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Speaker 1: Hey there, folks, welcome to a special episode of Amy

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Speaker 1: and TJ from Los Angeles, from in particular Santa Monica

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Speaker 1: here in California, where the fires continued to burn. And

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Speaker 1: we are going to attempt to put into words what

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Speaker 1: words simply cannot describe in this episode. And with that, everybody, welcome.

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Speaker 2: Sitting next to.

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Speaker 1: Robes, Robs, you and I got here to LA yesterday.

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Speaker 1: Before we even landed, we could tell and if you

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Speaker 1: had no idea what was going on in the world

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Speaker 1: and what was going on in La just the plane

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Speaker 1: ride as we were about to land, right, I knew

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Speaker 1: something was up.

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Speaker 3: We heard from the pilot who and by the way,

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Speaker 3: the plane was almost empty, which is unheard of on

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Speaker 3: a Sunday from New York JFK to LAX. It is

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Speaker 3: usually packed. And we were one of a handful of

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Speaker 3: people on that plane. So that was eerie just to

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Speaker 3: begin with. And then as we were making our initial

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Speaker 3: descent into Los Angeles, the pilot got on to the

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Speaker 3: microphone and said, hey, folks, we may be going through

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Speaker 3: a layer of smoke as we make this landing, and

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Speaker 3: the cockpit or the actual plane might smell like smoke,

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Speaker 3: but don't be alarmed. That's, you know, been pretty typical

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Speaker 3: over the past couple of days. So just warning you all.

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Speaker 3: That didn't end up happening. I'd never smelt the smoke

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Speaker 3: actually as we were landing into La But as soon

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Speaker 3: as we got on the ground we had more pretty

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Speaker 3: immediate reminders of what was going on.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, a soon as you at the ground,

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Speaker 1: you sense something is going on. From it took I

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Speaker 1: don't know, fifteen minutes. Even if that in the car

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Speaker 1: the driver or go through certain neighborhood, he's almost starts

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Speaker 1: giving a tour, a fire tour, if you really Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it was smoke here yesterday, and then that it's just

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Speaker 1: all everybody's talking about the same thing. Went to lunch

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Speaker 1: and you were the one that pointed it out. And

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Speaker 1: it's a place we've been to before. But there were

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Speaker 1: pets everywhere because the place was full of people who

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Speaker 1: had to flee their homes and had to flee with

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Speaker 1: their pets and places here making exceptions.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. And we were hearing hearing stories even at

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Speaker 3: tables next door to us, people talking and congregating in

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Speaker 3: the lobby, hearing from our own waiter, everyone checking in

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Speaker 3: on each other what have you been through? Let me

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Speaker 3: show you pictures of my house, and then people asking

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Speaker 3: questions about have you been on this street? Have you

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Speaker 3: been able to get back up? Because as we made

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Speaker 3: our way earlier this morning through some of these areas

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Speaker 3: that are restricted now to residence, every single street is

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Speaker 3: blocked off. I mean, there are army vehicles, there is

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Speaker 3: a huge police presence, firefighting trucks, you know, going through

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Speaker 3: the streets with alarms going off. I mean, it really

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Speaker 3: feels like you are in Yes, you can tell you're

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Speaker 3: in an evacuated donor right adjacent to one, but also

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Speaker 3: you realize all the work that's going on behind the scenes.

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Speaker 1: So it's aerie to a certain degree when you get

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Speaker 1: here because you see so much, well what's been on television,

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Speaker 1: see the pictures in the flame. You hear how horrible

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Speaker 1: it is. But from the airport to where we're staying,

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Speaker 1: it wasn't chaotic. There was not destruction. We just happen

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Speaker 1: to be in a certain area and even the air

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Speaker 1: was clear. It looks like beautiful, sunny southern California this morning.

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Speaker 1: We get up still dark. As soon as we get

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Speaker 1: off the elevator at the bottom floor, you can smell

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Speaker 1: smoke at the moment the elevator door opened and we

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Speaker 1: go outside. Of course, we can smell at our crew

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Speaker 1: we meet. They all have masks on. But the point

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Speaker 1: that they did they we got a chance to go

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Speaker 1: through and see today what so many of us have

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Speaker 1: been seeing, and we had up to this point just

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Speaker 1: been seeing on television. And you just I can't. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we've been doing this a long time in our careers,

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Speaker 1: have been a lot of disaster zones. You can say

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Speaker 1: it all, you can come up with whatever descriptive word

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Speaker 1: you want to, it doesn't do it justice. And I struggle.

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Speaker 1: The word I end up using was about myself today.

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Speaker 1: It was confused. I'm confused at how nature behaves this way.

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Speaker 1: I'm confused to how a fire could do what it did,

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Speaker 1: and I'm confused about how wide spread and then random

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Speaker 1: the destruction can be. I've never seen anything like this. Tornadoes, hurricanes, fires,

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Speaker 1: seen floods more than most. Yeah, and never I can't

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Speaker 1: understand it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you and I have both been to

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Speaker 3: the scene of countless natural disasters of epic proportions, by

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Speaker 3: the way, and I have never seen anything like We

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Speaker 3: both saw this morning where you just saw ash. There

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Speaker 3: was nothing truly left standing in most of these homes

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Speaker 3: except for fireplace chimneys. And at one point you pointed

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Speaker 3: it out to me, eerie scenes like this leveled homes

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Speaker 3: for an entire stretch of a street, an entire neighborhood

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Speaker 3: wiped out. There was a basketball net standing with a

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Speaker 3: that was just remarkable.

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Speaker 1: Well not earned, but the net, the fabric netting was

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Speaker 1: almost untouched, not even smoky.

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Speaker 3: It was bizarre to see that completely untouched. And then

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Speaker 3: you pointed out inside one of these fireplaces that used

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Speaker 3: to be inside a beautiful home had all of their

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Speaker 3: logs perfectly placed as if ready for a fire. You know,

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Speaker 3: you see, you know, a scene set with like a

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Speaker 3: fireplace with the logs, they're not touched, not even burned,

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Speaker 3: and it was perfectly in place where a fire should be.

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Speaker 3: The wood was perfect and untouched, and everything around it

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Speaker 3: was gone.

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Speaker 1: Those things were weird. I call them weird. And a

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Speaker 1: lot of folks familiar with the PCH right Pacific Coast

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Speaker 1: Highway goes up and down. It's one of my favorite

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Speaker 1: things to do I've ever done in this country is

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Speaker 1: to drive that. And so as a stretch of Pacific

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Speaker 1: Coast Highway where you're looking and literally on one side

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Speaker 1: it's paradise looking out of the ocean. The other side

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Speaker 1: is armageddon. Literally you're looking there's a dividing line between

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Speaker 1: the end of the world and heaven, right and it's

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Speaker 1: the Pacific Coast Highway. It literally looks like that. And

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Speaker 1: I there are our producers, producer Danielle was in the

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Speaker 1: car with us, said yeah, you can see as we

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Speaker 1: were driving at times on the Pacific Coast Highway, So yeah,

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Speaker 1: you can see the ocean. You couldn't last week because

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Speaker 1: those homes were there. They've burned now to the point

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Speaker 1: that you can actually have a view at some places

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Speaker 1: from the highway to the ocean that weren't there before

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Speaker 1: because homes are gone.

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Speaker 3: It's just unfathomable, it really is. And you mentioned this.

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Speaker 3: The sun was rising this morning, it was gorgeous. I

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Speaker 3: could hear birds chirping, the ocean was making that beautiful

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Speaker 3: wave crashing on the rocks, noise, and yet everywhere you

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Speaker 3: looked was a nightmare. And so it was just such

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Speaker 3: a strange juxtaposition of the ruins of people's lives and

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Speaker 3: then seeing Mother Nature just going about doing what it

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Speaker 3: does here, especially on the West coast, and just being

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Speaker 3: spectacular and gorgeous, and it was just such a strange

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Speaker 3: confluence of two different views.

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Speaker 1: And look as we were as of this recording at least,

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Speaker 1: and the story is changing. It seems minute by many

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Speaker 1: at times, but it'll continue to change.

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Speaker 2: As of this.

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Speaker 1: Recording, there were twenty four confirmed deaths, at least sixteen

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Speaker 1: unaccounted for. At least twelve thousand structures that have been

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Speaker 1: burned are those latest numbers. But we were we had

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Speaker 1: plans yesterday day before of somewhere we were planning to

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Speaker 1: stay here and it was in the Brentwood area. And

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Speaker 1: sure enough, yesterday was we were getting on the plane

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Speaker 1: and things kept developing that were keeping an eye on it.

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Speaker 1: Our team let us know, hey, that area where you

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Speaker 1: were supposed to stay has been evacuated. So we had

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Speaker 1: to change our plans and figure somewhere else out to

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Speaker 1: stay while we were out here. That's just how things

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Speaker 1: are going. And we are sitting here in the middle

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Speaker 1: of a There is anxiety right here. There's no recovery time.

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Speaker 1: There's like hold on, folks. We got another several days

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Speaker 1: where they're talking about winds and wind gusts going up

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Speaker 1: to that seventy eighty mile an hour range. No, it's

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Speaker 1: not that eighty to one hundred range that started all this,

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Speaker 1: but people are on edge again.

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Speaker 3: It is a very unique and for me, a singular experience,

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Speaker 3: because normally, when you come to the scene the aftermath

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Speaker 3: right of a of a natural disaster, it's about cleanup,

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Speaker 3: it's about recovery, it's about you know, rebuilding. But there

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Speaker 3: is still a threat because if one like small ember

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Speaker 3: from a hotspot that maybe they firefighters have yet to

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Speaker 3: be able to put out flies through the air in

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Speaker 3: these crazy, unpredictable Santa Ana winds, it can set off

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Speaker 3: an entire new fire. And that's what has happened, because

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Speaker 3: if we're not talking about one fire, there are several

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Speaker 3: fires in the area, and it's looks as though you

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Speaker 3: don't see the flames anymore, but the thread of those

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Speaker 3: embers remains, and it is a scary, scary feeling. We

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Speaker 3: when we landed, your phone immediately started going off into

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Speaker 3: that emergency mode in on the on the East coast.

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Speaker 3: We're used to seeing it or hearing it for amber

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Speaker 3: alerts or for some extreme extreme right but they were

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Speaker 3: going off, and it's so jarring and it's so frightening,

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Speaker 3: and you just can imagine what it's like to be

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Speaker 3: living here after you've already lost everything, or you're afraid

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Speaker 3: or fearful that you've lost everything because maybe you don't

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Speaker 3: know yet, and you've got these alerts going off, and

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Speaker 3: we were told to evacuate an area that we were

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Speaker 3: just driving through. So if you get into these certain

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Speaker 3: evacuation zones, you're told get out. And that's just jarring

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Speaker 3: and scary. As an adult, I can't imagine the children

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Speaker 3: who are living through this as well, how hard that

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Speaker 3: is for them. So many kids have lost their schools,

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Speaker 3: they have no building to go back to, they've lost

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Speaker 3: their homes, they have no bedroom to go back to.

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Speaker 3: This is and it's just beginning, and the threat still exists.

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Speaker 1: I just still struggle the scope of it when it

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Speaker 1: comes to and some of the scenes, like you hear

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Speaker 1: it sometimes and you walking dead fans out there. I

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Speaker 1: never thought I would see a scene like that where

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Speaker 1: I'm literally walking past and going past cars that have

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Speaker 1: been abandoned in the middle of the street, and some

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Speaker 1: of them are literally burned out, and some of them

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Speaker 1: you can see where and you all heard this part

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Speaker 1: of the story where they had to come and bring

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Speaker 1: bulldozers to move vehicles out of there. You can see

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Speaker 1: some of those vehicles are damaged from being banged and

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Speaker 1: people trying to get them out of the way. Those

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Speaker 1: are odd scenes, and some neighborhoods were all, okay, this

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Speaker 1: this neighborhood looks like it it's unscathed. But then you

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Speaker 1: keep driving down that neighborhood and there's one house gone

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Speaker 1: or charred, and it literally does look like the fire

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Speaker 1: was discriminating, like I'm gonna pick this one. I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: skip those two, and now I'm gonna go over here

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Speaker 1: to this one. But that's this idea of these embers

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Speaker 1: that are flying around. I can't remembers the high school

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Speaker 1: we went past, and you were like, hey, I'm glad to.

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Speaker 3: See that Ally High High?

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Speaker 1: Was that okay, well, Bally High. It's damaged. The whole

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Speaker 1: place is enclosed. You can't see anywhere a fire got in,

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Speaker 1: but the roof of one section of that school is

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Speaker 1: burned because those embers they flew over landed on one spot,

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Speaker 1: burned part of it the other. The whole place is intact. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but that is still the remaining threat that even if

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Speaker 1: you're a couple of miles away, you are not sleeping.

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Speaker 3: No, you're not at all, and in fact, you're hungry

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Speaker 3: for information. We when we got back from taking this tour,

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Speaker 3: our producer Danielle who was with us, who was so

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Speaker 3: amazing showing us she's was born here, lived her whole

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Speaker 3: life here. So she was explaining to us what was lost,

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Speaker 3: Like there was a motel that was storied and historic

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Speaker 3: that everyone loved right along the Pacific Coast Highway. It

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Speaker 3: doesn't you can't even see where it was. I mean,

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Speaker 3: it's just literally ash. You can see this sign and

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Speaker 3: the rest of it is just gone. But when we

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Speaker 3: got back to our hotel that we were staying at,

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Speaker 3: she had a woman come up to her and say

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Speaker 3: are you with the press, and then said, could you

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Speaker 3: please please please see if my house is still intact.

