January 8, 2025 • 41 mins
Amy King hosts your Monday Wake Up Call. KFI host Neil Saavedra joins the show sharing an update on the Pacific Palisades, Altadena, Pasadena & Sylmar fires. Amy talks with LAFD public information officer Captain Sheila Kelliher about these historic Southern California wildfires. ABC News correspondent Alex Stones speaks on the ‘life threatening’ winds effecting the wildfires. The show closes with Senior Forecaster Mike Wofford -from the National Weather Service sharing a wind forecast.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call
with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
When fires strikes southern California. KFI News is on it.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
KFI and KOST HD two Los Angeles, Orange County.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
It's time for your morning wake up call.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Here's Amy King.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Good morning. It is five four. This is your wake
up call for Wednesday, January eighth. I'm Amy King. What
a day to come back. This is an event like
we have not seen. We have fires, they burn, they
burn homes, but as you heard Neil Savadra saying, this
(00:53):
one is affecting almost all of us. And I know that.
I was thinking that last night. Last night was the
first time I've really been wor read. Even though the
fire is the fires are miles from my home, I
was worried, and I was like, Okay, what happens. What
happens if do I need to go? If I need
to go, I've got my two cats, plus I'm house
(01:14):
sitting or babysitting another cat. I was like, how am
I going to carry three cats out? If I have
to get the heck out? But I mean, it's making
us reevaluate everything because this is affecting so many people,
even though the fires aren't as Neil has been telling
you if you've been listening, they're not huge. We've got
the three fires burning, the first one in Pacific Palisades
(01:37):
that started around ten thirty yesterday afternoon. Then there's also
the one in Altadena that started at about six thirty
last night. It spread to a thousand acres, and those numbers,
quite honestly, are going to change when we have a
press conference. We're waiting for any kind of updates. We
haven't had updated numbers since last night. The Cellmar fire
(01:58):
that's burning north of the two ten and just east
of the five Freeway near that fourteen five interchange, that
is now about five hundred acres. We've got evacuation orders
for thirty thousand residents in Pacific Palisades, and we just
got new numbers on the evacuation orders for the Eton fire,
(02:20):
which is the fire burning in Altadena. Fifty two thousand
residents have been ordered to leave their homes. More than
twenty thousand homes and businesses are threatened the evacuation warnings,
which is a step down forty almost forty seven thousand
residents and eighteen thousand businesses and homes and schools and churches.
(02:44):
These fires are big and they are devastating. Let's do
a quick little update and then we're going to check
in again with Neil. We've got Gary Hoffman who was
getting evacuation warnings overnight, so he came in early. But
let's get started with some of the stories coming out
of the KFI twenty four hour news. The fire burning
out of control in the hills above Altadena has burned
about a thousand acres at last update. Some homes have
(03:07):
burned as neighbors use water hoses and anything else they
can find try to protect the homes.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Hoses, buckets, uh.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
We went, there's a pool at one of the neighbors
who're just taking buckets and hoses to get their fire out.
Speaker 7 (03:22):
And that's that's all we were doing.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
The fire and Eaton Canyon was reported just before six
thirty last night, and by midnight it had grown to
about a thousand acres and again those evacuation orders have
been updated. More than fifty two thousand residents told to
get out, and evacuation shelter has been set up at
the Pasadena Convention Center. Schools in Pasadena Burbank, and Glendale
are all closed today. About thirty thousand people under mandatory
(03:46):
evacuation orders because of the wind driven wildfire in Pacific Palisades.
It had at last check burned nearly three thousand acres
at least city fires. Margaret Stuart's's the wind speeds and
dry conditions have created the ultimate fire storm.
Speaker 8 (04:00):
The fire as large as it is now, it starts
to kind of create its own weather, and the winds
will swirl and the ember cast can travel a mile
downwind and start a spot fire.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Several homes and buildings have burned since the fire started yesterday.
Evacuation orders have been extended into Malibu and Santa Monica.
Air tankers and water dropping helicopters were making drops throughout
the day yesterday, but by evening all air resources were
grounded because of the high winds. Evacuation orders also in
effect in Silmar, where a wind driven fire has burned
(04:32):
about five hundred acres. It started around ten thirty last night,
close to where the five and the fourteen freeways meet,
just north of the two ten. Evacuation centers have been
opened in north Ridge and Panorama City. CalFire says Evacuation
warnings are in effect for parts of Santa Clarita along
Colgrove Boulevard and the New Hall Pass, Wildwood and Eternal Valley.
(04:52):
So cal Edison has worn The power could be turned
off because of high fire danger in southern California. See
says as many as four high hundred thousand homes and
businesses could experience precautionary shutoffs. At last check the power
outages in southern California affecting about three hundred thousand people.
The National Weather Surface has issued that red flag warning.
(05:12):
It started yesterday morning and will continue through at least
Thursday night. Wind Gusts of up to one hundred miles
per hour in some areas have been clocked. Neil was
just talking about a wind gust in acton one hundred
and fifteen miles per hour. Will was just mentioning the
semi trucks that are affected by those high winds. I
(05:33):
mean we're talking hurricane force winds that can blow over
semi trucks. And Kno said that he got to experience
that on his way and he was coming in on
the two ten. So you got to drive by the
fire burning in Alsadina.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Yeah, So I go through you know, Fontana, ra Chicukumonga
through Zuza, so the two ten west all the way
to the one thirty four. So yeah, saw probably seven
down overturned. I'm not just talking like they pulled over
to the side, so they were flipped, Yeah, flipped over
on their sides correct. And then I mean you almost
(06:10):
see like a line of semi trucks pulling over like
they know that they can't do it. But it's it's
pretty much the entire freeway at least through Fontana, rect
Cuckamonga area, and then yeah, getting closer to Burbank and
going through a Zuza, you can see I believe it's
a Silmar fire that's right above the two ten that it's.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Oh you could see two fires, I think, is that, Well,
there's the one in Altadena and then there's the one
in Silmar, which is the two ten and the five r.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
R it's no, okay on the one thirty four. Yeah,
you can just see like an entire mountain off the
two ten. Just it looks like armageddon pretty much.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah, it's crazy and it's just burning out of control.
Because like I was just mentioning a couple of minutes ago.
They can't attack this fire from the air right now
because the winds are so strong and it's just too
dangerous for the for the aircraft of overnight. So that's
you coming in on the two ten. And then Gary Hoffman,
who normally you wouldn't be talking to until nine o'clock,
(07:08):
got an early morning start today because he was getting
evacuation warnings up in the Santa Clarita area, so he
came in and Gary, what was your drive in like
on the five?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
It was very similar. I mean I saw the fires
in the reverse Ordervncono did, though I saw the Silmar
fire first, I mean almost immediately when I got out
of the house and made a left turn, right turn,
go down the hill, and you can see it coming
over the crest of that hill right through the New
Hall Pass as you go farther down I five. The
only thing that's really closed on I five, at least
(07:39):
the southbound area if you're coming in from the Santa
Clarita Valley or parts north of there, is the truck
lanes the truck tunnel that goes through there. That's and
the old road. You can't take the shortcut and go
through the old road. But I five is open through
that area. And then once you get just past the
connector to the fourteen, you see that telltale glow of
(08:00):
just around the corner there's going to be massive flame.
And sure enough, as you go farther down the freeway
and you kind of look off to the left, you
can see that entire hillside up above the two ten
that was on fire. And then as you get farther
down into the valley San Fernando Valley, I did not
expect to see the Altadena fire, but you could see
some of the active flame from that one as well.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Because it's glowing so brightly in the night sky, it
is sort of surreal, apocalyptic, or the words that come
to mind. But I mean, what other words do you
describe that when you see a whole hillside on fire
like that, and you know that like in the Altadena area, now,
fifty two thousand people are under evacuation warnings, twenty thousand
(08:43):
structures are threatened in the Palisades, thirty thousand evacuated, and
more than ten thousand homes are threatened. We know that
lots have burned. We don't have any kind of numbers yet.
Fire officials were saying, we can't go in and assess
the damage right now because the damage is still happening.
The fires are still burning, the winds are still blowing.
(09:05):
Neil Savedra and I don't live too far apart. I
came out of my house this morning and there was
no wind, but I walked out and I could smell smoke.
And there have been lots of fires burning around southern
California over the years. I've never smelled smoke like that,
so you know that it's lingering even though the fires
are miles away. But just a few miles away from
(09:28):
where I was walking out of my door with very
calm winds, Neil was getting blown across the street.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, there was a lot of wind this morning. I
was actually quite surprised that it was still going full force.
