WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.200 You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand. 2 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:14.480 KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. 3 00:00:14.519 --> 00:00:18.120 I'm Michael Monks from KFI News. This is La Fires, 4 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:21.239 A Path Forward, our special look at what happened and 5 00:00:21.320 --> 00:00:24.519 what happens next. ELI Mayor Karen Bass is said to 6 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:28.320 expect a thorough review of the preparedness and the response. 7 00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:32.280 She's faced considerable criticism for being halfway across the world 8 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.600 in Ghana as the fires broke out, despite days of 9 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:40.240 weather forecasting suggesting something disastrous could happen. In her second 10 00:00:40.280 --> 00:00:44.280 live news conference after returning, she discounted questions about people 11 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:45.880 calling for her resignation and. 12 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:48.399 Let me just say because I answered some questions like 13 00:00:48.439 --> 00:00:50.960 that in the morning, and let me just state now, 14 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:57.079 number one, these fires are burning now. Our job is 15 00:00:57.119 --> 00:01:01.320 to make sure that people stay alive, that we save lives, 16 00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:04.840 that we save homes, that we save property. And I 17 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:08.239 also said that when the fires are out, we will 18 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:10.680 do a deep dive. We will look at what worked, 19 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:12.879 we will look at what didn't work, and we will 20 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:16.319 let you know. Until then, my focus is on the 21 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:20.959 TV screens behind you that are showing devastation that has continued. 22 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:23.680 Thank you answered it in the morning, answered it now, 23 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:24.760 won't answer it again. 24 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:26.959 A week and a half later, Mayor Bass appointed the 25 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.560 city's recoveries are Steve Silberoff. He's got a long history 26 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:34.560 with civic, business and philanthropic groups, including the Dodgers and 27 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:35.799 the city's Police Commission. 28 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:40.519 And what we need is and what I hope people 29 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.239 will start with is today is hope there is an 30 00:01:46.280 --> 00:01:50.480 A to Z for each one of us, and a 31 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:55.079 is today, and we're going to get there step by step, 32 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.400 and the city is going to help to the extent 33 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:03.560 that can, and we will have to outsource to the 34 00:02:03.680 --> 00:02:09.080 extent it can't. That there's going to be a bus 35 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.800 to yes, and if people want to get on the 36 00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:14.599 bus with us, get on them. If they want to 37 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.919 spend their time throwing embers right now next Tuesday when 38 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.840 it's windy, by spending their time on that kind of stuff, 39 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:22.000 just don't get on our bus. 40 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:24.759 But that ended up causing more political fallout for the 41 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:27.879 mayor because Soberoff's bus was set to lead to half 42 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:31.240 a million dollars for him for three months of work. 43 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:34.840 The outcry was strong and swift, and now he's working 44 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:39.120 for free, the preparedness, the response, and now the aftermath 45 00:02:39.159 --> 00:02:42.879 will continue to raise questions and stakes for local government. 46 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:48.400 LA County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath represents Pacific Palisades a supervisor. Obviously, 47 00:02:48.439 --> 00:02:52.719 this has just been a terrible disaster that LA County 48 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:56.680 has experienced in multiple spots. At the same time, I'm 49 00:02:56.680 --> 00:03:00.639 curious as a government official, what have you learned about 50 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.639 local government specifically in LA County as we've dealt with this. 51 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:09.719 I think LA County has a commitment to emergency preparedness 52 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:14.560 and investing in keeping people safe, and they're given the 53 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:18.479 climate hazards and risks that we face in our region. 54 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:21.520 My district, the third District of Los Angeles County, is 55 00:03:21.560 --> 00:03:25.560 the most disaster prone district of any county, of any 56 00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:28.919 district in any county in the entire country. So not 57 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:32.000 only is it something that we must continue to invest in, 58 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:33.759 it must be a way of life for all of us. 59 00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:38.319 The supervisor, I'll note whether it's reopening pch or getting 60 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:42.120 people back to their properties, just to inspect or how 61 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:46.039 the repermitting process is going to go. It seems like 62 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:49.080 there are different speeds that people want, regardless of which 63 00:03:49.080 --> 00:03:51.599 side they're on. Maybe they're a politician, elected official, maybe 64 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:55.000 they're a resident. This is too fast, this is too slow. 65 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:57.039 What has it been like trying to find that perfect 66 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:01.520 goldilocks temperature? As we the rebuilding phase. 