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Speaker 3: Because as members of the media, we have been allowed

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Speaker 3: and we are allowed to get through some of the

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Speaker 3: points at which residents are not to go and tell

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Speaker 3: these stories to tell you at home, or to at

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Speaker 3: least to show people what's going on and what's sarah

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Speaker 3: and what's not She handed or tried to hand Danielle

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Speaker 3: the keys to her house and say, please just go

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Speaker 3: inside and could you grab a few things for me.

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Speaker 3: We had already come back, so that wasn't possible. But

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Speaker 3: that's that's the desperation, handing the keys to your house

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Speaker 3: over to a complete stranger.

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Speaker 1: Help nobody listening to you right now, I can imagine

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Speaker 1: doing that. That's how desperate you get. I don't know

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Speaker 1: you and don't know where you're going anything, but if

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Speaker 1: you're go into there, here here, just go to my

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Speaker 1: house for me.

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Speaker 2: Please.

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Speaker 1: Everybody's desperate for that kind of information. We're constantly getting requests.

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Speaker 1: We just talked to a local radio host here. He

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Speaker 1: said every single even a lot of reporters are getting

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Speaker 1: dms from people saying, hey, I know you can get

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Speaker 1: up there, if you can swing by here for me.

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Speaker 1: That's just it's I don't know how we've seen it before.

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Speaker 1: Robes and people are determined immediately, I am going to rebuild.

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Speaker 1: There is nothing here in places. There are neighborhoods gone.

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Speaker 1: When I say gone, I'm talking about piles of ash.

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Speaker 1: We were walking through today and I'm looking through rubble

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Speaker 1: trying to identify anything like what room was this? What

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Speaker 1: room was this? There's ash as a bathtub here or there.

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Speaker 1: But I'm telling these places are gone.

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Speaker 3: You can tell where the fireplace was.

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Speaker 1: That's it.

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Speaker 3: Actually there was a few homes where you could actually

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Speaker 3: see where the front door was, or where maybe a

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Speaker 3: garage door was. And perhaps what was so eerie was

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Speaker 3: you could see obviously that the sidewalk leading up to

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Speaker 3: where the entrance would have been. But that's the clearest

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Speaker 3: mark you could even see of where the footprint of

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Speaker 3: the house might be. I mean it was gone, like

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Speaker 3: if you've got a hurricane, if you've got a tornado,

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Speaker 3: certain things are still left. You can pick through the rubble.

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Speaker 3: Perhaps you could go maybe find that family heirloom. I

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Speaker 3: don't think you could find anything in the aftermath of this.

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Speaker 1: Well, we spent the morning. We walked through a lot

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Speaker 1: of planet. There are some stories of things being found

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Speaker 1: here and there, but I've never seen and we've been

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Speaker 1: the house fires and structure fires our whole careers. You

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Speaker 1: know what the thing when you have a structure fire,

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Speaker 1: fire department gets called, they come, even if they take

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Speaker 1: a few minutes, they can get there and start putting

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Speaker 1: water on. Correct These are places that just burned and

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Speaker 1: burned and burned until they stopped burning. And that's why

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Speaker 1: we see just ash and that construction is on these neighborhoods.

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Speaker 1: It's unlike anything I've ever seen. Like I said, we're

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Speaker 1: going to try to put this in the words, but

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Speaker 1: there are none, right.

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Speaker 3: And you know, it's also been interesting because when we've

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Speaker 3: arrived on scenes, they've been I mean somewhat fairly contained

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Speaker 3: when it comes to a fire, because there is danger involved.

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Speaker 3: Obviously there were I saw nails and glass and you know,

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Speaker 3: twisted metal like you know this is. They don't want

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Speaker 3: down power lines, they don't want residents coming back to

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Speaker 3: check on their belongings because there are a number of

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Speaker 3: hazards just lying around. And normally even us in the

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Speaker 3: media would not be allowed because they would have cordoned

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Speaker 3: off the area or made it inaccessible to folks because

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Speaker 3: of the inherent dangers. And yet this is such a

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Speaker 3: wide swath and such a huge like part of the

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Speaker 3: of the landscape that we were just walking around in

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Speaker 3: places that I was actually surprised we had acces, to

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Speaker 3: be honest, and some.

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Speaker 1: Of that we we got to see it in a

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Speaker 1: couple of ways. That scare the hell out of you

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Speaker 1: and give you hope. Because we went right before sunrise,

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Speaker 1: so it was still dark in many of these neighborhoods

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Speaker 1: when we went. And when I say dark, it was dark.

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Speaker 1: No power dark, there's no power. Just look like places

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Speaker 1: have been. Literally they grabbed things and took off and

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Speaker 1: now the power's out. Lights were off in these neighborhoods.

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Speaker 1: There's nothing there.

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Speaker 3: I saw a vehicle it was too quick to point

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Speaker 3: out to you, that was halfway out of a driveway

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Speaker 3: and halfway in it and you could it almost looked

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Speaker 3: like it was balancing on the curb and it had

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Speaker 3: the doors were open. It had been abandoned. I mean

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Speaker 3: you could see. I have chills thinking about it. You know,

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Speaker 3: we were there in the aftermath, but you could see

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Speaker 3: what was happening while they were facing the fire and

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Speaker 3: the fear and the embers. To the point where you

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Speaker 3: say abandoned the vehicle, there was obviously so much traffic

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Speaker 3: and like everyone trying to get out that people just

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Speaker 3: abandoned their vehicles or realized that they couldn't get out

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Speaker 3: fast enough in a car that they took off on foot.

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Speaker 3: And that was really eerie to me.

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Speaker 1: So that was the tie. So as we're out there

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Speaker 1: in the dark, and then we're on right off the

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Speaker 1: Pacific Coast Highway, sunrise is coming. We're standing in rubble

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Speaker 1: and the sun starts coming up and it is the

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Speaker 1: most it is the most perfect, beautiful California sunrise you

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Speaker 1: will ever see.

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Speaker 3: It really was.

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Speaker 1: And well, we'll post pictures of this, we have this,

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Speaker 1: but to have in the foreground, just rubble and just

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Speaker 1: someone's dreams in that pile, that sunrise, that was the

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Speaker 1: dream they were chasing. People are here because they come here,

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Speaker 1: they're attracted for exactly what we saw. And then the

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Speaker 1: threat of living here for that dream came and got

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Speaker 1: them and wiped out so many people's homes and lives

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Speaker 1: and savings, and I just it was it's a hell

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Speaker 1: of a picture, and it's a hell of a site

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Speaker 1: to see just how beautiful this place is and how

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Speaker 1: destructive and dangerous in the threat that they live under.

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Speaker 1: And it came home in a historic way this time around.

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Speaker 1: And we've been folks, we've been talking to plenty of

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Speaker 1: people here who've been on the run, who fled, who've

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Speaker 1: lost homes over the past week now, and we've talked

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Speaker 1: to plenty more of them here and now we want

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Speaker 1: you to hear some of these voices.

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Speaker 3: Yes, we're going to be playing for you now, some

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Speaker 3: of the remarkable stories that are being told by the

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Speaker 3: people who lived them, the people who lost their homes,

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Speaker 3: the people who lost their businesses, the people who lost

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Speaker 3: all hope at one point, but at least walked away

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Speaker 3: with their lives. We want you to hear their stories

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Speaker 3: from them. So take a lesson.

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Speaker 1: We are joined now by Scott. Scott who's house we

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Speaker 1: went by earlier today when we toured some of these neighborhoods,

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Speaker 1: and Scott, I say, we went by your house. All

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Speaker 1: we saw was a surfboard. To be honest with you,

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Speaker 1: a surfboard still standing. That's a win in the back.

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Speaker 1: That's a win for you. Tell me why even a

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Speaker 1: surfboard right now is.

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Speaker 2: A win.

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Speaker 4: Still standing?

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Speaker 2: You know the s.

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Speaker 4: There's something. But you know, the point of all of

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Speaker 4: this is, as I'm explaining to literally what seems to

365
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Speaker 4: be my entire outlook that is now in my text,

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Speaker 4: which you know, the shining example of love and humanity.

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Speaker 4: But the equation is very simple. All are safe. All

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Speaker 4: that matters. That was it. That's that is one hundred

369
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Speaker 4: percent where I began. You know, two days ago I

370
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Speaker 4: had literally one pair of pants to my name. Today

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Speaker 4: I have three great day right socks tomorrow, So you know,

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Speaker 4: uh yeah, my you know they call it the fink

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Speaker 4: water Jean, My grandmother and my boys got it big time,

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Speaker 4: and you know they have to go water their gills.

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Speaker 4: So the fact that they will still be able to

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Speaker 4: do so one day, big surfers.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 4: That's that's it holds, It holds a hope and promise.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I mean, I can't the perspective that

380
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Speaker 3: this is unfortunately giving so many people who lost everything,

381
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Speaker 3: but to have that one thing, one thing survive is

382
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Speaker 3: so powerful. But yes, you walked away with your life,

383
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Speaker 3: your entire family is alive. And yet I imagine as the

384
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Speaker 3: days start to go by, you start to realize all

385
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Speaker 3: the things you'll never get back. Right, you're not thinking

386
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,400
Speaker 3: about it in the moment, you shouldn't be, necessarily, but.

387
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Speaker 4: Perfect point in the literal ten minutes, literal ten minutes

388
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Speaker 4: that I had because the minute I arrived, which was

389
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Speaker 4: a blessing undo itself. You know, ashes raining down, you know,

390
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Speaker 4: and you breathe in and your lungs are there to

391
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Speaker 4: tell you like, oh no bueno, like get out about

392
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Speaker 4: But I had to go in and so I got uh,

393
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Speaker 4: I think I shared with you. I got, I got

394
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Speaker 4: my favorite picture of my boys and and you know,

395
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Speaker 4: so that's it. So you know, you met with that

396
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Speaker 4: bullying mind to go ah, you didn't get you and

397
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Speaker 4: you didn't do And yet I look up and Griffin

398
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Speaker 4: and his beloved girlfriend Julia, and Christopher and Pam and

399
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Speaker 4: two cats that are hiding in the in the closet

400
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 4: of the of the Blessing that is the apartment that

401
00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:16,720
Speaker 4: our dearest Amy is loaning us right now. So you know,

402
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Speaker 4: anything else is just things.

403
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Speaker 1: Was it? You got word first that your house had

404
00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,320
Speaker 1: burned down because your son went into the neighborhood and

405
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Speaker 1: he took video.

406
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Speaker 4: Right, we got confirmation? Yeah, that was the confirmation.

407
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Speaker 1: So give me those two different perspectives. Because you saw

408
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Speaker 1: the house burning on video and then you were able

409
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Speaker 1: to get to the neighborhood yourself and see the house gone.

410
00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,399
Speaker 1: Give me the perspective of how you reacted emotionally to

411
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Speaker 1: those two different moments.

412
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Speaker 4: Another great question, the you know, the hope you carry

413
00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:04,919
Speaker 4: in all candor from the moment we left to you know,

414
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:10,040
Speaker 4: the little word that would travel. And obviously, you know,

415
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,960
Speaker 4: the minute we were leaving, we were trying to find

416
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Speaker 4: a place, which is then the testament to not just

417
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Speaker 4: the kindness of friends and family, but complete stranger through

418
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:28,320
Speaker 4: association had a bungalow that they'd bought, but they fell

419
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Speaker 4: in love and moved in with their boyfriend, and it

420
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Speaker 4: was empty, and so you know, seven hundred square feet

421
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Speaker 4: looked really good to us. So you know, check right,

422
00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:42,040
Speaker 4: it's the checklist. And so you know, we we obviously

423
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Speaker 4: TV and phone and yeah, we held hope and hope

424
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Speaker 4: and hope and hope. We actually got a glimmer of

425
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Speaker 4: oddly someone reporting from the street over, you know, and

426
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Speaker 4: you're you're going, oh my god, camera just peer left,

427
00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:04,760
Speaker 4: peer left. And so the reveal came with unfortunately, my

428
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:11,479
Speaker 4: intrepid oldest doing what he does, which is go towards

429
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Speaker 4: the danger. And so he said us, he sent us

430
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Speaker 4: the very personal video. She was still burning and you know,

431
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 4: as he said, what's important is we're safe. The house

432
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Speaker 4: is not. And so the next day we started long

433
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:38,280
Speaker 4: story too much longer. The next day we were able

434
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Speaker 4: to get some electric bikes. And you know, I've always

435
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,120
Speaker 4: noted a songwriter friend of mine. We always talked about

436
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,400
Speaker 4: why you feel so close to where you grow up

437
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 4: and as a kid, you know the backyards to cut through,

438
00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,359
Speaker 4: you know the alleys to sneak through, you know literally

439
00:23:58,440 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 4: the secret paths you know under the tree limb, which

440
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 4: is almost the combination of what we used to get past.

