Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
Speaker 1: House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app KFI
Speaker 1: AM six forty live streaming in HD everywhere on the
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio App. Hey, welcome to home. I am Dean Sharp,
Speaker 1: the House Whisper. I design custom homes, I build custom homes,
Speaker 1: and for this weekend, as always, I am your guide
Speaker 1: to better understanding that place where you live Today on
Speaker 1: the program, Well, for those of us who live in
Speaker 1: southern California, that place where we live is under the
Speaker 1: ongoing threat and devastation of what has been now the
Speaker 1: most costliest wildfires in United States history. We're going to
Speaker 1: continue to cover those fires for you, of course through
Speaker 1: the twenty four hour KFI Newsroom, but we'll also be
Speaker 1: talking about them today on the show, specifically from my
Speaker 1: perspective and what I can bring to the table for you.
Speaker 1: We're going to be talking some about, especially this weekend
Speaker 1: moving forward, what happens next when the fires are done
Speaker 1: and they will end, but they are still burning. When
Speaker 1: such devastation has been created by such a natural disaster,
Speaker 1: where do you pick up and what comes next, especially
Speaker 1: when it comes to your home or the total loss
Speaker 1: of your home. For those of you who are listening,
Speaker 1: and I know lots of people from all around the
Speaker 1: country are listening, I hope that you hang with us
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of application here. Specifically, of course
Speaker 1: we're going to be talking about wildfires and its effect
Speaker 1: on a home, but in the bigger scope of things,
Speaker 1: much of what we'll discuss this weekend has to do
Speaker 1: with any natural disaster and a response from residential perspective
Speaker 1: after it has gone its way, whether it is a
Speaker 1: hurricane or flood, a tornado, whatever the case may be.
Speaker 1: Natural disasters have a way of resetting the clock in
Speaker 1: a lot of things, and we're gonna be dealing with
Speaker 1: that this morning. How soon can anybody get back to
Speaker 1: these properties? What comes next? What are the next steps
Speaker 1: after your home has been devastated, and how soon is
Speaker 1: that rebuilding process? Is there a rebuilding process, and what
Speaker 1: to expect through it out all of that and a
Speaker 1: whole lot more, and of course you will find a
Speaker 1: empathetic and an informative voice here, I hope, and we
Speaker 1: will be taking calls as well, and of course again
Speaker 1: I'm going to be talking about this as always with calls,
Speaker 1: anything you want to talk about regarding your home today.
Speaker 1: The number to reach me eight three to three two.
Speaker 1: Ask Dean A three three the numeral two, Ask dean
Speaker 1: eight three three two ask dean. Of course, I am
Speaker 1: going to prioritize calls related to fire today, but we
Speaker 1: will take calls on any subject whatsoever as we go
Speaker 1: as we do. And that brings up an important point.
Speaker 1: As devastating as these fires are, and they are, I
Speaker 1: am in no way, shape or form going to make
Speaker 1: light of them. One of the things I want you
Speaker 1: to understand if you don't live in Southern California is
Speaker 1: as you see national news coverage, it always tends to
Speaker 1: happen this way. You know, it looks as though Los
Speaker 1: Angeles is on fire. Southern California is on fire. It's
Speaker 1: burning to the ground, and a large portion of our
Speaker 1: home here is doing just that, and there is great devastation,
Speaker 1: as we will review in the updated stats here in
Speaker 1: just a bit. However, if you don't understand LA or
Speaker 1: the La Orange County San Bernardino area, the greater Los
Speaker 1: Angeles metroplex, or what I just tend to refer to
Speaker 1: as southern California, if you don't understand if you haven't
Speaker 1: visited and you haven't really understood the scope of what
Speaker 1: life is like here, if you're from a traditional town
Speaker 1: or traditional city, then one of the things that is
Speaker 1: easy to misunderstand when you're looking at national news coverage
Speaker 1: of what's going on here is these fires are massive
Speaker 1: and yet at the same time, most, the vast majority
Speaker 1: of Los Angeles and Orange County and San Bernardino County
Speaker 1: residents are unaffected directly by these fire Southern California, if
Speaker 1: you want to call it this southern the Southern California,
Speaker 1: the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, if we just take
Speaker 1: the LA name and apply it to the continuous urban
Speaker 1: sprawl essentially that is here in southern California, it is
Speaker 1: roughly one hundred miles from north to south and one
Speaker 1: hundred miles from east to west. Okay, that is a massive,
Speaker 1: massive metropolitan area. These fires have affected tens of thousands
Speaker 1: of acres. But just understand for those of us here
Speaker 1: that there are most areas in Southern California are completely safe.
