WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:04.000 You're listening to Wake Up Call on Demand from KFI 2 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:04.759 AM six. 3 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:08.919 Forty KFI AM six forty Bill handle Here. It is 4 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:15.000 a Tuesday morning, January fourteenth, and the weather is well, 5 00:00:15.080 --> 00:00:19.039 the winds are whipping up, and everybody is waiting for 6 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:21.559 the news as to whether or not there'll be another 7 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:26.120 fire starting. And boy, I hope not. They were as 8 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:29.160 well prepared as we can be. And I'm talking about 9 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:32.520 law enforcement, fire fighting, all of it. I want to 10 00:00:32.679 --> 00:00:36.479 share a story with you because already we're looking at 11 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:41.280 people to blame. There's no way that this happened without 12 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:44.479 someone to blame. Was it Mayor Karen Vass who was 13 00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:49.399 in Ghana? Had she been here, I guess it would 14 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:53.000 have been better because of her vast firefighting experience and 15 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:56.479 her decades of running fire departments. I mean, what would 16 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:59.520 she have done. I would guess is she would just 17 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:02.880 say hey to the fire departments and the officials, Hey, 18 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:05.879 you guys, take care of this, right. I don't know 19 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:08.879 anything about it. Nope, had she been here, it would 20 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:12.439 have been better. Okay, how about the budget cuts to 21 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:16.319 the LA Fire Department. Yeah, she cut seventeen million dollars 22 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.719 And is that what really caused the problem. What had him? 23 00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:24.599 What would we have been much better off had we 24 00:01:24.680 --> 00:01:29.200 had extra fire people or more airplanes, more helicopters in 25 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:35.239 the sky. Well, according to fire officials, no. First of all, 26 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:37.239 when the winds are zipping along at fifty at one 27 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:39.560 hundred and seventy one hundred miles an hour, there are 28 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.879 no airplanes or helicopters in the sky. They don't exist 29 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.519 for two reasons. First of all, it's way too dangerous 30 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:48.719 for pilots. Second of all, whatever they drop, the winds 31 00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:52.599 are so intense that all of the fire retarnment of 32 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:56.200 the water goes away. It never it can't hit the 33 00:01:56.280 --> 00:02:00.760 area that it's supposed to. Okay, so that's seventeen million 34 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:01.840 dollars would have done it? 35 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:02.200 Right? 36 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:06.920 Then, there weren't enough people on the ground. We should 37 00:02:06.920 --> 00:02:10.159 have had thousands of more firefighters on the ground anticipating 38 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.479 what was going to happen. Okay, well, right now we 39 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:17.960 have firefighters from Canada, from Mexico, from Arizona, from Washington, 40 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:21.599 by the thousands. We should have had them already in 41 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:26.159 place because we should have known that these fires were 42 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:30.800 going to be this dangerous and this enormous. Okay, that 43 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:32.400 would be a good thing to have. 44 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:32.800 Right. 45 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:36.479 Well, the point is one of the reasons that people 46 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:41.280 are not talking about is that home insurance isn't expensive enough. 47 00:02:41.639 --> 00:02:45.800 Wait a minute, how does that make sense. Well, home insurance, 48 00:02:46.199 --> 00:02:49.159 it's a trillion dollar industry, is built to identify risks. 49 00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:53.120 It's that simple. Here is the risk we are taking, 50 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.000 and we are sharing that risk among our homeowners. And 51 00:02:57.080 --> 00:02:59.960 if we don't charge enough money, guess what, we can't 52 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:03.520 cover it. And so what happens, Well, you have companies 53 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:05.759 like State Farms and we're out of that. We're done. 54 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.719 We're out of California. Can't afford to be here. California 55 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:15.879 is really interesting. In nineteen eighty eight, that was Prop 56 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:19.560 One oh three reducing home insurance rates by twenty percent. 