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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from

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<v Speaker 1>KFI AM six forty.

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<v Speaker 2>And coming up this weekend Saturday from seven to nine

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<v Speaker 2>pm and Sunday from two to four pm. Kfi's own

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<v Speaker 2>Michael Monks will be presenting his special on the weekend

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<v Speaker 2>excuse me, the Weekend Wildfire Special, and he'll give us

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<v Speaker 2>an update on that right now.

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<v Speaker 3>Michael Monks, good to talk to you.

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<v Speaker 4>Good evening, MO.

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<v Speaker 2>I always wondered when you're reporting the news, you get

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<v Speaker 2>one perspective.

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<v Speaker 3>You don't get a wide perspective.

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<v Speaker 2>You've kind of narrow in just the facts and what

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<v Speaker 2>is happening in the moment. But now that some time

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<v Speaker 2>has passed, you gain a little bit of perspective. What

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<v Speaker 2>do you think that you have learned looking back on

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<v Speaker 2>the wildfires?

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<v Speaker 4>I'll tell you what was most interesting in putting this

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<v Speaker 4>together so far, and I should know. Just for disclosure,

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<v Speaker 4>I talked to a couple of wildfire victims who work

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<v Speaker 4>with us at KFI and at iHeart, one of them being.

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<v Speaker 3>Your producer to wal Sharp, who had some.

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<v Speaker 4>Trouble in the Altadena fire, and also David Howard from

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<v Speaker 4>our sales department who lost a house in the Palisades,

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<v Speaker 4>And as I talked to both of them separately by

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<v Speaker 4>the way, and then put together this piece about their experiences,

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<v Speaker 4>I learned the similarities. Despite the fact that these fires

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<v Speaker 4>happened thirty miles from one another in different types of neighborhoods,

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<v Speaker 4>there was a sense of optimism on both sides that hey,

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<v Speaker 4>we've seen these types of forecast before. Heck, we've had

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<v Speaker 4>fires before, but this may not play out. And so

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<v Speaker 4>there was that hope up intol the very last moment

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<v Speaker 4>that nothing was going to happen, and then after it happened,

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<v Speaker 4>the similar emotions not just of losing the homes, but

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<v Speaker 4>both of these guys experienced the sensation of being physically

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<v Speaker 4>lost in neighborhoods that they have known for decades because

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<v Speaker 4>everything was gone, All of the recognizable historic landmarks were gone.

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<v Speaker 4>And that really opened up a new perspective of the

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<v Speaker 4>devastation we've all seen. We've seen aerial footage, I've been

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<v Speaker 4>there on the ground, I've seen it up close and personal,

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<v Speaker 4>but to hear it from their mouths in that way,

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<v Speaker 4>with that intensity, it really did open my eyes even

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<v Speaker 4>bigger to the sense of loss that this entire region

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<v Speaker 4>has experienced collectively.

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<v Speaker 2>I got to ask you, because you may interview someone

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<v Speaker 2>on a daily basis, and even though they may be

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<v Speaker 2>going through something painful, there is a degree of distance

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<v Speaker 2>because you don't know them, you don't see them every day,

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<v Speaker 2>you don't work with them. How was it going through

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<v Speaker 2>this type of interview process with two people that you

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<v Speaker 2>would see presumably daily and know them in a way

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<v Speaker 2>that you wouldn't a typical interview subject.

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<v Speaker 4>The closer you are to somebody, the harder it is

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<v Speaker 4>to hear the story. We report tragedies every day in

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<v Speaker 4>the news, and it's terrible, and we have humanity and

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<v Speaker 4>we recognize that if it's some fatal crash takes place

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<v Speaker 4>on the freeway, you know that's sad, But that's also

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<v Speaker 4>somebody's family member, right, I mean, somebody who's closer to that.

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<v Speaker 4>That is a devastating experience that will live with them forever.

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<v Speaker 4>So the closer you are to something, obviously, the more

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<v Speaker 4>intense the feelings.

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<v Speaker 3>But I was.

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<v Speaker 4>Grateful to both gave It and Towala for sharing their

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<v Speaker 4>stories with us, because they both presented their story with

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<v Speaker 4>a sense of vulnerability. They really opened up about the

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<v Speaker 4>feelings that they experienced in the moment leading up to

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<v Speaker 4>the fires, the moments during the fires, immediately after, and

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<v Speaker 4>even right now, and it's just been terrible, and just

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<v Speaker 4>to build upon the similarities that both are experiencing, that

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<v Speaker 4>focus has shifted to the rebuild and the interactions with

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<v Speaker 4>the governments, the reflection on the preparedness or the lack thereof,

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<v Speaker 4>that the governments had in addressing these these fires as

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<v Speaker 4>they were on the way and as they were happening,

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<v Speaker 4>and it was just all very revealing that even though

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<v Speaker 4>we tell the stories, we talk to the politicians, we

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<v Speaker 4>talk to people on the ground, the people who are

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<v Speaker 4>experiencing it, not just on January seventh, not just on

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<v Speaker 4>January eighth, but right now it's still very very intense.

