Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Sudden Wildfires in Southern California Spreading Rapidly; Firefighters Reporting Wildfires in Los Angeles County Currently Unfightable; West Los Angeles Issued Evacuation Orders Due to Uncontrollable Wildfires. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 08, 2025 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: But it is, the Supreme Court has said hate speech is free speech. So we're seeing sort of a big change here as the political climate also changes.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: And I should say, too, Meta did say it will continue to enforce its targeted bullying policy. So if you're doing this to a specific person over and over again, that will be a violation. But these general comments won't.

SIDNER: Interesting. Clare Duffy, thank you so much. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's literally apocalyptic. When we were running down, you could see palm trees, just like random palm trees on fire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you can see the fire from back here now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen anything. Fires were this close to the cars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of these people are terrified. And they don't have a blanket. They don't have a wrap. They have nothing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm scared for my life. It was -- it's terrifying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's incredibly important that we heed the warnings, the calls that we're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And the breaking news, you heard it right there. The worst situation they have ever seen, that is what we just heard from the National Weather Service on the fires in and around Los Angeles. The mayor there just said it will get worse. It will get worse in the next several hours. Again, officials are telling us that this moment right now is critical. More evacuations are expected. The winds are explosive, embers and toxic fumes everywhere. The fires are zero percent contained, and crews say they are simply unfightable.

As we said, tens of thousands of people have been told to evacuate already. That number could grow. Officials are begging people to pay attention to the warnings.

Let's get right to the ground. CNN's Stephanie Elam live in Pacific Palisades. Stephanie, you just put your goggles on. We've heard from you. You've never seen anything like this.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. And I really feel like I'm in a hurricane the way the winds are blowing, except for the fact that I'm surrounded by all the smoke and the smell that, that acrid smell of a wildfire when it's burning through buildings. And the winds have really picked up.

Also, I can tell you that there was a building standing there. We watched it burn down. But now I think that this is an apartment complex, and I can see now that there are little spots burning inside this building. We are concerned that this building may go up. Not sure yet. You can see that it's still burning on the other side of it there. This is the reason why tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. While we see these three blazes threatening homes, burning down homes, we know homes have been lost at this point. We know that there are tens of thousands people without power. Some of them shut off for safety to try to contain how bad these blazes can grow here.

It has gotten really, really smoky. Previously, I could kind of see down the Pacific Coast Highway, and I can't really see anything at all now. It's just completely smoky out here. Treacherous driving conditions getting out here as well. There are power lines down. There are trees that are burning. The other issue, you can see here, is that there are some palm trees there. Palm trees are very pliant. And so what we are concerned about is we can see embers flying off of these buildings that are on fire back here. And when those embers take off in the wind, they can land on a palm tree. Palm trees just become fire throwers. They can take that fire, and just because they're bending so much, throw that flame even more.

We have been looking at some very large embers blowing off of this fire and coming this way. And it's coming -- it's backwards than what we're normally used to because the ocean is directly behind where we're standing. So normally we would feel the winds coming off of the ocean. They're coming, they're mixing right now, but they're coming this way.

So this is why it's treacherous out here on the Pacific Coast Highway. We know that homes have been lost. It is very narrow streets in there. This has been a long time since we've seen this area burn. That also means there's more vegetation there. And then on top of it, L.A. County is back in drought. This has been the driest start to the wet season on record. So you've got to take into account, since it's January, that climate change is a part of what's happening here, John.

BERMAN: Stephanie, as we look at the pictures behind you, just for one second, if we can just listen in, because I did hear that wind. I did hear some of the popping. Let's see if our audience can hear it right now.

Yes. You can really hear, you can really hear the wind blowing right behind you. We did just see some sparks flying off that building.

ELAM: Firecrackers.

BERMAN: Yes, it sounds like --

ELAM: It sounds like firecrackers off in the distance behind us. But that's actually the fire exploding through different parts of these buildings behind there. That's exactly what that is.

[08:05:01]

And a few times things have blown off. And there's some street signs over here, and they hit the street sign, and we all jumped to see what it was because it's so dark out here. But you do hear the snapping, the popping, the breaking of things out here between the wind and the wildfire. It is so dangerous. I've seen nothing like this here in this area like we're experiencing right now.

BERMAN: All right, Stephanie Elam, you and your team, we're going to come back to you. Please stay safe. Make sure you've got a way out if you need it because, as you just said, there is concern that some of those buildings around you could go up. We'll come back to you in a sec. Sara?

