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It's time for your morning wake up call.
Here's Amy King.
Good morning. It is five four. This is your wake up call for Wednesday, January eighth. I'm Amy King. What a day to come back. This is an event like we have not seen. We have fires, they burn, they burn homes, but as you heard Neil Savadra saying, this one is affecting almost all of us. And I know that. I was thinking that last night. Last night was the first time I've really been wor read. Even though the fire is the fires are miles from my home, I
was worried, and I was like, Okay, what happens. What happens if do I need to go? If I need to go, I've got my two cats, plus I'm house sitting or babysitting another cat. I was like, how am I going to carry three cats out? If I have to get the heck out? But I mean, it's making us reevaluate everything because this is affecting so many people, even though the fires aren't as Neil has been telling
you if you've been listening, they're not huge. We've got the three fires burning, the first one in Pacific Palisades that started around ten thirty yesterday afternoon. Then there's also the one in Altadena that started at about six thirty last night. It spread to a thousand acres, and those numbers, quite honestly, are going to change when we have a press conference. We're waiting for any kind of updates. We
haven't had updated numbers since last night. The Cellmar fire that's burning north of the two ten and just east of the five Freeway near that fourteen five interchange, that is now about five hundred acres. We've got evacuation orders for thirty thousand residents in Pacific Palisades, and we just got new numbers on the evacuation orders for the Eton fire, which is the fire burning in Altadena. Fifty two thousand
residents have been ordered to leave their homes. More than twenty thousand homes and businesses are threatened the evacuation warnings, which is a step down forty almost forty seven thousand residents and eighteen thousand businesses and homes and schools and churches. These fires are big and they are devastating. Let's do a quick little update and then we're going to check in again with Neil. We've got Gary Hoffman who was
getting evacuation warnings overnight, so he came in early. But let's get started with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour news. The fire burning out of control in the hills above Altadena has burned about a thousand acres at last update. Some homes have burned as neighbors use water hoses and anything else they can find try to protect the homes.
Hoses, buckets, uh.
We went, there's a pool at one of the neighbors who're just taking buckets and hoses to get their fire out.
And that's that's all we were doing.
The fire and Eaton Canyon was reported just before six thirty last night, and by midnight it had grown to about a thousand acres and again those evacuation orders have been updated. More than fifty two thousand residents told to get out, and evacuation shelter has been set up at the Pasadena Convention Center. Schools in Pasadena Burbank, and Glendale are all closed today. About thirty thousand people under mandatory evacuation orders because of the wind driven wildfire in Pacific Palisades.
It had at last check burned nearly three thousand acres at least city fires. Margaret Stuart's's the wind speeds and dry conditions have created the ultimate fire storm.
The fire as large as it is now, it starts to kind of create its own weather, and the winds will swirl and the ember cast can travel a mile downwind and start a spot fire.
Several homes and buildings have burned since the fire started yesterday. Evacuation orders have been extended into Malibu and Santa Monica. Air tankers and water dropping helicopters were making drops throughout the day yesterday, but by evening all air resources were grounded because of the high winds. Evacuation orders also in effect in Silmar, where a wind driven fire has burned
about five hundred acres. It started around ten thirty last night, close to where the five and the fourteen freeways meet, just north of the two ten. Evacuation centers have been opened in north Ridge and Panorama City. CalFire says Evacuation warnings are in effect for parts of Santa Clarita along Colgrove Boulevard and the New Hall Pass, Wildwood and Eternal Valley. So cal Edison has worn The power could be turned
off because of high fire danger in southern California. See says as many as four high hundred thousand homes and businesses could experience precautionary shutoffs. At last check the power outages in southern California affecting about three hundred thousand people. The National Weather Surface has issued that red flag warning. It started yesterday morning and will continue through at least Thursday night. Wind Gusts of up to one hundred miles
per hour in some areas have been clocked. Neil was just talking about a wind gust in acton one hundred and fifteen miles per hour. Will was just mentioning the semi trucks that are affected by those high winds. I mean we're talking hurricane force winds that can blow over semi trucks. And Kno said that he got to experience that on his way and he was coming in on the two ten. So you got to drive by the fire burning in Alsadina.