67 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:03.840 Well, I think there's no question we want to move 68 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:08.159 with a sense of urgency because, especially in this debris 69 00:04:08.199 --> 00:04:13.080 removal phase, the household hazardous materials in an uncontrolled environment 70 00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:15.919 are just not safe for anyone. So we absolutely want 71 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:18.399 to move quicker. And I'm glad to see that so 72 00:04:18.480 --> 00:04:22.120 many teams have been deployed by the us EPA on 73 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:25.959 the ground to move Phase one faster than was originally predicted. 74 00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:28.439 We're doing so because of all the teams that have 75 00:04:28.879 --> 00:04:32.000 been deployed. We're doing so without cutting corners, which is 76 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.079 incredibly important because we don't just want to move quickly, 77 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:37.639 we want to move safely, and so we're doing both 78 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.839 at a pace that's never been seen before. And it's 79 00:04:40.879 --> 00:04:43.120 because of the number of teams that are on the ground. 80 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:45.680 It's because of the kind of expertise that's on the ground. 81 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.800 We have folks who were involved in some of the 82 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:51.800 fires in Northern California and now we and some of 83 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.040 the disasters that we've seen throughout the country. So we 84 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.920 are bringing the best thinking to this effort, which allows 85 00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:59.720 us to do both. We can move quickly but also 86 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:04.279 do so safely, and by working with people who are 87 00:05:04.279 --> 00:05:08.160 informed and who have experience on the ground, we're able 88 00:05:08.199 --> 00:05:11.720 to help people have certainty around what these milestones are. 89 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:14.120 And I know, when the world is swirling around you 90 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:18.319 and things feel uncertain, the thing that you're really holding 91 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:23.040 onto is information that's verified, that's trusted, and that allows 92 00:05:23.079 --> 00:05:25.519 you to start putting together what looks like and you 93 00:05:25.519 --> 00:05:27.759 know what the journey is going to look like for 94 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:29.800 you to get back home. And that's really what we're 95 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:30.319 trying to do. 96 00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:33.480 This is really going to put local government to the 97 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:36.639 test in a lot of ways, and already has in fact. 98 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:41.600 But I'm wondering, big picture, what do you see going 99 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:45.839 forward being the relationship between local government and the people 100 00:05:45.959 --> 00:05:49.600 of your district the Palisades specifically based on the experience 101 00:05:49.639 --> 00:05:53.600 they had here, whether it was related to the amount 102 00:05:53.639 --> 00:05:56.920 of time they had to get out, the response to 103 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:59.920 the fires, and here in the aftermath as we move 104 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.399 towards rebuilding, do you see any loss of trust or 105 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:07.000 any opportunities to build trust or rebuild any loss trust. 106 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:12.600 You always think that this, uh, this experience teaches people 107 00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:16.079 what they can count on us for how we will 108 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:18.680 work together in that rebuilding process. 109 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:19.120 UH. 110 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:22.240 They're watching to see if we clearly answer their questions, 111 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:26.000 which is why I'm committed to an after action process 112 00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:30.040 that helps us learn from this experience not only as 113 00:06:30.040 --> 00:06:33.439 a practice of good government, but because people want answers. 114 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:35.920 They deserve answers, and that is how you continue to 115 00:06:35.959 --> 00:06:39.480 build trust. I think you know, the work that we 116 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:44.399 have to do is among government agencies and making sure 117 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:47.680 that you know, in a time of crisis, we know 118 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:50.560 how to you know, check logos at the door and 119 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:53.600 really just get to work and assigning tasks and making 120 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:57.639 sure that we are all focused on that that shared 121 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:01.160 vision of serving our constituents to the best of our ability. 122 00:07:01.319 --> 00:07:04.319 And I know that on the county side, we have 123 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:08.399 experienced doing that among our departments from the many crises 124 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:12.680 we've faced, and that is the experience we've we've brought 125 00:07:13.160 --> 00:07:16.680 to the fires that we're now recovering from, and we 126 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:21.240 will continue to use that expertise to inform how we 127 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:22.959 serve our constituents going forward. 128 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:29.560 The cost of the wildfires has been staggering. Property losses 129 00:07:29.600 --> 00:07:31.680 alone have been estimated at more than one hundred and 130 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:35.199 fifty billion dollars, but the cost doesn't stop there and 131 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:38.199 may hit all of us in different ways. That's next 132 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:42.160 when LA Fires A Path Forward continues after this report 133 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:44.399 from the KFI twenty four hour News Rum. 134 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:52.439 You're listening to KFI AM six forty on. 135 00:07:52.519 --> 00:08:03.800 Demand AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. 