WEBVTT - How one man allegedly started the LA fires

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<v Speaker 1>Already and this this is the Daily Art.

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<v Speaker 2>This is the Daily ohs oh, now it makes sense.

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<v Speaker 1>Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Monday,

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<v Speaker 1>the thirteenth of October. I'm Lucy Passel, I'm Billy fit

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<v Speaker 1>Simon's The California fires earlier this year burned thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>acres of land, destroyed homes and businesses, saw more than

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred thousand people flee for shelter, and directly killed

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<v Speaker 1>thirty one people. Now, US authorities alleged one man was responsible.

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<v Speaker 1>In today's episode, we'll explain what we know about the

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<v Speaker 1>man accused of starting the La fires and the alleged

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<v Speaker 1>involvement of chat GBT.

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<v Speaker 2>Lucy. This story of the LA fires, I feel like

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<v Speaker 2>it was the first big news story of twenty twenty five.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>It happened early in January, and it's easy to forget,

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<v Speaker 2>I guess because we are on the other side of

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<v Speaker 2>the world, just how big this was, how catastrophic it was.

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<v Speaker 2>It was just it was massive news. Yeah, for anyone

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<v Speaker 2>who perhaps says forgotten some of the details. Do you

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<v Speaker 2>want to just refresh our minds?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Absolutely. It was our first week back of full

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<v Speaker 1>time work here at the daily os kind of the

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<v Speaker 1>second week of January. There were two major fires that

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<v Speaker 1>developed around the same time, and two smaller fires, but

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<v Speaker 1>the two main fires were the Palisades Fire and the

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<v Speaker 1>Eton Fire. They were named after the areas that they burned,

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<v Speaker 1>and as anyone who was on Australia's East coast during

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<v Speaker 1>the pre Covid Black Summer would know, when you have

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<v Speaker 1>a fire that big, even if it's just in one

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<v Speaker 1>part of a city, it affects a huge area. So

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<v Speaker 1>smoke was really blowing everywhere. A lot of it was

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<v Speaker 1>blowing out to the ocean, but it sort of felt

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<v Speaker 1>like something that was affecting in my memory, the whole

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<v Speaker 1>US West coast, and by the eighth of January local time,

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<v Speaker 1>the neighborhoods of Alta Dina and the Pacific Palisades had

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<v Speaker 1>effectively been wiped out by fire, like thousands of homes

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<v Speaker 1>and businesses destroyed.

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<v Speaker 2>And I remember a big conversation at the time was

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<v Speaker 2>what caused this? Because what was confusing was that it

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<v Speaker 2>was winter there. What did we know at the time about.

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<v Speaker 1>What had caused it. Yeah, I think we think of

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<v Speaker 1>fires as being exclusively a summer thing, particularly here in Australia.

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<v Speaker 1>What was interesting for me to learn at the time

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<v Speaker 1>was La Mayor Karen Bass said the fires had been

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<v Speaker 1>stoked by winds that are normal for that time of year.

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<v Speaker 1>She said it came from a combination of quote hurricane

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<v Speaker 1>force winds and extremely dry drought conditions. So there's a

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<v Speaker 1>phenomenon in LA's cooler month. It's called the Santa Ana winds,

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<v Speaker 1>and they blow in to La from the desert in

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<v Speaker 1>the east of the city out towards the ocean, increasing

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<v Speaker 1>the risk of fires because it dries out vegetation. Sort

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<v Speaker 1>of the same logic as what causes fire here, which

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<v Speaker 1>is if you have a lot of very dry vegetation,

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<v Speaker 1>that increases fire risk. It's just that that tends to

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<v Speaker 1>happen in Australia more in summer, particularly if it's an

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<v Speaker 1>El Nino summer, if things are very dry. So on

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<v Speaker 1>top of these kind of seasonal winter winds, they also

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<v Speaker 1>had extreme drought in particularly in central and southern California,

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<v Speaker 1>which is where Los Angeles is, Okay.