SIDNER: All right, these fires are just burning out of control. You heard the explosion -- it sounded like explosions there in the hills of the Pacific Palisades. But it's also happening in the valleys and the home of the Rose Parade, Pasadena.

Joining us now is Tricia Consentino. She is a Pacific Palisades resident and had to evacuate her home. Thank you so much for joining us. I know this is a really difficult time. When did you realize you were in serious danger and had to get out?

TRICIA CONSENTINO, OWNER, KUMON MATH AND READING CENTER OF PACIFIC PALISADES: Well, actually, Sara, my husband and I were taking a walk, and we saw the smoke before, maybe 15 minutes before the fire department even was on site. So in the beginning, we really, you know, we get these fires. They happen. And we were being looky-loos. We were videotaping, and we weren't getting any cell service where we were.

When we started walking back to the house, we saw actually, we could see all of the smoke suddenly, and we started to run because we knew it had gotten much worse very quickly. We got home, we were getting evacuation orders. We live in the highlands, which is a canyon community in Pacific Palisades. There's one road going in and out, which is very precarious. And although we were being told to evacuate, we were also being blocked by the road by police. It was very confusing.

And we decided to risk it and to drive past the police. And it was so unbelievable, the canyon was on fire, that I ended up turning back with my son and going back home, because we felt we might be safer back at home. And then an hour later, things just kept getting worse. And we made the decision to try once more.

SIDNER: Were looking at some of the pictures and videos that you took, Tricia, and they're remarkably scary when you see the fire almost surrounding, surrounding you as you're trying to get out. Do you -- do you know what's happened to your home?

CONSENTINO: We went to bed around 1:00 a.m. yesterday. I think, shockingly, although the fire started in the highlands, I think our community is mostly OK. It went down and headed into town, which has never, ever happened before. So I think my home is OK, but I have a business in the village that I do not think made it. There are a lot of businesses owned by residents' that are gone.

SIDNER: Can you tell me what you experienced, as you talked about trying to leave? And I am familiar with the highlands and how tight it is just trying to get out of any hills. But this is particularly precarious. Can you describe what was going on around you, what you were hearing and experiencing with the wind and as the fire is just raging?

CONSENTINO: When we first entered the canyon, it looked clear. And it's a bit of an S. The first time we went, we actually picked up a young man who was just walking through the canyon. He worked in the neighborhood, and I made him get in my car. And as we turned the corner, the plumes of smoke were just billowing up the road. There was burnt ash. There were flames on either side of us. The car was very quickly getting smoky. We had wet towels over our faces. And the cars ahead of us were not moving. There's also all of this debris had fallen on the road. There were rocks and small boulders. So that first attempt, I realized if I can't see, I might get caught.

The second time we went down, we actually had a police escort, and they had cleared the debris. And at the bottom of the road, there must have been 30 or 40 abandoned cars. So I'm really glad we didn't try that first time, because I don't know if we would have gotten through.

[08:10:03]

There were just vehicles on fire, on the road burning. There's a church school at the bottom of the hill. Some of my students go to it. It is -- it was on fire. The grocery store, the -- I mean, it actually, it was so surreal, I felt like we were in that movie, "The War of the Worlds." I didn't recognize the streets that I were on as our own.

SIDNER: That is harrowing, the way that you described all that. And I'm so glad you picked up that young man who was walking around, because he may not have survived just looking at the pictures now. I know that you own this tutoring business in Pacific Palisades, and you believe that that may be gone. Where are you now, and how are you and your family doing?

CONSENTINO: My husband, I'm recently remarried, and my husband has a home actually about an hour-and-a-half outside of the Palisades. So we had somewhere to go. So, you know, my family is safe. My daughter, luckily, just went back to college a few days before. We have our pets. Everyone I've spoken to all of our friends, my clients, everyone is safe. I would say half of the people I know, I have about 200 students, I think about half of the people I know have lost their homes.

SIDNER: Wow. Half of the people you know have lost their homes.

CONSENTINO: It's really -- yes, yes.

SIDNER: I'm so sorry to hear that.

CONSENTINO: I watched them burning.

SIDNER: It's so, so -- scary doesn't even cover it. But then you have to turn around and go back and see what's happened to your neighborhood. And you've already seen the destruction, and it's going to likely get worse. Tricia Consentino, thank you so much. I'm very happy to see that you and your family survived this, and hopefully your home will as well. I appreciate you coming on this morning and speaking to us.