57 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:24.439 That's per law, and future rates increases have to have 58 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:30.000 public oversight. Read the Insurance commissioner. Insurance companies can't raise 59 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:34.240 rates without an insurance The Insurance commission Commissioner saying, Okay, 60 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:40.199 he's elected. He runs for office, so believe me, it's 61 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.319 a lot more important for him to get re elected 62 00:03:42.319 --> 00:03:47.719 than it is to protect homes. At least I think so. 63 00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:52.000 So low premiums encourage more Californians to live in the 64 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:58.400 most dangerous areas. And it's just the way we build. 65 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:03.240 We are built more homes against more areas that are 66 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:07.800 fire prone. Read all those hills where the fire came 67 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:14.840 down and destroyed thousands of homes. If rates were higher, 68 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:20.399 people would think twice about building. I mean they are 69 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:24.040 artificially low. You know when they're artificially low. When insurance 70 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:27.240 companies say they can't do business in California anymore and 71 00:04:27.319 --> 00:04:32.800 they bail out, well no, you should stay here. Well, 72 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:35.560 you can't force us to stay here. Now, you can 73 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:38.920 force us not to charge additional money for our policies, 74 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:41.839 but you can't force us to stay here. And so 75 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:46.040 you have the insurance commissioner scrambling to get the three 76 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:50.439 major insurance companies that bailed, and you're going to see 77 00:04:50.439 --> 00:04:53.560 the insurance commissioner didn't bitch at all about the fact 78 00:04:53.600 --> 00:05:00.279 that my insurance which lapsed last November, no November before last, 79 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:04.639 when it lapsed and the insurance company doubled my policy 80 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:08.959 literally one hundred percent more, I didn't see the insurance 81 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:14.800 commissioner saying no, why because I got one company that 82 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.839 was willing to ensure my home wasn't the same company 83 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:22.399 because guess what, I had a state foreign policy and 84 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:27.680 they weren't doing business in California anymore. So, just the 85 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:32.800 way we build, just the way we ensure. And here's 86 00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:37.160 the bottom line. If the insurance companies don't charge enough, Now, 87 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:40.439 let me tell you. I'm not sitting and saying insurance 88 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:43.120 people should charge more money. Actually I am if you 89 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:46.720 think about it, I like the idea of insurance, and 90 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.759 insurance companies have to make money. I mean they have 91 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:54.439 to make money. And you can argue that they're making 92 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:58.839 exorbitant money. You can argue they're charging too much, and 93 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.519 I come back at you and say that why did 94 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:05.120 three companies leave California, the three major companies because they 95 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:11.439 were making too much money? Is that why? So the 96 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:16.000 way we deal with home insurance as well as the 97 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.240 other problem is not only are we up against hillsides 98 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:23.639 and we're building there, but our houses are wood stickhouses. 99 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.040 You go back eat back East, it's all brick and masonry. 100 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:31.040 Here it's all wood. And we don't do a very 101 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:35.439 good job of fire proofing our house or fire resisting 102 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:38.839 our house. I did a story yet yesterday about private 103 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:44.000 firefighters that people could actually buy insurance and buy private firefighters, 104 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:47.399 and there was a huge controversy about that, and I 105 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:50.600 defended it well. One of the things that people pay 106 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:54.079 for in private firefighting is fire proofing their homes, making 107 00:06:54.120 --> 00:06:58.000 it as fire resistant as possible, and that takes money. 108 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:03.199 That takes real and the insurance companies should say, if 109 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:05.519 you do a B and C, we're going to give 110 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:08.120 you a break. They do that with auto insurance. If 111 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:10.120 you're a good student, if you're a good driver, you 112 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:10.759 get a break. 