136 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:07.160 I'm Michael Monks from KFI News. This is LA Fires 137 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.399 A Path Forward, our special look at what happened and 138 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:15.160 what happens now. The losses in Altadena and Pacific Palisades 139 00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:19.519 are staggering. More than sixteen thousand structures burned to ash, 140 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:25.199 including homes, churches, schools, libraries, as strong Santa Ana winds 141 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:29.120 fueled fires across nearly forty thousand acres in just those 142 00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:33.080 two parts of LA County. The property and capital losses 143 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:36.080 alone have been estimated to be between ninety five and 144 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:40.080 one hundred and sixty four billion dollars, with insured losses 145 00:08:40.200 --> 00:08:43.360 estimated at seventy five billion dollars. That's according to the 146 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:47.080 latest research by the UCLA Anderson School of Management. The 147 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:51.399 losses are crippling here, but they're so big they would 148 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:53.639 completely wipe out smaller cities. 149 00:08:53.879 --> 00:08:57.120 I feel compared you to with other cities, so you 150 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:02.000 will look at older Colorado is a small city that 151 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:05.519 is for a pole, six buildings like annual GDP for 152 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:11.240 that small city, so it's almost a destroyed, like reduced 153 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:13.960 the gb GDP of that small city. 154 00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:17.799 Julian Lee is an economist at the UCLA Anderson Forecast. 155 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:21.600 Her research, along with william U, suggests the wildfires have 156 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.000 cost La County nearly half a percent of its gross 157 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:28.679 domestic product. It's not just private or public buildings that 158 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:32.440 were lost. Roads, bridges, utilities were also erased by the flames. 159 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.759 Those repairs and replacements will come in a significant cost. 160 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:40.679 On top of that, there are environmental concerns the labor market. 161 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:43.799 The UCLA study shows there were about one thousand businesses 162 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:46.879 in three zip codes burned by the Palisades and Eaten fires, 163 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:49.879 with a total of between five thousand and eighty five 164 00:09:50.000 --> 00:09:53.759 hundred employees with total wages over a billion dollars. The 165 00:09:53.879 --> 00:09:57.159 loss of productive income over a year is estimated at 166 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:01.240 twenty five, fifty and seventy two percent in those three areas. 167 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.919 For example, during the wildfires, there may be some evacuation, 168 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:11.759 so our employees cannot work at the effective areas. Then 169 00:10:11.799 --> 00:10:16.039 they influence the labor productivity. And also it also has 170 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:22.799 some impacts of example, government expenditure and their revenue because 171 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:26.840 of that. So yeah, so that could be that the 172 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:32.840 GDP number, the half percent reduction in GDP can incorporate 173 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:38.000 those kinds of things during the economic production process like 174 00:10:38.200 --> 00:10:41.840 labor productivity, capital productivity, and something like that. 175 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.519 The home insurance market is also expected to take a 176 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:48.120 hit along with your wallets. The state has already struggled 177 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:51.480 with keeping insurers in the marketplace at affordable rates. That's 178 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:54.279 because the threat of fires or other natural disasters has 179 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:57.480 been deemed too much for some companies to bear. Thousands 180 00:10:57.480 --> 00:11:00.000 of policies have been canceled and others have been refused 181 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:03.000 to be issued. And the fires broke out in Alta, 182 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:06.799 Dina and the Palisades just days after the state announced 183 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:11.480 its sustainable insurance strategy, which could cost everyone with the policy. 184 00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:14.720 This is because in the beginning of this year, in 185 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:20.360 twenty twenty five, the California Department of Insurance implement a 186 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:25.720 new regulation. So because of this new regulation, first, it 187 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:32.960 allows insurers to they can transfer the risk of those 188 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:37.080 natural disasters to local residents. So this is the first 189 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:39.919 time they are allowed to do this, so they can 190 00:11:39.960 --> 00:11:46.759 file application for increasing their premium premium rates. So because 191 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:51.120 of the welfare's insurers are going to file applications for 192 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:56.519 increasing their insurance rates more than before. So California, local 193 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:01.519 California residents, I mean all the California evidence homeowners are 194 00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:04.440 going to face increasing insurance rate. 195 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:07.799 The regulation allows insurers to take a look at forward 196 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:12.720 looking probabilistic models to set their premiums, including reinsurance costs 197 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:15.279 in their rates, and they can also seek approval to 198 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:19.120 assess all policyholders in the state if claims exceed the 199 00:12:19.159 --> 00:12:23.120 program's capacity. The state has required insurers to increase their 200 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:26.000 number of policies by five percent each year until eighty 201 00:12:26.039 --> 00:12:29.320 five percent of the state in wildfire areas is covered. 