Speaker 1: But we have all all of us emotionally and all
Speaker 1: of us indirectly been affected by these fires. And so
Speaker 1: we are going to continue to focus on them as
Speaker 1: we go. Let me enter you shoot to our awesome team.
Speaker 1: Sam of course is on the board. How are you doing, Sam,
Speaker 1: I'm okay, brother, It's good to hear your voice. It's
Speaker 1: good to be here as well. UH produced. There's our
Speaker 1: almost live studio audience. UH producer Richie is standing by
Speaker 1: already screening calls. The call of the phone lines are
Speaker 1: open again. Eight three three two. Ask dean eight three
Speaker 1: to three the numeral two ass Dean Eileen Gonzalez of
Speaker 1: course on the due's desk. Good morning, Eileen, good morning.
Speaker 2: Good to hear your voice and your sunshiny attitude is
Speaker 2: much needed today.
Speaker 1: Well, we're going to do our best. We're going to
Speaker 1: do our best. We're not going to look through this
Speaker 1: situation with any rose colored glasses, but we're going to
Speaker 1: bring everybody as much comfort and information as we can
Speaker 1: along the way. How are you any issues with where
Speaker 1: you're at in regards to the fires.
Speaker 2: I'm lucky, I'm I'm near Uh, I'm near Marina del Rey,
Speaker 2: so I'm in a safe zone. But the smoke has
Speaker 2: been pretty bad and I'm definitely feeling that.
Speaker 1: Oh, no doubt, no doubt. So Marina del Rey, down
Speaker 1: south of Santa Monica and just a few miles from
Speaker 1: the fire, but a few miles, it's a lot of that.
Speaker 1: That's a big distance and south. But the winds have
Speaker 1: been blowing essentially south since this thing started, so you've
Speaker 1: basically received all the smoke. See I live, I probably
Speaker 1: my home is probably as close, if not closer in
Speaker 1: proximity as the crow flies to the fire. But this
Speaker 1: fire started with those heavy, heavy, crazy southern wind, southern
Speaker 1: south pound wind and h and so there has been
Speaker 1: no smoke in the Canao Valley, no blue skies, no,
Speaker 1: not even a trace of it, because it's all been
Speaker 1: blowing your way.
Speaker 2: You guys may hear it in my voice today, just yeah, exactly, yeah,
Speaker 2: I know a lot of people that lost their homes.
Speaker 2: And yeah it's very very yeah.
Speaker 1: Same here, same here, all right. Sitting across the table
Speaker 1: from me, my better half, my design partner, my best
Speaker 1: friend in all the world, who is celebrating something today.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what, but she's got something going on.
Speaker 1: Oh it's the National Elephant Day.
Speaker 2: Today is your birthday? What it is? Happy birthday to
Speaker 2: you know?
Speaker 1: All right? Well, yeah, it's not the greatest weekend to
Speaker 1: have a birthday, and so cal I gotta tell you,
Speaker 1: but you know what, I'm grateful. I'm grateful that we're here.
Speaker 1: All right, y'all. Here's the thing. Let's have some news
Speaker 1: for my leen, and when we come back, let's get
Speaker 1: an update on all of the fires and then begin
Speaker 1: a conversation a little different than the ones that you've
Speaker 1: been hearing through the rest of the week, because you know,
Speaker 1: it's me, and we're going to be talking about homes
Speaker 1: and structures and also rebuilding and what does that mean
Speaker 1: all of that and more. Yafi Dean Sharp the House Whisper,
Speaker 1: Welcome home. Thanks for joining us this early early Saturday morning,
Speaker 1: a few minutes before six thirty. We rent long in
Speaker 1: our opening segment because I wanted to sort of lay
Speaker 1: out where we're going this weekend on our program. Here
Speaker 1: this morning and tomorrow, we're going to be talking about
Speaker 1: wildfires from a house Whisper perspective, hopefully adding to the
Speaker 1: conversation not just repeating updates and which, of course we're
Speaker 1: going to do, but also contributing to a broader conversation
Speaker 1: about where do we go from here as these fires
Speaker 1: will eventually of course, be snuffed out, and then the
Speaker 1: swath of Devas station that they have left in their path.