441
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:11,960
Speaker 4: You know, those there to protect us. But we were determined,

442
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,680
Speaker 4: and as I just told you, I went to say hello,

443
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 4: not goodbye. And the dream and the determination is we're

444
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,720
Speaker 4: going to rebuild and kind of believe the phoenix is

445
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:27,760
Speaker 4: going to rise right like that's it.

446
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:28,520
Speaker 2: That's it.

447
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 3: I mean, it's one of those moments where you live

448
00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 3: in an area where you know there's a constant threat

449
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 3: of fire. You have had fire days, We've heard from

450
00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:41,880
Speaker 3: so many people who live in the area. You're used

451
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 3: to it, and yet you still don't think it's going

452
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,520
Speaker 3: to happen to you. When you actually saw for yourself

453
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,520
Speaker 3: with your own eyes what was left, which wasn't much.

454
00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:56,199
Speaker 3: Can you give us any I don't know if there

455
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,199
Speaker 3: are words to describe what you were feeling.

456
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 4: I just cleared out irony. I had just cleared out

457
00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,840
Speaker 4: my aunt's house, who passed away in December. I came

458
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:14,080
Speaker 4: back with treasures, a hundred photos that things I'd never

459
00:25:14,119 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 4: seen great great grandparents into. This is actually funny, I'll

460
00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,399
Speaker 4: show you later, But I find this, find this picture

461
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:29,919
Speaker 4: of myself. It's effing horrible at five years old, with

462
00:25:30,119 --> 00:25:35,720
Speaker 4: the worst beatles, boat cut and just teeth that just

463
00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:40,920
Speaker 4: are are so spaced apart. And what I never knew

464
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,399
Speaker 4: is that my mother had given this to my grandmother

465
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,320
Speaker 4: with a note on the back quoting me, mom my

466
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,359
Speaker 4: smile looks. I don't want to say the word, but

467
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:55,440
Speaker 4: apparently I was schooled in some language even at that age.

468
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,720
Speaker 4: And you know. And so again it's a treasure.

469
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 1: It's gone out, it's gone. We're never gonna get a

470
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,760
Speaker 1: chance to see this wonderful picture.

471
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 4: Of the year's comedy. I didn't screenshot of that one.

472
00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:09,960
Speaker 4: I'm like of all them, like great grandparents, I didn't

473
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 4: take a picture of it, but I've got that, and

474
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:16,720
Speaker 4: believe me, it was one of the first laughs. And

475
00:26:17,119 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 4: I also, I had been in search of random anecdote.

476
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,360
Speaker 4: I'd been in search of a photo that I had

477
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:28,040
Speaker 4: remembered since I was a kid of me as a

478
00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:31,920
Speaker 4: baby on my grandfather's lap, and my grandfather was blind,

479
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,879
Speaker 4: so he hadn't seen He didn't see me for the

480
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,680
Speaker 4: first three years of my life. The miracle is in

481
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:43,520
Speaker 4: that house. My houses are so important. He woke one

482
00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 4: day my grandmother pulled the shades back, and he'd been

483
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,000
Speaker 4: blind for ten years due to illness, and she pulled

484
00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:55,320
Speaker 4: the shades back, and he voiced, hey, honey, why is

485
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,160
Speaker 4: it so bright in here? And my grandmother just turned

486
00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:02,600
Speaker 4: to look back, and as far as I know, inexplicably

487
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 4: to this day, but he got about thirty five percent

488
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:10,399
Speaker 4: of his siteback. So I'd wanted that picture forever. And

489
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 4: there'd been family floods in the basement, going through thirty

490
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,600
Speaker 4: boxes of papers and letters, and you know, in some pictures,

491
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:27,480
Speaker 4: I see this broken photo album. I got that picture, baby,

492
00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:31,119
Speaker 4: Now I've got that picture digitally that was lost. But

493
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,919
Speaker 4: I'm like, you know, so you know, listen, you're again,

494
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,800
Speaker 4: you bully, you bully yourself. But then I'm telling you,

495
00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,159
Speaker 4: I meet and greet every thought of that with but

496
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:48,760
Speaker 4: what I do have. And lastly, my wife, blessed wife,

497
00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 4: no joke, ran into the closet not to get any clothing.

498
00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 4: Take it back. I think she I think she grabbed

499
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,240
Speaker 4: her favorite pair of shoes. But that from the story

500
00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 4: because what she really did. I had an inner synctum

501
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:10,880
Speaker 4: of pictures and oh too personal here the picture. The

502
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,520
Speaker 4: picture is the one picture I had of my sister

503
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 4: who passed when she was one. Only ever had one.

504
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:17,760
Speaker 2: Wow.

505
00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,399
Speaker 4: So I had a little inner sanctum of and we

506
00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,359
Speaker 4: have that. So that's what I'm saying. You know, you

507
00:28:24,480 --> 00:28:30,000
Speaker 4: go loss but gain and yeah, there you go waxing

508
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:30,360
Speaker 4: too much.

509
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:35,040
Speaker 3: People. People always use if you were fire hit your

510
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,119
Speaker 3: home and you had less than five minutes to grab

511
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,000
Speaker 3: what you could, what would you grab. That's just something I.

512
00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 2: Got the less you ready, Yes, the piece.

513
00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 4: I didn't know. You're asking what you learn. I didn't

514
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:53,040
Speaker 4: know this, but for one and all people, pets pictures

515
00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:58,840
Speaker 4: important papers, if if if if, But that really trails

516
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,040
Speaker 4: off the piece. It's the piece. I'm not joking people

517
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:02,920
Speaker 4: pat's pictures.

518
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:05,720
Speaker 1: Can I ask you what did you think There's a

519
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,280
Speaker 1: house across the street from you that's still standing. Yeah,

520
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: it only has a few burn marks in the in

521
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,040
Speaker 1: the grass. Just to see your neighborhood and to see that,

522
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,880
Speaker 1: what is there going we saw anything, like, what the

523
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:20,000
Speaker 1: actual hell, how is this possible? But for a guy

524
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,520
Speaker 1: who's looking at that, I don't know. If it does

525
00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:23,520
Speaker 1: cross your mar I will go, wow, I think this

526
00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:26,600
Speaker 1: happened over here, And why could I have been that house?

527
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,040
Speaker 4: We're not human if we don't go, boy, I wish mine.

528
00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:36,719
Speaker 4: But but then I you know, there's no halo on

529
00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:39,200
Speaker 4: this head and there's no wings on his back.

530
00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:39,880
Speaker 2: That's my wife.

531
00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:42,560
Speaker 4: She earned him on earth. But but but but I'm

532
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:45,960
Speaker 4: really not joking when I tell you I love it

533
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:51,040
Speaker 4: because from my side of the street, I know what

534
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:55,560
Speaker 4: the loss is and I never ever, ever, ever, never ever,

535
00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:58,600
Speaker 4: even if we were the Hatfields and the McCoy's, ever

536
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:03,840
Speaker 4: would I want that for them? Ever? And so we

537
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:09,840
Speaker 4: love it. And then for our neighborhood it's so affirming

538
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 4: because there's the beacon light. Wow, there's there's the still

539
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:20,120
Speaker 4: standing the surfboard and the house and that we know

540
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:23,640
Speaker 4: we're going to get back to and we're talking five years,

541
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:27,239
Speaker 4: maybe talking ten, right, But it's not about you know,

542
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 4: I'm old, I'm bald, working, I'm blind, and what the

543
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 4: hell do I need anymore? But again, for the kids, right,

544
00:30:38,040 --> 00:30:43,560
Speaker 4: for all who are to come bringing it back. We're like,

545
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,600
Speaker 4: not a Joe, We're bringing it back. Yeah, I mean

546
00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:46,760
Speaker 4: really like not.

547
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:51,680
Speaker 3: Just everyone else we've spoken with, and it's it's really affirming,

548
00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,720
Speaker 3: it's really hopeful. It's not it's not if, it's when,

549
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,800
Speaker 3: and it's let's start now and let's figure this out.

550
00:30:57,840 --> 00:31:01,120
Speaker 3: And I don't know how, but let's begin right now.

551
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 2: Yeah.

552
00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,600
Speaker 4: Like I said, the dream and the and and the

553
00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:09,600
Speaker 4: and the determination, like put those together and hey, listen,

554
00:31:09,680 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 4: that's what the world's built on.

555
00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:13,520
Speaker 1: Scott. We appreciate you, and we look forward to seeing

556
00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:15,840
Speaker 1: what you do with that surfboard. I am sure you're

557
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 1: going to frame that or do something really with that surfboarding.

558
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,320
Speaker 1: Before you go, please tell us what is your wife's

559
00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:22,280
Speaker 1: favorite pair of shoes?

560
00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 4: She's gonna kill hold on, hold on, I know this. Oh,

561
00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,280
Speaker 4: I know this. She's not gonna By the way, do

562
00:31:33,320 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 4: you know what I have in my head right now?

563
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:34,840
Speaker 2: Sorry?

564
00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 4: Everything's music to me? Ding then done? Don Dunne? What

565
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:40,360
Speaker 4: was that game show?

566
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:41,120
Speaker 5: Done?

567
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:41,600
Speaker 3: Yeah?

568
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:47,239
Speaker 1: And she's not going to kill you. He got it?

569
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:47,960
Speaker 2: Got it?

570
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 4: Mary Jane's mean anything to Mary James.

571
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:51,200
Speaker 3: I know exactly what they are.

572
00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:52,080
Speaker 4: Swear to God.

573
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 3: The par Mary Jane.

574
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,280
Speaker 4: She has she has the Mary Janes. Can you efin

575
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,920
Speaker 4: believe that? And by the way, no socks, no underwear,

576
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 4: no pants or or shirt additional to what she was wearing.

577
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 2: But she got her married Jane.

578
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 4: She got the Mary Jane's insane. So yeah, we will

579
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:10,800
Speaker 4: walk on.

580
00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 3: Well, thank you so much for being with us. We

581
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,320
Speaker 3: appreciate it and all the love, and just thank you

582
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:20,960
Speaker 3: for sharing that you were so real and so raw

583
00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,960
Speaker 3: and so vulnerable and things that nobody ever wants to be.

584
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,240
Speaker 3: But in moments like this, it counts and it matters

585
00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 3: because we we it resonates.

586
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:35,080
Speaker 4: To say, and again we're one hundred percent right, food, clothing,

587
00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:40,240
Speaker 4: shelter check, really, really, we all we have to be

588
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,680
Speaker 4: talking about those who are still fighting their way back,

589
00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 4: you know, and and route route the river resource you know,

590
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,959
Speaker 4: in that direction, and because that need is still very

591
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:54,560
Speaker 4: much there.

592
00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:08,479
Speaker 3: Joining us now is James Petty and he unfortunately lost

593
00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:12,480
Speaker 3: his home in the Eton fire, correct and is a

594
00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 3: real estate agent in the area and just told us,

595
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:18,640
Speaker 3: James just told us that he lost all of his

596
00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:21,840
Speaker 3: listings in addition to his very own home. James, I

597
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:25,440
Speaker 3: shudder to even ask you how you're doing today. How

598
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:26,400
Speaker 3: you're feeling today?

599
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,560
Speaker 6: Well, I mean, I think I've got a family. I've

600
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:32,760
Speaker 6: got four kids, I've got a wife, and I've really

601
00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,960
Speaker 6: been just trying to keep it strong for them. But

602
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:37,680
Speaker 6: I mean when I'm on my own, it's tough. I've

603
00:33:37,720 --> 00:33:40,320
Speaker 6: been crying like every day when I went to church,

604
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,280
Speaker 6: and just by myself yesterday just broke down. I mean,

605
00:33:43,560 --> 00:33:46,320
Speaker 6: this is unbelievably hard.

606
00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 1: And James, that comes from Look, we've been talking to

607
00:33:49,080 --> 00:33:51,080
Speaker 1: plenty of people, some of them lost their homes and

608
00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 1: then we talked to some people who their place of

609
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:57,440
Speaker 1: employment burned down, so they lost their livelihood. But you're

610
00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:00,719
Speaker 1: the first person we've talked to that has law both,

611
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,960
Speaker 1: it seems because you talk about these moments that you

612
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,400
Speaker 1: have alone. But to help us understand this, this is

613
00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:12,360
Speaker 1: one thing about rebuilding and going through this. But James,

614
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 1: where in the world do you go from here?

615
00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,600
Speaker 6: That's that's a good question. I mean, we got noticed

616
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,320
Speaker 6: of the fire at six pm. And for my neighbor

617
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:24,319
Speaker 6: who said it's coming, it's my friends. Because I've sold

618
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,359
Speaker 6: homes all over so a huge database. People are telling

619
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:27,800
Speaker 6: me this fire is going about as fast as a

620
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,399
Speaker 6: person can run. You got to get out. I threw

621
00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:31,920
Speaker 6: some clothes in the car through the dog in the

622
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,080
Speaker 6: van and we left. And I mean five point thirty

623
00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:36,879
Speaker 6: in the morning. I had to call my father in law,

624
00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,040
Speaker 6: who's stubborn. He's just there, wouldn't leave. I woke him up,

625
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,960
Speaker 6: I said get out, and he got out, thankfully. But

626
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,680
Speaker 6: it was like watching your life that you've built. I've

627
00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:50,240
Speaker 6: been an altady in twelve years and then my business

628
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,960
Speaker 6: burned down in day. I just you know, I'm a dad.