Yeah, So I go through you know, Fontana, ra Chicukumonga through Zuza, so the two ten west all the way to the one thirty four. So yeah, saw probably seven down overturned. I'm not just talking like they pulled over to the side, so they were flipped, Yeah, flipped over on their sides correct. And then I mean you almost see like a line of semi trucks pulling over like
they know that they can't do it. But it's it's pretty much the entire freeway at least through Fontana, rect Cuckamonga area, and then yeah, getting closer to Burbank and going through a Zuza, you can see I believe it's a Silmar fire that's right above the two ten that it's.
Oh you could see two fires, I think, is that, Well, there's the one in Altadena and then there's the one in Silmar, which is the two ten and the five r.
R it's no, okay on the one thirty four. Yeah, you can just see like an entire mountain off the two ten. Just it looks like armageddon pretty much.
Yeah, it's crazy and it's just burning out of control. Because like I was just mentioning a couple of minutes ago. They can't attack this fire from the air right now because the winds are so strong and it's just too dangerous for the for the aircraft of overnight. So that's
you coming in on the two ten. And then Gary Hoffman, who normally you wouldn't be talking to until nine o'clock, got an early morning start today because he was getting evacuation warnings up in the Santa Clarita area, so he came in and Gary, what was your drive in like on the five?
It was very similar. I mean I saw the fires in the reverse Ordervncono did, though I saw the Silmar fire first, I mean almost immediately when I got out of the house and made a left turn, right turn, go down the hill, and you can see it coming over the crest of that hill right through the New Hall Pass as you go farther down I five. The only thing that's really closed on I five, at least the southbound area if you're coming in from the Santa Clarita Valley or parts north of there, is the truck
lanes the truck tunnel that goes through there. That's and the old road. You can't take the shortcut and go through the old road. But I five is open through that area. And then once you get just past the connector to the fourteen, you see that telltale glow of just around the corner there's going to be massive flame. And sure enough, as you go farther down the freeway and you kind of look off to the left, you can see that entire hillside up above the two ten
that was on fire. And then as you get farther down into the valley San Fernando Valley, I did not expect to see the Altadena fire, but you could see some of the active flame from that one as well.
Because it's glowing so brightly in the night sky, it is sort of surreal, apocalyptic, or the words that come to mind. But I mean, what other words do you describe that when you see a whole hillside on fire like that, and you know that like in the Altadena area, now, fifty two thousand people are under evacuation warnings, twenty thousand structures are threatened in the Palisades, thirty thousand evacuated, and more than ten thousand homes are threatened. We know that
lots have burned. We don't have any kind of numbers yet. Fire officials were saying, we can't go in and assess the damage right now because the damage is still happening. The fires are still burning, the winds are still blowing. Neil Savedra and I don't live too far apart. I came out of my house this morning and there was no wind, but I walked out and I could smell smoke. And there have been lots of fires burning around southern
California over the years. I've never smelled smoke like that, so you know that it's lingering even though the fires are miles away. But just a few miles away from where I was walking out of my door with very calm winds, Neil was getting blown across the street.
Yeah, there was a lot of wind this morning. I was actually quite surprised that it was still going full force. And you know, I talk about this, Sorry, this is going to sound like a plug and it's not. But I talk about my American vision windows because we have replacement windows in certain areas of the house and not
in others. And the because it's a you know, one hundred and twelve year old house or whatever it is, and the windows they do this weird sucking in the knocking sound of the ones that have not been replaced, and it was still going in the morning, and you know, it's dark. I don't want to wake anybody up. And it kept freaking me out because it sounded like it's in the kitchen and it sounded like the dishwasher was going to explode or something weird.