113 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:13.360 All right. 114 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.360 This Santa Anna win event, we were told, is life 115 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:20.000 threatening and that happened two days I remember two days 116 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.040 before the fires actually broke out. And we've had Santa 117 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:28.879 Anna wins before. So why were we a unprepared for 118 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:32.720 this or maybe there was no preparation possible? 119 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:34.399 Hm. 120 00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:37.800 Brian Lewis, who is a meteorologist with the National Weather 121 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:40.759 Services joining us. Thanks Brian for hanging with us for 122 00:07:40.759 --> 00:07:45.319 a few minutes. Explain what's the difference the difference between 123 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:48.000 this Santa Ana event and previous ones. 124 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:51.480 Yes, good morning, Thanks for having me. There was a 125 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:53.839 little bit of a difference in terms of direction of 126 00:07:53.879 --> 00:07:56.160 the Santa Ana win event. They had more of a 127 00:07:56.240 --> 00:08:00.000 northerly component as opposed to our traditional more north east 128 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:04.079 splash east wind components. So that's why it was able 129 00:08:04.120 --> 00:08:07.160 to kind of have this direction down into La. In 130 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.360 addition to that these strong winds, we also had very 131 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:13.680 strong winds a loft which created a mountain wave effect. 132 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:17.040 And essentially the wind goes over the mountains and then 133 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:19.360 creates a wave like pattern where it dips down and 134 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:23.120 goes back up, which enhances the flow at the surface too. 135 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.240 So those are the biggest differences compared to our normal 136 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:27.360 sant Ana wind events. 137 00:08:27.480 --> 00:08:30.079 Yeah. One of the things I was listening to and 138 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:33.360 watching an interview with a gentleman who lost his house, 139 00:08:34.519 --> 00:08:38.039 and he said he'd never seen anything like this. You 140 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:40.919 normally see a fire moving up the mountain side up 141 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:44.279 to the ridge. He said, this was the exact opposite. 142 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:49.080 The fire was moving down the hill at this extraordinary 143 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:53.080 speed and that I've never heard of before. Why would 144 00:08:53.120 --> 00:08:55.759 that be happening when it normally wouldn't happen during a 145 00:08:55.799 --> 00:08:56.639 Santa Ana event. 146 00:08:57.639 --> 00:08:59.799 Absolutely, the mountain waves are the biggest part of it. 147 00:09:00.039 --> 00:09:02.159 We did see wind guts upwards of one hundred miles 148 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:04.399 per hour in some of these areas. With so, with 149 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:08.200 winds that strong, it essentially creates enough force to move 150 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:10.879 the fire the opposite way that we're used to, so 151 00:09:11.080 --> 00:09:13.399 downhill and down the mountain. 152 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:16.159 And so and how often does this happen? Because I'd 153 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:19.279 heard it is so rare, But in the last five 154 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:22.360 years it's happened more times than it has in one 155 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:24.360 hundred years. Is that true? 156 00:09:25.159 --> 00:09:26.759 I'm not sure about that. I know we were kind 157 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:29.720 of comparing it to an event in twenty eleven that 158 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:32.399 had some similar characteristics, not the same, but similar in 159 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:35.919 terms of that, but in terms of this particularly dangerous 160 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.320 situation that we were calling it. It has happened. We've 161 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:43.159 used that verbiage four times since November and before that. 162 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:45.399 The last time we used it was twenty twenty. 163 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:49.200 I don't remember winds at one hundred miles an hour. 164 00:09:49.279 --> 00:09:54.159 I mean that's hurricane strength, that's a hurricane two level. 165 00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:57.279 And I've been here my whole life. How often does 166 00:09:57.320 --> 00:09:58.240 that actually happen? 