And you know, I talk about this, Sorry, this is
going to sound like a plug and it's not. But
I talk about my American vision windows because we have
replacement windows in certain areas of the house and not
in others. And the because it's a you know, one
(09:57):
hundred and twelve year old house or whatever it is,
and the windows they do this weird sucking in the
knocking sound of the ones that have not been replaced,
and it was still going in the morning, and you know,
it's dark. I don't want to wake anybody up. And
it kept freaking me out because it sounded like it's
(10:17):
in the kitchen and it sounded like the dishwasher was
going to explode or something weird.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
It was like this weird.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So I'm doing that and then I'm like, wow, the
winds still are going. And then I go to to
go out the door and just this rush of wind.
I could see that plants had been knocked off the
we have a like a fire pit outside on our
front porch, and the plants in pots, in heavy pots
(10:48):
had been blown off and onto the floor and broken.
And I'm like, ah, I can't deal with that right now.
And then parts of trees were in our front yard,
and of course the palm fronds that lined the beautiful
streets of Los Angeles all over the place. So I
was quite surprised. And that was the first thing. The
second thing, amy was, as we hear every now and
(11:11):
again in our area, the sirens that were going off everywhere,
so a lot of acting like car alarm sirens or
police sirens. Police sirens and yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
On the drive in you mentioned palm fronds and that
kind of thing on the freeways. Mostly we're clear for
at least for my drive. I know Cono had overturned
big rigs, but as far as like branches and down
those kinds of things, down trees, we hit the surface
streets in Burbank and there was debris everywhere. So when
(11:44):
you're driving around, if you need to drive around this morning,
whether you're in the actual fire zones or not, just
be careful because there's a lot of stuff on the roadways.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And the tumbleweeds might be a homeless person, so be
very careful.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
The strongest winds of the Santa Anna wind event technically
have ended. They were expected overnight last night from ten
pm until five am, but that doesn't mean that we
are out of danger because the red flag warnings remain
in place. They're going to be in place until at
least tomorrow evening. For La and Ventura County, including the
San Gabriel Mountains, the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys,
(12:21):
especially in the Foothills, Beverly and Hollywood Hills coastal areas
near the Supulvita Pass, The Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa
Susanna Mountains, Malibu, eastern Ventura County, mainly near Simi Valley
in moor Park, the San Bernardino County Mountains, the Inland Empire,
Santa Anna Mountains, and for coastal and inland Orange County.
So this wind event is not over by a long shot.
(12:45):
We've got Santa Ana winds blowing through the area that
are whipping up the flames and just making situations and
then conditions treacherous. The Pacific Palisades fire has burned at
last count about three thousand and eight in Altadena. The
fire that started last night near Pasadena is up over
(13:06):
one thousand acres. And then there's the fire in Silmar
that has grown to five hundred acres, which is north
of the two ten and east of the five Freeway,
and the whole health side is on fire and lots
of people are in harm's way. We want to get
an update on the fires and some of the things
(13:27):
that you can do to make sure that you stay
safe with LA Fire. Captain Kelliher, good morning, Captain.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Good morning. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
All right, thank you so much for coming on. We
know that it's so important that we get the information
out as people are waking up, even if they're not
in a fire zone. But let's first just give a
quick recap of what the conditions of the fires are
that we know at this moment.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (13:51):
So I have been on the Palisades fire all night
while we're there, from the beginning until just now, and
I am really amazed at the wind. And they said
it was going to peak last night from ten till
six this morning, and they were not lying.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
It got just horrendous, you know, just insane wind conditions
that have driven this fire. The topography is treacherous over
there in the Palisades, and it's just made for the
perfect storm. Unfortunately, the Eaton Canyon, which is the one
you were talking about over by Pasadena, is facing some
(14:26):
of the similar conditions. In both these situations, structures have
been lost. We don't have a total count on what
the damage is yet. That'll come with the damage assessment.
But I think the biggest message I can give to
the folks is really listen to the warnings that are
coming out. Pay attention to what your evacuation is a
warning in order if it's a warning, get ready, get
(14:47):
your stuff together, get ready to get out. Don't underestimate this.
We have winds until late tonight.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And we also hear that the red flag warnings have
been extended even though the winds are going to start
dying down. The red flag warnings for high fire danger
possibility are extended through tomorrow as well. Captain kellerher, I'm
curious as to the direction that the fires are blowing.
(15:13):
We know that one saving grace of the Palisades fire
is that it was blowing last night toward the ocean.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, and most of these fires, the way these winds
are blowing, they're blowing in a southwest kind of direction,
but they are you know, it's interesting because they start
to swirl and they become intermittent, and that just causes
like those you know, big almost little mini tornadoes in
the fire. So it is very tricky out there. And yeah,
(15:45):
you know, the fact that it did blow to the
ocean that that definitely helps. But the other fires are
blowing the same way, kind of a southwesterly path.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Which is not great news for the fire, the Altadena
fire because south of yeah, where it's burning is the
two ten Freeway and huge, you know, huge population centers.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Yeah, and that's the case, and that's what we're working
so incredibly hard on. And hopefully when the sun comes up,
we'll see if those helicopters and our fixed wings can
get up and fly. But they weren't able to fly
because of the wind last night. So that really takes
a big piece of arsenal out of our firepower when
we can't get up in the air.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Right, So the Palisades fire. For a while yesterday there
were air dropping helicopters and the Super Scooper planes making drops,
but that had to stop. And then because the fire,
the Eaton Canyon fire started so late in the day,
that never got any aerial attention, did.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
It, you know, not that I know of. I was
so so fixated on the palace aide, but I don't
think so. Those winds were just pretty pretty insane, So
it's been a challenge, to say the least.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, and Keller, have you ever seen fire behavior like this?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
I think the Wolveny was close, but I feel like
the winds here are are even more dramatic and extreme
and unpredictable, that's the word I'm looking for. They're unpredictable
in the way that they shift a little bit, but yeah,
I think this is by far one of the worst
ones I've ever been a part of.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Okay, and the embers that we've been talking about through
the morning are one of the biggest dangers of the
fire spreading. So not only do you have the wind
and the flames, but you've got these embers that are
throwing little fireballs ahead of the fire.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
You said it, that is exactly what's happening. To give
you a little bit of perspective. Last night, I was
sitting at will Rogers Beach, at that parking lot just
next to the ocean, and right across pH that whole
hillside was going and those winds kicked up to probably
seventy miles an hour, maybe a little bit more, and
(18:01):
it looked like it was raining fire. And that's no seseration.
It looked like it was hailing fire. I think that's
a better word because of just what you said. Those
embers and they're big and you know, tossing, you know,
pieces of brush and trees just flying by, and they
get second they actually made it across the pch We
(18:23):
lost several lifeguard towers if you can imagine that in
the sand, So those embers can land anywhere. And you know,
that goes back to what we always talked about harding
your home. Make sure there's nothing around it where those
embers can get caught in and get lodged in to
keep your home safe from this type of wind event.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
And I've heard too that the embers are especially dangerous
to the homes because they can get up under the eaves.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Yeah, very much so. And there's so many. I think
that's that's like, it's just not like one. It's just like,
like I said, it looks like it's hailing. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
So with that, with that knowledge, even if you're not
in an evacuation, world warning or order zone at this time,
is there something that homeowners who are possibly near or
when there's an event like this, is there something that
they should be doing. Should they be watering down their houses?
Should they you know, what kind of last minute things
should they be doing to get ready just in case?
Speaker 7 (19:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (19:17):
I think I think first and foremost, if they can
download the Genesis app that's Genesis Evacuation that has just
been incredibly useful, that alerts the residents that are in
evacuation warnings or orders, that puts up the boundaries and
the borders, so you know exactly what time to you
know when you need to go and when you need
to get out. That that's a pro tip right there.
(19:38):
Everybody needs to get that app And then when it
comes to what they can do for their home, you know,
the biggest thing is think about where those members can
land and where they can settle. That's why we say,
you know, get those woodpiles away from your home. Make
sure there's no tree or brush or leaves or anything
like that in your gutters. And you know, those are
the things that you can kind of kind of get
away from your home. Put your patio furniture a hopefully
(20:01):
all the Christmas decorations are gone, because all those things
are gonna be magnets for those embers and just cause
the situation, and it's just also being aware and paying
attention to where you're going. That wind is relentless out there.
I haven't gone to bed yet and I it has
not slowed down at all, which.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Again, as we were talking about, southern California is so dynamic.
There are some areas where you are where the winds
are just still howling. And at my house it was
just dead calm this morning.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Wow you where are you at in the Silver Lake area?
Speaker 9 (20:35):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Okay, yeah, well I'll fall through the one on one
quarter West hill locking the out of flint Ridge up
against those mountains and bases. It is just still relentless.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Okay, Captain callaher Ellie Fire. Thank you so much for
your information. We appreciate it. Do stay safe and hopefully
we don't have to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I agree, Thank you, all right, you take care?