It was like this weird.
So I'm doing that and then I'm like, wow, the winds still are going. And then I go to to go out the door and just this rush of wind. I could see that plants had been knocked off the we have a like a fire pit outside on our front porch, and the plants in pots, in heavy pots had been blown off and onto the floor and broken. And I'm like, ah, I can't deal with that right now. And then parts of trees were in our front yard, and of course the palm fronds that lined the beautiful
streets of Los Angeles all over the place. So I was quite surprised. And that was the first thing. The second thing, amy was, as we hear every now and again in our area, the sirens that were going off everywhere, so a lot of acting like car alarm sirens or police sirens. Police sirens and yeah, and.
On the drive in you mentioned palm fronds and that kind of thing on the freeways. Mostly we're clear for at least for my drive. I know Cono had overturned big rigs, but as far as like branches and down those kinds of things, down trees, we hit the surface streets in Burbank and there was debris everywhere. So when you're driving around, if you need to drive around this morning, whether you're in the actual fire zones or not, just be careful because there's a lot of stuff on the roadways.
And the tumbleweeds might be a homeless person, so be very careful.
The strongest winds of the Santa Anna wind event technically have ended. They were expected overnight last night from ten pm until five am, but that doesn't mean that we are out of danger because the red flag warnings remain in place. They're going to be in place until at
least tomorrow evening. For La and Ventura County, including the San Gabriel Mountains, the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, especially in the Foothills, Beverly and Hollywood Hills coastal areas near the Supulvita Pass, The Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa Susanna Mountains, Malibu, eastern Ventura County, mainly near Simi Valley in moor Park, the San Bernardino County Mountains, the Inland Empire, Santa Anna Mountains, and for coastal and inland Orange County.
So this wind event is not over by a long shot. We've got Santa Ana winds blowing through the area that are whipping up the flames and just making situations and then conditions treacherous. The Pacific Palisades fire has burned at last count about three thousand and eight in Altadena. The fire that started last night near Pasadena is up over
one thousand acres. And then there's the fire in Silmar that has grown to five hundred acres, which is north of the two ten and east of the five Freeway, and the whole health side is on fire and lots of people are in harm's way. We want to get an update on the fires and some of the things that you can do to make sure that you stay safe with LA Fire. Captain Kelliher, good morning, Captain.
Good morning. Thank you for having us.
All right, thank you so much for coming on. We know that it's so important that we get the information out as people are waking up, even if they're not in a fire zone. But let's first just give a quick recap of what the conditions of the fires are that we know at this moment.
Yeah.
So I have been on the Palisades fire all night while we're there, from the beginning until just now, and I am really amazed at the wind. And they said it was going to peak last night from ten till six this morning, and they were not lying.
It got just horrendous, you know, just insane wind conditions that have driven this fire. The topography is treacherous over there in the Palisades, and it's just made for the perfect storm. Unfortunately, the Eaton Canyon, which is the one you were talking about over by Pasadena, is facing some of the similar conditions. In both these situations, structures have been lost. We don't have a total count on what the damage is yet. That'll come with the damage assessment.
But I think the biggest message I can give to the folks is really listen to the warnings that are coming out. Pay attention to what your evacuation is a warning in order if it's a warning, get ready, get your stuff together, get ready to get out. Don't underestimate this. We have winds until late tonight.
And we also hear that the red flag warnings have been extended even though the winds are going to start dying down. The red flag warnings for high fire danger possibility are extended through tomorrow as well. Captain kellerher, I'm curious as to the direction that the fires are blowing. We know that one saving grace of the Palisades fire is that it was blowing last night toward the ocean.
Yeah, and most of these fires, the way these winds are blowing, they're blowing in a southwest kind of direction, but they are you know, it's interesting because they start to swirl and they become intermittent, and that just causes like those you know, big almost little mini tornadoes in the fire. So it is very tricky out there. And yeah, you know, the fact that it did blow to the ocean that that definitely helps. But the other fires are blowing the same way, kind of a southwesterly path.
