every week. 387 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,080 Speaker 1: Now I'm gonna play Gigi Grossi at from Fox eleven. 388 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: She's been a great reporter for a long time. We 389 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: clipped five minutes out of a much longer interview that 390 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: she did with the Los Angeles Fire Department chief Kristin Crowley. 391 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:52,399 Speaker 1: This is really good. We're gonna play it about five minutes, 392 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: and I imagine you get the longer version online at 393 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: Fox eleven. But let's roll. 394 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 5: What is your message to city administrator, starting with Mayor Bass. 395 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,439 Speaker 6: My message is the fire department needs to be properly funded, 396 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:07,120 Speaker 6: and it's not. It's not at this point, and we've 397 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,440 Speaker 6: got the justification. We know where our gaps and service are. 398 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,119 Speaker 6: We know we need sixty two new fire stations. We 399 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 6: need to double the size of our firefighters. The growth 400 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,679 Speaker 6: of this city since nineteen sixty has doubled and we 401 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 6: have less fire stations. 402 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:24,600 Speaker 5: Let's repeat that, because those numbers are a little jarring. 403 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:27,440 Speaker 5: You know, twenty years ago you had more fire stations 404 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 5: than you had now. 405 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 6: We had one hundred and twelve fire stations. Now we 406 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 6: have one hundred and six. And since twenty ten, we've 407 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 6: had an increase, doubled our call volume, which is firefighters 408 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 6: responding to calls, fifty five percent increase with sixty eight 409 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 6: less firefighters. 410 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 5: So the city funding is not keeping up with the 411 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 5: city's means in real time. 412 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 6: No, and that's what our firefighters need. 413 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 5: I'm going to ask you again, I'm going to continue 414 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,720 Speaker 5: pressing you on this. In your mind, what were you 415 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:57,040 Speaker 5: thinking when you hear all those city leaders say I. 416 00:23:57,000 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: Did an effect, everything was great? 417 00:23:58,640 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 3: You know, we do you. 418 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 5: Know it's unprecedented and a la lah and yes, the 419 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 5: sant Ana winds are unprecedented. We don't have them in January. 420 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,760 Speaker 5: We all know that what was going through your heart. 421 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 6: What's going through my heart is that our firefighters, the 422 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:17,399 Speaker 6: communities firefighters, LAFD firefighters need to be properly funded. We 423 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 6: need to be supported so that they can do their jobs. 424 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 5: And let me show you real quick, photographer, Tony b 425 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 5: you tit. I'm going to ask you to pan over 426 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 5: to that table. Tell me what I'm looking at. This 427 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,720 Speaker 5: is memo after memo after memo, including to the Board 428 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 5: of Fire Commissioners. 429 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:32,280 Speaker 1: Will you pointed. 430 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 5: Out you're concerned that you were not going to adequately, 431 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,920 Speaker 5: adequately be able to respond to a wildfire, an earthquake, 432 00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 5: everything that we see precisely in the city. 433 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 6: That's my job as a chief is to take a 434 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 6: big step back and understand where and how can we 435 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:51,400 Speaker 6: better serve the community as a community needs more. We 436 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 6: need to have more to make sure that our firefighters 437 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:57,399 Speaker 6: can serve them. I identified early, My team identified early, 438 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,360 Speaker 6: Labor identified early that. 439 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:01,440 Speaker 1: We have service gaps. 440 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:05,440 Speaker 6: So when you talk about sounding the alarm and asking 441 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 6: and requesting budgets that are easily justifiable based off of 442 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 6: the data. 443 00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:12,640 Speaker 1: Real data shows. 444 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,639 Speaker 6: What the fire Department needs to serve this beautiful city, 445 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 6: in the beautiful community that we swore that we would. 446 00:25:19,160 --> 00:25:20,359 Speaker 1: That's what that is about. 447 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 6: It is the follow up. It's showing and justifying where 448 00:25:24,680 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 6: our gaps are, and it's raising and sounding the alarm 449 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:32,320 Speaker 6: that the fire department is underfunded, understaffed, and utter resourced. 