167 00:10:00.159 --> 00:10:00.600 Quite rare? 168 00:10:00.679 --> 00:10:03.960 Again, comparing it to that twenty eleven event is kind 169 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.519 of what we were looking at. I haven't seen it 170 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:09.720 since I've been here. Significant winds they usually will see 171 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:14.399 some areas at really high mountain elevations, maybe at mountain peaks, 172 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:15.960 but it's extremely rare. 173 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:19.559 And we expecting more of these in the near future. 174 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.039 I mean, has climate change affected this to the point 175 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:24.159 where it's going to be normal to have one hundred 176 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:25.600 mile an hour winds occasionally? 177 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:30.080 Yeah, I'm not sure about that, but we are, you know, expecting, 178 00:10:30.320 --> 00:10:33.240 you know, tonight into tomorrow morning, some pretty significant winds. 179 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.120 The good news is it's more of a traditional Santa 180 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:40.159 Ana direction, so it shouldn't impact the Palaced fire burn 181 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:44.879 area too much. However, we are still expecting some extreme 182 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:48.879 winds with really dry humidities and dry fuel moistures to 183 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:51.440 impact Ventura County and western La County. 184 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:54.600 All right, so when you I can see it coming 185 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:57.960 down the mountains as the winds come. But how can 186 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.559 it sustain itself at one hundred mile an hour winds 187 00:11:00.679 --> 00:11:04.679 across entire communities I'm talking about miles and miles like 188 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:05.759 the Palace sads. 189 00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:09.559 Yeah. Absolutely, it's that upper level wind support that just 190 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:11.639 keeps it going and it's just stayed in place for 191 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:19.320 days there, which contributed to that sustained extreme wind extreme winds. 192 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.039 All right, thank you very much for helping explain that. 193 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:29.519 Jeene meteorologist Brian Lewis, Thank you much, Okay. I mean 194 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:32.120 the bottom line is, as I understand it is, and 195 00:11:32.399 --> 00:11:34.919 this is where Neil and I got into it this morning, 196 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:40.559 is this wind was so powerful that and of course 197 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:44.879 Brian Lewis couldn't make that judgment that there was no 198 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:47.639 way to really defend it. There's just no way to. 199 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:52.559 If a fire starts, it's on its way and who's 200 00:11:52.600 --> 00:11:54.360 ever in its way just has to get the hell 201 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:56.639 out of the way. That's it. You can't be anywhere 202 00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:58.759 near a fire like this, which is why you had 203 00:11:58.879 --> 00:12:02.600 all the specific alsays disappeared. Basically, the entire community is 204 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:06.320 gone it. You know, they describe it as a war zone, 205 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.080 and I described it as soon as I saw those 206 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:12.720 photos that came out a day after the fire. When 207 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:16.320 you aircraft could go up and actually take photos or 208 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:21.399 video of what the community look like, it looked like Hiroshima. 209 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:25.919 If you've ever seen a picture a photo of Hiroshima 210 00:12:25.960 --> 00:12:29.120 or Hiroshima after the momb was dropped, that's what it 211 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:34.639 looks like. Everything flattened or parts of neighborhoods in Gaza 212 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.120 where there's nothing left standing at all, and all you 213 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:44.919 saw was foundation. And then when you go into other communities, 214 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:49.120 for example, Altadena, which is a community it's not particularly wealthy. 215 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:51.879 Pacific palis as it was all tons of money, but Altadena, 216 00:12:52.279 --> 00:12:56.080 the homes are older and the chimneys are the old 217 00:12:56.360 --> 00:12:59.159 fashioned chimneys, when chimneys were actually made out of brick 218 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:03.879 all the way up and all you saw was just 219 00:13:04.960 --> 00:13:09.679 street after street, block after block of just standing chimney's. Yesterday, 220 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:13.279 I heard a reporter describe it as just they look 221 00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:19.159 like tombstones that we're standing in a cemetery that was 222 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:22.960 full of debris. I mean it was, and is that bad? 223 00:13:23.120 --> 00:13:25.919 So at this point, well, Amy, let me ask you 224 00:13:25.960 --> 00:13:28.440 real quickly, because you're paying attention this more than I am, 225 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:30.279 because I'm doing the show and you're doing the news. 226 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:34.279 Are we looking at anything happening with the winds that 227 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.000 are increasing? Anything being reported? 