Which is not great news for the fire, the Altadena fire because south of yeah, where it's burning is the two ten Freeway and huge, you know, huge population centers.
Yeah, and that's the case, and that's what we're working so incredibly hard on. And hopefully when the sun comes up, we'll see if those helicopters and our fixed wings can get up and fly. But they weren't able to fly because of the wind last night. So that really takes a big piece of arsenal out of our firepower when we can't get up in the air.
Right, So the Palisades fire. For a while yesterday there were air dropping helicopters and the Super Scooper planes making drops, but that had to stop. And then because the fire, the Eaton Canyon fire started so late in the day, that never got any aerial attention, did.
It, you know, not that I know of. I was so so fixated on the palace aide, but I don't think so. Those winds were just pretty pretty insane, So it's been a challenge, to say the least.
Yeah, and Keller, have you ever seen fire behavior like this?
I think the Wolveny was close, but I feel like the winds here are are even more dramatic and extreme and unpredictable, that's the word I'm looking for. They're unpredictable in the way that they shift a little bit, but yeah, I think this is by far one of the worst ones I've ever been a part of.
Okay, and the embers that we've been talking about through the morning are one of the biggest dangers of the fire spreading. So not only do you have the wind and the flames, but you've got these embers that are throwing little fireballs ahead of the fire.
You said it, that is exactly what's happening. To give you a little bit of perspective. Last night, I was sitting at will Rogers Beach, at that parking lot just next to the ocean, and right across pH that whole hillside was going and those winds kicked up to probably seventy miles an hour, maybe a little bit more, and it looked like it was raining fire. And that's no seseration. It looked like it was hailing fire. I think that's
a better word because of just what you said. Those embers and they're big and you know, tossing, you know, pieces of brush and trees just flying by, and they get second they actually made it across the pch We lost several lifeguard towers if you can imagine that in the sand, So those embers can land anywhere. And you know, that goes back to what we always talked about harding
your home. Make sure there's nothing around it where those embers can get caught in and get lodged in to keep your home safe from this type of wind event.
And I've heard too that the embers are especially dangerous to the homes because they can get up under the eaves.
Yeah, very much so. And there's so many. I think that's that's like, it's just not like one. It's just like, like I said, it looks like it's hailing. Yeah.
So with that, with that knowledge, even if you're not in an evacuation, world warning or order zone at this time, is there something that homeowners who are possibly near or when there's an event like this, is there something that they should be doing. Should they be watering down their houses? Should they you know, what kind of last minute things should they be doing to get ready just in case?
Yeah?
I think I think first and foremost, if they can download the Genesis app that's Genesis Evacuation that has just been incredibly useful, that alerts the residents that are in evacuation warnings or orders, that puts up the boundaries and the borders, so you know exactly what time to you know when you need to go and when you need to get out. That that's a pro tip right there.
Everybody needs to get that app And then when it comes to what they can do for their home, you know, the biggest thing is think about where those members can land and where they can settle. That's why we say, you know, get those woodpiles away from your home. Make sure there's no tree or brush or leaves or anything like that in your gutters. And you know, those are the things that you can kind of kind of get
away from your home. Put your patio furniture a hopefully all the Christmas decorations are gone, because all those things are gonna be magnets for those embers and just cause the situation, and it's just also being aware and paying attention to where you're going. That wind is relentless out there. I haven't gone to bed yet and I it has not slowed down at all, which.
Again, as we were talking about, southern California is so dynamic. There are some areas where you are where the winds are just still howling. And at my house it was just dead calm this morning.
Wow you where are you at in the Silver Lake area?
Oh?
Okay, yeah, well I'll fall through the one on one quarter West hill locking the out of flint Ridge up against those mountains and bases. It is just still relentless.
Okay, Captain callaher Ellie Fire. Thank you so much for your information. We appreciate it. Do stay safe and hopefully we don't have to talk to you again.