450 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:37,119 Speaker 5: Do you believe had your budget concerns been properly addressed 451 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 5: in the new fiscal year, would we have seen the 452 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:43,800 Speaker 5: same outcome that we are seeing now with thousands and 453 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 5: thousands unprecedented numbers of structures, homes, businesses lost. Would the 454 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 5: outcome had been different if they had listened to you. 455 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,399 Speaker 6: I do believe if we would have set ourselves up 456 00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:59,200 Speaker 6: appropriately over the past three years, we would have been 457 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:02,919 Speaker 6: in a better position position of what had happened here 458 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,719 Speaker 6: in the city where we lost homes and we lost lives. 459 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 5: That has to be very emotional for you. This is 460 00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:10,920 Speaker 5: your job, but this has to be emotional. 461 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,719 Speaker 6: This is more than a job does This is who 462 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,119 Speaker 6: we are, This is our duty. 463 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:16,679 Speaker 1: And when you. 464 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,480 Speaker 6: Don't have that ability and people don't listen, that's why 465 00:26:21,480 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 6: I'm talking to you right now. The fire department needs 466 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:28,040 Speaker 6: to be funded appropriately so that I can look any 467 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,439 Speaker 6: community member in the eye and say your lafd's. 468 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,800 Speaker 1: Got your back, and right now you can't. Right now, no, 469 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: And that's why I'm here. And how does that make 470 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:36,720 Speaker 1: you feel? 471 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 6: This is the burden of command as the far chief 472 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 6: of the greatest apartment in the world that I've wholeheartedly 473 00:26:44,119 --> 00:26:46,879 Speaker 6: raised my hand to say, yes, i will represent the 474 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,320 Speaker 6: amazing men and women of the LAFD and when they're 475 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 6: not getting what they need to do their jobs, it's enough. 476 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 6: And that's why I'm here. 477 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,560 Speaker 5: And you have injured firefighters too, And you see those 478 00:26:58,600 --> 00:26:59,840 Speaker 5: homes that have burned to the ground. 479 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: There is so much lost. People are out of jobs. 480 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,160 Speaker 5: What goes through your heart when you see that the community. 481 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,159 Speaker 6: Is our community. Our firefighters stand with the community. We 482 00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 6: live in the communities that burned. So if anybody says 483 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,320 Speaker 6: anything in regard to our firefighters not doing everything that 484 00:27:17,359 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 6: they can to protect our neighbors, our community, I will 485 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 6: stand up and defend every action that our members went 486 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 6: through and are still actively fighting fire. 487 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,160 Speaker 5: I don't think anybody is criticizing the firefighters. I think 488 00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 5: the criticism has been lobbed and maybe eighty percent of 489 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 5: the City of Los Angeles and maybe twenty percent at 490 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:36,400 Speaker 5: the administration here. 491 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,680 Speaker 6: Well, again, I'm here to make sure that we are 492 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,400 Speaker 6: garnering the support to get our LFD firefighters what they 493 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 6: need to do their jobs. 494 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 1: Period. 495 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 5: Did the City of Los Angeles fail you and your 496 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 5: department and our city. 497 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,439 Speaker 6: It's my job to stand up as a chief and 498 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 6: exactly say justifiably what the fire department needs to operate 499 00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,720 Speaker 6: to meet the demands of the community. 500 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:00,679 Speaker 1: Did they fail you? 501 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:02,959 Speaker 6: That is our job, and I tell you that's why 502 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:04,840 Speaker 6: I'm here. So let's get us what we need so 503 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 6: firefighters can do their jobs. 504 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: Did they fail you? 505 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 6: Yes? 506 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 1: That is Kristin Crowley, the Los Angeles fire chief, said 507 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 1: that LA city government failed the Los Angeles Fire Department 508 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,840 Speaker 1: for many years, not funding the fire department properly. We 509 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:35,119 Speaker 1: have sixty two fewer stations than is necessary. We had 510 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:39,240 Speaker 1: a union chief come on with us a few days 511 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:44,960 Speaker 1: ago who said the same thing that we had fewer 512 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:51,400 Speaker 1: fire stations now than we did sixty years ago. We 513 00:28:51,480 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: have almost double the population and we have fewer fire stations. 