Speaker 4 (20:59):
All right. When we we're gonna check in with ABC's
Alex Stone. He is on scene at the fire burning
near Altadena, which is not far from Pasadena. He's going
to give us the latest on that Southland weather from KFI.
Red flag warnings in effect through tomorrow, with gus seventy
miles per hour or higher expected in some areas. The
red flag warnings in effect for La and Ventura Counties.
(21:22):
San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, especially
the foothills, Beverly and Hollywood Hills. Coastal area is adjacent
to the Sepolvita Pass, the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa
Susanna Mountains, Malibu, eastern Ventura County sorry, eastern Ventura Valley,
mainly near Simi Valley in moor Park, the San Bernardino
(21:42):
County Mountains, the Inland Empire, the Santa Ana Mountains, and
for also coastal and inland Orange County, so not affecting
only La and Ventura Counties. The winds are still howling,
the fires are still burning out of control. We've got
three big ones in southern California. A new one is started.
We're getting word that a fire in Riverside County has
burned about ten to fifteen acres in the Coachella Valley.
(22:05):
It started early this morning at Tyler Street and forty
seventh Avenue. There haven't been any reports of injuries or
damaged property, but buildings are threatened. The Riverside County Sheriff's
Department has begun to order people to get out of
their homes. Of course, thirty thousand people have been ordered
out of their homes in Pacific Palisades at last check,
(22:27):
and again these numbers are going to be updated. At
last check it had burned about three thousand acres. That
was the first one that really started. It has burned
a lot of homes. We don't know how many yet
we're hoping to get an update a little later this
morning when there's a press conference coming up at eight o'clock.
We'll carry that live for you. In the Silmar area
fire that was sparked last night about ten thirty has
(22:49):
now burned five hundred acres. It is zero percent contained,
as are all the fires burning in southern California. And
right now we're going to say good morning to Alex
with ABC who's on the lines of the Eton Fire,
which we just got an update that one has now
burned through twenty two hundred acres, and the Eaten Fire,
of course in Altadena, about fourteen miles from downtown LA
(23:13):
and north of Pasadena. Good morning, Alex, Good morning Amy.
Speaker 7 (23:18):
Yeah, the wind here has just been incredible this morning.
And I'm on Lake Avenue right now in this street.
As every time you feel like you get into a
safe area, something starts to catch on fire. That the
embers have been glowing rolling on the avenue here and
(23:38):
continually catching things on fire. The Sheriff's department has been
going through just ordering and pleading with people to leave,
and we've been seeing a pretty good line of cars
or people with their stuff packed up just getting out
as quickly as they can. But it has been very
dynamic this morning. They have no idea on this fire
(24:00):
how many homes have burned, of how many people they
even have evacuated because they're not able to go door
to door. They're just telling people, go, you got to
get out of here if you're in the Altadena area.
With the winds. That seem to have calmed down a
little bit, I'd say in the last half an hour
or so, But about an hour ago I opened up
the door on the car that I'm in and the
door went all the way back, like snapped all the
(24:22):
way open. You can't. It's impossibly been standing these winds.
The wind has just been absolutely incredible.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Okay, and Alex. When you say that the winds have
died down a little bit, they're still blowing pretty good, right.
Speaker 7 (24:35):
They're absolutely still blowing, but not to the point where
even with your car with the parking brake on, that
it was pushing cars forward, that it was trees bending over,
it was where you could not stand outside. That has
died down a little bit. It's still quite breezy, but
we're not seeing the embers just you know, a shower
(24:56):
of embers coming in the wind down Lake Avenue. Now
I'm still here like explosion noises as buildings are burning
around here. There's still a lot of activity, but the
winds have definitely died down a little bit in the
last couple of minutes.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
Okay, And you're saying, as you're hearing explosions as buildings
are burning, are there dozens hundreds? Can you see from
your vantage point because you know when you're looking.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
At it, go ahead, Yeah, it's a lot. And sometimes
it's hard to tell if it's the building or all
the shrubs around the building that it's just in the nighttime,
you know, view of it of just a lot of
fire around buildings, but there have been quite a few.
I was talking to a sheriff's deputy a little while ago.
He said, they have got that there are a lot
(25:41):
of homes that are gone. But the problem being that
you get into some of these streets, they are so
smoky that at least at nighttime, it's almost impossible to
see more than like five feet in front of your car,
So people are trying to get out. Even firefighters don't
necessarily know the scope of it. Right now that they
know there are buildings burning, but they can't really get
(26:03):
into or see all of the areas.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Okay, and Alex, from what you've been seeing and hearing
with people being evacuated from their homes, are they running
into the same sort of a logjam that we experienced
where people were experiencing yesterday and Pacific Palisades where they
were just they got in a traffic jam and just
had to leave their cars behind.
Speaker 7 (26:24):
No, by no means nothing like that. It's been a
steady stream of people getting out down the main roads
here in Altadena, and the power is out, so there's
confusion at all the stop lights, and some people are
just blowing right through them or not seeing them with
the sun not up yet, and so they're getting out.
But the streets here are so wide and there are
so many ways to get out that the people seem
(26:45):
to be able to do it. But there are a
lot of people who are trying to get out.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Okay and then, Alex, we're also just getting word that
the evacuation area has been expanded for the fire that's
burning out Todena and now includes all of locking out
a flint Ridge. So and then last check we had
fifty two thousand plus evacuation orders had been issued, with
like northwards of twenty thousand homes, buildings, businesses, schools threatened.
Speaker 7 (27:14):
Yeah, no doubt that number is going to keep going
up all day today. I mean, Amy, weops, hopefully you
hang on try to clear that my I know we
can't air this. So my emergency alert just started going
off here as it's been telling people to get out.
But yeah, the numbers are going to be all day
today going up. That they are just progressively moving forward
(27:36):
saying get out, that they need bigger areas to get out.
But the numbers are going to go up all day
to day.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
All right, Alex Stone, thank you so much. Live on
the lines of the Altadena fire that has burned one
thousand acres and actually twenty two hundred acres at last check,
expecting it to grow. Thank you, Alex, you got it.
Speaker 7 (27:57):
Thanks Amy.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Okay, And as we were just talking about with Alex
and with other with Gary and with Chris Berry before that,
and of course Neil savedra, these fires are burning out
of control. They're not being fought from the air at
this time because the winds have been blowing so hard.
We're hoping as the sun comes up, We're going to
be able to get some aerial assaults going again and
(28:19):
hopefully start to get some lines around these fires. But
just the sheer magnitude of the homes, and like Alex
was talking about, just seeing buildings burning and explosions going off.
It might be propane tanks or something like that from
some of the homes. But in the Altadena area, I
had a friend who lived up there, and it's it's
packed in, as you know. And if the winds are
(28:41):
blowing to the south as LA fires, Captain callaher told us,
are they going to head Are they going to jump
the two ten freeway? We certainly hope not. We certainly
hope that that does not come to pass, but we
will be watching and we will be following it.
Speaker 9 (28:55):
Now.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Southern California, Edison and also LEDWP have shut off power
to hundreds of thousands of residents precautionary because you know,
as with other fires, you know, those the power lines
can be the cause of fires, and they want to
prevent that. Of course, So right now we know that
(29:17):
at least two hundred thousand actually Chris Berry's numbers were
three hundred thousand, and so cal Edison was saying that
up to four hundred thousand people could be affected. So
if you are in the dark, we hope you will
keep us on your phone on the iHeartRadio app. And
it just made me think, and I don't know about you,
(29:37):
but it made me think of what I really need
to do, because I was thinking last night, what if
the power goes out?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Here?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Is my phone charged? Is my alarm going to go off?
Am I going to be all?
Speaker 8 (29:46):
You know?
Speaker 4 (29:46):
I mean, like what happens? And that's that's just for
the power, let alone the idea of having to evacuate
your homes. So if you don't have your evacuation plan,
even if you're not in a fire area, this is
a good time to get it, get it planned because
these things, as we are seeing, are coming out of
(30:06):
absolutely nowhere. Even though we knew that there were dangerous
winds coming. You never know when a fire is gonna
erupt in your neighborhood. And as we just mentioned, for
the fire that's burning in Altadena, they've now expanded that
evacuation order to include the La Kenyata flint Ridge area,
which is a ways away. So just because you're not
(30:28):
right where the fire is burning, that doesn't mean that
couldn't change, and especially with the winds and the embers,
it's just it's scary. And we're glad that you're with
us this morning, and we will get you all the
information that you need and continue with once wake up
call is done and Bill Handle comes on and Gary
and Shannon. Gary of course already in the building because
(30:48):
he was getting the evacuation warnings on his phone overnight.