CONSENTINO: Thank you.

SIDNER: Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: That is just so horrible, Sara. To think about, I mean, think any half of the people you know losing their homes is just, that's gut-wrenching and so sad. And such a reality that I'm sure more and more people are facing right now.

Let's get over to CNN's meteorologist Derek Van Dam to see what the next few hours are going to be like. Derek, we're still hearing that this is going to get worse before it begins to improve. What are you expecting in the next few hours?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, unfortunately, I do believe that the most intense part of the Santa Ana wind event will be occurring in the coming hours. So the next few hours will be absolutely critical for firefighters and the residents who are unfortunately dealing with this moment.

Hey, I listened to a press report from Governor Newsom yesterday saying that this is no longer fire season. This is fire year. It happens all year round. And now we had the battalion chief, public information officer from Cal Fire on earlier this morning talking about this is the third time they've actually had the incident management team deployed in the month of January fighting these major fires here in Los Angeles County. So that's really saying something.

And going back to Stephanie Elam's reporting, talking about how palm trees become literal flame throwers, this is an example of just that. Look at how the embers from that just get picked up by the intense winds and driven across the roadways at such a rapid rate. That is what we call erratic fire and extreme fire behavior.

This is the moment the Palisades fire, one of three major fires burning out of control, zero percent containment over western L.A. County, ignited yesterday afternoon. You can see the direction of the wind funneling up and over the mountain ranges. So here is a Cal Fire map showing you the burned areas of the Palisades fire. Here is western L.A. County. This is Santa Monica. This is the burned area. And you can see the ravines and the canyons here that these spot fires ignite new additional fires. And those are all buildings that have either burned or are currently burning as we speak.

The wind direction is critical. Will it move a little bit to the more of a northerly direction, so that would put more of the western L.A. County, densely populated residential area at threat? We need to monitor that very closely, because at the moment right now, it's gusting over 60 miles per hour. There will be a relaxing in the winds through the course of the day before it picks up again overnight tonight, not as extreme as what we experienced overnight last night. However, we do anticipate the critical fire weather behavior to continue right through Thursday at least.

Here, Kate, is the latest. Three fires that we are monitoring. And again, this is the driest start to the water year that southern California has ever experienced.

BOLDUAN: And you can see the result of that. Derek, thank you so much. We're going to be checking, obviously, checking back in with Derek a lot. John?

[08:15:00]

BERMAN: And you see these remarkable terrifying pictures out of Los Angeles. We hear the blazes are essentially unfightable, that's what we just heard from firefighters on the frontlines.

Los Angeles asking off duty firefighters to check in and report to work if they can. You can understand why, as you're looking at these live pictures.

And then moving from irritated to actively pissed off, how one analyst just described international attitudes about Donald Trump's new expansionist goals, and President Biden just gave his one and only exit interview in print. His new justification for pardoning Hunter, what he says about whether he could have won, and his single greatest fear for the upcoming Trump term.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Back to our breaking news covering these wildfires in Southern California. Everyone is at the mercy of the wind right now. That is how the president of the California Firefighters' Union put it just this morning.

Emergency crews are working around the clock against these three major fires in California. But because of the intense winds, they are burning out-of-control. Zero percent contained at this hour. I want to play for you now, a report just filed by a reporter from our affiliate KCLA and KCBS.

[08:20:19] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: No, really, that wind picks up and then it dies down, picks up and dies down, changes directions, embers continue flying absolutely everywhere. The only thing that changes is where we're at on PCH and what we see.

Initially, we saw multiple homes engulfed in flames. Lots of properties where homes used to stand, just down to their foundations.

Now, as we move west, we just passed a stretch where there was power pole after power pole after power pole impeding fire trucks from going through that area, going eastbound.

And now, we are on a stretch where on one side we see what used to be a home, a chimney where memories were made and just flames in the middle of not even a foundation, but just rubble. I mean, everything kind of turned to dust and you see kind of spots and pockets of where flames are.

And I also want to note that we have cars or shells of the cars. I mean, these were very, very warm at one point. Now, they're somewhat chilly.

I also want to note here in Malibu, were in the mid to high 50s, but Sparkle and I were feeling pretty warm because we feel heat from absolutely everywhere, heat from behind us, and also across the street. Oh yes, we are feeling that, too.

When we got here a little less than one hour ago, we saw a little pocket of flames coming out of that roof. Now it seems like that structure is engulfed in flames from inside, and that fire is able to kind of melt that metal roof that we see there. The power pole now leaning. You also see that at the bottom --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: That's just this morning from one of our reporters from our affiliate.