629
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:57,200
Speaker 6: I live on the deals I do, and it's just

630
00:34:57,400 --> 00:34:59,800
Speaker 6: that's the hard part, the unknown of what am I

631
00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:01,680
Speaker 6: going to do for my family, for my kids?

632
00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:04,840
Speaker 3: Wow, where are you all right now? How have you

633
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:08,239
Speaker 3: found shelter and all the things that you need to

634
00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,239
Speaker 3: live day and day out?

635
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:13,960
Speaker 6: Well, you know, my brother I live in Montana and

636
00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 6: grew up there for twenty some years. But my brother

637
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:19,799
Speaker 6: and I both moved down here. He ended up in

638
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,719
Speaker 6: Orange County. So I'm with him. My family's with him

639
00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,680
Speaker 6: right now. And then my kids all go to Sierra

640
00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:28,239
Speaker 6: Madre Elementary. Two of them go there. We're going to

641
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 6: be in Siera Madre with some friends and you know,

642
00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:32,719
Speaker 6: the next sixteen to ninety days is gonna be very

643
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:34,440
Speaker 6: telling of what's going to happen where we're going to.

644
00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,680
Speaker 1: Go, James, that neighborhood you're in Altadena. There's so much

645
00:35:38,760 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: emphasis been put on the Palisades fire eating fire. I

646
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,800
Speaker 1: think eating fires that been the deadliest, even though the

647
00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:48,240
Speaker 1: Palisades is the largest. But Alta dina in particular, that area.

648
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:52,000
Speaker 1: We heard a local reporter describing it a certain way

649
00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:54,920
Speaker 1: today in the devastation, and you almost couldn't believe it.

650
00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:58,799
Speaker 1: But you knowing that area, living in that area, how

651
00:35:58,800 --> 00:36:00,800
Speaker 1: do you describe? I mean, it's hard for us to

652
00:36:00,840 --> 00:36:02,680
Speaker 1: put in words because it does look like the place

653
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:05,279
Speaker 1: is gone. So you, as a guy who knows it,

654
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:09,000
Speaker 1: knows it well, lives there, describe what has happened to

655
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:09,880
Speaker 1: that neighborhood.

656
00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,799
Speaker 6: Well, it's funny, you know, before the National Guard came in,

657
00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:15,640
Speaker 6: because I'm a local, I was able to talk some

658
00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:18,080
Speaker 6: local people how to hop the police line. And so

659
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,560
Speaker 6: I actually went up because I have clients saying can

660
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:23,440
Speaker 6: you tell me about my home? And I drove blocks,

661
00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:26,840
Speaker 6: blocks and blocks. I drove from Marengo to fair Oaks.

662
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:29,920
Speaker 6: There was not one house left. I mean, you cannot

663
00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,439
Speaker 6: tell where you are at there are no visual landmarkers.

664
00:36:34,560 --> 00:36:37,879
Speaker 6: I mean, is it is truly post apocalyptic. I've never

665
00:36:37,880 --> 00:36:40,000
Speaker 6: seen anything like I just stay up. People are walking

666
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:43,799
Speaker 6: around on the street like zombies. I'm trying to say,

667
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:45,759
Speaker 6: can I give you money? Can I do something for you?

668
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:48,560
Speaker 6: And people are like, my dad's in that house over there,

669
00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:52,640
Speaker 6: I think, and the car. I think that's what's hitting me.

670
00:36:52,680 --> 00:36:55,960
Speaker 6: It's not just me, it's my whole neighborhood. Everybody is

671
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 6: impacted and it's just so many on phones.

672
00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean you were able to sneak your way

673
00:37:01,120 --> 00:37:05,160
Speaker 3: back up there. Did you actually get to see where

674
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:08,200
Speaker 3: your house once stood? And what did it look like?

675
00:37:08,320 --> 00:37:10,480
Speaker 3: Did you see anything recognizable?

676
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 6: Well, I'm happy to share the video with you because

677
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,920
Speaker 6: I took video of it all from my clients and everything,

678
00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:20,840
Speaker 6: and actually did walk through my house through the crumbling

679
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,640
Speaker 6: wreckage of it. And there's some bathroom tiles that I

680
00:37:23,719 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 6: saved and a burnt page of a book and there

681
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:26,959
Speaker 6: is nothing else left.

682
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:30,200
Speaker 1: Wow, James, did I hear you said you saved You

683
00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:32,359
Speaker 1: grabbed the tiles, you held on to them.

684
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:35,320
Speaker 6: That's I mean. The kids are like, is there anything?

685
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:37,759
Speaker 6: And I said, I get whatever I can find and

686
00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:38,919
Speaker 6: I grabbed a bathroom tile.

687
00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:39,920
Speaker 3: Bathroom tiles.

688
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,200
Speaker 1: Wow, we'll take in amazing. Yeah, I'll take whatever's left.

689
00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:44,239
Speaker 1: And bathroom tiles work.

690
00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:48,120
Speaker 3: Just just a memory, just some physical reminder of what

691
00:37:48,239 --> 00:37:50,840
Speaker 3: once was. And I know your mind has to be

692
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:55,239
Speaker 3: racing about what was lost. Is there something? Are there

693
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,560
Speaker 3: certain things that you think are just you're just gutted

694
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:00,680
Speaker 3: by the loss of Yeah.

695
00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,000
Speaker 6: I mean, I'm an avid fly fisherman. My dad taught

696
00:38:04,040 --> 00:38:07,399
Speaker 6: me when I was thirteen up to Montana and all

697
00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:11,759
Speaker 6: my rods burned, my saltwater reel burned, and those were

698
00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,279
Speaker 6: gifted to me by my father, as well as a

699
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,239
Speaker 6: really special shotgun my grandfather gave me is gone and

700
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:20,439
Speaker 6: I'm not hunted in years, but just having it meant

701
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:24,719
Speaker 6: something to me. And those I can't get back. I

702
00:38:24,719 --> 00:38:26,880
Speaker 6: can't get back my kid's drawings and all the things

703
00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:30,279
Speaker 6: that they made for me as a dad. That's really hard.

704
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:32,279
Speaker 6: I mean the other stuff I can replace, a stove,

705
00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:34,000
Speaker 6: a fridge, I can't get that stuff back.

706
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,920
Speaker 1: Tell us the ages, James and your kids.

707
00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:41,759
Speaker 6: Sure, I've got a seventeen year old William, twelve year

708
00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:44,719
Speaker 6: old named Plum, ten year old named Jonah, and a

709
00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:46,000
Speaker 6: seven year old named Juniper.

710
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:46,839
Speaker 1: How were they?

711
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 6: They're pretty impacted. I think my son, I told I

712
00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:54,239
Speaker 6: was worried about him. He's pretty withdrawn. He didn't want

713
00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:56,080
Speaker 6: to play Nintendo, which is like his favorite thing in

714
00:38:56,120 --> 00:39:00,320
Speaker 6: the world, and just really on his own, not eating

715
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:02,359
Speaker 6: in the way that you normally would. And I think

716
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:04,160
Speaker 6: my youngest is going to bounce back. I think my

717
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,840
Speaker 6: plum really internalizes it, but my ten year old is

718
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:08,719
Speaker 6: he's having a hard time.

719
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,439
Speaker 3: James, what do you say to your kids? How do

720
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:13,000
Speaker 3: you explain this to them?

721
00:39:13,520 --> 00:39:16,640
Speaker 6: I called my therapist friend with the same question. She said,

722
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,759
Speaker 6: just tell them how you feel that and that it's

723
00:39:20,760 --> 00:39:22,399
Speaker 6: going to be okay, that we're going to make a way.

724
00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:24,960
Speaker 6: But they can share with you how you're feeling, like,

725
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:27,440
Speaker 6: tell me the good, the bad, tell me in your

726
00:39:27,480 --> 00:39:29,600
Speaker 6: heart and when you're ready, I'm listening, and not to

727
00:39:29,640 --> 00:39:31,440
Speaker 6: force it out of them. Give them time.

728
00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,440
Speaker 1: You said you called the therapist's friend to help you

729
00:39:35,840 --> 00:39:39,719
Speaker 1: get your kids through it. Who's helping you through it, James.

730
00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 6: No one yet. I've got therapists that I can talk to,

731
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:46,520
Speaker 6: but I've really the clothes drives, the food. It's been

732
00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:49,480
Speaker 6: really focused on my wife and kids. I'm wearing what

733
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,480
Speaker 6: I have. You know, this is my Tsara T shirt

734
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:54,680
Speaker 6: and some jeans and some running shoes. So not really

735
00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:55,879
Speaker 6: dressed for the real estate world.

736
00:39:56,120 --> 00:39:58,160
Speaker 1: Yep, I have on a Tsar T shirt myself, right.

737
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:06,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, Zara, when you were able to like, I don't

738
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,920
Speaker 3: think people, I mean, I'm imagining it, but when you

739
00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:12,919
Speaker 3: have seconds to grab what you can, you know, what

740
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,480
Speaker 3: was that moment? Like, what were those moments?

741
00:40:15,600 --> 00:40:15,680
Speaker 7: Like?

742
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:20,239
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, with four kids, you're telling your kids like, oh, pack,

743
00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:22,840
Speaker 6: you know, and my wife is packing. I always have

744
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:25,040
Speaker 6: our a black box, which I recommend everybody does. You

745
00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:27,080
Speaker 6: have a black box of your documents. That's a go

746
00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,120
Speaker 6: bag anytime you don't want to be scrambling for your

747
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,560
Speaker 6: passports at the last minute. So thankfully we got all

748
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:35,640
Speaker 6: that stuff. But yeah, I just grabbed a couple of shirts.

749
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:37,359
Speaker 6: I honestly didn't think my house would burn. I mean,

750
00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:39,120
Speaker 6: that was I thought I'd be coming back and it,

751
00:40:39,239 --> 00:40:40,280
Speaker 6: you know, maybe a few days.

752
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:42,240
Speaker 2: Yeah.

753
00:40:42,239 --> 00:40:45,520
Speaker 6: So we opened my daughters This is it's strangely funny,

754
00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:48,640
Speaker 6: ironically funny. We opened my daughter's suitcase of clothes and

755
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:51,600
Speaker 6: it's all her stuffed animals made with beds and there's

756
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:52,320
Speaker 6: no clothes.

757
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:56,200
Speaker 3: Yeah, you leave your kids like every man for himself.

758
00:40:56,239 --> 00:40:59,000
Speaker 3: You guys, pack what you need. She packs her stuffed.

759
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:02,239
Speaker 6: Animals, So he's gotta go. Guys, he's coming with us.

760
00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:04,200
Speaker 3: I mean, I think my kids would do that too.

761
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 3: I think they would grab their baby blankets and their

762
00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:09,560
Speaker 3: mementos and not think about And honestly, maybe she was

763
00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:12,600
Speaker 3: the smart one. She left behind the things she can replace.

764
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 3: She grabbed, but she couldn't.

765
00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,719
Speaker 6: Yes, I just love that she put blankets on them

766
00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:17,560
Speaker 6: so they wouldn't get cold.

767
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:23,120
Speaker 1: You know, everyone we've talked to today, they We've waited

768
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:25,399
Speaker 1: on the person who's being impacted to make the joke,

769
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:28,520
Speaker 1: but everybody has made us smile. Right, everyone who's been

770
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:30,640
Speaker 1: impacted has some little story and in some way is

771
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 1: finding a way to stay upbeat. But have you been

772
00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,320
Speaker 1: on the phone with insurance companies yet? Is my question?

773
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:40,480
Speaker 1: And what does that mean for your home, your property

774
00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:41,359
Speaker 1: and moving forward?

775
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,399
Speaker 6: Sure? Well, honestly, this is not to toot my own horm.

776
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:48,960
Speaker 6: I haven't called my insurance yet. I've actually been counseling

777
00:41:48,960 --> 00:41:52,759
Speaker 6: my clients. My phone has been going off NonStop. There's

778
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:55,760
Speaker 6: a service from a church that's offering ash outs which

779
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:58,040
Speaker 6: they'll come through your ashes and dig through your dig

780
00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,520
Speaker 6: through it to find valuables like jewelry, things that are

781
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,960
Speaker 6: really important. And I'm putting a notice out today and

782
00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:06,879
Speaker 6: you know, and the next step is coaching people on

783
00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:08,879
Speaker 6: how to talk to insurance if you need to speak

784
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,799
Speaker 6: with a claims adjuster, uh, you know, preparing preparing them

785
00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:15,880
Speaker 6: for that and after this or tomorrow when I get

786
00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:18,360
Speaker 6: a minute, I'll file my claim, but you have some

787
00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:21,279
Speaker 6: time on that. I've really just been thinking about, you know,

788
00:42:21,320 --> 00:42:24,239
Speaker 6: my community, to be honest, and we have launched you know,

789
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:28,040
Speaker 6: I was in renovation and uh services for residential real estate,

790
00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,279
Speaker 6: so I've done so many homes in the area and

791
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:34,000
Speaker 6: so we did launch rebuild Altadena dot com. And that

792
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:37,799
Speaker 6: is I'm committed. I'm not moving away. I'm here. We're

793
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:39,840
Speaker 6: going to be with people in the process and to

794
00:42:39,840 --> 00:42:42,880
Speaker 6: help them kind of get through navigating the permitting whole

795
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:45,279
Speaker 6: issue with account work County, so you know, to do

796
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:47,719
Speaker 6: your permits. We can help expedite those and help rebuild.