I agree, Thank you, all right, you take care?
All right. When we we're gonna check in with ABC's Alex Stone. He is on scene at the fire burning near Altadena, which is not far from Pasadena. He's going to give us the latest on that Southland weather from KFI. Red flag warnings in effect through tomorrow, with gus seventy miles per hour or higher expected in some areas. The red flag warnings in effect for La and Ventura Counties. San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, especially
the foothills, Beverly and Hollywood Hills. Coastal area is adjacent to the Sepolvita Pass, the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa Susanna Mountains, Malibu, eastern Ventura County sorry, eastern Ventura Valley, mainly near Simi Valley in moor Park, the San Bernardino County Mountains, the Inland Empire, the Santa Ana Mountains, and for also coastal and inland Orange County, so not affecting only La and Ventura Counties. The winds are still howling,
the fires are still burning out of control. We've got three big ones in southern California. A new one is started. We're getting word that a fire in Riverside County has burned about ten to fifteen acres in the Coachella Valley. It started early this morning at Tyler Street and forty seventh Avenue. There haven't been any reports of injuries or damaged property, but buildings are threatened. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has begun to order people to get out of
their homes. Of course, thirty thousand people have been ordered out of their homes in Pacific Palisades at last check, and again these numbers are going to be updated. At last check it had burned about three thousand acres. That was the first one that really started. It has burned a lot of homes. We don't know how many yet we're hoping to get an update a little later this morning when there's a press conference coming up at eight o'clock.
We'll carry that live for you. In the Silmar area fire that was sparked last night about ten thirty has now burned five hundred acres. It is zero percent contained, as are all the fires burning in southern California. And right now we're going to say good morning to Alex with ABC who's on the lines of the Eton Fire, which we just got an update that one has now burned through twenty two hundred acres, and the Eaten Fire, of course in Altadena, about fourteen miles from downtown LA
and north of Pasadena. Good morning, Alex, Good morning Amy.
Yeah, the wind here has just been incredible this morning. And I'm on Lake Avenue right now in this street. As every time you feel like you get into a safe area, something starts to catch on fire. That the embers have been glowing rolling on the avenue here and continually catching things on fire. The Sheriff's department has been going through just ordering and pleading with people to leave, and we've been seeing a pretty good line of cars or people with their stuff packed up just getting out
as quickly as they can. But it has been very dynamic this morning. They have no idea on this fire how many homes have burned, of how many people they even have evacuated because they're not able to go door to door. They're just telling people, go, you got to get out of here if you're in the Altadena area.
With the winds. That seem to have calmed down a little bit, I'd say in the last half an hour or so, But about an hour ago I opened up the door on the car that I'm in and the door went all the way back, like snapped all the way open. You can't. It's impossibly been standing these winds. The wind has just been absolutely incredible.
Okay, and Alex. When you say that the winds have died down a little bit, they're still blowing pretty good, right.
They're absolutely still blowing, but not to the point where even with your car with the parking brake on, that it was pushing cars forward, that it was trees bending over, it was where you could not stand outside. That has died down a little bit. It's still quite breezy, but we're not seeing the embers just you know, a shower of embers coming in the wind down Lake Avenue. Now I'm still here like explosion noises as buildings are burning
around here. There's still a lot of activity, but the winds have definitely died down a little bit in the last couple of minutes.
Okay, And you're saying, as you're hearing explosions as buildings are burning, are there dozens hundreds? Can you see from your vantage point because you know when you're looking.
At it, go ahead, Yeah, it's a lot. And sometimes it's hard to tell if it's the building or all the shrubs around the building that it's just in the nighttime, you know, view of it of just a lot of fire around buildings, but there have been quite a few. I was talking to a sheriff's deputy a little while ago. He said, they have got that there are a lot
of homes that are gone. But the problem being that you get into some of these streets, they are so smoky that at least at nighttime, it's almost impossible to see more than like five feet in front of your car, So people are trying to get out. Even firefighters don't necessarily know the scope of it. Right now that they know there are buildings burning, but they can't really get into or see all of the areas.