Speaker 1: What do we do, especially when entire It's one thing
Speaker 1: to say, oh, I had fire damage on my house.
Speaker 1: It's something entirely different to say that an entire neighborhood
Speaker 1: or a region of homes has been destroyed. What happens then?
Speaker 1: Is there a rebuild? Who rebuilds? When will we rebuild?
Speaker 1: And so on? So we're going to have that unique
Speaker 1: perspective and take on that as we move along this morning.
Speaker 1: But I do want to say this. I went long
Speaker 1: in the first segment just to get to all of
Speaker 1: that information in and to have an extended conversation with
Speaker 1: the team and the crew here. And we're up against
Speaker 1: another short break, another short break right now, and when
Speaker 1: we return, we'll get back on our regular cycle here
Speaker 1: and dive into this conversation. Does that sound good?
Speaker 2: Good?
Speaker 1: We will start with an update of everything that we
Speaker 1: know about all of the fires here in southern California.
Speaker 3: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
Speaker 3: KFI AM six.
Speaker 1: Forty five AM six forty live streaming in HD everywhere
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp the house whisper with
Speaker 1: you on this smoky southern California Saturday morning here in
Speaker 1: the wee hours of January eleventh, twenty twenty five. We
Speaker 1: are still battling several wildfires on several fronts, and we're
Speaker 1: going to be discussing them with you here on the
Speaker 1: program today. I'm going to give you my ongoing input
Speaker 1: and perspective answering now the question not so much how
Speaker 1: do we defend against this? Because they're here. They're here now.
Speaker 1: I will, of course, over the course of today and
Speaker 1: tomorrow be reviewing with you the things that you can
Speaker 1: do to harden your home against these kinds of events.
Speaker 1: But I also want to take this weekend and specifically
Speaker 1: focus on where do you go after a disaster like this?
Speaker 1: How do you move forward in regards to your home,
Speaker 1: everything from what to expect on the insurance level to
Speaker 1: the city level, municipalities, neighborhood responses, infrastructure, and so on.
Speaker 1: So we're going to do as much as we can.
Speaker 1: Phone lines are also open, by the way, and if
Speaker 1: we have the opportunity, and I'm hoping to take calls
Speaker 1: and as always, anything you need and want to talk
Speaker 1: about your home today. I am going to prioritize fire calls,
Speaker 1: but honestly, wouldn't it be just a great relief to
Speaker 1: spend a few minutes talking to somebody about a problem
Speaker 1: with their home that is unrelated to it burning to
Speaker 1: the ground. So whatever our opportunities are, will take those
Speaker 1: calls as they come. The number to reach me eight
Speaker 1: three three, to ask dean eight three three, the numeral
Speaker 1: two acidine foe lines are open now. Producer Richie standing by.
Speaker 1: He'll tell you everything you need to know. Pop you
Speaker 1: into the queue and hopefully we can put our heads
Speaker 1: together and figure out what's going on with your home.
Speaker 1: And of course, ongoing coverage from the KFI twenty four
Speaker 1: hour newsroom. We've got Eileen Gonzalez with us this morning
Speaker 1: at the tip of that spear, and she will keep
Speaker 1: us informed about any immediate up dates and breaking news
Speaker 1: in regards to the fire. Let's do a quick update
Speaker 1: of what we know so far. There are multiple fires burning.