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<v Speaker 4>The smoke is not gone from their lives.

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<v Speaker 3>If you're just tuning in.

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<v Speaker 2>Michael Monks of KFI News Department is joining me on

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<v Speaker 2>the line. He has a very important weekend wildfire special

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<v Speaker 2>which is coming up on Saturday from seven to nine pm,

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<v Speaker 2>and it will re air on Sunday from two to

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<v Speaker 2>four pm. Michael, we often talk about how we find

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<v Speaker 2>ourselves in a story. At what point we find ourselves

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<v Speaker 2>in the story Obviously, this is not the end of

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<v Speaker 2>the particular story, as they say, it's the end of

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<v Speaker 2>the beginning. And we know that this rebuild process that

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<v Speaker 2>you talked about is going to be very long. In

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<v Speaker 2>talking to Tawala and David Howard and anyone else in

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<v Speaker 2>covering the fires, have you figured out whether this rebuilt

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<v Speaker 2>effort is going to plan or is it actually going

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<v Speaker 2>to pot.

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<v Speaker 4>This is the hard part. The hard part now beg again.

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<v Speaker 4>The fires are out, thank goodness. We have some challenges

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<v Speaker 4>obviously tonight, maybe a little bit into tomorrow, and let's

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<v Speaker 4>hope that it doesn't get too bad out there. These

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<v Speaker 4>folks have been through enough. We know that, and we

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<v Speaker 4>don't want anybody else thrown into the fray. But this

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<v Speaker 4>is a long road. There are a lot of people

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<v Speaker 4>who say they will rebuild, and there are other folks

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<v Speaker 4>who are looking to rebuild their lives somewhere else. But

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<v Speaker 4>this is a region that was already challenged. It was

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<v Speaker 4>cash strapped, it was suffering from a housing shortage and

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<v Speaker 4>an expensive cost of living. Anyway, part of this special

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<v Speaker 4>explores that as well. The economic impact a study that

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<v Speaker 4>came out from UCLA. I'll talk to one of the researchers.

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<v Speaker 4>This is not just a dollar figure on the damage

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<v Speaker 4>that has been done, which is well into the billions

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<v Speaker 4>of dollars, not just on the insurance claims folks are making,

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<v Speaker 4>but money that you and I are going to have

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<v Speaker 4>to spend because of this. If you have an insurance policy,

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<v Speaker 4>it's likely to go up, this researcher will tell us.

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<v Speaker 4>And we are also possibly going to the rents going up,

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<v Speaker 4>the cost of housing going up even further, and can

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<v Speaker 4>we spare that? So we are all going to feel

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<v Speaker 4>the impact. And one other element that all of us

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<v Speaker 4>will have felt, if we haven't felt it already, is

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<v Speaker 4>what we lost in the fires. We may not have

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<v Speaker 4>lost our home, we may not even know anybody who

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<v Speaker 4>lived in Altadena or lived in the Palisades, but more

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<v Speaker 4>than likely at some point we've been there, or goodness,

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<v Speaker 4>we wanted to go there and see some attraction or

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<v Speaker 4>some restaurant that we love that's now gone. So we

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<v Speaker 4>talked to the La Conservancy of Preservationist group here in

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<v Speaker 4>Los Angeles about the impact of the loss of some

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<v Speaker 4>of these historic structures and venues that have been there

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<v Speaker 4>so long and have meant so much to so many people,

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<v Speaker 4>and if you didn't get the chance to go, you

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<v Speaker 4>never will because they're gone and that's something you can't

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<v Speaker 4>really rebuild these.

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<v Speaker 2>Michael Monks has a very important weekend wildfire special. Do

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<v Speaker 2>not miss it here on KFI from seven to nine

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<v Speaker 2>pm on Saturday, and it will be re aired on

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<v Speaker 2>Sunday from two to four pm.

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<v Speaker 3>Michael, I have not heard it yet.

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<v Speaker 2>I am eagerly waiting to tune in to listen to

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<v Speaker 2>your treatment and also learn something because I know we

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<v Speaker 2>don't have perspective when we're reporting on these things. It's

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<v Speaker 2>not till weeks and maybe months afterward, and you're going

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<v Speaker 2>to help provide that.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, you get swept up in the moment a lot,

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<v Speaker 4>but to have a moment to spend some time on

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<v Speaker 4>this and to make sure that we as a community

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<v Speaker 4>across LA remember what it was like in those early

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<v Speaker 4>days and what it's like right now. It's just really

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<v Speaker 4>important that we stay focused.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you for what you do, Michael. Thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>Moe.

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<v Speaker 2>It's Later with Moke Kelly I AM six forty. We

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<v Speaker 2>are live everywhere in the iHeartRadio app.

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from

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<v Speaker 1>KFI AM six forty