797
00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 6: So that's where we're focused at it.

798
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:52,040
Speaker 1: Tell can you if you don't have an exact number,

799
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:54,319
Speaker 1: you don't have to uh, it's okay, but I'm trying

800
00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:57,800
Speaker 1: to get an idea. Yes, all homes you sold burned,

801
00:42:57,840 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 1: but you also had a bunch of listenings. Do you

802
00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:02,640
Speaker 1: have the idea how many listings you lost and how

803
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:04,399
Speaker 1: many you have left? Can you give us You might

804
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:06,160
Speaker 1: have already counted, but even if you don't have an

805
00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:07,240
Speaker 1: exact can you give us an idea.

806
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,680
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's about six, so one on the market and

807
00:43:10,719 --> 00:43:12,960
Speaker 6: then my future spring inventory burned.

808
00:43:14,000 --> 00:43:14,520
Speaker 2: Wow.

809
00:43:15,239 --> 00:43:19,640
Speaker 3: So financially, how do you you know insurance companies? We've

810
00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:21,520
Speaker 3: heard all the nightmare stories and I know you haven't

811
00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:24,440
Speaker 3: even begun that journey yet, but I'm sure you're preparing yourself.

812
00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,200
Speaker 3: How do you get back on your feet? Do you

813
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:29,959
Speaker 3: know financially how you're going to get back on your feet?

814
00:43:31,280 --> 00:43:35,600
Speaker 6: No, that is an unknown. But we are launching construction company,

815
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:38,799
Speaker 6: so I think the insurance when it will be there.

816
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,080
Speaker 6: I have education and knowledge on permitting and how to build,

817
00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:44,680
Speaker 6: so I think that is really where I'm going to pivot.

818
00:43:44,719 --> 00:43:47,080
Speaker 6: Of course, I do have people calling me panic selling,

819
00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:48,920
Speaker 6: and I'm just saying hold the phone. I mean, I

820
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:52,040
Speaker 6: don't know what's going to happen, so I just don't

821
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:54,200
Speaker 6: know how to advise people until I learn more information.

822
00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:56,160
Speaker 6: You know, are we going to see a major dip

823
00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:58,160
Speaker 6: in altered because no one wants to come here, or

824
00:43:58,280 --> 00:44:00,640
Speaker 6: because there's low inventory? You know, prices will go up.

825
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:02,400
Speaker 6: So I don't know the answer to that question.

826
00:44:03,680 --> 00:44:05,880
Speaker 1: James. We've heard you talk about and it's understandable for

827
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:08,560
Speaker 1: any parent. You've got four kids, You're trying to make

828
00:44:08,560 --> 00:44:10,520
Speaker 1: sure they're okay. You've got a wife, you want to

829
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:12,359
Speaker 1: make sure she's okay. You got a community you want

830
00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:14,320
Speaker 1: to make sure okay. You got clients you want to

831
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:17,759
Speaker 1: make sure they're okay. Robot and I employ you. Please, James,

832
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:20,320
Speaker 1: you got to take care of yourself at some point. Brother,

833
00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:22,600
Speaker 1: you got to man. I know, I know you got

834
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:25,200
Speaker 1: to be strong now and whatnot, but this is taking

835
00:44:25,239 --> 00:44:27,279
Speaker 1: a toll on you, the likes of which you won't

836
00:44:27,320 --> 00:44:30,360
Speaker 1: realize for maybe a little bit. But really, James, you

837
00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,640
Speaker 1: are doing incredible heroes work for everybody around you. It sounds,

838
00:44:34,719 --> 00:44:37,959
Speaker 1: but we beg you, yes, please, I will.

839
00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,160
Speaker 6: I will for sure. We'll make sure everybody's getting therapy.

840
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:43,640
Speaker 6: I will create that space for myself. Well.

841
00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:46,279
Speaker 3: James, thank you for sharing your story giving us some

842
00:44:46,440 --> 00:44:49,399
Speaker 3: perspective about what you and so many people are going

843
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:51,120
Speaker 3: through right now. We just wish you the very best

844
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:53,160
Speaker 3: and just so happy everyone's safe and sound.

845
00:44:53,760 --> 00:45:00,000
Speaker 6: Thank you.

846
00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:06,040
Speaker 3: We're speaking to Edwin, Flores and you have lived in

847
00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:08,960
Speaker 3: the Palisades Edwin now for just the last few years,

848
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:12,080
Speaker 3: but you've had some major life changes. Your wife had

849
00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:14,919
Speaker 3: a baby two weeks ago. You have a young son

850
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:17,279
Speaker 3: who you were racing to pick up at school when

851
00:45:17,280 --> 00:45:21,000
Speaker 3: this all started to unfold very quickly? Can you walk

852
00:45:21,080 --> 00:45:23,960
Speaker 3: us through when you first were alerted that you needed

853
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:26,200
Speaker 3: to go get your son, and of course you, I'm

854
00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:29,600
Speaker 3: sure were concerned about your wife and your newborn as well,

855
00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:31,239
Speaker 3: who were far away from where you were.

856
00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:33,520
Speaker 2: Yeah.

857
00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:37,560
Speaker 5: I mean, the whole day started off kind of weird

858
00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:40,960
Speaker 5: because the winds were definitely extreme for what we're used to.

859
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,200
Speaker 5: We have a side gate at the home where our

860
00:45:44,280 --> 00:45:46,600
Speaker 5: dogs kind of go out in the morning, and the

861
00:45:46,800 --> 00:45:48,920
Speaker 5: entire fence was down, and that's where I kind of

862
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:51,239
Speaker 5: got the first notice that this was a little bit

863
00:45:51,239 --> 00:45:55,440
Speaker 5: different than what we're used to. I comfortably took my

864
00:45:55,520 --> 00:45:58,239
Speaker 5: son to school and left my wife at home with

865
00:45:58,280 --> 00:46:02,239
Speaker 5: the baby. She obviously just gave birth two weeks ago

866
00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:06,160
Speaker 5: and had a sea section. So you know, after doctor's orders,

867
00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:09,240
Speaker 5: she's not really able to lift much or move around

868
00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:12,480
Speaker 5: too much. So I left her at home with the

869
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:14,440
Speaker 5: positive thought that everything was gonna be okay. So I

870
00:46:14,480 --> 00:46:17,520
Speaker 5: went to work and I probably did one meeting, and

871
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:19,400
Speaker 5: at the very end of the meeting, I got a

872
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:22,359
Speaker 5: text from the school saying a fire has broken out

873
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,080
Speaker 5: in a very very close vicinity. Please make your way

874
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:26,880
Speaker 5: to the school as soon as possible to pick up

875
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:31,360
Speaker 5: your son. And well, I didn't really think much of it.

876
00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:33,160
Speaker 5: I was like, okay, cool, let me just grab my stuff.

877
00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:36,960
Speaker 5: And once I got.

878
00:46:36,800 --> 00:46:40,279
Speaker 8: In my car and looked towards the sky, like this

879
00:46:40,600 --> 00:46:44,919
Speaker 8: gray cloud just kind of overpowered what you're looking at,

880
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:47,360
Speaker 8: and quickly I got in my car so.

881
00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:49,880
Speaker 5: I drive you straight there, and checking in on my wife,

882
00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:52,719
Speaker 5: checking in with friends in the area to make sure

883
00:46:52,880 --> 00:46:56,640
Speaker 5: if they got the message as well. And it just

884
00:46:56,719 --> 00:46:59,640
Speaker 5: seemed like a very very long drive that I was

885
00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:04,160
Speaker 5: making from Culver City to just the pch. The cloud

886
00:47:04,239 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 5: just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and you know,

887
00:47:07,440 --> 00:47:09,320
Speaker 5: I was texting friends and sending them photos.

888
00:47:09,360 --> 00:47:11,000
Speaker 2: I was like, I do not know what I'm getting into,

889
00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:13,200
Speaker 2: but this is not looking good.

890
00:47:14,440 --> 00:47:18,319
Speaker 5: The closer I got, the more the fear kind of

891
00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:21,680
Speaker 5: came in, saying like, I have two things I have

892
00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:22,920
Speaker 5: to do, and I don't know if I can do

893
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:24,880
Speaker 5: both of them. And one of them is picking up

894
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:26,239
Speaker 5: my son and the other one is picking up my

895
00:47:26,280 --> 00:47:31,759
Speaker 5: wife and my baby. And the school is the Monassory

896
00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:35,000
Speaker 5: and it sits in the mar Kessnoles of Palisades is

897
00:47:35,040 --> 00:47:38,560
Speaker 5: just kind of pretty dead center of the Palisades and

898
00:47:38,680 --> 00:47:41,879
Speaker 5: just south of the highlands where the fires began. And

899
00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:47,160
Speaker 5: once I got into pch you can see the amount

900
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:50,560
Speaker 5: of people racing towards the Palisades, which I can only

901
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:52,719
Speaker 5: assume it's other parents. I can only assume it's other

902
00:47:52,719 --> 00:47:57,520
Speaker 5: neighbors that live nearby. And we tried our best to

903
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:00,400
Speaker 5: kind of, you know, follow the rules, but you can

904
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:05,240
Speaker 5: see people, you know, bypassing red lights, chasing fire trucks

905
00:48:05,239 --> 00:48:09,000
Speaker 5: to get there faster. And by the time we made it,

906
00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:12,719
Speaker 5: you know, close to where the Palazi stars, it's just Chautaqua.

907
00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:15,719
Speaker 2: You can see the amount of traffic already trying to

908
00:48:15,760 --> 00:48:16,399
Speaker 2: get out as well.

909
00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:20,080
Speaker 5: And once I made a ride onto Mescal, which is

910
00:48:20,080 --> 00:48:24,400
Speaker 5: the middle street that gets you up there, the line

911
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:28,960
Speaker 5: to get onto v ch was already insane. There was

912
00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:31,439
Speaker 5: tons of cars racing to the top of the hill

913
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,920
Speaker 5: and the main street, which the Sunset, it was bumper

914
00:48:35,000 --> 00:48:36,040
Speaker 5: to bumper, like there was.

915
00:48:36,000 --> 00:48:40,880
Speaker 2: No room to maneuver any which way, and I was

916
00:48:40,920 --> 00:48:41,560
Speaker 2: already fearful.

917
00:48:41,560 --> 00:48:43,000
Speaker 5: I was like, Okay, this is not going to be

918
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:44,839
Speaker 5: good because I still have so many blocks to get

919
00:48:44,880 --> 00:48:49,120
Speaker 5: to my kid. It probably took me about half an

920
00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:51,120
Speaker 5: hour to get to the kids school, and during that

921
00:48:51,239 --> 00:48:53,040
Speaker 5: time I kept checking in with my wife. I was like,

922
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:54,839
Speaker 5: I think you need to just start packing things up.

923
00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:58,960
Speaker 5: We didn't really think we were. We had a fear

924
00:48:59,160 --> 00:49:00,920
Speaker 5: of the fire. Thought we were just gonna be like

925
00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:04,040
Speaker 5: in an area that's probably gonna be smoky. We live

926
00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:07,480
Speaker 5: in the Sunset Mesa area and it's just behind the

927
00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:11,239
Speaker 5: Getty Villa, which you know the For some reason in

928
00:49:11,280 --> 00:49:13,160
Speaker 5: our head we're like, yeah, this this isn't.

929
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 2: Gonna touch us.

930
00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,440
Speaker 5: I think it's just more so, you know, step away while,

931
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:19,240
Speaker 5: step away from the area while the smoke is around,

932
00:49:19,239 --> 00:49:20,400
Speaker 5: and then we'll be back in, you know.

933
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:22,440
Speaker 2: Two days.

934
00:49:22,480 --> 00:49:25,720
Speaker 5: Once I was able to make it to my son,

935
00:49:25,960 --> 00:49:28,839
Speaker 5: the teachers were not doing well.

936
00:49:28,880 --> 00:49:30,480
Speaker 2: They had still ten more kids to go.

937
00:49:31,120 --> 00:49:33,440
Speaker 5: You can see the fire and the smoke from the mountains,

938
00:49:34,600 --> 00:49:37,359
Speaker 5: and they they had concerns for themselves and as well

939
00:49:37,360 --> 00:49:39,680
Speaker 5: as for those, you know, remaining ten kids or so.

940
00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:44,840
Speaker 5: I jumped back in my car and I raced heading

941
00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:50,560
Speaker 5: westbound on sunset, And unfortunately, as soon as I hit Pch,

942
00:49:50,719 --> 00:49:54,000
Speaker 5: I could not move. Like the cars somehow were just stopped.

943
00:49:54,719 --> 00:49:57,799
Speaker 5: We couldn't figure out what was happening, and so you.