228 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:39.519 The winds haven't picked up too as strong as we're 229 00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:43.399 expecting them. We're expecting those fifty five to seventy miles 230 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:48.519 per hour gust in the eastern Ventura County and western 231 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:51.799 La County, but those have not materialized yet. There's some 232 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:55.080 winds blowing, but they're not blowing super strong as we're 233 00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:56.080 expecting later today. 234 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:58.679 Okay, so it starts what about noon, mid afternoon. 235 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:04.679 Well, the highest are expected from now until noon tomorrow, 236 00:14:05.559 --> 00:14:08.080 so we've got you know, six hours. 237 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:10.879 Yeah, lovely, just what we need. All right, Back we 238 00:14:10.919 --> 00:14:14.320 go to what's going on in light of the fires. 239 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:17.600 A couple of stories that are opposite each other. One 240 00:14:17.879 --> 00:14:21.600 is the story of the gouging that's going on and 241 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:25.600 the bad actors. And on the other side is the 242 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:30.480 humanity of what's happening. People that are donating time and money. 243 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:34.279 And if you look at sant Anita, the racetrack and 244 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:38.159 the parking lot, it is so full of clothes and 245 00:14:38.240 --> 00:14:42.559 food and water is extraordinary. One of the good guy 246 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:49.000 stories is an organization called Wings of Rescue. Jeane Gable, 247 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:52.399 who's part of Wings of Rescue, is with us and 248 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:56.120 Gene people don't know enough about your story, but it's 249 00:14:56.159 --> 00:14:59.799 one of the really good stories coming out of the 250 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:03.039 f So explain to us what it's about and what 251 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:03.519 you do. 252 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:07.240 Well. Thanks Bill, We're really pleased to be on your show. 253 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:09.639 Thank you very much, and thank you for highlighting the 254 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:14.399 work we do Wings to rescue flies at risk pets. 255 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:19.200 Sometimes that's from just overcrowded shelters that don't have room 256 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:22.759 for them anymore, or they're high killed shelters. And often 257 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:26.720 it is from disaster zones. We've fallen to hurricane zones. 258 00:15:27.080 --> 00:15:30.399 We've flown to earthquakes, we flew to a volcano eruption 259 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:35.720 in Dominica. Wherever it's needed to move large numbers of pets, 260 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.440 that's what we do. We charter large planes or we 261 00:15:39.480 --> 00:15:42.159 have a couple of planes we work with pilots on 262 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.039 and we fill them up and we take pets that 263 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:48.399 are already up for adoption. Have to be very clear 264 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:50.039 about that. We get a lot of people saying, well, 265 00:15:50.039 --> 00:15:52.480 what happens if somebody wants to find their pet. We 266 00:15:52.519 --> 00:15:55.480 don't take lost pets. The whole point of this is 267 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:58.840 that the shelters, like Pasadena Shelter has taken in over 268 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:01.600 six hundred animals in the last two or three days, 269 00:16:01.879 --> 00:16:03.639 they have to have a place to put those and 270 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.960 care for them while they wait for the owners to 271 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:08.799 come and retrieve them. So we take existing pets that 272 00:16:08.840 --> 00:16:11.120 are already up for adoption and we bring them to 273 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:14.720 shelters that have extra kennel space so that everybody wins 274 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:18.279 and we never take pets to a shelter where there's 275 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:21.000 any chance that they're going to be euthanized or till 276 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:23.320 we don't work for shelters to do that. 277 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:26.039 How far do you fly these pets? 278 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:30.600 In this case, we took pets On Saturday. We took 279 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.759 a load of pets to Utah to a big sanctuary 280 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.480 there that Best Friends, which is a wonderful rescue group 281 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:39.600 as and then on Sunday we took them to Seattle 282 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:44.200 and Oregon on the Pacific Northwest has a gracious appetite 283 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:46.879 for adopting pets, which is terrific, and they don't have 284 