Okay, and Alex, from what you've been seeing and hearing with people being evacuated from their homes, are they running into the same sort of a logjam that we experienced where people were experiencing yesterday and Pacific Palisades where they were just they got in a traffic jam and just had to leave their cars behind.
No, by no means nothing like that. It's been a steady stream of people getting out down the main roads here in Altadena, and the power is out, so there's confusion at all the stop lights, and some people are just blowing right through them or not seeing them with the sun not up yet, and so they're getting out. But the streets here are so wide and there are so many ways to get out that the people seem to be able to do it. But there are a lot of people who are trying to get out.
Okay and then, Alex, we're also just getting word that the evacuation area has been expanded for the fire that's burning out Todena and now includes all of locking out a flint Ridge. So and then last check we had fifty two thousand plus evacuation orders had been issued, with like northwards of twenty thousand homes, buildings, businesses, schools threatened.
Yeah, no doubt that number is going to keep going up all day today. I mean, Amy, weops, hopefully you hang on try to clear that my I know we can't air this. So my emergency alert just started going off here as it's been telling people to get out. But yeah, the numbers are going to be all day today going up. That they are just progressively moving forward saying get out, that they need bigger areas to get out. But the numbers are going to go up all day to day.
All right, Alex Stone, thank you so much. Live on the lines of the Altadena fire that has burned one thousand acres and actually twenty two hundred acres at last check, expecting it to grow. Thank you, Alex, you got it.
Thanks Amy.
Okay, And as we were just talking about with Alex and with other with Gary and with Chris Berry before that, and of course Neil savedra, these fires are burning out of control. They're not being fought from the air at this time because the winds have been blowing so hard. We're hoping as the sun comes up, We're going to be able to get some aerial assaults going again and
hopefully start to get some lines around these fires. But just the sheer magnitude of the homes, and like Alex was talking about, just seeing buildings burning and explosions going off. It might be propane tanks or something like that from some of the homes. But in the Altadena area, I had a friend who lived up there, and it's it's packed in, as you know. And if the winds are blowing to the south as LA fires, Captain callaher told us, are they going to head Are they going to jump
the two ten freeway? We certainly hope not. We certainly hope that that does not come to pass, but we will be watching and we will be following it.
Now.
Southern California, Edison and also LEDWP have shut off power to hundreds of thousands of residents precautionary because you know, as with other fires, you know, those the power lines can be the cause of fires, and they want to prevent that. Of course, So right now we know that at least two hundred thousand actually Chris Berry's numbers were three hundred thousand, and so cal Edison was saying that
up to four hundred thousand people could be affected. So if you are in the dark, we hope you will keep us on your phone on the iHeartRadio app. And it just made me think, and I don't know about you, but it made me think of what I really need to do, because I was thinking last night, what if the power goes out?
Here?
Is my phone charged? Is my alarm going to go off? Am I going to be all?
You know?
I mean, like what happens? And that's that's just for the power, let alone the idea of having to evacuate your homes. So if you don't have your evacuation plan, even if you're not in a fire area, this is a good time to get it, get it planned because these things, as we are seeing, are coming out of absolutely nowhere. Even though we knew that there were dangerous winds coming. You never know when a fire is gonna
erupt in your neighborhood. And as we just mentioned, for the fire that's burning in Altadena, they've now expanded that evacuation order to include the La Kenyata flint Ridge area, which is a ways away. So just because you're not right where the fire is burning, that doesn't mean that couldn't change, and especially with the winds and the embers,
it's just it's scary. And we're glad that you're with us this morning, and we will get you all the information that you need and continue with once wake up call is done and Bill Handle comes on and Gary and Shannon. Gary of course already in the building because he was getting the evacuation warnings on his phone overnight. But we've got it all through the day and we're going to keep you updated and make sure that you
can stay safe. Here is the quick rundown on the fire's Pacific powerades has burned about three thousand acres.