944
00:49:57,800 --> 00:49:59,760
Speaker 3: Couldn't get to your You couldn't get to your wife

945
00:49:59,800 --> 00:50:02,719
Speaker 3: and to your new born child. So she had to

946
00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:05,080
Speaker 3: she had to take matters into her own hands, correct

947
00:50:05,120 --> 00:50:06,480
Speaker 3: and escape on her own.

948
00:50:07,239 --> 00:50:10,040
Speaker 5: Yeah, So I called her and I said, listen, I

949
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:12,239
Speaker 5: know you can't lift much. I know you can move

950
00:50:12,239 --> 00:50:13,960
Speaker 5: things around, but I just I need you to just

951
00:50:13,960 --> 00:50:16,480
Speaker 5: grab as much as you can, grab the dogs, grab

952
00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:18,960
Speaker 5: the baby, and just get ready just in case.

953
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:20,080
Speaker 2: I'm going to try my best.

954
00:50:21,200 --> 00:50:25,560
Speaker 5: But to be honest, I'm moving ten feet every twenty minutes,

955
00:50:25,680 --> 00:50:26,960
Speaker 5: like I am not moving.

956
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:30,120
Speaker 3: Well, you're we're starting through your head at that point.

957
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:32,920
Speaker 3: I'm just curious, like I can't even imagine what your

958
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:33,799
Speaker 3: brain is saying to you.

959
00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:38,239
Speaker 5: There's two things. The first thing was my son who

960
00:50:38,280 --> 00:50:40,880
Speaker 5: was in the car with me. The sky was orange,

961
00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:44,080
Speaker 5: it was dark orange. The moon was red or the

962
00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:47,240
Speaker 5: sun was like bright bright red. And my son has asthma,

963
00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:50,200
Speaker 5: so I knew that there was no chance that I

964
00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:52,719
Speaker 5: can step out of this room the car without him

965
00:50:52,760 --> 00:50:56,200
Speaker 5: having any type of asthma attack. And in my head,

966
00:50:56,239 --> 00:50:58,319
Speaker 5: I knew I don't have his inhaler, I don't have

967
00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:01,560
Speaker 5: anything that can help him in case he does suffer

968
00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:03,799
Speaker 5: from any of these attacks. So I had to keep

969
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:06,640
Speaker 5: him in the car. I didn't have anything in the

970
00:51:06,640 --> 00:51:08,279
Speaker 5: car with me, so I took my shirt off and

971
00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:10,120
Speaker 5: I actually wrapped her around his head, just so that

972
00:51:10,480 --> 00:51:12,879
Speaker 5: he wasn't breathing anything in case he got into the car.

973
00:51:14,440 --> 00:51:18,920
Speaker 5: That drive, going towards the Palises drive again. It just

974
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:22,680
Speaker 5: took so so long, and you're starting to see people

975
00:51:22,760 --> 00:51:25,080
Speaker 5: starting to walk with their suitcases on the sidewalk.

976
00:51:25,400 --> 00:51:27,120
Speaker 2: Cars pulled off to the side already.

977
00:51:28,200 --> 00:51:30,920
Speaker 5: I think everyone was in disbelief, not knowing if they

978
00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:33,160
Speaker 5: really have to take everything or are they just going

979
00:51:33,160 --> 00:51:35,439
Speaker 5: to wait it out. I tried my best to wait

980
00:51:35,480 --> 00:51:38,600
Speaker 5: it out. I'm a film of my wife the entire time. She's,

981
00:51:38,719 --> 00:51:40,680
Speaker 5: you know, getting little things as much as she can.

982
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:46,440
Speaker 5: Carrie luckily. Unluckily, we still had our hospital back pretty

983
00:51:46,480 --> 00:51:48,719
Speaker 5: much packed because we were just at the hospital not

984
00:51:48,719 --> 00:51:51,360
Speaker 5: even a week ago, and she was able to grab

985
00:51:51,400 --> 00:51:54,640
Speaker 5: that bag, tossed in a few more things, primarily for

986
00:51:54,680 --> 00:51:57,480
Speaker 5: the kids. And you know, I'm going down the list

987
00:51:57,520 --> 00:51:59,120
Speaker 5: of like what do we need for my kid obviously

988
00:51:59,160 --> 00:52:02,520
Speaker 5: the asthma medicine, fourmula for our baby, at least one

989
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:05,640
Speaker 5: or two bottles, diapers, like anything that can think of

990
00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:08,879
Speaker 5: that's going to be immediate, and she luckily was able

991
00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:12,160
Speaker 5: to grab that throw it in the car. She had

992
00:52:12,200 --> 00:52:14,320
Speaker 5: to grab the dogs, throw them in the car. They

993
00:52:14,360 --> 00:52:17,560
Speaker 5: were piled on top of suitcases, and then for the baby.

994
00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:20,799
Speaker 5: The unfortunate part was I had the base for the

995
00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:23,400
Speaker 5: car seat and she had the car seat, so she

996
00:52:23,680 --> 00:52:25,839
Speaker 5: essentially did her best to just put the car seat

997
00:52:25,840 --> 00:52:27,800
Speaker 5: on the front seat and just tie it with the

998
00:52:28,239 --> 00:52:29,680
Speaker 5: seat belt as best as she could.

999
00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:32,719
Speaker 3: These are the things you don't plan for, really, like

1000
00:52:32,800 --> 00:52:34,400
Speaker 3: you don't think it's going to happen like this. And

1001
00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:38,200
Speaker 3: thank goodness you all got out safely with at least

1002
00:52:38,360 --> 00:52:43,120
Speaker 3: a few things, because your house ended up being completely destroyed.

1003
00:52:43,280 --> 00:52:47,359
Speaker 2: Completely destroyed, And I think it's one of those hard things.

1004
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:49,400
Speaker 5: Like I said, we thought we'd be back, you know,

1005
00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:51,680
Speaker 5: we thought, hey, in two days, once the small clears,

1006
00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:54,520
Speaker 5: we'll be back, so there's nothing to worry about. And

1007
00:52:55,160 --> 00:52:57,279
Speaker 5: you know, you're staying close to the news and you're

1008
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:00,160
Speaker 5: watching these winds swirl and then go left and right,

1009
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:03,960
Speaker 5: and you know, we're file following the app that you

1010
00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:07,800
Speaker 5: know updated every so happened hours and at some point

1011
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:11,160
Speaker 5: at the end of that first day, you can see

1012
00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:14,279
Speaker 5: that there's a fire around us, but yet the map

1013
00:53:14,320 --> 00:53:16,359
Speaker 5: in the middle of it had not been updated.

1014
00:53:16,040 --> 00:53:19,040
Speaker 2: Yet, so we had hope. We had hope. We held

1015
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:19,440
Speaker 2: on to it.

1016
00:53:19,920 --> 00:53:21,879
Speaker 5: We had friends in that area that kept texting us, saying,

1017
00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:24,360
Speaker 5: a self connection to my camera, I can see that

1018
00:53:24,800 --> 00:53:25,600
Speaker 5: things are working.

1019
00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:28,560
Speaker 2: We started getting videos of our.

1020
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:32,120
Speaker 5: At the bottom of our hill where the Getty's landscape

1021
00:53:32,160 --> 00:53:34,880
Speaker 5: started burning. We started getting videos of our the restaurants

1022
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:36,320
Speaker 5: right next to us. We live right next to the

1023
00:53:36,360 --> 00:53:40,200
Speaker 5: real end Enchilada, which unfortunately burned down the first day

1024
00:53:40,239 --> 00:53:43,640
Speaker 5: as well. So in our heads we're thinking, there's still

1025
00:53:43,640 --> 00:53:47,040
Speaker 5: a chance, there's still a chance. And I was trying

1026
00:53:47,080 --> 00:53:49,560
Speaker 5: to find any which way, like how can I get information?

1027
00:53:49,840 --> 00:53:52,240
Speaker 5: And you know, I stuck to the to the social

1028
00:53:52,280 --> 00:53:55,279
Speaker 5: media platform X and I was like, someone's gonna be

1029
00:53:55,280 --> 00:53:57,759
Speaker 5: talking about it, someone's gonna be posting about it. And

1030
00:53:58,280 --> 00:54:01,520
Speaker 5: you know, the very next day, maybe around midnight, I

1031
00:54:01,560 --> 00:54:03,840
Speaker 5: was like, I'm desperate to find something. I think it

1032
00:54:03,880 --> 00:54:07,200
Speaker 5: was a firefighter that posted, you know, everything on Seahorn

1033
00:54:07,320 --> 00:54:10,280
Speaker 5: Drive from this address to stage dress this address is burning.

1034
00:54:10,719 --> 00:54:12,239
Speaker 5: And it just so happens that that's where we got

1035
00:54:12,239 --> 00:54:16,080
Speaker 5: our first glimpse of the house on fire. So we

1036
00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:20,359
Speaker 5: knew what we were gonna expect. We kind of waited

1037
00:54:20,360 --> 00:54:21,799
Speaker 5: to see if there was anything else that was gonna

1038
00:54:21,800 --> 00:54:24,560
Speaker 5: come up. And the very next day, I guess the

1039
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:26,640
Speaker 5: neighbor was able to get into the area and luckily

1040
00:54:26,680 --> 00:54:28,759
Speaker 5: took video of as much as he could so that

1041
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:32,080
Speaker 5: everyone would get some kind of understanding or closure. And

1042
00:54:32,239 --> 00:54:34,719
Speaker 5: you know, we live at the very end of an

1043
00:54:34,760 --> 00:54:37,480
Speaker 5: intersection where I think it was a long pause for

1044
00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:39,400
Speaker 5: us where we saw it, and it just it was

1045
00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:42,000
Speaker 5: very surreal knowing that, you know, you're just looking at

1046
00:54:42,000 --> 00:54:44,879
Speaker 5: a driveway like there's not even any structure, if there's

1047
00:54:44,880 --> 00:54:48,839
Speaker 5: no there's nothing there but just flat flat land, And

1048
00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:51,680
Speaker 5: you know, all I can think about is like that

1049
00:54:51,719 --> 00:54:53,920
Speaker 5: whole garage is full of all of my boxes that

1050
00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:56,440
Speaker 5: I had just put in there three weeks ago, and

1051
00:54:56,520 --> 00:54:58,680
Speaker 5: I was going one by one trying to like, you know,

1052
00:54:58,800 --> 00:54:59,560
Speaker 5: empty them out.

1053
00:55:01,600 --> 00:55:04,240
Speaker 2: So yeah, I think, I think now.

1054
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:07,879
Speaker 3: It's heartbreaking, and it and it's and it's just it's

1055
00:55:07,920 --> 00:55:10,040
Speaker 3: such a sad story that so many I know of

1056
00:55:10,080 --> 00:55:13,080
Speaker 3: your neighbors and friends are going through as well. But Edwin,

1057
00:55:13,320 --> 00:55:16,240
Speaker 3: we really appreciate you walking us through that. You really

1058
00:55:16,239 --> 00:55:19,000
Speaker 3: painted the picture of what it must have been like.

1059
00:55:19,080 --> 00:55:20,839
Speaker 3: And we're just so happy that you and your wife

1060
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:24,560
Speaker 3: and your children and your pets are okay, and we

1061
00:55:24,600 --> 00:55:27,040
Speaker 3: are sending you our very best. We just, you know,

1062
00:55:27,239 --> 00:55:29,440
Speaker 3: we just can't even imagine how difficult this is. But

1063
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:31,120
Speaker 3: thank you for sharing your story.

1064
00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:34,120
Speaker 2: Of course, of course thank you for listening.

1065
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:47,440
Speaker 1: So we are joined now by Rabbi Daniel Sure joining us. Sir,

1066
00:55:47,560 --> 00:55:49,520
Speaker 1: you just before we came on here, you said you

1067
00:55:49,520 --> 00:55:51,799
Speaker 1: were able to get back up and take a look,

1068
00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:53,759
Speaker 1: I think at your neighborhood and where your house is.

1069
00:55:53,800 --> 00:55:54,520
Speaker 1: Tell me what you saw.

1070
00:55:55,800 --> 00:55:58,840
Speaker 7: You know, we'd gotten once to check the conreation and

1071
00:55:59,200 --> 00:56:06,759
Speaker 7: ones to my own home, and what we see is pain, right.

1072
00:56:06,840 --> 00:56:09,920
Speaker 7: We see a community that so many of us nearly

1073
00:56:09,960 --> 00:56:13,560
Speaker 7: had memorized. Right walking the streets, playing with our kids.

1074
00:56:14,080 --> 00:56:18,640
Speaker 7: We nearly had this, this neighborhood memorized. And for a second,

1075
00:56:18,719 --> 00:56:22,160
Speaker 7: you feel disoriented and lost because all of the landmark

1076
00:56:22,239 --> 00:56:25,200
Speaker 7: pieces of how you'd remember that, telling your kids you

1077
00:56:25,200 --> 00:56:27,880
Speaker 7: can ride up three houses to the purple mailbox and

1078
00:56:27,920 --> 00:56:30,000
Speaker 7: then stop, which all of us if parents, have done

1079
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:33,239
Speaker 7: things like that, and then the mailbox is gone and

1080
00:56:33,440 --> 00:56:38,520
Speaker 7: the house is gone, and it's it is a painful

1081
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:43,400
Speaker 7: and also a little bit confusing because all of the

1082
00:56:43,440 --> 00:56:45,759
Speaker 7: memories of all that love and the neighborhood fled through

1083
00:56:45,800 --> 00:56:48,920
Speaker 7: you while you're assessing that, and it's just a it's

1084
00:56:48,920 --> 00:56:54,760
Speaker 7: an incredibly complex emotional process.

