Speaker 1: This is Gary and Shannon and you're listening to KFI
Speaker 1: AM six forty, the Gary and Shannon Show on demand
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2: What else is going on?
Speaker 3: Time for what's happening? Wow?
Speaker 1: Well, as of this morning, the fire up in San
Speaker 1: Bernardino County has burned through more than twenty thousand acres
Speaker 1: and thousands of homes have had to be evacuated in
Speaker 1: Running Springs, Highland Redlands. Even they believe about thirty six
Speaker 1: thousand structures remain threatened and there's a state of emergency
Speaker 1: in place. They've called firefighters from all over the country
Speaker 1: in the East Coast.
Speaker 3: So I'm still like ninety degrees there.
Speaker 1: I think you mentioned earlier how terrifying it would be
Speaker 1: to just leave and not know the fate of your home,
Speaker 1: and how horrible that is. It is a wonderful site
Speaker 1: for homeowners when they see the air attack on any fire.
Speaker 1: Coming up next, Steve Gregory will join us to see
Speaker 1: where we stand when it comes to what's available for
Speaker 1: us this firefighting season. California's life expectancy has dropped, ranking
Speaker 1: tenth in the nation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but look at what it's dropped from from what
Speaker 4: to what? This is like the headline doesn't necessarily leave
Speaker 4: live up to the story, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it went from seventy seven years to seventy six
Speaker 1: point four years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's good.
Speaker 4: That's what are you going to do with that point
Speaker 4: six of a year that you're losing?
Speaker 3: Don't waste time?
Speaker 1: Well, it was quite the scene yesterday at Sofi Stadium.
Speaker 1: Of course, everyone's been waiting for the return of the NFL,
Speaker 1: and people get a little too excited in week one.
Speaker 1: They forget how to act, They forget what their alcohol
Speaker 1: consumption or level that they are safely going to live
Speaker 1: out their day in. People were wasted. It was hot,
Speaker 1: it was humid. There were several calls all over the
Speaker 1: stadium for fights and medics and all sorts of things.
Speaker 2: It was was ugly out there.
Speaker 4: And what about on the field on this on the
Speaker 4: field as well field near that at all.
Speaker 2: I was it was very exciting.
Speaker 1: It's just exciting to see the players care, you know,
Speaker 1: to that level and fight for it. A couple of
Speaker 1: out yeah, Joshua Palmer and Raiders safety Marcus Epps, those
Speaker 1: were the first two. But Marcus EPs was going after
Speaker 1: Palmer all game. I mean, he's getting away with stuff
Speaker 1: and not being called on it, and so Palmer had
Speaker 1: enough of it. And then Palmer's wide receiver room, Lad
Speaker 1: McConkey and Quentin Johnston got in and they had his back,
Speaker 1: which you want to see. Yes, fights are bad. I
Speaker 1: get it's not a good example of your kids, blah
Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah. But when you see a team
Speaker 1: rise to the occasion and fight for the guy next
Speaker 1: to him, that's that pretends well for the season.
Speaker 3: You would expect that, wouldn't you.
Speaker 4: The guy gets in a fight, they're going all the
Speaker 4: other ten guys are going to sit there and just watch.
Speaker 4: But you know what I wanted to ask you and
Speaker 4: tell people is like when you're on the sideline near
Speaker 4: the line of scrimmage in a pro football game or
Speaker 4: even a big time college game. It's incredible, right the
Speaker 4: way they hit the first He doesn't translate on TV.
Speaker 2: Not it does not the first time.
Speaker 1: I know, I'm forgetting his name, the running back that
Speaker 1: that the Chargers running back? How am I forgetting his name?
Speaker 1: But this was like seven years ago? Is my first game?
Speaker 1: No running back before I was Tom Winson, No after.
Speaker 3: At any rate, it's going.
Speaker 2: To drive me insane.
Speaker 3: I'll help you.
Speaker 2: Melvin Gordon.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, So Melvin Gordon takes a snap, he's in
Speaker 1: the backfield, takes a snap and hits the a gap
Speaker 1: on the line of scrimmage and this which is the
Speaker 1: sound in between the linemen who's trying to run in
Speaker 1: between his linemen, right, and uh, the sound of the tackle,
Speaker 1: I thought, and with the force that he.
Speaker 2: Was hit, I thought he was dead.