514 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: We're short hundreds of firefighters. You saw what happened in 515 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: the Palisades on Tuesday. You saw that they ran out 516 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: of water. We just told you. According to the La Times, 517 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: there was an empty one hundred and seventeen million gallon 518 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: reservoir in the heart of the Palisades, empty because they're 519 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: doing maintenance. Now, this is on Karen Bess, this is 520 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: on the city council. They should all resign. They should 521 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,000 Speaker 1: all go except for Tracy Park. The rest of them 522 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:44,840 Speaker 1: should go. This is horrible, deadly, tragic mismanagement. They have 523 00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: poured all their money into what you know what, homeless people, 524 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,600 Speaker 1: drug addicts and mental patients who don't work, who commit 525 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:57,680 Speaker 1: crimes all day, who start fires all day. Do you 526 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,760 Speaker 1: know how many fires the homeless start? For teen thousand 527 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:05,720 Speaker 1: a year, But we gave the homeless one point three 528 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:08,640 Speaker 1: billion dollars in funding. We gave the fire department less 529 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 1: than eight hundred million. All these people have got to go. 530 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: No more arguing with them, no more debate. 531 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 3: You're listening to John Cobbels on demand from KFI AM 532 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 3: six forty. 533 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,120 Speaker 1: I haven't gotten into like even five percent of what 534 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,280 Speaker 1: I want to talk about today. I normally don't get 535 00:30:27,320 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: all whipped up about petitions because jay generally don't go anywhere. 536 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:35,800 Speaker 1: Petitions and boycotts are very often useless. But I'm going 537 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: to make an exception here because I am so personally 538 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: pissed off. There is a petition on change dot org 539 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: and it's called demand the Immediate Resignation of Mayor Karen Bass. 540 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: Demand the immediate resignation of Mayor Karen Bass. It's already 541 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:57,920 Speaker 1: got thirty six thousand, eight hundred and forty one verified signatures. 542 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: I'll read you quickly what it said, as we, the 543 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:05,840 Speaker 1: undersigned residents of Los Angeles urgently call for the immediate 544 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:08,960 Speaker 1: recall of Mayor Karen Bass due to her gross mismanagement 545 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 1: and failure to effectively respond to the devastating twenty twenty fires. 546 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: In the wake of these catastrophic fires, our city has 547 00:31:16,760 --> 00:31:21,000 Speaker 1: been left in crisis. Water supplies have been severely strained, 548 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: billions of taxpayer dollars have been misallocated or left unaccounted for, 549 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: and countless lives have been lost. Families have been displaced, 550 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: homes destroyed, livelihood shattered. Yet Mayor Bass has been absent 551 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 1: from the front lines, choosing to travel abroad while her 552 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 1: constituents suffer despite the tireless efforts of our first responders, 553 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,760 Speaker 1: the city has been woefully unprepared to ensure the safety 554 00:31:45,760 --> 00:31:48,880 Speaker 1: and well being of its residents. Basic resources such as 555 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,480 Speaker 1: water and emergency services have been inadequate, and leadership has 556 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: been nowhere to be found when it was needed most. 557 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 1: We demand the immediate resignation of Mayor Karen Bass due 558 00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,640 Speaker 1: to her failure to lead during this unprecedented crisis. It 559 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: goes on. I'm signing the position right now during the 560 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,960 Speaker 1: commercial break, and let's put a link on our website 561 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: for it, because I think everybody. It's not only for 562 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: residents of LA. It's residents of Los Angeles and concerned citizens, 563 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: So everybody living in the area. You need a healthy, vibrant, 564 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,760 Speaker 1: well run Los Angeles otherwise, as you know, all of 565 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: lli's problems spill everywhere else. You know, because Los Angeles 566 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:34,520 Speaker 1: has embraced vagrants and mental patients in the streets. Now 567 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,760 Speaker 1: there are vagrants and mental patients in lots of towns 568 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,760 