1085
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:59,080
Speaker 3: And Rabbi, I know you you lost your home, what

1086
00:56:59,200 --> 00:57:02,359
Speaker 3: about your stream, your neighborhood? Did anyone's home survive? Are

1087
00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:06,200
Speaker 3: you all literally in the same boat, so to speak.

1088
00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:11,040
Speaker 7: There are two homes out of one hundred and sixty

1089
00:57:11,600 --> 00:57:17,360
Speaker 7: one hundred and seventy out of our neighborhood, and we

1090
00:57:17,400 --> 00:57:19,600
Speaker 7: are in that same boat. And that's what's so interesting

1091
00:57:19,640 --> 00:57:23,720
Speaker 7: about this moment is like, as as people we've learned

1092
00:57:23,760 --> 00:57:27,959
Speaker 7: how to care for people in trauma. There's no good

1093
00:57:28,720 --> 00:57:33,760
Speaker 7: example or guidance on how to care for those in trauma.

1094
00:57:33,800 --> 00:57:37,520
Speaker 7: While in trauma, it's a different kind of shared experience.

1095
00:57:37,640 --> 00:57:40,560
Speaker 7: There's a different power to it, of course. But if

1096
00:57:40,600 --> 00:57:42,800
Speaker 7: I had a neighbor whose house burned down, we would

1097
00:57:42,840 --> 00:57:46,520
Speaker 7: surround them with love. And when all the neighbor's houses

1098
00:57:46,520 --> 00:57:49,080
Speaker 7: burned down, there's this flip where part of it is

1099
00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:54,240
Speaker 7: surrounding the two houses that stayed with love because of

1100
00:57:54,280 --> 00:57:59,920
Speaker 7: the guilt, because of the the confusion about what will

1101
00:58:00,040 --> 00:58:02,440
Speaker 7: happened to them, about will they be allowed to live

1102
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:04,360
Speaker 7: in their home? How long I drove through the neighborhood,

1103
00:58:04,440 --> 00:58:08,040
Speaker 7: it's not an area to live in. So your house survived,

1104
00:58:08,080 --> 00:58:10,840
Speaker 7: and there's even a weird sense of survival guilt to it,

1105
00:58:10,880 --> 00:58:13,800
Speaker 7: and yet your neighborhood was robbed of you and it

1106
00:58:13,920 --> 00:58:14,520
Speaker 7: is gone too.

1107
00:58:14,720 --> 00:58:17,920
Speaker 1: Well, Robi, what do you do? And I'm just curious

1108
00:58:17,920 --> 00:58:20,040
Speaker 1: to how you answer it. Your you're a man of faith,

1109
00:58:20,160 --> 00:58:22,080
Speaker 1: and so many people in the community are coming to

1110
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:24,560
Speaker 1: you for some kind of guidance and counsel, and so

1111
00:58:24,680 --> 00:58:28,480
Speaker 1: often people do answer ask that question, why why would this?

1112
00:58:28,640 --> 00:58:33,360
Speaker 1: Why would my God allow something like this? I'm not

1113
00:58:33,360 --> 00:58:35,880
Speaker 1: sure if you've gotten that question, but just how do you,

1114
00:58:36,000 --> 00:58:38,840
Speaker 1: as a man of faith, make sense of what's happening

1115
00:58:39,160 --> 00:58:41,760
Speaker 1: right now. We know things just happen in Some people say,

1116
00:58:41,840 --> 00:58:43,720
Speaker 1: is God's plan? But what is your answer to it?

1117
00:58:44,680 --> 00:58:46,840
Speaker 7: I mean, look, the Jewish tradition holds a lot of

1118
00:58:46,840 --> 00:58:49,959
Speaker 7: different answers to it. But there's a number of theologians

1119
00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:54,880
Speaker 7: and philosophers who understand God as part of this universe

1120
00:58:55,040 --> 00:58:58,439
Speaker 7: and not as the puppet master of this universe. And

1121
00:58:58,760 --> 00:59:05,919
Speaker 7: when you understand God as a concept as as as

1122
00:59:05,960 --> 00:59:09,960
Speaker 7: the noun that connects to human love and care and

1123
00:59:10,000 --> 00:59:13,320
Speaker 7: compassion in this world, then it isn't so much why

1124
00:59:13,360 --> 00:59:16,440
Speaker 7: would God? And it's more about what do we do

1125
00:59:16,920 --> 00:59:20,240
Speaker 7: to create that space of faith in these moments right

1126
00:59:20,320 --> 00:59:23,080
Speaker 7: I believe that things that happen, I'm not one of

1127
00:59:23,160 --> 00:59:26,120
Speaker 7: those bad things happen for a reason, but I am

1128
00:59:26,160 --> 00:59:28,800
Speaker 7: a When bad things happen, we have a choice, We

1129
00:59:28,880 --> 00:59:30,760
Speaker 7: have a divine choice. We can either step up and

1130
00:59:30,800 --> 00:59:34,520
Speaker 7: be partners in faith and we can care for humanity

1131
00:59:34,560 --> 00:59:37,840
Speaker 7: and we can see travesty as the kind of origin

1132
00:59:37,920 --> 00:59:41,160
Speaker 7: story that means our children will fix this world because

1133
00:59:41,200 --> 00:59:43,360
Speaker 7: they have experienced the kind of pain that will motivate

1134
00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:47,360
Speaker 7: them to or we can just ask why, and if

1135
00:59:47,400 --> 00:59:49,760
Speaker 7: we find community and we find the people who we

1136
00:59:49,800 --> 00:59:51,720
Speaker 7: can connect to, and by the way, part of the

1137
00:59:51,720 --> 00:59:55,320
Speaker 7: devastation is we have that the Palisades was in a

1138
00:59:55,480 --> 00:59:58,280
Speaker 7: wonderful community of people who showed up for each other

1139
00:59:58,680 --> 01:00:01,920
Speaker 7: and loved each other. I was at countless of the

1140
01:00:01,920 --> 01:00:04,920
Speaker 7: homes that went down. I was in their homes, and

1141
01:00:04,960 --> 01:00:07,560
Speaker 7: I blessed their homes by putting the Mozusa that piece

1142
01:00:07,680 --> 01:00:10,720
Speaker 7: up on the door that in the inside talked about

1143
01:00:10,720 --> 01:00:13,840
Speaker 7: how to show love and create a world of love.

1144
01:00:14,360 --> 01:00:17,440
Speaker 7: So we have a choice to hold onto that community

1145
01:00:17,520 --> 01:00:21,080
Speaker 7: and care for it and do something real. But right

1146
01:00:21,120 --> 01:00:22,600
Speaker 7: now we're also in pain.

1147
01:00:23,280 --> 01:00:26,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, can you We've been hearing everyone's stories, Rabbi about

1148
01:00:26,280 --> 01:00:31,000
Speaker 3: how they they got out safely. What's your story?

1149
01:00:32,640 --> 01:00:32,840
Speaker 2: You know?

1150
01:00:32,920 --> 01:00:37,800
Speaker 7: I'm going to carry some grief and wrestling with it

1151
01:00:37,840 --> 01:00:41,680
Speaker 7: for a while. I was out of town. I was

1152
01:00:41,760 --> 01:00:45,720
Speaker 7: at a conference, and I was coming back an hour later.

1153
01:00:45,720 --> 01:00:48,560
Speaker 7: Then I ended up coming back and my wife called

1154
01:00:48,560 --> 01:00:52,400
Speaker 7: me and said, should I be worried about this fire?

1155
01:00:52,520 --> 01:00:56,120
Speaker 7: And we talked it through and she went about her day.

1156
01:00:56,160 --> 01:00:57,600
Speaker 7: At first it was nothing. Up on the top of

1157
01:00:57,640 --> 01:01:01,360
Speaker 7: the hill. We had one like a week earlier, and

1158
01:01:01,400 --> 01:01:05,560
Speaker 7: by the time it was something I couldn't get back.

1159
01:01:05,880 --> 01:01:07,720
Speaker 7: So I was on the phone with my wife while

1160
01:01:07,760 --> 01:01:09,920
Speaker 7: reception would cut in and out, and we problem solved

1161
01:01:09,920 --> 01:01:13,120
Speaker 7: on what to do, and my wife, in a truly

1162
01:01:13,160 --> 01:01:15,640
Speaker 7: heroic axe, was able to go to two schools to

1163
01:01:15,640 --> 01:01:18,480
Speaker 7: pick up the dogs, to collect everyone. She couldn't get

1164
01:01:18,480 --> 01:01:20,320
Speaker 7: her car through, so she actually took a jogger and

1165
01:01:20,400 --> 01:01:22,439
Speaker 7: ran to the synagogue to pick up our youngest son

1166
01:01:22,600 --> 01:01:28,160
Speaker 7: through smoke and it. You know, she saved our entire

1167
01:01:28,200 --> 01:01:33,040
Speaker 7: family and for that will always be the most important

1168
01:01:33,160 --> 01:01:36,200
Speaker 7: already was but the most important person in my world.

1169
01:01:37,520 --> 01:01:40,000
Speaker 7: But I'm there's gonna be a really hard moment for

1170
01:01:40,080 --> 01:01:44,440
Speaker 7: those of us who couldn't help at all. How we

1171
01:01:44,480 --> 01:01:47,760
Speaker 7: figure out do you go to that next conference? Are

1172
01:01:47,840 --> 01:01:52,960
Speaker 7: you comfortable leaving your family? Because no one saw this coming,

1173
01:01:53,440 --> 01:01:55,880
Speaker 7: No one, absolutely no one. When the fire came up,

1174
01:01:55,920 --> 01:01:58,840
Speaker 7: we said, it can't jump the street. It's a wide street.

1175
01:02:00,360 --> 01:02:02,720
Speaker 7: So there's just so many and you talk to people.

1176
01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:06,480
Speaker 7: Everyone has a story, what they did, what they didn't do,

1177
01:02:06,880 --> 01:02:09,480
Speaker 7: who they called, who they checked in on. You look

1178
01:02:09,520 --> 01:02:11,360
Speaker 7: at their phone logs and they were checking in on

1179
01:02:11,520 --> 01:02:13,840
Speaker 7: every single one of their friends while trying to evacuate

1180
01:02:13,880 --> 01:02:17,200
Speaker 7: at the same time, it was it was chaos because

1181
01:02:17,880 --> 01:02:22,840
Speaker 7: it is such a in person, tangible, close knit community.

1182
01:02:24,640 --> 01:02:28,000
Speaker 1: You talk about how you might have a difficult time

1183
01:02:28,120 --> 01:02:31,280
Speaker 1: reconciling or dealing with the uh you being gone when

1184
01:02:31,280 --> 01:02:34,640
Speaker 1: this all went down. I'm curious, though, what's your wife's

1185
01:02:34,840 --> 01:02:37,480
Speaker 1: response to that, because I'm sure you said that to her,

1186
01:02:37,520 --> 01:02:39,880
Speaker 1: And how is she comforted you or tried to get

1187
01:02:39,920 --> 01:02:42,000
Speaker 1: you to you know what, stop that.

1188
01:02:42,680 --> 01:02:44,880
Speaker 7: Well, I'll tell you part of it is her fault,

1189
01:02:44,920 --> 01:02:48,160
Speaker 7: because she says every time I leave, bad things happen here,

1190
01:02:48,280 --> 01:02:51,560
Speaker 7: talking about like the power outage or kid wakes up

1191
01:02:51,560 --> 01:02:53,560
Speaker 7: in the middle of the night sick. And so I

1192
01:02:53,600 --> 01:02:56,200
Speaker 7: said that, and she dismissed me pretty hard. I tell

1193
01:02:56,240 --> 01:03:00,160
Speaker 7: you that joke is now over. She reminded me of that,

1194
01:03:00,240 --> 01:03:04,800
Speaker 7: like we are a team and you can't foresee these things.

1195
01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:08,720
Speaker 7: And part of being a role model to our children,

1196
01:03:09,280 --> 01:03:12,920
Speaker 7: which is really the most important thing we do, is

1197
01:03:12,960 --> 01:03:17,200
Speaker 7: showing them that tragedy and the things that might scare

1198
01:03:17,280 --> 01:03:21,800
Speaker 7: us cannot stop us. We have to move forward with life.

1199
01:03:22,360 --> 01:03:25,240
Speaker 7: We have to think about how we rebuild. We have

1200
01:03:25,320 --> 01:03:27,240
Speaker 7: to reach out, we have to create community. We have

1201
01:03:27,320 --> 01:03:29,280
Speaker 7: to keep the tether to the people we care about.