00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:50.159 enough local pets to meet that need, so they often 285 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:53.919 have open kennel space. On this Saturday, we're taking two 286 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:57.120 flights to Texas, and a lot of people are concerned 287 00:16:57.159 --> 00:17:01.039 because Texas does have some places and zones where there 288 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:03.480 are too many pets. But we are only working with 289 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.960 shelters that have open channel space and it's kind of 290 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:11.319 a trioge situation. The rescue community is very willing to 291 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:13.519 step up and take a couple of pets here and 292 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:16.240 there if they can to help out. So that's what 293 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:16.640 we do. 294 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.680 And a couple of questions, I mean, extraordinary what you do. 295 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:23.440 First of all, how do you excuse me, how do 296 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:25.799 you figure out who gets business class and who gets 297 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:27.640 coach when you fly these cats? 298 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:33.480 Well, the people that load our planes are true and 299 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:37.319 our CEO Crowdy, who is the guy who does a 300 00:17:37.359 --> 00:17:40.319 lot of that. He's very good. And there are there 301 00:17:40.359 --> 00:17:42.640 is a hierarchy, believe it or not. It has to 302 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:46.000 do with weight in the airplane. So some pets get 303 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:46.440 up front. 304 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:51.440 I'm assuming that these planes are configured as cargo planes 305 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.920 and you've got the crates that are loaded onto the planes. 306 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:57.359 Do I have that right? 307 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:00.720 Yes? They and they are cogo planes. So that also 308 00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:03.839 though all of our planes we fly are pressurized and 309 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.200 temperature controlled, and the pets always fly in the main 310 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:08.759 cabin with the pilot. 311 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:11.039 Yeah, I would think so, otherwise they tend to explode 312 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:15.759 when it's not pressurized. But the cost, I mean the 313 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:18.160 cost of flying these pets. I mean this is not 314 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:20.680 putting them on a truck. I mean that's a lot 315 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:24.480 of money. It costs to fly pets around the country. 316 00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:28.519 It is expensive and unfortunately, in the last year or 317 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:31.200 two it's gotten more expensive to the cost of fuel 318 00:18:31.240 --> 00:18:34.039 and the cost of everything has gone up. But one 319 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:36.920 of the reasons that I think we can be successful 320 00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:40.839 is that we fly very large planes, relatively large planes 321 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:43.519 for pet transport. So it's not unusual for us to 322 00:18:43.559 --> 00:18:46.200 fly one hundred hundred and fifty dogs and cats on 323 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:48.799 a single flight. And when you amortize the cost over 324 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.160 that many pets, it's not that bad. 325 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:54.559 I'm assuming you're a nonprofit and you ask for people 326 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:56.480 to help you. Is that correct. 327 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.559 We are a nonprofit and people can go to wings 328 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.559 or rest backslash donate or any place on our website. 329 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:06.480 They'll find the button to donate, and we appreciate every 330 00:19:06.519 --> 00:19:07.200 dollar we get. 331 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:11.119 Okay, let me get that again. It's Wings of Rescue 332 00:19:12.119 --> 00:19:17.720 dot com, slash dot org. Okay, wingso Rescue dot org 333 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:21.359 and we'll put that on our website also with a 334 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.079 link to it. Jane, you do great work and people 335 00:19:24.119 --> 00:19:27.039 don't really know enough about that. I mean, you think 336 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.799 about this. You're flying pets all over the country to 337 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:35.519 basically well keep them alive. It's a good thing. 338 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:39.880 Jane. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate your exposure today. 