Speaker 1: Here is the latest. I believe these are the latest numbers,
Speaker 1: If not directly on the nose, they're very very close
Speaker 1: The Palisades Fire, of course, the largest of all of
Speaker 1: the fires that we've been dealing with here. Currently eight
Speaker 1: percent contained, the blaze has burned through more than twenty
Speaker 1: one thousand acres in and around Pacific Palisades. The current
Speaker 1: count of structures either affected or destroyed I believe is
Speaker 1: over fifty three hundred structures since Tuesday, and currently the
Speaker 1: fire is now spreading toward Brentwood, so it is making
Speaker 1: an eastward journey now along the hills up above Sunset
Speaker 1: Boulevard and moving eastward as opposed to pushing as far south,
Speaker 1: which has been its primary direction up until these wind
Speaker 1: events calm down, And of course we have more wind
Speaker 1: events coming anticipated in this next week, so it's very
Speaker 1: very important during this lull right now in the wind
Speaker 1: that these fires get as contained as they possibly can
Speaker 1: be before the wind starts kicking up again. But the
Speaker 1: Palisades eight percent contained currently and moving eastward toward the
Speaker 1: Brentwood area. The Eton Fire three percent contained, affecting of
Speaker 1: course Pasadena, Altadena Sierra Madre fourteen thousand, a little over
Speaker 1: fourteen thousand acres currently. Some are saying as many as
Speaker 1: seven thousand structures have been damaged or destroyed by that
Speaker 1: fire as well. Looking down into these heavily lived in
Speaker 1: neighborhood areas. The Kenneth fire fifty percent contained. That is
Speaker 1: the one that just started up on Friday, or was
Speaker 1: it Thursday Thursday? Thursday Thursday, Calabasas Hidden Hills area fifty
Speaker 1: percent contained and from what has been reported to me,
Speaker 1: on certain fronts, on certain critical fronts, no forward movement
Speaker 1: for movement has been blocked on its most critical front,
Speaker 1: so that's good news. In regards to the Kenneth fire.
Speaker 1: The Lydia fire was Antelope Valley area ninety eight percent contained.
Speaker 1: It burned through three hundred and ninety five acres. The
Speaker 1: Hurst fire in the north area of the San Fernando
Speaker 1: Valley seven hundred and seventy one acres seventy percent contained.
Speaker 1: Good news there as well. And the Archer fire, which
Speaker 1: is new, that's a blaze that broke out Friday morning,
Speaker 1: yesterday morning in the Granada Hills area. We're looking at
Speaker 1: twenty plus acres so far, zero percent containment on that
Speaker 1: new bust out fire in the Granada Hills area. And
Speaker 1: the Sunset fire which flared up as far as we
Speaker 1: can tell, I mean, my assumption was the Sunset fire
Speaker 1: was not being set by somebody else or a down
Speaker 1: power line. My assumption was the Sunset Fire was a
Speaker 1: spot fire that happened as a result of embers traveling
Speaker 1: from Palisades. I don't have that confirmed. That was my assumption,
Speaker 1: but the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills one hundred
Speaker 1: percent contained as of Thursday evening, according to CalFire. All
Speaker 1: in all, more than twelve thousand structures damaged or destroyed. Currently,
Speaker 1: eleven deaths have been counted. It's anticipated that more will
Speaker 1: will come or at least be realized, as these fires
Speaker 1: are contained and the areas are surveyed. And as of now,
Speaker 1: these Los Angeles area wildfires specifically amount to the costliest
Speaker 1: wildfire disaster not in Los Angeles history, but in US history,
Speaker 1: in US history. So let me begin with this. I
Speaker 1: think this is where all of this should begin. Appreciation
Speaker 1: on my part from all of the brave, dedicated men
Speaker 1: and women who have been tirelessly fighting these fires and
Speaker 1: who do all the time. I know we have in
Speaker 1: the last couple of decades. Ever, since nine to eleven,
Speaker 1: we have all kind of culturally been accustomed to seeing
Speaker 1: a member of the US Armed Services and thanking them
Speaker 1: for their service, which I think is a great thing
Speaker 1: a great thing as well as police, but absolutely if
Speaker 1: you live in southern California, it is time to let
Speaker 1: those words trip out over your tongue every time you
Speaker 1: see somebody who works for one of our first responding
