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Speaker 1: Now, what we also know is that Northern Territory Police

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Speaker 1: last week arrested a thirty seven year old man following

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Speaker 1: an extensive investigation into the cause of eighty unlawfully lit

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Speaker 1: bushfires through the Greater Darwin region between May and August. Now,

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Speaker 1: the man was taken into custody in charge with eighteen

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Speaker 1: counts of person causing a bush fire. The investigation into

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Speaker 1: the bushfires was a collaborative effort between the Northern Territory

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Speaker 1: Police and the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service, and

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Speaker 1: the fires caused significant damage to the region, with businesses

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Speaker 1: threatened by the impact. Joining me on the show right

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Speaker 1: now is the acting Chief Fire Officer, Joshua Fisher.

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Speaker 2: Good morning to you, josh Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time this morning. Now, can

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Speaker 1: you talk me through that arrest and charging last week

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Speaker 1: and really why it was so important.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, Katie, what we've observed, particularly over the last

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Speaker 2: few years, is quite a significant increase in the amount

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Speaker 2: of wildfires that are happening, not only here in the

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Speaker 2: Greater Darwin region but right throughout the Northern Territory. So

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Speaker 2: collaborative and joint operation was put together between Northern Territory Police,

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Speaker 2: Northern Tertary Fire and Rescue Service and supported with Bushfires

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Speaker 2: NT specifically looking at the investigation of fire causes or

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Speaker 2: bushfire causes throughout the Greater Darwin region. There's been some

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Speaker 2: extensive investigations that have been occurring since May this year

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Speaker 2: into a number of fires that have occurred throughout the

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Speaker 2: Greater Darwin region. And as you mentioned, last Thursday, thirty

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Speaker 2: seven year old male was arrested and charged on eighteen

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Speaker 2: counts of person caused bushfire. These additional fires, they place

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Speaker 2: the community at risk. It takes additional resources from both

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Speaker 2: Bushfires in t and a Northern Territory Fire and Rescue

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Speaker 2: Service to respond to these. It's unnecessary, it's dangerous, and

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Speaker 2: the community don't expect someone to be out there lighting fires.

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Speaker 2: It's easy to comprehend a fire that's accidentally been lit

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Speaker 2: through failure equipment or even down to an escaped campfire

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Speaker 2: or something, but if someone's deliberately out their light in

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Speaker 2: a fire, that is dangerous and you know, for our

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Speaker 2: firefighters are responding in the peak of the dry season.

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Speaker 2: Heat risk is a real concern for our firefighters. Heat stress,

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Speaker 2: heat related illness, and if we're continually going out there

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Speaker 2: and combating these fires consecutively over multiple days, that puts

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Speaker 2: additional pressure on our people fatigue. But we have had

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Speaker 2: instances where firefighters have succumbed to heat stress related illness,

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Speaker 2: and so these additional fires, it's completely unnecessary and dangerous.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the thing. It's so unnecessary and so uncalled for.

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Speaker 1: And really, you know, after what you've just said there,

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Speaker 1: it's very indicative of why that work needs to happen,

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Speaker 1: so that you deter other people from doing the same thing.

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Speaker 1: Charges do need to be laid. You've got to make

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Speaker 1: sure that others don't follow on in copycats sort.

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Speaker 2: Of manner exactly. And look, these our investigations are ongoing.

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Speaker 2: As I mentioned, Operation are Chillius been named, is investigating

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Speaker 2: these bush fire incidents across the Greater Dawen region. We

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Speaker 2: have more work to be done. We've got more investigations

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Speaker 2: that are ongoing, and we will continue to hold anyone

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Speaker 2: responsible for lighting fires, will hold them and bring them

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Speaker 2: before justice.

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Speaker 1: Now, it has been an incredibly busy few weeks for

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Speaker 1: our fires and bushfires int things seem to have calmed

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Speaker 1: down ever so slightly, but I guess just before I

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Speaker 1: get to how the bush fire, you know how our

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Speaker 1: whether ourtlook is looking, and how those fires are looking

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Speaker 1: over the coming days and weeks. It's never quite really

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Speaker 1: for our frontline services. Even this morning, I know that

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Speaker 1: you guys were out at Channel Island, weren't you?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, correg So a multi agency response there between Police,

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory Fine Rescue Service, Saint John Ambulance and also

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Speaker 2: with support from NT Emergency Services to report of a

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Speaker 2: multi vehicle accident in the vicinity of Channel Island at

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Speaker 2: around ten thirty last night. So police received reports at

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Speaker 2: the vehicle was traveling on Channel Island Road bridge and

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Speaker 2: collided with two parked vehicles and as a result of

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Speaker 2: that crash, an adult male pedestrian was thrown over the bridge.

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Speaker 2: So quite a complex rescue operation involving all those services

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Speaker 2: to not only respond to the vehicle crash but also

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Speaker 2: to rescue a mail that had been thrown over the

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Speaker 2: bridge and fallen to the rocks below.

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Speaker 1: Wow, how is that person?