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<v Speaker 2>So we know that there were extremely dry conditions and

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<v Speaker 2>that there were also these dangerous winds that exacerbated the

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<v Speaker 2>possibility of a fire, and that eventuated in these extremely

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<v Speaker 2>catastrophic fires. But why we're talking about it today is

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<v Speaker 2>because we have learned or there is an allegation that

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<v Speaker 2>there was someone who potentially actually started the fires.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So last week we got a press release from

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<v Speaker 1>the US Department of Justice aka the DOJ saying authorities

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<v Speaker 1>had arrested a man in the state of Florida, quote

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<v Speaker 1>alleging he malicious started what became the Palisades fire.

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<v Speaker 2>Wow, And so what do we know about him?

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<v Speaker 1>We know that the accused is a twenty nine year

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<v Speaker 1>old man. His name is Jonathan Rindanek. He was in

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<v Speaker 1>California at the time. He's since been staying with family

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<v Speaker 1>in Florida on the other side of the country. In

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<v Speaker 1>December twenty twenty four and January twenty twenty five, he

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<v Speaker 1>was in California working as an uber driver, And the

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<v Speaker 1>DOJ's press release actually told us that authorities interviewed him

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<v Speaker 1>for the first time at the end of January twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty five, so only a couple of weeks after those fires,

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<v Speaker 1>which tells us they've been working on this for a while.

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<v Speaker 1>And I keep saying authorities because we're not specifically talking

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<v Speaker 1>about police. So we've got the DOJ, which represents the

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<v Speaker 1>people of the US in federal cases. Like you might

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<v Speaker 1>hear a case called the people versus Xyzed, so that's

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<v Speaker 1>criminal cases. Yeah, so that's the same way that in Australia,

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<v Speaker 1>because our head of state is King Charles, we would

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<v Speaker 1>say the Crown versus Xyz. It would be represented as

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<v Speaker 1>are if you've ever seen it illegal listing, I'm digressing.

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<v Speaker 1>We've got the DOJ, and we also have the US

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<v Speaker 1>Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives aka ATF involved

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<v Speaker 1>in this case. And the main source that I'm using

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<v Speaker 1>here is an APHA davit filed by ATF Special Agent

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<v Speaker 1>William Shriye who's based in la and his affidavit says

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<v Speaker 1>his responsibility includes identifying the origins and causes of fires.

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<v Speaker 1>So you've got this kind of federal bureau, you've got

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<v Speaker 1>this guy within it who's filed this affidavit of evidence

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<v Speaker 1>that authorities say suggests rindern Neck was responsible.

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<v Speaker 2>And what kind of evidence do they have?

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<v Speaker 1>So shri laid out a lot of evidence. It's argued

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<v Speaker 1>the Palisades fires specifically was a quote holdover from a

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<v Speaker 1>fire that Rinderneck allegedly intentionally started on New Year's Eve.

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<v Speaker 1>It's alleged he dropped off some Uber passengers just before

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<v Speaker 1>midnight and then drove up to the Pacific Palisades area,

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<v Speaker 1>went up to the beginning of a walking trail, and

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<v Speaker 1>lit a fire. A nearby resident actually spotted the blaze

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<v Speaker 1>and called emergency services. It's also alleged that rinder Neck

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<v Speaker 1>was trying to call emergency services as he walked back

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<v Speaker 1>to his car, but couldn't get through.

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<v Speaker 2>To inform them.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, It's alleged he fled the scene in his car,

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<v Speaker 1>but then drove back and watched firefighters fighted and recorded

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<v Speaker 1>video on his phone. Although firefighters thought they had contained

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<v Speaker 1>the fire, it's been suggested that it actually continued to

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<v Speaker 1>burn underground through route networks before resurfacing and spreading due

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<v Speaker 1>to heavy winds a few days later. Prosecutors say Rindnik

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<v Speaker 1>lied to authorities about his location in a police interview,

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<v Speaker 1>claiming that he was at the bottom of a hiking

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<v Speaker 1>trail when he saw the fire and tried to call

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<v Speaker 1>nine one one. But they say they have geolocation data

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<v Speaker 1>from his phone that they say puts him nine meters

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<v Speaker 1>from the fire when he first attempted to call emergency services.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is all evidence that hasn't yet been tested

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<v Speaker 1>in court.