202 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:34.039 UCLA predicts that all homeowner insurance policies are likely to 203 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:36.840 see a rise in price, but the study also says 204 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:40.200 the state plan is supposed to introduce more insurers in 205 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:43.559 the market, which could eventually lead to more competitive policies, 206 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.480 but the cost of housing itself in an already expensive 207 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:49.399 county could also go up. 208 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:53.480 The loss of properties reduces the housing supply, which could 209 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:59.159 also boost the demand, particularly for rental units in the regions. 210 00:12:59.320 --> 00:13:03.720 On years the affector the rages, so it predicts that 211 00:13:04.120 --> 00:13:07.919 the housing offer the housing market that if housing prices 212 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:12.679 will still increased in the long term. Of Based on 213 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:17.200 our study for the historical wildfires over. 214 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:19.080 The past ten years, there have been permits issued in 215 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:21.840 La County for around twenty to twenty five thousand new 216 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:24.679 housing units each year, but the fires took out between 217 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.120 two thirds and three quarters of the yearly housing supply. 218 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:31.399 The study suggests price hikes in the housing market could 219 00:13:31.399 --> 00:13:34.919 be expected in the long term, especially if more building 220 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:39.080 doesn't take place quickly. The UCLA researchers say California's most 221 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:42.879 pressing issue should be to invest in wildfire mitigation strategies, 222 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:46.840 noting that newer buildings had a better survival rate. Newer 223 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:51.240 regulations like using artificial intelligence and drones to detect and 224 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:54.519 put out wildfires could be helpful, they say, along with 225 00:13:54.679 --> 00:14:00.039 managing forests and brush upgrading utilities and controlling homeless camps, 226 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:04.600 strengthening building codes, and subsidizing what they call home hardening. 227 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:09.360 There are studies showing that the buildings that are built 228 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:12.519 after two thousand and eight are less likely to be 229 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:19.840 destroyed in a websare. That is because California implement regulation 230 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.159 in two thousand and eight requiring new buildings to adopt 231 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:28.639 mitigation strategies. However, most of the majority of the housing 232 00:14:28.679 --> 00:14:33.080 stock in California are older buildings. They were built before 233 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:36.120 two thousand and eight, so a government might need to 234 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:41.039 expand their grant for repro food in those old homes. 235 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:45.720 In effect, I mean in high risk areas, so that 236 00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:50.679 may be active. There's a need for more investment in that. 237 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.799 Even as La County's emergency alert text messages went awry 238 00:14:58.000 --> 00:15:02.000 during the fire, sending evacuation scared to everyone, one piece 239 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:05.080 of technology was a must have during the disaster. We 240 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:08.279 talk with the man behind the Watch Duty app when 241 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:12.240 La Fires. A Path Forward continues next after this update 242 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:19.159 from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. 243 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:23.200 You're listening to KFI AM six forty on demand. 244 00:15:28.720 --> 00:15:32.480 KFI AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. 245 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:35.879 I'm Michael Monks from KFI News. This is La Fires 246 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.159 A Path Forward, our special look at what happened and 247 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:42.200 what happens now. As the flames blew closer to homes 248 00:15:42.200 --> 00:15:45.399 and Pacific Palisades and Altadena, more and more people found 249 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.720 themselves turning not to government alerts but to their phones 250 00:15:48.919 --> 00:15:51.919 and the watch Duty app. It was a lifeline for many, 251 00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:55.759 especially as the La County alert system suffered mistake sending 252 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:58.399 alerts to everyone in the county even if they weren't 253 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:01.679 affected the big fires in January. We're not the first 254 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.519 time people counted on this app. John Mills is the 255 00:16:04.559 --> 00:16:08.000 founder and CEO of Watch Duty. John, this app has 256 00:16:08.240 --> 00:16:11.559 not just been popular, it's been a lifeline for a 257 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:13.960 lot of people. And you wrote an editorial for the 258 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:17.480 La Times that said, it really shouldn't be that it's 259 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:19.279 sort of a failure of government. 