But we've got it all through the day and we're
going to keep you updated and make sure that you
can stay safe. Here is the quick rundown on the
fire's Pacific powerades has burned about three thousand acres.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Again.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
We're going to be getting updated numbers and we will
get them to you as soon as we can. We
know that a lot of homes have burned. We don't
have those numbers yet, but more than thirty thousand residents
have been evacuated the fire near Pasadena In Altadena, the
Eton Fire now has fifty two thousand evacuation orders in place.
(31:26):
The fire has grown to twenty two hundred and twenty
seven acres That one, of course, started last evening around
six point thirty. The evacuation orders have been expanded to
include the La Kenyata flint Ridge area and then the
other fire, the Hurst fire burning in the Silmar area,
is five hundred acres. It started at about ten thirty
(31:48):
last night. Evacuations have been ordered for the areas north
of the two ten freeway. The good news on most
of these is there's not been a large number of
injuries reported. We do know that one firefighter got a
severe head injury fighting the Pacific Palisades fire last night.
Several people were apparently burned. We don't know the extent
(32:08):
of that. Again, we're expecting to get an update on
that at eight o'clock this morning, and we will bring
that live to you here on KFI. The most information
that you can find on the fires, the side of them,
the evacuation areas, where shelters are set up, schools that
are closed, and power outages, you can find it all
on our website KFI AM six forty dot com. Keyword fire.
(32:32):
All right, let's talk about the fire and the conditions
that are in place that make wildfire such a dangerous
possibility and actually a dangerous reality. Right now, let's say
good morning to the National Weather Services. Mike Wafford Mike
tell us about what makes this Santa Ana wind event
so devastating?
Speaker 6 (32:54):
Good morning. Yeah, Well, we had a dangerous combination of
very strong winds aloft oriented in just the right position
to generate basically winds coming down from very high levels
and reaching the foothill areas in parts of the La Basin.
(33:17):
And during that time we've seen winds gusting between ninety
and one hundred miles per hour along the base of
the mountains there in the Altadena area Eaten Fire area,
and you know, we're still seeing winds this morning upwards
of eighty miles per hour or higher. So it's just been,
(33:39):
you know, an unfortunate combination of events to trigger these
sorts of winds. And of course we've got the high
fire danger, very low humidity, and we've had very little rain,
so it's all just coming together unfortunately.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Okay, And Mike, winds blow really strong in the Inland
Empire all the time. I have a friend who had
a house out there, and man, with the winds blow,
but there wasn't that fire danger. So what makes this one?
What makes the conditions so ripe for fires?
Speaker 8 (34:10):
Now?
Speaker 6 (34:12):
Yeah, you know, just the fact that we've had basically
zero rain, very little rain during over the last several months.
You know, normally this time of the year we've had
a few storms to moisten things up a little bit,
and we just haven't had that, and so, you know,
the fuels, the plants are very dry, and you know,
(34:32):
we've just had this pattern over the last couple of
months where we've been seeing these very strong sant Ana
wind events and unfortunately, without the rain, there's just they
just take off really quickly.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Okay. And then Mike, there are areas that may normally
not see the high winds, but during this event, a
lot of people are seen and feeling the blowing that
they don't normally feel in their area.
Speaker 6 (34:57):
Yeah, exactly, that area two ten Corridor going through, blocking
the out of flint Ridge and Altadena area that's typically
blocked with our typical Santa Ana winds. Usually do you
see those in the mostly in the San Fernando Valley.
But because these winds are coming up and over the
mountains and crashing down into uh, the two ten corridor area. Uh,
(35:21):
you know, that's why we're seeing these winds so strong
in those areas that typically don't.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Get them, Okay, And how long can we expect the
winds to continue to have this increased fire danger for us?
Speaker 6 (35:33):
Well, the strong we're at the strongest really right now
in the overnight period earlier. We are expecting a fairly
substantial decrease as we get into the afternoon hours. We're
still going to be seeing some winds the rest of
the day, and it looks like through the rest of
(35:53):
the week, but considerably lighter, but it's going to still
be very dry and you know, very low humidities. The
threat is still going to be there.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
Okay. And is there anything any recommendation you have for people,
knowing that you're with the National Weather Service, that people
can do to prepare themselves for the fire danger.
Speaker 6 (36:14):
Yeah. I mean the biggest thing is just to heed
the words from the local authorities there. They know what's
going on. But yeah, be prepared to evacuate at any moment.
And you know, that's about all we can say at
this point.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Okay, because we never know when you know, we hope
that these fires that are currently burning are the only ones,
but with this wind event continuing, more could pop up.
Speaker 6 (36:39):
Oh, absolutely, yeah, And unfortunately it looks like we've got
some more Santa Ana wins coming even into next week,
so we could be in for a fairly long duration
of dangerous fire conditions.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Okay, and Mike, when Santa ana wins blow through, do
we always have the low humidity levels? Is that kind
of indicative of Santa Ana's or is it just the
conditions right now or prime for fire danger.
Speaker 6 (37:02):
Santa Anna's almost always come with low humidities. Sometimes they're
lower than others, just depending on the situation. But you know,
as I said, the biggest thing here for us has
just been the lack of rainfall. We haven't had anything
for so long, and everything's just super dry.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
Okay, Mike Wafford with the National Weather Service, thank you
so much for the information.
Speaker 6 (37:25):
You're very welcome.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
All right, take care. We all need to just batten
down those hatches. Okay, So just quickly to reset. We've
got a press conference coming up at eight o'clock. We're
going to bring that to you. Hopefully we'll get some
more information from fire officials. I heard somebody on one
of the TV stations last night complaining that they hadn't
heard from officials, and I was like, they're busy fighting
the fires. We know that there's about fourteen hundred firefighters
(37:49):
out on the lines. More are on the way. We've
got them coming from northern California. We've got them coming
from Arizona. Anybody who is involved with fire department was
basically said. They basically called him and said you got
to come back in. And we also know that there's
a shift change, some fresh faces and fresh firefighters coming on.
I believe the shift changes at six point thirty because
(38:12):
these guys have been out on the lines all night.
And as we were talking with Mike Wafford, those strong,
strong winds are causing more than just fire danger, but
they're keeping fire fighting aircraft from getting up in the
air and doing what they do and dropping the fozcheck
in the water onto the flames, which is why those
fires are just burning out of control. We're hoping that
(38:35):
maybe the winds will die down a little bit today
and to the point that we can get some planes
and helicopters up to fight the fires. We've got the
three big ones, we've got a smaller one burning in Coachella,
and then, as Will Coleschreiber has been telling us, we've
got a small fire burning near Irwindale along the two
ten Freeway, but the Big Ones Pacific Palisades at three
(38:58):
thousand acres, the Altadena Fire near Pasadena twenty two hundred
and twenty seven acres, and the evacuation orders have been
expanded to include fifty two thousand residents, including all of Lakeagnata,
flint Ridge that's brand new, and the Hearst fire burning
near Silmar it's grown to about five hundred acres. Evacuations
(39:20):
have been ordered for areas north of the two ten freeway,
and you can get all of the updated information on
those evacuation orders, school closures where you can go if
you need to get to a shelter if you are
affected by the evacuation orders, and also power outages. They're
shutting down power to try to reduce the risk of
wildfire in some areas, and you can find all that
(39:42):
information on the website KFIAM six forty dot com slash fire.
This is KFI and kost HD two Los Angeles, Orange County,
Southland Weather from KFI, though Santa ana Win is going
to continue to blow with red flag warnings and effect
through tomorrow evening. Gus seventy miles per hour expected. Red
(40:02):
flag warnings are in effect for much of La and
Ventura Counties, along with the San Bernardino County Mountains, the
Inland Empire San Ana Mountains, and for coastal and inland
Orange County. Otherwise, aside from the winds, we're going to
see sunny skies. Highs in the low to mid seventies
at the beaches Metro La and Inland No c. Sixties
(40:24):
and seventies in the Valley's upper sixties in the ie
fifties in the Antelope Valley. The winds should start dying
down some tonight, sunny skies Tomorrow, still windy, highs in
the sixties and seventies and a little bit cooler. On Friday.
It's sixty three in Santa Monica, sixty in Tustin, sixty
three in Irvine, fifty six in Calabasas. We lead local
(40:45):
live from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom for producer
An and technical producer KNO and also traffic specialist will
I am Amy King. This has been your wake up Colin.
If you missed any of wake Up Call, lots of
good information on the fires today. You can live at
anytime on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
You've been listening to wake Up Call with me Amy King.
You can always hear wake Up Call five to six
am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty, and
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call
with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
When fires strikes southern California. KFI News is on it.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
KFI and KOST HD two Los Angeles, Orange County.