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<v Speaker 2>It's just allegations.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just allegations and shries Affi. David also includes a

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<v Speaker 1>detail that allegedly Rindanak had a chat GPT generated image

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<v Speaker 1>of a city on fire in his phone.

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<v Speaker 2>I have seen this around, so he asked chat gpt

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<v Speaker 2>to create an image of la on fire.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, with he kind of described it as one side

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<v Speaker 1>should have people burning and one side should be behind

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<v Speaker 1>a wall that shows people laughing at the people burning, right, Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>And it's also alleged that in the early hours of

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<v Speaker 1>January first, twenty twenty five, so after it's alleged he

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<v Speaker 1>lit this fire. He allegedly Sorry, so many allegedlies. We

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<v Speaker 1>just have to be careful. He entered a prompt to

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<v Speaker 1>chat GPT that said, quote, are you at fault if

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<v Speaker 1>a fire is lit because of your cigarettes? And the

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<v Speaker 1>chat GPT response was yes.

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<v Speaker 2>Wow, I didn't realize how big of a role chat

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<v Speaker 2>GPT allegedly played in this. That was a surprise to

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<v Speaker 2>me too. Yeah, do we know what happens to rinder

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<v Speaker 2>neck now? I presume it now needs to go to trial.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it needs to go to trial. He is being

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<v Speaker 1>held in jail for the foreseeable future. We don't know

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<v Speaker 1>when a trial will happen. We know that since authorities

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<v Speaker 1>first interviewed him in late January, they've presumably been building

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<v Speaker 1>their case all this time. But there's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>different factors that go into when something goes to trial.

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<v Speaker 1>So his defense lawyers have to be briefed, the prosecution

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<v Speaker 1>has to put their case together. You have to find

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<v Speaker 1>availability for a judge to hear a trial. I assume

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<v Speaker 1>you'll be they'll be finding a jury. Yeah, there's all

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<v Speaker 1>these different kind of stages that need to happen. So

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<v Speaker 1>I would imagine it would be next year, but it

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<v Speaker 1>may even be the year after.

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<v Speaker 2>Legal processes do tend to take a long time. Yes,

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<v Speaker 2>before we go. What has the reaction been to this news?

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<v Speaker 1>So after authorities announced that they had arrested and charged him,

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<v Speaker 1>acting Federal Attorney Bill Assie alleged Rindernak's quote recklessness had

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<v Speaker 1>caused the fire, resulting in quote death and widespread destruction.

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<v Speaker 1>He said, while we cannot bring back what victims lost,

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<v Speaker 1>we hope this criminal case brings some measure of justice

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<v Speaker 1>to those affected, and then California Governor Gavin Newsom said

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<v Speaker 1>the arrest was a step closer to quote uncovering how

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<v Speaker 1>the horrific Palisades fire began and bringing closure to the

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<v Speaker 1>thousands of Californians whose lives were upended. I think that's

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<v Speaker 1>kind of a good note to end on, is to

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<v Speaker 1>think about the fact that there's all, i mean, thousands

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<v Speaker 1>of people who lost their homes less than a year ago.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and they're still rebuilding. Yeah, you know, their lives,

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<v Speaker 2>their homes, everything. Yeah, LaSIE, thank you so much for explaining.

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<v Speaker 2>Thanks Billy, and thank you so much for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>To this episode of The Daily OS. Will be back

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<v Speaker 1>as always this.

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<v Speaker 2>Afternoon with your evening headlines, But until then, have a

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<v Speaker 2>great day.

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<v Speaker 1>My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda

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<v Speaker 1>Gadighl people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and torrest

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<v Speaker 1>first peoples of these countries, both past and present,