260 00:16:19.320 --> 00:16:23.000 Tell us what you mean, Yeah, that was I started 261 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:26.360 this out of frustration that this is not how the 262 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:30.039 world works. I would have assumed that, you know, the 263 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.200 same folks who build roads and schools and infrastructure were 264 00:16:33.240 --> 00:16:36.440 going to be building alerting systems to keep us informed. 265 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:41.399 And although they exist, they're not really properly used. They 266 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:43.799 leave a lot to the imagination, as you probably saw 267 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:46.279 on the Palisades fire specifically, and also the delays in 268 00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:50.039 the Eden, fire alerts went out to the wrong areas 269 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.480 at the wrong times with some of the wrong information, 270 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:55.360 and it ends up causing even more panic. 271 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:56.480 And I feel like. 272 00:16:58.039 --> 00:17:00.559 Until you go through the situation, you don't really quite 273 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:01.399 understand it. 274 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:05.599 But like the user experience of disaster is something we 275 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:06.839 really think about. 276 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:09.200 And so what I can tell you from going through 277 00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:12.240 it and being around people is cognitive ability goes down 278 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.400 when you're panicked, and then when you get lackluster information 279 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:19.799 that leads you to ask more questions. 280 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:21.720 You don't know what to do, and it makes the 281 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:22.799 situation worse. 282 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:27.359 And so after living through that several times and realizing 283 00:17:27.400 --> 00:17:29.519 that no one was going to fix it in any 284 00:17:29.559 --> 00:17:32.079 reasonable timeframe, I decided to do something about it. 285 00:17:32.839 --> 00:17:36.160 You saw a popularity spike for this app Watch Duty 286 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:40.559 last fall when we had some wildfires in southern California, 287 00:17:40.759 --> 00:17:43.200 so you knew well at advance of what happened in 288 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:47.039 the Palisades, what happened in Altadena, that the government was 289 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:50.599 not living up to its potential, let's say, in the 290 00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.680 way that it notifies people about these looming disasters, especially 291 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:56.599 as the unfold. I want to know when those alerts 292 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.920 went out from the government from La County to every 293 00:18:00.079 --> 00:18:01.920 body in the county, no matter where you live, that 294 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:04.799 the time to evacuate was now, and that was obviously 295 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:08.720 a mistake of failure. What were your thoughts in that moment. 296 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:12.759 Well, it's a great question. I mean, I mean a 297 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:13.200 couple of things. 298 00:18:13.240 --> 00:18:15.119 I mean, first of all, we've been around for three years, 299 00:18:15.480 --> 00:18:17.319 a little over three years, and so this is not 300 00:18:17.400 --> 00:18:19.599 the first time we've seen these types of problems. It's 301 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:23.440 not just specific to any any government per se. So 302 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:27.839 I'd rather spread the blame on us as taxpayers and 303 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:30.359 voters as well as them, as we all need to 304 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:30.839 get better. 305 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:33.519 It just we saw something. 306 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:36.440 Really bad in LA which obviously we saw the Franklin 307 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:38.279 and the mountain fire before that, which I think is 308 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:39.160 what you're referring to. 309 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:42.079 And then actually before that was the line, the bridge 310 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:43.000 and the airport fire. 311 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:45.519 I'm surprised I can remember all these off the top 312 00:18:45.559 --> 00:18:47.119 of my head, but it's kind of how we live 313 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:52.240 there are back to your question there. Right now, we 314 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:54.759 only have one or two reporters who are living in 315 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:58.359 LA so they got the alerts and then we have 316 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:00.799 ways to scrape in mind that day, but what we 317 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.880 saw first was actually an incredible spike in traffic. We 318 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:08.759 started receiving about one hundred thousand requests a second, about 319 00:19:08.920 --> 00:19:14.799 three million or so a minute, and our service began melting. Luckily, 320 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.440 we were able to keep everything online. But that's how 321 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:19.839 I knew something really bad. It happened, and then we 322 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:23.039 quickly realized, oh my goodness. They send out a WILLA, 323 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.400 a wireless burdency alert which goes to all the active 324 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:30.000 cell phone towers in the area and the neighboring area 325 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:33.480 as well, because cell towers reach over borders, and so 326 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:36.920 you know, something like twelve million people got an errant 327 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:42.000 emergency alert, and so we knew because again our servers 328 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:43.119 were just going haywire. 