Speaker 4 (00:22):
It's time for your morning wake up call.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Here's Amy King.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Good morning. It is five four. This is your wake
up call for Wednesday, January eighth. I'm Amy King. What
a day to come back. This is an event like
we have not seen. We have fires, they burn, they
burn homes, but as you heard Neil Savadra saying, this
(00:53):
one is affecting almost all of us. And I know that.
I was thinking that last night. Last night was the
first time I've really been wor read. Even though the
fire is the fires are miles from my home, I
was worried, and I was like, Okay, what happens. What
happens if do I need to go? If I need
to go, I've got my two cats, plus I'm house
(01:14):
sitting or babysitting another cat. I was like, how am
I going to carry three cats out? If I have
to get the heck out? But I mean, it's making
us reevaluate everything because this is affecting so many people,
even though the fires aren't as Neil has been telling
you if you've been listening, they're not huge. We've got
the three fires burning, the first one in Pacific Palisades
(01:37):
that started around ten thirty yesterday afternoon. Then there's also
the one in Altadena that started at about six thirty
last night. It spread to a thousand acres, and those numbers,
quite honestly, are going to change when we have a
press conference. We're waiting for any kind of updates. We
haven't had updated numbers since last night. The Cellmar fire
(01:58):
that's burning north of the two ten and just east
of the five Freeway near that fourteen five interchange, that
is now about five hundred acres. We've got evacuation orders
for thirty thousand residents in Pacific Palisades, and we just
got new numbers on the evacuation orders for the Eton fire,
(02:20):
which is the fire burning in Altadena. Fifty two thousand
residents have been ordered to leave their homes. More than
twenty thousand homes and businesses are threatened the evacuation warnings,
which is a step down forty almost forty seven thousand
residents and eighteen thousand businesses and homes and schools and churches.
(02:44):
These fires are big and they are devastating. Let's do
a quick little update and then we're going to check
in again with Neil. We've got Gary Hoffman who was
getting evacuation warnings overnight, so he came in early. But
let's get started with some of the stories coming out
of the KFI twenty four hour news. The fire burning
out of control in the hills above Altadena has burned
about a thousand acres at last update. Some homes have
(03:07):
burned as neighbors use water hoses and anything else they
can find try to protect the homes.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
Hoses, buckets, uh.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
We went, there's a pool at one of the neighbors
who're just taking buckets and hoses to get their fire out.
Speaker 7 (03:22):
And that's that's all we were doing.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
The fire and Eaton Canyon was reported just before six
thirty last night, and by midnight it had grown to
about a thousand acres and again those evacuation orders have
been updated. More than fifty two thousand residents told to
get out, and evacuation shelter has been set up at
the Pasadena Convention Center. Schools in Pasadena Burbank, and Glendale
are all closed today. About thirty thousand people under mandatory
(03:46):
evacuation orders because of the wind driven wildfire in Pacific Palisades.
It had at last check burned nearly three thousand acres
at least city fires. Margaret Stuart's's the wind speeds and
dry conditions have created the ultimate fire storm.
Speaker 8 (04:00):
The fire as large as it is now, it starts
to kind of create its own weather, and the winds
will swirl and the ember cast can travel a mile
downwind and start a spot fire.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Several homes and buildings have burned since the fire started yesterday.
Evacuation orders have been extended into Malibu and Santa Monica.
Air tankers and water dropping helicopters were making drops throughout
the day yesterday, but by evening all air resources were
grounded because of the high winds. Evacuation orders also in
effect in Silmar, where a wind driven fire has burned
(04:32):
about five hundred acres. It started around ten thirty last night,
close to where the five and the fourteen freeways meet,
just north of the two ten. Evacuation centers have been
opened in north Ridge and Panorama City. CalFire says Evacuation
warnings are in effect for parts of Santa Clarita along
Colgrove Boulevard and the New Hall Pass, Wildwood and Eternal Valley.
(04:52):
So cal Edison has worn The power could be turned
off because of high fire danger in southern California. See
says as many as four high hundred thousand homes and
businesses could experience precautionary shutoffs. At last check the power
outages in southern California affecting about three hundred thousand people.
The National Weather Surface has issued that red flag warning.
(05:12):
It started yesterday morning and will continue through at least
Thursday night. Wind Gusts of up to one hundred miles
per hour in some areas have been clocked. Neil was
just talking about a wind gust in acton one hundred
and fifteen miles per hour. Will was just mentioning the
semi trucks that are affected by those high winds. I
(05:33):
mean we're talking hurricane force winds that can blow over
semi trucks. And Kno said that he got to experience
that on his way and he was coming in on
the two ten. So you got to drive by the
fire burning in Alsadina.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Yeah, So I go through you know, Fontana, ra Chicukumonga
through Zuza, so the two ten west all the way
to the one thirty four. So yeah, saw probably seven
down overturned. I'm not just talking like they pulled over
to the side, so they were flipped, Yeah, flipped over
on their sides correct. And then I mean you almost
(06:10):
see like a line of semi trucks pulling over like
they know that they can't do it. But it's it's
pretty much the entire freeway at least through Fontana, rect
Cuckamonga area, and then yeah, getting closer to Burbank and
going through a Zuza, you can see I believe it's
a Silmar fire that's right above the two ten that it's.
Speaker 4 (06:30):
Oh you could see two fires, I think, is that, Well,
there's the one in Altadena and then there's the one
in Silmar, which is the two ten and the five r.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
R it's no, okay on the one thirty four. Yeah,
you can just see like an entire mountain off the
two ten. Just it looks like armageddon pretty much.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
Yeah, it's crazy and it's just burning out of control.
Because like I was just mentioning a couple of minutes ago.
They can't attack this fire from the air right now
because the winds are so strong and it's just too
dangerous for the for the aircraft of overnight. So that's
you coming in on the two ten. And then Gary Hoffman,
who normally you wouldn't be talking to until nine o'clock,
(07:08):
got an early morning start today because he was getting
evacuation warnings up in the Santa Clarita area, so he
came in and Gary, what was your drive in like
on the five?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
It was very similar. I mean I saw the fires
in the reverse Ordervncono did, though I saw the Silmar
fire first, I mean almost immediately when I got out
of the house and made a left turn, right turn,
go down the hill, and you can see it coming
over the crest of that hill right through the New
Hall Pass as you go farther down I five. The
only thing that's really closed on I five, at least
(07:39):
the southbound area if you're coming in from the Santa
Clarita Valley or parts north of there, is the truck
lanes the truck tunnel that goes through there. That's and
the old road. You can't take the shortcut and go
through the old road. But I five is open through
that area. And then once you get just past the
connector to the fourteen, you see that telltale glow of
(08:00):
just around the corner there's going to be massive flame.
And sure enough, as you go farther down the freeway
and you kind of look off to the left, you
can see that entire hillside up above the two ten
that was on fire. And then as you get farther
down into the valley San Fernando Valley, I did not
expect to see the Altadena fire, but you could see
some of the active flame from that one as well.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
Because it's glowing so brightly in the night sky, it
is sort of surreal, apocalyptic, or the words that come
to mind. But I mean, what other words do you
describe that when you see a whole hillside on fire
like that, and you know that like in the Altadena area, now,
fifty two thousand people are under evacuation warnings, twenty thousand
(08:43):
structures are threatened in the Palisades, thirty thousand evacuated, and
more than ten thousand homes are threatened. We know that
lots have burned. We don't have any kind of numbers yet.
Fire officials were saying, we can't go in and assess
the damage right now because the damage is still happening.
The fires are still burning, the winds are still blowing.
(09:05):
Neil Savedra and I don't live too far apart. I
came out of my house this morning and there was
no wind, but I walked out and I could smell smoke.
And there have been lots of fires burning around southern
California over the years. I've never smelled smoke like that,
so you know that it's lingering even though the fires
are miles away. But just a few miles away from
(09:28):
where I was walking out of my door with very
calm winds, Neil was getting blown across the street.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
Yeah, there was a lot of wind this morning. I
was actually quite surprised that it was still going full force.
And you know, I talk about this, Sorry, this is
going to sound like a plug and it's not. But
I talk about my American vision windows because we have
replacement windows in certain areas of the house and not
in others. And the because it's a you know, one
(09:57):
hundred and twelve year old house or whatever it is,
and the windows they do this weird sucking in the
knocking sound of the ones that have not been replaced,
and it was still going in the morning, and you know,
it's dark. I don't want to wake anybody up. And
it kept freaking me out because it sounded like it's
(10:17):
in the kitchen and it sounded like the dishwasher was
going to explode or something weird.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
It was like this weird.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So I'm doing that and then I'm like, wow, the
winds still are going. And then I go to to
go out the door and just this rush of wind.