Again.
We're going to be getting updated numbers and we will get them to you as soon as we can. We know that a lot of homes have burned. We don't have those numbers yet, but more than thirty thousand residents have been evacuated the fire near Pasadena In Altadena, the Eton Fire now has fifty two thousand evacuation orders in place. The fire has grown to twenty two hundred and twenty seven acres That one, of course, started last evening around
six point thirty. The evacuation orders have been expanded to include the La Kenyata flint Ridge area and then the other fire, the Hurst fire burning in the Silmar area, is five hundred acres. It started at about ten thirty last night. Evacuations have been ordered for the areas north of the two ten freeway. The good news on most of these is there's not been a large number of
injuries reported. We do know that one firefighter got a severe head injury fighting the Pacific Palisades fire last night. Several people were apparently burned. We don't know the extent of that. Again, we're expecting to get an update on that at eight o'clock this morning, and we will bring
that live to you here on KFI. The most information that you can find on the fires, the side of them, the evacuation areas, where shelters are set up, schools that are closed, and power outages, you can find it all on our website KFI AM six forty dot com. Keyword fire. All right, let's talk about the fire and the conditions that are in place that make wildfire such a dangerous possibility and actually a dangerous reality. Right now, let's say
good morning to the National Weather Services. Mike Wafford Mike tell us about what makes this Santa Ana wind event so devastating?
Good morning. Yeah, Well, we had a dangerous combination of very strong winds aloft oriented in just the right position to generate basically winds coming down from very high levels and reaching the foothill areas in parts of the La Basin. And during that time we've seen winds gusting between ninety and one hundred miles per hour along the base of the mountains there in the Altadena area Eaten Fire area, and you know, we're still seeing winds this morning upwards
of eighty miles per hour or higher. So it's just been, you know, an unfortunate combination of events to trigger these sorts of winds. And of course we've got the high fire danger, very low humidity, and we've had very little rain, so it's all just coming together unfortunately.
Okay, And Mike, winds blow really strong in the Inland Empire all the time. I have a friend who had a house out there, and man, with the winds blow, but there wasn't that fire danger. So what makes this one? What makes the conditions so ripe for fires?
Now?
Yeah, you know, just the fact that we've had basically zero rain, very little rain during over the last several months.
You know, normally this time of the year we've had a few storms to moisten things up a little bit, and we just haven't had that, and so, you know, the fuels, the plants are very dry, and you know, we've just had this pattern over the last couple of months where we've been seeing these very strong sant Ana wind events and unfortunately, without the rain, there's just they just take off really quickly.
Okay. And then Mike, there are areas that may normally not see the high winds, but during this event, a lot of people are seen and feeling the blowing that they don't normally feel in their area.
Yeah, exactly, that area two ten Corridor going through, blocking the out of flint Ridge and Altadena area that's typically blocked with our typical Santa Ana winds. Usually do you see those in the mostly in the San Fernando Valley. But because these winds are coming up and over the mountains and crashing down into uh, the two ten corridor area. Uh, you know, that's why we're seeing these winds so strong in those areas that typically don't.
Get them, Okay, And how long can we expect the winds to continue to have this increased fire danger for us?
Well, the strong we're at the strongest really right now in the overnight period earlier. We are expecting a fairly substantial decrease as we get into the afternoon hours. We're still going to be seeing some winds the rest of the day, and it looks like through the rest of the week, but considerably lighter, but it's going to still be very dry and you know, very low humidities. The threat is still going to be there.
Okay. And is there anything any recommendation you have for people, knowing that you're with the National Weather Service, that people can do to prepare themselves for the fire danger.
Yeah. I mean the biggest thing is just to heed the words from the local authorities there. They know what's going on. But yeah, be prepared to evacuate at any moment. And you know, that's about all we can say at this point.