Speaker 1: and cities. You know. The crime spilled out of LA 569 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:46,880 Speaker 1: because we stopped arresting people, we stopped prosecuting people. There 570 00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 1: are Now let me tell you something. I'm wondering, and 571 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:54,040 Speaker 1: i'm't the only one wondering this. This is sometimes I 572 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:58,239 Speaker 1: wonder if we're under attack because what's happened here and 573 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:02,560 Speaker 1: I know this firsthand. On my side of town, you 574 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: have the fire that's destroyed the palisades. You have huge 575 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,959 Speaker 1: swaths that are under meditatory evacuations. Looters have been pouring in. 576 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:15,360 Speaker 1: We're connected to various apps, and these apps are lighting 577 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: up all night long. People are reporting all kinds of burglaries, robberies, thefts. 578 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 1: That's why Nathan Hockman was yelling this morning at the 579 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,520 Speaker 1: press conference that everyone's going to get arrested and prosecuted. 580 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 1: I sure hope. So oh what I like Sheriff Luna 581 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,000 Speaker 1: is saying, and it's like, Yo, we're not going to 582 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 1: cite and release, which means up until today, that's what 583 00:33:37,040 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: they were doing with people who burglarized private homes. They 584 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: were citing them and releasing them. Now all of a sudden, 585 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: we're going to be enforcing the laws. Well this is great, 586 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: but I'm telling you there's looters running around all over 587 00:33:50,440 --> 00:33:55,760 Speaker 1: the place. We're supposed to evacuate. Our homes were ordered 588 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: to evacuate, and then the looters come in and the 589 00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:02,920 Speaker 1: city doesn't provide protection to our properties. We're told to 590 00:34:02,960 --> 00:34:09,799 Speaker 1: evacuate and not stay in an active fire area, but 591 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,440 Speaker 1: they didn't equip and finance the fire department to put 592 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,440 Speaker 1: out the fire. People are trying to do it themselves. 593 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:21,760 Speaker 1: They don't have the funding and the authority to enforce 594 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:25,560 Speaker 1: criminal laws, so people have to do it for themselves. 595 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:33,440 Speaker 1: We're looking at the disintegration of civilization after ten plus 596 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:38,799 Speaker 1: years of insanely stupid progressive politics. It had to end 597 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:43,280 Speaker 1: this way, it had to. It's all crumbling down now. 598 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:49,720 Speaker 1: All of this woke, progressive, stupid politics of the last 599 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,840 Speaker 1: ten years has all come together now. So now we 600 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 1: got fires, We've got evacuations, We've got criminals and looters 601 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: running amok. I got a photo in a neighborhood. Somebody's 602 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:08,919 Speaker 1: leaving gas cans around. Gas cans. These fires, I think 603 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,319 Speaker 1: are started by arsonists. The arsonists are having field day. 604 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:16,160 Speaker 1: They start a fire, people running fleet and then they 605 00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: loot our homes and we don't everybody anybody's stopping them. 606 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,879 Speaker 1: That's the world we're living in Los Angeles. We had 607 00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:30,839 Speaker 1: our progressive party for ten years. Now look anyway, change 608 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,320 Speaker 1: dot Org. I am signing this thing. I think everybody 609 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:36,839 Speaker 1: this should get millions of signatures. She should be gone, 610 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 1: and I don't want her replaced by another one, by 611 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:46,240 Speaker 1: another progressive. She's incompetent. It's not going to get any better. 612 00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 1: You think she's going to handle the rebuilding of the 613 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: Pacific Palisades, You think she's going to handle it? I 614 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 1: mean she would screw up making breakfast. She's not capable 615 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: of running things, don't you see? And she knows it. 616 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:09,279 Speaker 1: That's why she's so angry and bullheaded and defensive and 617 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:15,000 Speaker 1: condescending and rude to the reporters, because she knows. She 618 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: fed up and she's not going to be able to 619 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:21,680 Speaker 1: fix it. I hope the weather was really nice and 620 00:36:21,719 --> 00:36:25,719 Speaker 1: Ghana Deborah Mark live in the KFI twenty four hour Newsroom. Hey, 621 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 1: you've been listening to The John Cobalt Show podcast. You 622 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,160 Speaker 1: can always hear the show live on KFI Am six 623 00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 1: forty from one to four pm every Monday through Friday, 624 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,280 Speaker 1: and of course anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.