329 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:45.680 And luckily we didn't have any outages, but it was 330 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:47.279 harrowing for the whole team. 331 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:51.279 You mentioned reporters there, John, How does the watch Duty 332 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:52.480 app work? 333 00:19:53.079 --> 00:19:56.519 Yeah, so, Watch Duty, simply put, is really a service, 334 00:19:56.599 --> 00:19:59.319 not an app. So people interact with an app, but 335 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:02.759 behind the scene there are dozens and dozens of active 336 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:07.359 and retired first responders, radio operators, dispatchers, reporters, and people 337 00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:12.119 who have experienced listening to wildland fire on the emergency 338 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:15.200 radios meaning we hear them talk to each other on 339 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:18.920 the fire ground. And so those folks we call them reporters, 340 00:20:19.880 --> 00:20:23.519 have really been reporting on this activity for years. 341 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:25.519 Right when we found them all they. 342 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.759 Had their own Facebook and Twitter pages and different regions 343 00:20:28.839 --> 00:20:31.319 like you know, like Cole Yukon in Lake County and 344 00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:34.559 Maureene up in Reading. 345 00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:37.039 They had the voice of their community. 346 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:39.240 Already, and they were doing this job well before Frankly 347 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:40.720 I moved into Sonoma County. 348 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:41.960 But once I. 349 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:44.119 Moved here and I realized what these people were doing, 350 00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:46.400 I thought to myself, Man, if we could ban them 351 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:48.759 all together, imagine how powerful they would all be. And 352 00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:50.720 so that's how Watch Study was born, and that's how 353 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:51.359 it operates. 354 00:20:51.680 --> 00:20:54.680 We've heard from La County officials that they planned to 355 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:59.119 investigate what went wrong with their own emergency alert notification system. 356 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:01.759 They reached out to you at all. 357 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:04.079 Have you been approached by this government or really any 358 00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:06.839 government on how to improve their own efficiencies? 359 00:21:07.160 --> 00:21:09.640 Absolutely, I mean we work with so many including La 360 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:11.359 County Emergency Operations Center. 361 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:12.440 You know, they're really trying. 362 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:14.880 Everyone's trying to do better and we want to be 363 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:17.920 of service, and so we do work with many governments 364 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:21.400 and many governments give us information in real time because 365 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.480 they know that we have more users than anybody else. 366 00:21:23.880 --> 00:21:28.160 Users are residents, right, and so they they're starting to 367 00:21:28.200 --> 00:21:30.440 embrace it and ask us for help, and we are 368 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:31.279 here to serve them. 369 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:34.200 We think about apps, we think about Silicon Valley, we 370 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:36.640 think about how rich people can get even if an 371 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:39.000 app is a flash in the pan and very short lived. 372 00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:41.960 That's not the case with this one. This was started 373 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.720 as a volunteer funded nonprofit. Is that Is that still 374 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:48.200 the case even after all this popularity. 375 00:21:48.359 --> 00:21:50.480 Yeah, I don't see. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, 376 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:53.319 you know. But I mean back to the point earlier. 377 00:21:53.359 --> 00:21:56.240 It is like, you know, I want better for my community. 378 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.559 I want better roads, better schools, better infrastructure like this 379 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:02.039 is this is a public benefit, right, this is a 380 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:05.119 life and death It's kind of hard to imagine profiteering 381 00:22:05.160 --> 00:22:10.839 off of something that's so viscerally important and frankly extremely dangerous. 382 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:13.960 So we have no plans of changing anything soon. 383 00:22:14.039 --> 00:22:17.119 And luckily we've had many donors come to our rescue. 384 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.720 Google dot org is one of our largest donors, and 385 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.759 many people paying twenty five dollars for the extra services 386 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:26.079 in the app makes a huge difference. Right, This all 387 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:28.599 this money, even though it's a small amount compared to 388 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:31.039 how many users we have, helps to keep our free 389 00:22:31.079 --> 00:22:34.279 service free. Like it's like remind people, you know, we've 390 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:36.880 been doing this for a long time. Right, it just 391 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:42.000 becomes more and more valuable. There's really not I don't say, 392 00:22:42.039 --> 00:22:44.759 not much to learn. I'm just so used to the devastation. 393 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:48.519 This one happened to be incredibly deadly and a lot 394 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:51.240 of structures were lost, But we see the loss of 395 00:22:51.240 --> 00:22:54.519 our habitats, our forests, our communities, and so you know, 396 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:55.960 it's just the mission gets stronger. 397 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:56.440 Right. 398 00:22:56.480 --> 00:22:58.960 We didn't all of a sudden like flip the table, 399 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.559 raise a bunch of money, go to get some private 400 00:23:01.559 --> 00:23:04.519 equity capital and start running a different business. You know, 401 00:23:04.640 --> 00:23:07.319