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Speaker 2: So there's two people currently at Royal d Owen Hospital

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Speaker 2: ben assessed. But obviously this is a significant incident with

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Speaker 2: likely significant injuries.

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Speaker 1: Like how tough was it? Then to conduct that rescue.

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Speaker 2: Look, all of our services we're highly skilled, highly trained,

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Speaker 2: and so that collaboration and the efforts between all three

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Speaker 2: services that were at that location and also supported by

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Speaker 2: INT emergency services, we're able to safely respond to that

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Speaker 2: incident and rescue the individual and also respond to the

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Speaker 2: vehicle crash. But quite a complex operation, you know, we're

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Speaker 2: talking about a vertical rescue and an incoming tide. Lots

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Speaker 2: of concerns there and lots of complexities as we responded

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Speaker 2: to this incident.

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Speaker 1: How many how many staff were required to be able

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Speaker 1: to conduct that rescue and when you talk about a

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Speaker 1: vertical rescue, what is involved in that.

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Speaker 2: So we had crews from the Palmerston Fire Station responded

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Speaker 2: to a crew of six, supported by multiple police units

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Speaker 2: and Saint John Ambulance Paramedics. NT Emergency Services were on standby.

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Speaker 2: They are the lead in terms of vertical rescue and

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Speaker 2: they were on standby ready to respond if we needed

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Speaker 2: to have a prolonged response to this incident. But through

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Speaker 2: that initial response in those three services that were at

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Speaker 2: the location, we're able to quickly work out a way

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Speaker 2: that was safe to be able to extract that individual

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Speaker 2: from the rocks below.

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Speaker 1: Well, let's hope that they're going to be okay now, Josh,

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Speaker 1: just before I let you go this morning, we know

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Speaker 1: that there is a fireban as I understand it, in

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Speaker 1: place for today and I'm sure that over the coming

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Speaker 1: weeks and days. As always, our fires and bushfires NT

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Speaker 1: are always on high lows.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we certainly are. And today we've got quite an

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Speaker 2: extensive fire been in place right across the Darwen and

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Speaker 2: Adelaide River fire with the forecast area, but also Barkley North, Gregory,

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Speaker 2: Southeast Lassed the East and West fire where the forecast area.

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Speaker 2: So as we've been talking about, we're in a decade

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Speaker 2: or fire season here in a northern territory where we've

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Speaker 2: got concerns in the top end and we've got concerns

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Speaker 2: in Central Australia. And generally we have a bit of

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Speaker 2: a reprieve between the two fire seasons, but this year

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Speaker 2: they're concurrent and we're seeing that fire is extending right

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Speaker 2: down from the south in the red center all the

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Speaker 2: way up to the top end.

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Speaker 1: How are things going in Central Australia at the moment,

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Speaker 1: particularly the Barkley region that had gone through such a

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Speaker 1: difficult few works. How are things going at this point.

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Speaker 2: Look, that fire is still ongoing. It's a large fire.

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Speaker 2: It's nearing one point five million hectares. Bushfires into the

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Speaker 2: lead agency in response to that incident, and as of

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Speaker 2: yesterday afternoon, they did issue a watching act for the

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Speaker 2: Canteen Creek community. There's been lots of mitigation work and

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Speaker 2: preparations put in place around can Creek, but we've got

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Speaker 2: quite a large finger of fire that is moving through

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Speaker 2: that and into the ranges, and so a lot of

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Speaker 2: work was done yesterday to protect Canteen Creek. We know

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Speaker 2: that there's a reduced number of people currently residing in

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Speaker 2: Kanteen Creek, so all of the residents that were there

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Speaker 2: were spoken to yesterday. We did make use of the

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Speaker 2: telephone emergency alert system so that we could communicate the

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Speaker 2: critical information to the community to reassure them, let them

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Speaker 2: know that fire services Bushfires into and an nordn Tertory

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Speaker 2: Fire and Rescue Service. We're there and are going to

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Speaker 2: be undertaking efforts to protect the community.

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Speaker 1: But certainly sounds like not out of the woods at

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Speaker 1: this point in time in terms of that fire still

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Speaker 1: raging on.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, that's correct. At this point in time, the

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Speaker 2: firefronts around seventy kilometers from the Stuart Highway and just

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Speaker 2: due to the train, it's going into a quite difficult

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Speaker 2: train that is unlikely for us to suppress it in

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Speaker 2: so there's been this has been a mammoth effort between

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Speaker 2: all agencies, the Northern Territory, Cutman's Association, the Pastoral Industry,

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Speaker 2: Central Land Council. It's a real multi agency event. We're

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Speaker 2: certainly not out of the woods. There's lots of work

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Speaker 2: to be done still well.

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Speaker 1: Josh Fisher, the acting Chief Fire Control Officer for the

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Speaker 1: nor the acting Chief Fire Officer, i should say for

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory. We always appreciate your time. Thank you

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Speaker 1: very much for joining us this morning. Thanks Katie, thank

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Speaker 1: you