Okay, because we never know when you know, we hope that these fires that are currently burning are the only ones, but with this wind event continuing, more could pop up.
Oh, absolutely, yeah, And unfortunately it looks like we've got some more Santa Ana wins coming even into next week, so we could be in for a fairly long duration of dangerous fire conditions.
Okay, and Mike, when Santa ana wins blow through, do we always have the low humidity levels? Is that kind of indicative of Santa Ana's or is it just the conditions right now or prime for fire danger.
Santa Anna's almost always come with low humidities. Sometimes they're lower than others, just depending on the situation. But you know, as I said, the biggest thing here for us has just been the lack of rainfall. We haven't had anything for so long, and everything's just super dry.
Okay, Mike Wafford with the National Weather Service, thank you so much for the information.
You're very welcome.
All right, take care. We all need to just batten down those hatches. Okay, So just quickly to reset. We've got a press conference coming up at eight o'clock. We're going to bring that to you. Hopefully we'll get some more information from fire officials. I heard somebody on one of the TV stations last night complaining that they hadn't heard from officials, and I was like, they're busy fighting the fires. We know that there's about fourteen hundred firefighters
out on the lines. More are on the way. We've got them coming from northern California. We've got them coming from Arizona. Anybody who is involved with fire department was basically said. They basically called him and said you got to come back in. And we also know that there's a shift change, some fresh faces and fresh firefighters coming on. I believe the shift changes at six point thirty because these guys have been out on the lines all night.
And as we were talking with Mike Wafford, those strong, strong winds are causing more than just fire danger, but they're keeping fire fighting aircraft from getting up in the air and doing what they do and dropping the fozcheck in the water onto the flames, which is why those fires are just burning out of control. We're hoping that maybe the winds will die down a little bit today and to the point that we can get some planes
and helicopters up to fight the fires. We've got the three big ones, we've got a smaller one burning in Coachella, and then, as Will Coleschreiber has been telling us, we've got a small fire burning near Irwindale along the two ten Freeway, but the Big Ones Pacific Palisades at three thousand acres, the Altadena Fire near Pasadena twenty two hundred and twenty seven acres, and the evacuation orders have been expanded to include fifty two thousand residents, including all of Lakeagnata,
flint Ridge that's brand new, and the Hearst fire burning near Silmar it's grown to about five hundred acres. Evacuations have been ordered for areas north of the two ten freeway, and you can get all of the updated information on those evacuation orders, school closures where you can go if you need to get to a shelter if you are
affected by the evacuation orders, and also power outages. They're shutting down power to try to reduce the risk of wildfire in some areas, and you can find all that information on the website KFIAM six forty dot com slash fire. This is KFI and kost HD two Los Angeles, Orange County, Southland Weather from KFI, though Santa ana Win is going to continue to blow with red flag warnings and effect
through tomorrow evening. Gus seventy miles per hour expected. Red flag warnings are in effect for much of La and Ventura Counties, along with the San Bernardino County Mountains, the Inland Empire San Ana Mountains, and for coastal and inland Orange County. Otherwise, aside from the winds, we're going to see sunny skies. Highs in the low to mid seventies at the beaches Metro La and Inland No c. Sixties and seventies in the Valley's upper sixties in the ie
fifties in the Antelope Valley. The winds should start dying down some tonight, sunny skies Tomorrow, still windy, highs in the sixties and seventies and a little bit cooler. On Friday. It's sixty three in Santa Monica, sixty in Tustin, sixty three in Irvine, fifty six in Calabasas. We lead local live from the KFI twenty four hour newsroom for producer An and technical producer KNO and also traffic specialist will I am Amy King. This has been your wake up Colin.
If you missed any of wake Up Call, lots of good information on the fires today. You can live at anytime on the iHeartRadio app.
You've been listening to wake Up Call with me Amy King. You can always hear wake Up Call five to six am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty, and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app