339 00:19:40.079 --> 00:19:43.720 Sure kind of a need organization that really is chartering 340 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.559 a plane? Yeah, that is not cheap. Stuff all right. Now, 341 00:19:46.599 --> 00:19:49.920 one of the big stories that were one of the 342 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:54.160 stories that are coming out of the fire yesterday there 343 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.920 was a report and this is true. We're starting to 344 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.599 talk about the fact that prisoners are are on the 345 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:05.039 fire line LA County prisoners and Chuck Lovers, who is 346 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:07.839 my go to fire guy who is a friend of 347 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:10.839 mine and has been for many years, actually ran those 348 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:15.039 prison gangs for LA County. So Chuck, first of all, 349 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:18.079 thanks for being here and explain how that works. And 350 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.279 you know, I've got all kinds of questions like how 351 00:20:20.279 --> 00:20:23.240 do these prisoners even fight fires with those ball and chains, 352 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.079 you know, dragging them along? How does this program work? 353 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:33.119 Well, that's a large question. The first off, they come 354 00:20:33.119 --> 00:20:35.359 from the state, their state villains. We contract with the 355 00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:39.599 state for their use, and part of the contract is 356 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.400 when we're not using them on emergencies, we actually are 357 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:45.799 tasked with teaching them a skill so they have some 358 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:49.400 kind of skill set when they parle. And that's where 359 00:20:49.400 --> 00:20:52.319 I came in because my background is architecture and I 360 00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:56.799 can build pretty much anything, and so, and you build 361 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.480 a rapport with them when you're working on work projects, 362 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:02.720 building every taining wall or repairing cement outside in front 363 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:07.559 of a fire station. I used to teach them the 364 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:11.559 math of the project, whatever it entailed. We start every 365 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:15.119 project with the map, how we're going to do this, 366 00:21:15.200 --> 00:21:19.240 how do we figure out how much material? And from 367 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:21.319 there we teach them how to fight fires. 368 00:21:21.319 --> 00:21:23.559 Also, yeah, that's the question. 369 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:27.200 To be safe out there, right, they need training to 370 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:27.680 be safe. 371 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:30.599 All right, So let's talk about the training because you're actually, well, 372 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:34.200 how much training does it actually take to put someone 373 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:35.920 on the fire line, Because when we see a lot 374 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:40.720 of people up there, these rows of firefighters, they're basically 375 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:45.400 just digging and establishing fire breaks. There's more to it 376 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:45.720 than that. 377 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:47.839 Correct. 378 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:50.319 Long before they get to us, we have a camp. 379 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:53.599 The state has a camp called Sierra. It's up near Sacramento, 380 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:56.759 and that's their fire training camp. And so they go 381 00:21:56.839 --> 00:22:00.160 through fire training and they learn how to deploy the 382 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.559 fire shelters and the reasons behind them. They learn how 383 00:22:04.599 --> 00:22:08.240 to use the tools of the trade, and then they 384 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:10.759 come to us and then we reinforce all of that. 385 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:15.519 I'm responsible for all their individual training. So we learn 386 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:19.759 how to you know, what signs to look for if 387 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:23.359 we get into a bad situation where we might have 388 00:22:23.480 --> 00:22:25.720 to move out of the area. They all have to 389 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:27.880 look up, they all have to make eye contact with me, 390 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.519 and then we'll move out of an area. If a 391 00:22:30.599 --> 00:22:32.960 fire is going to to overtake us, and it's never 392 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:36.599 happened with me, then we will stop. We will get 393 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:39.279 rid of our tools and our packs, and we will 394 00:22:39.279 --> 00:22:41.720 deploy and put our fire shoulders on. All right. 395 00:22:41.799 --> 00:22:45.000 So, in terms of the prisoners, I gotta have a 396 00:22:45.039 --> 00:22:48.480 couple of questions. Is this something prisoners want to do? 397 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:52.480 I know, the pay is extraordinary. It goes from normally 398 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:54.240 eighty cents a day when you work, so like two 399 00:22:54.279 --> 00:22:56.720 dollars and eighty cents a day, which, of course you 400 00:22:56.759 --> 00:22:58.720 know they don't get paid or get paid very little. 401 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:03.279