Speaker 3: I mean he was a pretty big guy to six
Speaker 3: feet or so two thirty.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I've watched football my whole life. I've gone to games
Speaker 1: my whole life. But being on the sideline there and
Speaker 1: seeing that hit that close and the sound of it,
Speaker 1: I didn't think he.
Speaker 2: Was going to get up. I thought it was dead.
Speaker 1: And it was just a routine tackle, routine run. It's
Speaker 1: just a full speed car crash over and over and
Speaker 1: over again. And the other thing is is they move
Speaker 1: so fast so that if you're right on the sideline
Speaker 1: and the action's coming your way, you it's the speed
Speaker 1: of sound. I mean, you have to a beat to get.
Speaker 2: Out of the way.
Speaker 4: So if you had a son or a daughter, would
Speaker 4: you let them play tackle football?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 3: Have you thought about that?
Speaker 4: No, I haven't, because that's an issue for a lot
Speaker 4: of a lot of parents.
Speaker 3: Sure, I mean I.
Speaker 1: Think it get there's it's a give and take, right
Speaker 1: because being on.
Speaker 2: A team and playing game.
Speaker 3: Sure, yeah, we talked about that earlier.
Speaker 1: There's so many advantages of that and for your whole life.
Speaker 1: You can take what you learned and the discipline in
Speaker 1: and all of it and apply it to so many
Speaker 1: different things.
Speaker 2: Sure, but you can get that on a lot of teams.
Speaker 2: It is HiT's different. I think.
Speaker 3: I don't know about you know, badminton. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I don't know, But no, I.
Speaker 4: Know, I know, but that that is a tough question
Speaker 4: because it's a violent support and we hear so much
Speaker 4: about concussions and we hear about There was a great piece.
Speaker 4: I don't know if you have access to the athletic
Speaker 4: I do. I love the athletic.
Speaker 3: There's this long.
Speaker 4: Piece on Troy Aikman and how he, you know, won
Speaker 4: all these games and won Super Bowls with a concussion
Speaker 4: because this is you know, back in the day, you'd
Speaker 4: get one of those ammonia capsules and sniffet and you're
Speaker 4: right back in there.
Speaker 3: Before they had all those you.
Speaker 4: Know, the neurologists on the sideline and at any rate,
Speaker 4: so there's sort.
Speaker 3: Of this macho pride to taking.
Speaker 4: A hit and you know, getting back in the game,
Speaker 4: but you're risking your life.
Speaker 1: And the Philip Rivers played with a torn acl through
Speaker 1: that playoff game.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know those kinds of stories. Of course, that's
Speaker 4: different than a concussion, but it is.
Speaker 2: It is, all right, Phil.
Speaker 1: What I like to do from time to time is
Speaker 1: just make up a reason to bring Steve Gregory in here,
Speaker 1: like pretend to care about whatever story he's covering, and
Speaker 1: then just bring him in here to shoot the s.
Speaker 3: I guess that's a backhanded compliment.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, because we're friends. Yeah, And so I haven't
Speaker 1: seen you in like over a week, and I missed you,
Speaker 1: and so I.
Speaker 5: Called you one day and I say, hey, what are
Speaker 5: you doing? And you're like, I'm on vacation.
Speaker 2: I'm like, what do he want?
Speaker 3: Sorry? I'm like, I didn't realize it was allowed to
Speaker 3: call you on vacation. Friends.
Speaker 1: We are friends. So I guess what what is it
Speaker 1: you're talking about today?
Speaker 5: Phil had it all, he read it out, work for all.
Speaker 5: It's very timely very professional.
Speaker 4: Yeah, very timely because we're talking fires and fire fighting.
Speaker 5: Yeah, today is the marks the thirty first anniversary of
Speaker 5: the big yellow birds that have come come to roost
Speaker 5: from the government of Quebec Canada.
Speaker 2: I love the Canadians. They are so they are such
Speaker 2: a nice people.
Speaker 1: Jacob just went to Canada and had nothing but good
Speaker 1: things to say about the Canadians.
Speaker 5: I think, And actually we're going to lose him to
Speaker 5: Canadian pancake house.
Speaker 2: He wants to make syrup now and do tours.
Speaker 5: He wants to do tours and he wants to drive
Speaker 5: the ETV around all of the you know, the vineyards.