Let's go right now, I think joining, I think we've connected, joining me on the phone is Captain Jacob Raabe. He's a paramedic and public information officer with the Los Angeles City Fire Department. Can you hear me, Captain?

JACOB RAABE, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, CAPTAIN, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT (via phone):Yes, I can, good morning.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. Thank you so much for jumping on so early. Can you give me the latest of what you all are seeing and what you know about that massive Palisades Fire?

RAABE: Yes, you know, I'm on the ground right now at the Palisades Fire. This is an extremely dynamic situation. It's something we have not seen in years in Southern California. I've been on a lot of significant fires in the area, and this one is different. These wind events we're experiencing. I was just driving through the canyon, we're looking at up to a hundred mile an hour gusts, and they're very, very erratic.

Due to that, our latest mapping was still done yesterday. It's obviously known to grow significantly, but we are looking at 3,000 acres. We expect that number to rise drastically in the morning hours, if and when we can get our mapping aircraft up and able to map an accurate fire perimeter.

This is just obviously a truly devastating wildfire. We have over 400 resources assigned. We have a lot more on the way. Because of these high winds, we are unable to fly our rotor wing aircraft, which is one of the main methods we use to attack a wind driven brush fire. They are rendered ineffective and are not able to fly.

We're hoping that in the morning hours we are able to get our fixed wing aircrafts, some of those large water dropping, you know, large aircraft out there to drop retardant and begin to try to get a handle on this fire.

But at this point, it is just very difficult to ascertain how large this fire is. And we're still in the very early stages of just life safety and making sure we get everyone out safe and protect all the life we can.

BOLDUAN: And that's exactly -- I was just speaking with the city council president, who was saying the very same. The terrifying thing is the unknown, because you cannot get your aircraft in the air to fight it and even assess it is a huge part of this.

I mean, we know that containment efforts had to be put on pause because of the winds last night, as you said, to focus on saving lives. Is that still the status as of right now? No containment efforts have been able to be started back up?

RAABE: Correct, we are still really in that life safety mode. We're trying to make sure that anyone that is still hunkered down in their homes, that they exit safely before the fire makes it to them.

We have obviously had a significant amount of injuries and burns from patients trying to escape the fire that left too late, and we were able to, obviously, treat them and bring them to local area hospitals.

But we urge everyone to exit immediately while it is still safe and we have a very large mandatory evacuation area and there are safe exit corridors to get out.

You know, I'm on PCH right now and there is no traffic. You know, exit your house now, if you're listening to this and you're still in there.

We're looking at winds picking up. Like I said, you know, we felt 70 to 80 mile an hour, up to a hundred mile an hour gust this morning. And the National Weather Service is, you know, expecting it to pick up through the day today before this is over.

[08:25:33] But I will say one more thing. It's such an erotic wind event that normally on our Santa Ana Winds, we have them blowing in one direction. But as they're going to the ocean, I'm sitting here at PCH, they're actually flipping around and turning into an onshore breeze. So, it is pushing the fire that would normally end at the ocean back up the canyons to get that areas of unburned fuel and potentially reignite areas that have already burned through.

BOLDUAN: Just perfectly describing just how horrible this scenario is. I mean, it's the definition of the perfect storm because the winds are so erratic.

You're describing some of the first significant injuries, you said, that you have been encountering. Can you talk to me more about what you're seeing with people and patients?

RAABE: Yes, like I stated, you know, there is, again, this is a -- you know, I'll reiterate, it is very early stage of this fire. We're focusing on life safety.

That being said, a lot of people did come asking for medical attention. Those were all addressed. I don't have a set number for you, but there was multiple patients, burn victims, other injuries from trying to flee the fire, people fleeing on foot, broken bones. Like you stated, a lot of burn injuries, a lot of smoke inhalation injuries, and that includes civilian.

We did have some firefighter injuries as well. Those were all transported to the hospital. Some head trauma, a lot of eye injuries and a lot of exhaustion and smoke inhalation right now.

BOLDUAN: I can only imagine and as we've been told, it will pick up. It will get worse before it will be getting better. And it is all on, it is all on you guys, and it's all hands on deck for all of you right now.

So, Captain, thank you very much for jumping on and good luck today. Thank you so much.

RAABE: Okay, thank you. Take care. Okay.

BOLDUAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:00]