I could see that plants had been knocked off the
we have a like a fire pit outside on our
front porch, and the plants in pots, in heavy pots
(10:48):
had been blown off and onto the floor and broken.
And I'm like, ah, I can't deal with that right now.
And then parts of trees were in our front yard,
and of course the palm fronds that lined the beautiful
streets of Los Angeles all over the place. So I
was quite surprised. And that was the first thing. The
second thing, amy was, as we hear every now and
(11:11):
again in our area, the sirens that were going off everywhere,
so a lot of acting like car alarm sirens or
police sirens. Police sirens and yeah, and.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
On the drive in you mentioned palm fronds and that
kind of thing on the freeways. Mostly we're clear for
at least for my drive. I know Cono had overturned
big rigs, but as far as like branches and down
those kinds of things, down trees, we hit the surface
streets in Burbank and there was debris everywhere. So when
(11:44):
you're driving around, if you need to drive around this morning,
whether you're in the actual fire zones or not, just
be careful because there's a lot of stuff on the roadways.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
And the tumbleweeds might be a homeless person, so be
very careful.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
The strongest winds of the Santa Anna wind event technically
have ended. They were expected overnight last night from ten
pm until five am, but that doesn't mean that we
are out of danger because the red flag warnings remain
in place. They're going to be in place until at
least tomorrow evening. For La and Ventura County, including the
San Gabriel Mountains, the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys,
(12:21):
especially in the Foothills, Beverly and Hollywood Hills coastal areas
near the Supulvita Pass, The Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa
Susanna Mountains, Malibu, eastern Ventura County, mainly near Simi Valley
in moor Park, the San Bernardino County Mountains, the Inland Empire,
Santa Anna Mountains, and for coastal and inland Orange County.
So this wind event is not over by a long shot.
(12:45):
We've got Santa Ana winds blowing through the area that
are whipping up the flames and just making situations and
then conditions treacherous. The Pacific Palisades fire has burned at
last count about three thousand and eight in Altadena. The
fire that started last night near Pasadena is up over
(13:06):
one thousand acres. And then there's the fire in Silmar
that has grown to five hundred acres, which is north
of the two ten and east of the five Freeway,
and the whole health side is on fire and lots
of people are in harm's way. We want to get
an update on the fires and some of the things
(13:27):
that you can do to make sure that you stay
safe with LA Fire. Captain Kelliher, good morning, Captain.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Good morning. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 4 (13:35):
All right, thank you so much for coming on. We
know that it's so important that we get the information
out as people are waking up, even if they're not
in a fire zone. But let's first just give a
quick recap of what the conditions of the fires are
that we know at this moment.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (13:51):
So I have been on the Palisades fire all night
while we're there, from the beginning until just now, and
I am really amazed at the wind. And they said
it was going to peak last night from ten till
six this morning, and they were not lying.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
It got just horrendous, you know, just insane wind conditions
that have driven this fire. The topography is treacherous over
there in the Palisades, and it's just made for the
perfect storm. Unfortunately, the Eaton Canyon, which is the one
you were talking about over by Pasadena, is facing some
(14:26):
of the similar conditions. In both these situations, structures have
been lost. We don't have a total count on what
the damage is yet. That'll come with the damage assessment.
But I think the biggest message I can give to
the folks is really listen to the warnings that are
coming out. Pay attention to what your evacuation is a
warning in order if it's a warning, get ready, get
(14:47):
your stuff together, get ready to get out. Don't underestimate this.
We have winds until late tonight.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And we also hear that the red flag warnings have
been extended even though the winds are going to start
dying down. The red flag warnings for high fire danger
possibility are extended through tomorrow as well. Captain kellerher, I'm
curious as to the direction that the fires are blowing.
(15:13):
We know that one saving grace of the Palisades fire
is that it was blowing last night toward the ocean.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Yeah, and most of these fires, the way these winds
are blowing, they're blowing in a southwest kind of direction,
but they are you know, it's interesting because they start
to swirl and they become intermittent, and that just causes
like those you know, big almost little mini tornadoes in
the fire. So it is very tricky out there. And yeah,
(15:45):
you know, the fact that it did blow to the
ocean that that definitely helps. But the other fires are
blowing the same way, kind of a southwesterly path.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
Which is not great news for the fire, the Altadena
fire because south of yeah, where it's burning is the
two ten Freeway and huge, you know, huge population centers.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
Yeah, and that's the case, and that's what we're working
so incredibly hard on. And hopefully when the sun comes up,
we'll see if those helicopters and our fixed wings can
get up and fly. But they weren't able to fly
because of the wind last night. So that really takes
a big piece of arsenal out of our firepower when
we can't get up in the air.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Right, So the Palisades fire. For a while yesterday there
were air dropping helicopters and the Super Scooper planes making drops,
but that had to stop. And then because the fire,
the Eaton Canyon fire started so late in the day,
that never got any aerial attention, did.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
It, you know, not that I know of. I was
so so fixated on the palace aide, but I don't
think so. Those winds were just pretty pretty insane, So
it's been a challenge, to say the least.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
Yeah, and Keller, have you ever seen fire behavior like this?
Speaker 3 (17:06):
I think the Wolveny was close, but I feel like
the winds here are are even more dramatic and extreme
and unpredictable, that's the word I'm looking for. They're unpredictable
in the way that they shift a little bit, but yeah,
I think this is by far one of the worst
ones I've ever been a part of.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Okay, and the embers that we've been talking about through
the morning are one of the biggest dangers of the
fire spreading. So not only do you have the wind
and the flames, but you've got these embers that are
throwing little fireballs ahead of the fire.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
You said it, that is exactly what's happening. To give
you a little bit of perspective. Last night, I was
sitting at will Rogers Beach, at that parking lot just
next to the ocean, and right across pH that whole
hillside was going and those winds kicked up to probably
seventy miles an hour, maybe a little bit more, and
(18:01):
it looked like it was raining fire. And that's no seseration.
It looked like it was hailing fire. I think that's
a better word because of just what you said. Those
embers and they're big and you know, tossing, you know,
pieces of brush and trees just flying by, and they
get second they actually made it across the pch We
(18:23):
lost several lifeguard towers if you can imagine that in
the sand, So those embers can land anywhere. And you know,
that goes back to what we always talked about harding
your home. Make sure there's nothing around it where those
embers can get caught in and get lodged in to
keep your home safe from this type of wind event.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
And I've heard too that the embers are especially dangerous
to the homes because they can get up under the eaves.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Yeah, very much so. And there's so many. I think
that's that's like, it's just not like one. It's just like,
like I said, it looks like it's hailing. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
So with that, with that knowledge, even if you're not
in an evacuation, world warning or order zone at this time,
is there something that homeowners who are possibly near or
when there's an event like this, is there something that
they should be doing. Should they be watering down their houses?
Should they you know, what kind of last minute things
should they be doing to get ready just in case?
Speaker 7 (19:17):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (19:17):
I think I think first and foremost, if they can
download the Genesis app that's Genesis Evacuation that has just
been incredibly useful, that alerts the residents that are in
evacuation warnings or orders, that puts up the boundaries and
the borders, so you know exactly what time to you
know when you need to go and when you need
to get out. That that's a pro tip right there.
(19:38):
Everybody needs to get that app And then when it
comes to what they can do for their home, you know,
the biggest thing is think about where those members can
land and where they can settle. That's why we say,
you know, get those woodpiles away from your home. Make
sure there's no tree or brush or leaves or anything
like that in your gutters. And you know, those are
the things that you can kind of kind of get
away from your home. Put your patio furniture a hopefully
(20:01):
all the Christmas decorations are gone, because all those things
are gonna be magnets for those embers and just cause
the situation, and it's just also being aware and paying
attention to where you're going. That wind is relentless out there.
I haven't gone to bed yet and I it has
not slowed down at all, which.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Again, as we were talking about, southern California is so dynamic.
There are some areas where you are where the winds
are just still howling. And at my house it was
just dead calm this morning.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
Wow you where are you at in the Silver Lake area?
Speaker 9 (20:35):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (20:35):
Okay, yeah, well I'll fall through the one on one
quarter West hill locking the out of flint Ridge up
against those mountains and bases. It is just still relentless.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Okay, Captain callaher Ellie Fire. Thank you so much for
your information. We appreciate it. Do stay safe and hopefully
we don't have to talk to you again.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
I agree, Thank you, all right, you take care?
Speaker 4 (20:59):
All right. When we we're gonna check in with ABC's
Alex Stone. He is on scene at the fire burning
near Altadena, which is not far from Pasadena. He's going
to give us the latest on that Southland weather from KFI.