1202
01:03:29,440 --> 01:03:31,280
Speaker 7: And as I said before, we have to be thinking

1203
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:34,280
Speaker 7: about how the world can be stronger and better for

1204
01:03:34,360 --> 01:03:38,200
Speaker 7: it because we have three kids. We have three kids

1205
01:03:38,280 --> 01:03:40,400
Speaker 7: who can go and make a difference in this world,

1206
01:03:40,400 --> 01:03:43,160
Speaker 7: who can create beautiful lives, who will do something that

1207
01:03:43,200 --> 01:03:47,040
Speaker 7: makes us proud. And we have to make sure that

1208
01:03:47,120 --> 01:03:52,000
Speaker 7: moments like this strengthen their resolve and don't break them. Wow,

1209
01:03:52,080 --> 01:03:54,520
Speaker 7: even if when they go to bed at night we're

1210
01:03:54,520 --> 01:03:55,240
Speaker 7: a little broken.

1211
01:03:56,280 --> 01:03:59,160
Speaker 3: Rabbi, I was going to ask you what it has

1212
01:03:59,240 --> 01:04:02,360
Speaker 3: been like, what it will be like leading your congregation.

1213
01:04:02,960 --> 01:04:06,200
Speaker 3: Your synagogue is amazing, it's beautiful, we saw it. It

1214
01:04:06,280 --> 01:04:10,520
Speaker 3: remarkably survived. I was going to ask how you lead

1215
01:04:10,560 --> 01:04:14,240
Speaker 3: people when you're trying to work through your own mental

1216
01:04:14,280 --> 01:04:17,160
Speaker 3: and physical stress of having gone through this tragedy with them.

1217
01:04:17,160 --> 01:04:19,120
Speaker 3: But my goodness, just hearing your words right there, I

1218
01:04:19,200 --> 01:04:21,520
Speaker 3: don't think you're going to have a hard time. You

1219
01:04:21,880 --> 01:04:25,040
Speaker 3: have a way of inspiring while you're also dealing. Is

1220
01:04:25,120 --> 01:04:28,480
Speaker 3: this a new thing where you have never really had

1221
01:04:28,520 --> 01:04:33,120
Speaker 3: to walk the walk along with your your congregation at

1222
01:04:33,120 --> 01:04:36,200
Speaker 3: the same time in this in this path of pain.

1223
01:04:37,800 --> 01:04:41,400
Speaker 7: You know it's important to note that every religion has

1224
01:04:41,480 --> 01:04:43,920
Speaker 7: a different setup and structure with their with their leadership

1225
01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:46,920
Speaker 7: and clergy and the way the Jewish tradition is set.

1226
01:04:47,720 --> 01:04:52,040
Speaker 7: Rabbis are not outside the scope of their community. We're

1227
01:04:52,080 --> 01:04:56,280
Speaker 7: community members. There's there's a piece of rabbinic literature that

1228
01:04:56,360 --> 01:04:59,080
Speaker 7: says in every community, the following are required, and it

1229
01:04:59,120 --> 01:05:01,120
Speaker 7: lists it off a t sure and a doctor, one

1230
01:05:01,120 --> 01:05:04,520
Speaker 7: who understands the laws, someone to supply the food, sanitation,

1231
01:05:04,760 --> 01:05:06,160
Speaker 7: like all the things you can think of that a

1232
01:05:06,160 --> 01:05:09,600
Speaker 7: community needs, and a rabbi. And it doesn't start with

1233
01:05:09,720 --> 01:05:12,840
Speaker 7: rabbi right like it's it's about the idea that rabbi

1234
01:05:12,920 --> 01:05:15,840
Speaker 7: is part of the community. So when you say lead,

1235
01:05:16,680 --> 01:05:21,160
Speaker 7: I guide, but we lead with love and we absorb

1236
01:05:21,440 --> 01:05:24,920
Speaker 7: what are surrounding. On last Friday, we were able to

1237
01:05:24,960 --> 01:05:26,760
Speaker 7: gather as a community, not in our own space, but

1238
01:05:26,800 --> 01:05:29,680
Speaker 7: in another one, another synagogue, sigin a temple was so

1239
01:05:29,720 --> 01:05:33,720
Speaker 7: gracious to offer us their space to use, and we

1240
01:05:33,840 --> 01:05:38,040
Speaker 7: led with love as I saw faces in tears, myself

1241
01:05:38,080 --> 01:05:41,440
Speaker 7: our senior rabbi, Rabbi Amy Bernstein, the canter canter heien Frankel.

1242
01:05:42,000 --> 01:05:44,840
Speaker 7: We cried with them and we laughed with them. We

1243
01:05:45,240 --> 01:05:48,240
Speaker 7: shared in that pain and that joy of being able

1244
01:05:48,280 --> 01:05:51,880
Speaker 7: to be together after three days of fear and separation.

1245
01:05:52,600 --> 01:05:56,200
Speaker 7: And so it's not about leading in this moment. It's

1246
01:05:56,200 --> 01:05:58,640
Speaker 7: about meeting the people where we need to be met,

1247
01:05:58,680 --> 01:06:03,600
Speaker 7: and then and then knowing that my love language is

1248
01:06:03,640 --> 01:06:07,240
Speaker 7: to help make sure that even while we sit in

1249
01:06:07,280 --> 01:06:09,200
Speaker 7: this pain, we see a path that will be to

1250
01:06:09,200 --> 01:06:09,720
Speaker 7: move forward.

1251
01:06:10,800 --> 01:06:16,560
Speaker 1: Man, you've just counseled us here. We've been watching from Afar,

1252
01:06:16,600 --> 01:06:18,800
Speaker 1: and we've been now talking to a lot of folks

1253
01:06:18,800 --> 01:06:21,920
Speaker 1: here in La since we got here, and every single

1254
01:06:21,960 --> 01:06:24,439
Speaker 1: one of them after we've talked to them, has made

1255
01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:26,760
Speaker 1: us feel better. It's put us a smile on our face.

1256
01:06:26,800 --> 01:06:30,720
Speaker 1: Our homes are three thousand miles away. But for whatever reason,

1257
01:06:30,760 --> 01:06:33,000
Speaker 1: you all have a resolve and an energy and a

1258
01:06:33,080 --> 01:06:36,240
Speaker 1: joy and an appreciation and a community. Something is coming

1259
01:06:36,280 --> 01:06:39,080
Speaker 1: through right now in La and you certainly are a

1260
01:06:39,120 --> 01:06:40,880
Speaker 1: part of it. We thank you for taking the time.

1261
01:06:40,920 --> 01:06:42,560
Speaker 1: I know it's hell for you and your community and

1262
01:06:42,600 --> 01:06:46,080
Speaker 1: your family personally, but man, really really appreciate what you're doing,

1263
01:06:46,160 --> 01:06:49,680
Speaker 1: taking time with us and also guiding. As you say,

1264
01:06:49,960 --> 01:06:52,640
Speaker 1: I won't say lead anymore when I talk about a rabbi,

1265
01:06:52,720 --> 01:06:54,080
Speaker 1: but guiding your community.

1266
01:06:54,120 --> 01:06:56,840
Speaker 9: So thank you so much, man, I appreciate I want

1267
01:06:56,840 --> 01:07:00,280
Speaker 9: to leave you one note please, As a Jewish peace people,

1268
01:07:01,640 --> 01:07:04,920
Speaker 9: we've known the story of devastation and rebuilding for thousands

1269
01:07:04,920 --> 01:07:09,000
Speaker 9: of years, and so it's not to dismiss the pain.

1270
01:07:10,320 --> 01:07:14,000
Speaker 7: Of this moment, but it's to know that we really

1271
01:07:14,480 --> 01:07:18,320
Speaker 7: we will rebuild the heirlooms that I lost. The Canter

1272
01:07:18,520 --> 01:07:21,560
Speaker 7: so aptly said, when I buy a new Kiddish cup

1273
01:07:21,600 --> 01:07:25,160
Speaker 7: to bless for Shabbat, my grandkids will know that as

1274
01:07:25,200 --> 01:07:27,800
Speaker 7: the cup that we first blessed Shabbat. After this moment

1275
01:07:27,840 --> 01:07:32,400
Speaker 7: of pain, we'll create new heirlooms. Well, we'll start again,

1276
01:07:32,520 --> 01:07:35,040
Speaker 7: and so we will lean on three thousand years of

1277
01:07:35,080 --> 01:07:37,840
Speaker 7: history to learn to do it. And as a culture,

1278
01:07:37,880 --> 01:07:40,280
Speaker 7: as a people, as all of it, there is so much,

1279
01:07:40,880 --> 01:07:43,400
Speaker 7: so much to look forward to. So thank you for

1280
01:07:43,440 --> 01:07:45,919
Speaker 7: having me on. I really appreciate it, and I hope

1281
01:07:45,920 --> 01:07:47,920
Speaker 7: you guys are able to share this message out and

1282
01:07:48,000 --> 01:07:50,200
Speaker 7: all the stories you've heard for so many to hear.

1283
01:07:50,880 --> 01:07:53,040
Speaker 3: Rabi Sure, thank you so much and we will and

1284
01:07:53,080 --> 01:07:53,840
Speaker 3: we appreciate you.

1285
01:07:54,240 --> 01:07:56,720
Speaker 1: Those are just a few examples ropes of the stories

1286
01:07:56,720 --> 01:07:59,800
Speaker 1: we are hearing here, each one a little different but

1287
01:08:00,000 --> 01:08:02,080
Speaker 1: each one kind of theme so a certain degree as well.

1288
01:08:02,120 --> 01:08:06,680
Speaker 1: When you hear about this, just a commonality, not a comparison,

1289
01:08:06,680 --> 01:08:10,040
Speaker 1: but there's a commonality to the suffering that everybody has. Somebody.

1290
01:08:10,160 --> 01:08:12,800
Speaker 1: You might have lost your home, maybe you didn't, but

1291
01:08:12,880 --> 01:08:14,240
Speaker 1: everybody's in the same boat out here.

1292
01:08:14,320 --> 01:08:17,040
Speaker 3: Yeah, I find that I found that so interesting and

1293
01:08:17,080 --> 01:08:20,519
Speaker 3: not something I was expecting coming here to hear people's stories.

1294
01:08:21,160 --> 01:08:25,080
Speaker 3: They're vastly different, and yet they all have the same

1295
01:08:25,120 --> 01:08:29,520
Speaker 3: theme to it. There's a gratitude, there's a sense of community.

1296
01:08:29,560 --> 01:08:32,840
Speaker 3: There's a sense of togetherness that was there all the time,

1297
01:08:32,880 --> 01:08:35,400
Speaker 3: it seems like, but just heightened, and people are just

1298
01:08:35,560 --> 01:08:39,160
Speaker 3: so grateful and aware of it, checking in on one another.

1299
01:08:39,640 --> 01:08:41,840
Speaker 3: And I love that the messages to those of us

1300
01:08:41,920 --> 01:08:44,680
Speaker 3: who didn't suffer any losses or aren't a part of

1301
01:08:44,720 --> 01:08:48,120
Speaker 3: this community, that we can still take the lessons learned

1302
01:08:48,800 --> 01:08:51,080
Speaker 3: during these fires and apply them to our own lives,

1303
01:08:51,120 --> 01:08:54,200
Speaker 3: to our own communities. It doesn't have to have some

1304
01:08:54,240 --> 01:08:56,559
Speaker 3: sort of a tragedy for us to remember to be

1305
01:08:56,640 --> 01:09:00,120
Speaker 3: kind to our neighbors, to check in on people who

1306
01:09:00,160 --> 01:09:03,200
Speaker 3: are vulnerable, and to make sure that we have a

1307
01:09:03,520 --> 01:09:06,559
Speaker 3: safety plan in place. Natural disasters can happen anywhere, and

1308
01:09:06,840 --> 01:09:09,519
Speaker 3: these are all lessons and all takeaways I believe we

1309
01:09:09,560 --> 01:09:11,080
Speaker 3: can all use in our own lives.

1310
01:09:11,160 --> 01:09:12,680
Speaker 1: And so thank you once again to all of our

1311
01:09:12,760 --> 01:09:16,479
Speaker 1: guests who have suffered, who are suffering right now, but

1312
01:09:16,520 --> 01:09:18,439
Speaker 1: have still taken the time to tell their stories, to

1313
01:09:18,439 --> 01:09:20,720
Speaker 1: spend some time with us, and for that we are

1314
01:09:20,760 --> 01:09:23,400
Speaker 1: forever grateful, not just for the time, but also for

1315
01:09:23,439 --> 01:09:26,160
Speaker 1: the lessons they gave us and quite frankly, given us

1316
01:09:26,160 --> 01:09:28,479
Speaker 1: a reason to smile, given us a reason to be

1317
01:09:28,560 --> 01:09:31,880
Speaker 1: optimistic in the midst of an unspeakable tragedy. Robes and

1318
01:09:31,920 --> 01:09:33,640
Speaker 1: I will continue to be talking to people while we

1319
01:09:33,680 --> 01:09:35,360
Speaker 1: are here in LA. We will bring you more of

1320
01:09:35,400 --> 01:09:38,120
Speaker 1: their stories in our next episode of Amy and TJ.

1321
01:09:38,160 --> 01:09:40,240
Speaker 3: But for now, I'm TJ Holmes and I'm Amy Roboch.

1322
01:09:40,280 --> 01:09:51,240
Speaker 3: Have a wonderful day, everyone,