Speaker 1: firefighting agencies, to thank them for their service. Appreciation also
Speaker 1: for all of the cooperation and out of area fire
Speaker 1: services who've rushed in to assist. Tina and I were
Speaker 1: actually coming down. We had spent a little time on
Speaker 1: Thursday morning up in the Santa Barbar area, and when
Speaker 1: we came back down, we thought we would go and
Speaker 1: simply do a little bit surveying on behalf of the
Speaker 1: station for what we could see on pch We get
Speaker 1: all the way down to Pepperdine and it wasn't looking
Speaker 1: good there at the time. But at the Zuoma Beach
Speaker 1: Command Center, which the entire parking lot at Zuma has
Speaker 1: been you know, taken over by firefighting agencies as a
Speaker 1: command center, as a little relief station and so on,
Speaker 1: it was really heartening to see the just the mass
Speaker 1: hundreds of firefighting vehicles and equipment there, but really heartening
Speaker 1: to see that the where they came from. It you're
Speaker 1: reading the doors and the sides of these fire engines
Speaker 1: and tankers and the trailers with bulldozers and Caterpillar firefighting
Speaker 1: equipment on it. Equipment from cities and counties from all
Speaker 1: over California, as you could imagine, but up and down California,
Speaker 1: from every corner of this state. There every city, every
Speaker 1: county represented, and then as well as out of state
Speaker 1: firefighting agency. We saw equipment from Arizona, from Oregon, from
Speaker 1: Washington State, from Idaho. I'm sure there are some that
Speaker 1: I'm not mentioning, but that's what comes to mind, and
Speaker 1: it was just it was heartening. And if there's a
Speaker 1: way to touch a positive note here, a silver lining
Speaker 1: as it were, to a natural disaster, I think it's
Speaker 1: that the idea that the way that people can pull
Speaker 1: together and help each other for a time, for a time,
Speaker 1: if there's a silver lining to a disaster, the immediacy
Speaker 1: of the threat and the need can bring out and
Speaker 1: does often bring out the very best in people. Now,
Speaker 1: of course, for those who have comfortable, safe vantage points,
Speaker 1: these events are already being criticized and politicized. That's not
Speaker 1: going to happen here with me this morning, today or tomorrow,
Speaker 1: this episode, this or the next on the podcast. Not
Speaker 1: interested in that, don't go there, not gonna That's not
Speaker 1: my game. I'm here to talk to you about what
Speaker 1: happens next and how we can help get you through it.
Speaker 1: But but, and so, of course, of course, the further
Speaker 1: you are away from these fires, the more you hear
Speaker 1: all sorts of criticism, the politicizing of the events, and
Speaker 1: that's just going to continue, you know that's the case.
Speaker 1: But for the countless people who are in it, for
Speaker 1: the tens of thousands of people who have been evacuated,
Speaker 1: for the thousands and thousands of people who've lost their homes,
Speaker 1: for all of the firefighters on the front lines, for
Speaker 1: the volunteers who show up with food and water and blankets,
Speaker 1: for the neighbors who show up offering shelter and opened
Speaker 1: arms and kind words, and for the friends and family
Speaker 1: from all over, just a big shout out of appreciation.
Speaker 1: And again, if there's a place that you can turn
Speaker 1: your heart and mind to when it's frustrated and confused
Speaker 1: and stressed from all of the fear and anxiety of
Speaker 1: the disaster itself, it is it's heartening, heartening to see
Speaker 1: human beings act like the best of human beings in
Speaker 1: times like this. All right, what happens next? Let's talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about FEMA. Let's talk a little bit
Speaker 1: about the steps that will happen as we move forward,
Speaker 1: and this fire will we'll tackle that. Okay, if I
Speaker 1: Dean sharp the house whisper, welcome home. We are discussing
Speaker 1: on going coverage of the southern California Los Angeles area
Speaker 1: fires from our unique perspective here in regards to homes,
Speaker 1: and from our expertise as designers and builders of homes.
Speaker 1: I'm going to continue that conversation today and tomorrow. Also
Speaker 1: we may be going to the phones. I hope we
Speaker 1: will be going to the phones. There's certain info I
Speaker 1: know I want to get out for you, especially this morning.