Speaker 2: And right, no, I mean I said hi to him.
Speaker 1: I haven't seen him in a while either this morning,
Speaker 1: and he did about eighteen minutes on syrup and syrup
Speaker 1: making and the nutritional benefits of syrup.
Speaker 3: Well, he's about to marry into that family.
Speaker 2: Different ways you can make syrup? Has he asked the question.
Speaker 5: Well, I thought this might have been here because there's
Speaker 5: nothing more romantic than you know, syrup in the background.
Speaker 1: Uh, yeah, you see, we're getting to that time. Jacob,
Speaker 1: my husband found this out where we had been together
Speaker 1: about four years and I started thinking that every trip,
Speaker 1: every weekend, that was going to be the proposal, and
Speaker 1: then it wasn't.
Speaker 2: And then I started.
Speaker 1: Getting real pissed off, real pissed off. Until we're in
Speaker 1: Mexico one time and there's tequila, and I said, what
Speaker 1: the hell is wrong with you? What's taking so long?
Speaker 1: And then you then you screw the whole thing.
Speaker 5: Up right talking about firefighting, Well, there's a lot of
Speaker 5: fire behind.
Speaker 1: This because it's a forced engagement at that point, like
Speaker 1: it wasn't going to be something he did out of
Speaker 1: his own volition. I basically held a gun to his
Speaker 1: head and that's and then did he do it eventually?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Not then about a month after. Yeah, but you should
Speaker 2: see the pre Yeah, you should see the preme up.
Speaker 5: So the super Scoopers are back in La County and
Speaker 5: they're here. Uh. And then, like I said, this is
Speaker 5: the thirty first year. I had no idea. I mean, Phil,
Speaker 5: you've you've beenized it long and and I didn't realize
Speaker 5: either more than three decades. And there is something special
Speaker 5: about looking at those two big yellow planes that are
Speaker 5: only built for dropping water.
Speaker 4: Right, but we have in California. The budget is like
Speaker 4: four hundred billion dollars. Why do we have to lease
Speaker 4: planes from from Canada to fight fires?
Speaker 5: Well, this is just a county thing. The state has
Speaker 5: nothing to do with this particular agreement. And here's the
Speaker 5: weird thing. And I think you probably back me up
Speaker 5: on this. So other pilots I've talked to in the
Speaker 5: air attack industry have said that the Super Scoopers are
Speaker 5: more comfort oh really than they are.
Speaker 3: Effective?
Speaker 1: Oh interesting, Oh so it's I've heard that. I heard
Speaker 1: that in the field too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, where it's more. Oh, here's the Super Scoopers. Y. Yeah,
Speaker 3: safety theater. Look, the Scoopers are here. We're all fine now.
Speaker 5: But I would I would argue that the Chinooks, now,
Speaker 5: those big double rotors that can carry three thousand callons,
Speaker 5: the Super Scoopers can carry about sixteen hundred and twenty
Speaker 5: gallons apiece. There's two of them, and it takes them
Speaker 5: about fifteen to twenty seconds to fill up when they
Speaker 5: have to. I think it's forty five hundred feet they
Speaker 5: have to have in order to fill the belly of
Speaker 5: those Super Scoopers up and then fly back over the flames.
Speaker 5: And I don't know, Like I said, I've talked to
Speaker 5: pilots over the years, and they I think back before
Speaker 5: there were more advanced technology in aerial firefighting, they saw
Speaker 5: the scoopers as an effective tool.
Speaker 3: It was like the only thing they had at the time.
Speaker 5: But as I mentioned, I've talked to some that say
Speaker 5: the scoopers are sort of more I think that's the
Speaker 5: perfect term for it. Would you say safety theater? Yes?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Do you who do you think you like more cops
Speaker 1: or firefighters?
Speaker 3: I have no favorites.
Speaker 2: You don't have a favorites if you had to choose.
Speaker 5: They're all equal to me, all badges, all first responders,
Speaker 5: all first response.
Speaker 4: So in this situation up in the highland, up in
Speaker 4: the mountains, I mean, how with the mountains, how does
Speaker 4: that impact like the aerial attack? I mean you fly
Speaker 4: fixed wing in there very easily.
Speaker 3: The Sorry, I had to back up here because I want.
Speaker 4: To look up something to ask you a real question.