Red flag warnings in effect through tomorrow, with gus seventy
miles per hour or higher expected in some areas. The
red flag warnings in effect for La and Ventura Counties.
(21:22):
San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, especially
the foothills, Beverly and Hollywood Hills. Coastal area is adjacent
to the Sepolvita Pass, the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa
Susanna Mountains, Malibu, eastern Ventura County sorry, eastern Ventura Valley,
mainly near Simi Valley in moor Park, the San Bernardino
(21:42):
County Mountains, the Inland Empire, the Santa Ana Mountains, and
for also coastal and inland Orange County, so not affecting
only La and Ventura Counties. The winds are still howling,
the fires are still burning out of control. We've got
three big ones in southern California. A new one is started.
We're getting word that a fire in Riverside County has
burned about ten to fifteen acres in the Coachella Valley.
(22:05):
It started early this morning at Tyler Street and forty
seventh Avenue. There haven't been any reports of injuries or
damaged property, but buildings are threatened. The Riverside County Sheriff's
Department has begun to order people to get out of
their homes. Of course, thirty thousand people have been ordered
out of their homes in Pacific Palisades at last check,
(22:27):
and again these numbers are going to be updated. At
last check it had burned about three thousand acres. That
was the first one that really started. It has burned
a lot of homes. We don't know how many yet
we're hoping to get an update a little later this
morning when there's a press conference coming up at eight o'clock.
We'll carry that live for you. In the Silmar area
fire that was sparked last night about ten thirty has
(22:49):
now burned five hundred acres. It is zero percent contained,
as are all the fires burning in southern California. And
right now we're going to say good morning to Alex
with ABC who's on the lines of the Eton Fire,
which we just got an update that one has now
burned through twenty two hundred acres, and the Eaten Fire,
of course in Altadena, about fourteen miles from downtown LA
(23:13):
and north of Pasadena. Good morning, Alex, Good morning Amy.
Speaker 7 (23:18):
Yeah, the wind here has just been incredible this morning.
And I'm on Lake Avenue right now in this street.
As every time you feel like you get into a
safe area, something starts to catch on fire. That the
embers have been glowing rolling on the avenue here and
(23:38):
continually catching things on fire. The Sheriff's department has been
going through just ordering and pleading with people to leave,
and we've been seeing a pretty good line of cars
or people with their stuff packed up just getting out
as quickly as they can. But it has been very
dynamic this morning. They have no idea on this fire
(24:00):
how many homes have burned, of how many people they
even have evacuated because they're not able to go door
to door. They're just telling people, go, you got to
get out of here if you're in the Altadena area.
With the winds. That seem to have calmed down a
little bit, I'd say in the last half an hour
or so, But about an hour ago I opened up
the door on the car that I'm in and the
door went all the way back, like snapped all the
(24:22):
way open. You can't. It's impossibly been standing these winds.
The wind has just been absolutely incredible.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Okay, and Alex. When you say that the winds have
died down a little bit, they're still blowing pretty good, right.
Speaker 7 (24:35):
They're absolutely still blowing, but not to the point where
even with your car with the parking brake on, that
it was pushing cars forward, that it was trees bending over,
it was where you could not stand outside. That has
died down a little bit. It's still quite breezy, but
we're not seeing the embers just you know, a shower
(24:56):
of embers coming in the wind down Lake Avenue. Now
I'm still here like explosion noises as buildings are burning
around here. There's still a lot of activity, but the
winds have definitely died down a little bit in the
last couple of minutes.
Speaker 4 (25:09):
Okay, And you're saying, as you're hearing explosions as buildings
are burning, are there dozens hundreds? Can you see from
your vantage point because you know when you're looking.
Speaker 7 (25:21):
At it, go ahead, Yeah, it's a lot. And sometimes
it's hard to tell if it's the building or all
the shrubs around the building that it's just in the nighttime,
you know, view of it of just a lot of
fire around buildings, but there have been quite a few.
I was talking to a sheriff's deputy a little while ago.
He said, they have got that there are a lot
(25:41):
of homes that are gone. But the problem being that
you get into some of these streets, they are so
smoky that at least at nighttime, it's almost impossible to
see more than like five feet in front of your car,
So people are trying to get out. Even firefighters don't
necessarily know the scope of it. Right now that they
know there are buildings burning, but they can't really get
(26:03):
into or see all of the areas.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Okay, and Alex, from what you've been seeing and hearing
with people being evacuated from their homes, are they running
into the same sort of a logjam that we experienced
where people were experiencing yesterday and Pacific Palisades where they
were just they got in a traffic jam and just
had to leave their cars behind.
Speaker 7 (26:24):
No, by no means nothing like that. It's been a
steady stream of people getting out down the main roads
here in Altadena, and the power is out, so there's
confusion at all the stop lights, and some people are
just blowing right through them or not seeing them with
the sun not up yet, and so they're getting out.
But the streets here are so wide and there are
so many ways to get out that the people seem
(26:45):
to be able to do it. But there are a
lot of people who are trying to get out.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
Okay and then, Alex, we're also just getting word that
the evacuation area has been expanded for the fire that's
burning out Todena and now includes all of locking out
a flint Ridge. So and then last check we had
fifty two thousand plus evacuation orders had been issued, with
like northwards of twenty thousand homes, buildings, businesses, schools threatened.
Speaker 7 (27:14):
Yeah, no doubt that number is going to keep going
up all day today. I mean, Amy, weops, hopefully you
hang on try to clear that my I know we
can't air this. So my emergency alert just started going
off here as it's been telling people to get out.
But yeah, the numbers are going to be all day
today going up. That they are just progressively moving forward
(27:36):
saying get out, that they need bigger areas to get out.
But the numbers are going to go up all day
to day.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
All right, Alex Stone, thank you so much. Live on
the lines of the Altadena fire that has burned one
thousand acres and actually twenty two hundred acres at last check,
expecting it to grow. Thank you, Alex, you got it.
Speaker 7 (27:57):
Thanks Amy.
Speaker 4 (27:57):
Okay, And as we were just talking about with Alex
and with other with Gary and with Chris Berry before that,
and of course Neil savedra, these fires are burning out
of control. They're not being fought from the air at
this time because the winds have been blowing so hard.
We're hoping as the sun comes up, We're going to
be able to get some aerial assaults going again and
(28:19):
hopefully start to get some lines around these fires. But
just the sheer magnitude of the homes, and like Alex
was talking about, just seeing buildings burning and explosions going off.
It might be propane tanks or something like that from
some of the homes. But in the Altadena area, I
had a friend who lived up there, and it's it's
packed in, as you know. And if the winds are
(28:41):
blowing to the south as LA fires, Captain callaher told us,
are they going to head Are they going to jump
the two ten freeway? We certainly hope not. We certainly
hope that that does not come to pass, but we
will be watching and we will be following it.
Speaker 9 (28:55):
Now.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Southern California, Edison and also LEDWP have shut off power
to hundreds of thousands of residents precautionary because you know,
as with other fires, you know, those the power lines
can be the cause of fires, and they want to
prevent that. Of course, So right now we know that
(29:17):
at least two hundred thousand actually Chris Berry's numbers were
three hundred thousand, and so cal Edison was saying that
up to four hundred thousand people could be affected. So
if you are in the dark, we hope you will
keep us on your phone on the iHeartRadio app. And
it just made me think, and I don't know about you,
(29:37):
but it made me think of what I really need
to do, because I was thinking last night, what if
the power goes out?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Here?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Is my phone charged? Is my alarm going to go off?
Am I going to be all?
Speaker 8 (29:46):
You know?
Speaker 4 (29:46):
I mean, like what happens? And that's that's just for
the power, let alone the idea of having to evacuate
your homes. So if you don't have your evacuation plan,
even if you're not in a fire area, this is
a good time to get it, get it planned because
these things, as we are seeing, are coming out of
(30:06):
absolutely nowhere. Even though we knew that there were dangerous
winds coming. You never know when a fire is gonna
erupt in your neighborhood. And as we just mentioned, for
the fire that's burning in Altadena, they've now expanded that
evacuation order to include the La Kenyata flint Ridge area,
which is a ways away. So just because you're not
(30:28):
right where the fire is burning, that doesn't mean that
couldn't change, and especially with the winds and the embers,
it's just it's scary. And we're glad that you're with
us this morning, and we will get you all the
information that you need and continue with once wake up
call is done and Bill Handle comes on and Gary
and Shannon. Gary of course already in the building because
(30:48):
he was getting the evacuation warnings on his phone overnight.