Speaker 1: And then we will and as always, we can talk
Speaker 1: about fire, we can talk about the current situation. We
Speaker 1: can talk about anything regarding your home. A three three two,
Speaker 1: ask Dean is the number to reach me? The phones
Speaker 1: are open. Producer Richie is there. He'll take your call,
Speaker 1: tell you what you need to know, pop you into
Speaker 1: the queue. All right, As we continue to discuss where
Speaker 1: we're at here, So I want to turn the corner
Speaker 1: and ask this question, how does an entire neighborhood rebuild.
Speaker 1: That's a tricky situation. It adds multiple, multiple layers of
Speaker 1: complexity to a fire story. It's one thing for a
Speaker 1: home to be to have experienced fire damage, a house fire,
Speaker 1: two or three houses in a street, or a neighborhood
Speaker 1: to be touched by fire, or an open space wildfire.
Speaker 1: These fires are all of the above, and they have,
Speaker 1: as you know by now, devastated multiple multiple blocks of
Speaker 1: entire neighborhoods.
Speaker 3: And so.
Speaker 1: How do we start there? How do you restart there?
Speaker 1: After an entire town is destroyed by a fire, Where
Speaker 1: does the money come from to help people rebuild? To
Speaker 1: help people rebuild their homes, their schools, their businesses.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: Of course, immediate help will be provided by agencies like
Speaker 1: Red Cross and dozens of volunteers who are there to
Speaker 1: provide everything from shelter, clothing, food, help with animals, which
Speaker 1: is a big thing that happens behind the scenes here.
Speaker 1: For example, you know dozens of recovered animals have already
Speaker 1: been relocated in these fires through the work of SBCA
Speaker 1: County shelters, volunteer organizations working with animals. And then you
Speaker 1: hear FEMA fear a lot about FEMA. I was on
Speaker 1: with Conway on Thursday night, and rightly so. Conway was
Speaker 1: directing all sorts of people who are listening to make
Speaker 1: sure that you have, if you have been affected by
Speaker 1: the fires, that you have contacted FEMA and have gotten
Speaker 1: on the list. Okay. FEMA, SBA, the Small Business Administration,
Speaker 1: they are on the ground in fires like these. Grants
Speaker 1: are issued by FEMA for immediate needs.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: FEMA is not there to rebuild your home. FEMA is
Speaker 1: there in order to see that people are safe and
Speaker 1: sound and that immediately, to whatever degree possible, those immediate
Speaker 1: needs can be helped.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: So FEMA SBCA provides low interest loans to individuals and
Speaker 1: businesses for rebuilding after the fact. However, let's just be
Speaker 1: super clear about this. The bulk of recovery is intended
Speaker 1: and is going to fall on private insurance. Okay, And
Speaker 1: that's tough. That is tricky, and it's tough. There's also
Speaker 1: assistance for those who are now unemployed or are of
Speaker 1: lost significant work time due to the fires. But the
Speaker 1: problem with insurance is that many are not insured at
Speaker 1: all or significantly underinsured when it comes to these events,
Speaker 1: and there are folks who are going to be battling
Speaker 1: their insurance companies for months and years to come. I wish,
Speaker 1: I wish I could give you a brighter picture regarding that,
Speaker 1: but that's simply the case. So for those of you
Speaker 1: who have not been touched yet by a natural disaster
Speaker 1: or fire, the lesson here is to make sure you
Speaker 1: understand how you are insured and that you have, if
Speaker 1: at all possible when it comes to natural disasters, replacement coverage. Okay, yes,
Speaker 1: replacement cost coverage costs more, But of course, as in
Speaker 1: most things, the heaviest burden is going to be falling
Speaker 1: on those with the least amount of money, and in
Speaker 1: situations like this, the poor and those who are under
Speaker 1: insured and who have minimal amounts of money, many of
Speaker 1: them are never going to recover from these fires financially,
Speaker 1: in terms of recouping their losses. These are the realities
Speaker 1: on the ground. So first line of defense, of course,
Speaker 1: get safe, get relocated. We'll talk about that when we
Speaker 1: come back. How about that. Okay, more coverage on these
Speaker 1: southern California fires from the house whispers perspective here on KFI.
Speaker 1: You're listening to KFI
Speaker 3: You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
Speaker 3: KFI AM six forty