Speaker 4: I know, right, we've all been out there and seen it.
Speaker 4: I mean they do they do fly like the DC
Speaker 4: tens over and drop the fire retard.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 5: See, I'm looking up my super secret app here real quick.
Speaker 5: That shows me all of the aerial attack and.
Speaker 3: The reason I wanted to do.
Speaker 5: That was because I'm looking at what kind of firepower
Speaker 5: is coming from the air out there.
Speaker 3: Fixed wing.
Speaker 5: I know that when I looked it up a little
Speaker 5: bit ago, that Sea one thirty from the state is
Speaker 5: down here.
Speaker 3: Okay, so that's new.
Speaker 5: That's new, that's brand new, just went into service last week,
Speaker 5: and that has the capability of dropping thousands of gallons
Speaker 5: of fire retardant. And so a fixed wing can get
Speaker 5: in there and do advanced work, but they can't really
Speaker 5: get close in there. And this terrain is incredibly steep, right,
Speaker 5: It's very rugged, and that's why helicopters. A helicopters are
Speaker 5: the best tool to attack that fire. And that's why
Speaker 5: the chinnooks are really good because they can bring in
Speaker 5: more liquid at once. The smaller aircraft have to go
Speaker 5: back and retail obviously more frequently.
Speaker 4: There's probably not a ton of sites out there to
Speaker 4: refuel either. I mean, obviously there's huge lakes, but not
Speaker 4: sure what the reservoirs are.
Speaker 5: Lake Arrowhead is a big one fact. I'm looking right
Speaker 5: now at one of the helicopters were feeling at Lake Arrowhead.
Speaker 3: I'm just wondering what the flight time is from Lake
Speaker 3: Arahead to the fire line, not.
Speaker 5: Far right there, because you've got running springs up there
Speaker 5: that's being threatened.
Speaker 3: But air attack.
Speaker 5: You know, one of the cool things about being in
Speaker 5: southern California, we still have the largest fleet of helicopters
Speaker 5: and planes in the world.
Speaker 1: Nothing makes me happier than seeing the air power over
Speaker 1: a fire. I don't even care if it's a I
Speaker 1: don't care what aircraft it is, but even if it is.
Speaker 1: Safety theater, I love DC tens probably.
Speaker 3: My Have you ever got foss check dumped on you? Sure?
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's brutal, Yeah, yeah, and you got to be
Speaker 5: careful because that's also very dangerous. Yeah, I mean because
Speaker 5: the weight you could it could knock you down. Have
Speaker 5: you ever seen what it does to a vehicle? It
Speaker 5: can crush a vehicle at full power. Well, I've seen it,
Speaker 5: you know, discolor of the vehicles I've never seen. No,
Speaker 5: it took it took a while to get out of
Speaker 5: my skin, and once it's fortunately it's non toxic.
Speaker 2: I still look a little pink.
Speaker 4: And I was asking I was asking Blake Trotlly about earlier.
Speaker 4: It's like the firefighters have to be taking so many
Speaker 4: breaks during this kind of heat because you know, it's
Speaker 4: so intense for them. That's got to impact their ability
Speaker 4: to fight these kind of fires. I mean from the ground,
Speaker 4: it's got to be so much more difficult with the
Speaker 4: temperatures so high.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and a lot of times when they're up there,
Speaker 5: like when you've got a strike crew or when you've
Speaker 5: got a hotshot crew up there and they're sort of
Speaker 5: isolated from the rest of the team. They are conditioned
Speaker 5: to take those breaks.
Speaker 3: They have to.
Speaker 5: I mean, it's part of their training. And with those
Speaker 5: temperatures being on the triple digits out there, the ground
Speaker 5: temperature and that sort of manufactured temperature because of the
Speaker 5: flames and the heat, they have to be very, very
Speaker 5: careful and cautious. And that's why they have to helicopter
Speaker 5: in resources too, water, protein, things of that nature. So
Speaker 5: there's constantly sort of a steady stream of resources going
Speaker 5: in to help those firefighters.
Speaker 2: Steve, thank you.
Speaker 3: Sure, that's all you needed.
Speaker 2: That's all we needed.
Speaker 3: You've been listening to The Gary and Shannon Show.
Speaker 4: You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
Speaker 4: forty nine am to one ze pm every Monday through Friday,
Speaker 4: and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app,