But we've got it all through the day and we're
going to keep you updated and make sure that you
can stay safe. Here is the quick rundown on the
fire's Pacific powerades has burned about three thousand acres.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Again.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
We're going to be getting updated numbers and we will
get them to you as soon as we can. We
know that a lot of homes have burned. We don't
have those numbers yet, but more than thirty thousand residents
have been evacuated the fire near Pasadena In Altadena, the
Eton Fire now has fifty two thousand evacuation orders in place.
(31:26):
The fire has grown to twenty two hundred and twenty
seven acres That one, of course, started last evening around
six point thirty. The evacuation orders have been expanded to
include the La Kenyata flint Ridge area and then the
other fire, the Hurst fire burning in the Silmar area,
is five hundred acres. It started at about ten thirty
(31:48):
last night. Evacuations have been ordered for the areas north
of the two ten freeway. The good news on most
of these is there's not been a large number of
injuries reported. We do know that one firefighter got a
severe head injury fighting the Pacific Palisades fire last night.
Several people were apparently burned. We don't know the extent
(32:08):
of that. Again, we're expecting to get an update on
that at eight o'clock this morning, and we will bring
that live to you here on KFI. The most information
that you can find on the fires, the side of them,
the evacuation areas, where shelters are set up, schools that
are closed, and power outages, you can find it all
on our website KFI AM six forty dot com. Keyword fire.
(32:32):
All right, let's talk about the fire and the conditions
that are in place that make wildfire such a dangerous
possibility and actually a dangerous reality. Right now, let's say
good morning to the National Weather Services. Mike Wafford Mike
tell us about what makes this Santa Ana wind event
so devastating?
Speaker 6 (32:54):
Good morning. Yeah, Well, we had a dangerous combination of
very strong winds aloft oriented in just the right position
to generate basically winds coming down from very high levels
and reaching the foothill areas in parts of the La Basin.
(33:17):
And during that time we've seen winds gusting between ninety
and one hundred miles per hour along the base of
the mountains there in the Altadena area Eaten Fire area,
and you know, we're still seeing winds this morning upwards
of eighty miles per hour or higher. So it's just been,
(33:39):
you know, an unfortunate combination of events to trigger these
sorts of winds. And of course we've got the high
fire danger, very low humidity, and we've had very little rain,
so it's all just coming together unfortunately.
Speaker 4 (33:54):
Okay, And Mike, winds blow really strong in the Inland
Empire all the time. I have a friend who had
a house out there, and man, with the winds blow,
but there wasn't that fire danger. So what makes this one?
What makes the conditions so ripe for fires?
Speaker 8 (34:10):
Now?
Speaker 6 (34:12):
Yeah, you know, just the fact that we've had basically
zero rain, very little rain during over the last several months.
You know, normally this time of the year we've had
a few storms to moisten things up a little bit,
and we just haven't had that, and so, you know,
the fuels, the plants are very dry, and you know,
(34:32):
we've just had this pattern over the last couple of
months where we've been seeing these very strong sant Ana
wind events and unfortunately, without the rain, there's just they
just take off really quickly.
Speaker 4 (34:45):
Okay. And then Mike, there are areas that may normally
not see the high winds, but during this event, a
lot of people are seen and feeling the blowing that
they don't normally feel in their area.
Speaker 6 (34:57):
Yeah, exactly, that area two ten Corridor going through, blocking
the out of flint Ridge and Altadena area that's typically
blocked with our typical Santa Ana winds. Usually do you
see those in the mostly in the San Fernando Valley.
But because these winds are coming up and over the
mountains and crashing down into uh, the two ten corridor area. Uh,
(35:21):
you know, that's why we're seeing these winds so strong
in those areas that typically don't.
Speaker 4 (35:26):
Get them, Okay, And how long can we expect the
winds to continue to have this increased fire danger for us?
Speaker 6 (35:33):
Well, the strong we're at the strongest really right now
in the overnight period earlier. We are expecting a fairly
substantial decrease as we get into the afternoon hours. We're
still going to be seeing some winds the rest of
the day, and it looks like through the rest of
(35:53):
the week, but considerably lighter, but it's going to still
be very dry and you know, very low humidities. The
threat is still going to be there.
Speaker 4 (36:02):
Okay. And is there anything any recommendation you have for people,
knowing that you're with the National Weather Service, that people
can do to prepare themselves for the fire danger.
Speaker 6 (36:14):
Yeah. I mean the biggest thing is just to heed
the words from the local authorities there. They know what's
going on. But yeah, be prepared to evacuate at any moment.
And you know, that's about all we can say at
this point.
Speaker 4 (36:30):
Okay, because we never know when you know, we hope
that these fires that are currently burning are the only ones,
but with this wind event continuing, more could pop up.
Speaker 6 (36:39):
Oh, absolutely, yeah, And unfortunately it looks like we've got
some more Santa Ana wins coming even into next week,
so we could be in for a fairly long duration
of dangerous fire conditions.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Okay, and Mike, when Santa ana wins blow through, do
we always have the low humidity levels? Is that kind
of indicative of Santa Ana's or is it just the
conditions right now or prime for fire danger.
Speaker 6 (37:02):
Santa Anna's almost always come with low humidities. Sometimes they're
lower than others, just depending on the situation. But you know,
as I said, the biggest thing here for us has
just been the lack of rainfall. We haven't had anything
for so long, and everything's just super dry.
Speaker 4 (37:20):
Okay, Mike Wafford with the National Weather Service, thank you
so much for the information.
Speaker 6 (37:25):
You're very welcome.
Speaker 4 (37:26):
All right, take care. We all need to just batten
down those hatches. Okay, So just quickly to reset. We've
got a press conference coming up at eight o'clock. We're
going to bring that to you. Hopefully we'll get some
more information from fire officials. I heard somebody on one
of the TV stations last night complaining that they hadn't
heard from officials, and I was like, they're busy fighting
the fires. We know that there's about fourteen hundred firefighters
(37:49):
out on the lines. More are on the way. We've
got them coming from northern California. We've got them coming
from Arizona. Anybody who is involved with fire department was
basically said. They basically called him and said you got
to come back in. And we also know that there's
a shift change, some fresh faces and fresh firefighters coming on.
I believe the shift changes at six point thirty because
(38:12):
these guys have been out on the lines all night.
And as we were talking with Mike Wafford, those strong,
strong winds are causing more than just fire danger, but
they're keeping fire fighting aircraft from getting up in the
air and doing what they do and dropping the fozcheck
in the water onto the flames, which is why those
fires are just burning out of control. We're hoping that
(38:35):
maybe the winds will die down a little bit today
and to the point that we can get some planes
and helicopters up to fight the fires. We've got the
three big ones, we've got a smaller one burning in Coachella,
and then, as Will Coleschreiber has been telling us, we've
got a small fire burning near Irwindale along the two
ten Freeway, but the Big Ones Pacific Palisades at three
(38:58):
thousand acres, the Altadena Fire near Pasadena twenty two hundred
and twenty seven acres, and the evacuation orders have been
expanded to include fifty two thousand residents, including all of Lakeagnata,
flint Ridge that's brand new, and the Hearst fire burning
near Silmar it's grown to about five hundred acres. Evacuations
(39:20):
have been ordered for areas north of the two ten freeway,
and you can get all of the updated information on
those evacuation orders, school closures where you can go if
you need to get to a shelter if you are
affected by the evacuation orders, and also power outages. They're
shutting down power to try to reduce the risk of
wildfire in some areas, and you can find all that
(39:42):
information on the website KFIAM six forty dot com slash fire.
This is KFI and kost HD two Los Angeles, Orange County,
Southland Weather from KFI, though Santa ana Win is going
to continue to blow with red flag warnings and effect
through tomorrow evening. Gus seventy miles per hour expected. Red
(40:02):
flag warnings are in effect for much of La and
Ventura Counties, along with the San Bernardino County Mountains, the
Inland Empire San Ana Mountains, and for coastal and inland
Orange County. Otherwise, aside from the winds, we're going to
see sunny skies. Highs in the low to mid seventies
at the beaches Metro La and Inland No c. Sixties
(40:24):
and seventies in the Valley's upper sixties in the ie
fifties in the Antelope Valley. The winds should start dying
down some tonight, sunny skies Tomorrow, still windy, highs in
the sixties and seventies and a little bit cooler. On Friday.
It's sixty three in Santa Monica, sixty in Tustin, sixty
three in Irvine, fifty six in Calabasas. We lead local
(40:45):
live from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom for producer
An and technical producer KNO and also traffic specialist will
I am Amy King. This has been your wake up Colin.
If you missed any of wake Up Call, lots of
good information on the fires today. You can live at
anytime on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
You've been listening to wake Up Call with me Amy King.
You can always hear wake Up Call five to six
am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty, and
anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app
Wake Up Call with Amy King News
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