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Wildfires Raging Out of Control in California; Brent Pascua is Interviewed about Wildfires; Dave Waterfall is Interviewed about the Wildfires; Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 08, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Basically, with norovirus, having things like Pepto-Bismol, ibuprofen, because people develop chills and body aches and things like that. And also, as I mentioned, hydration. Sometimes it can be tough to keep fluids down. So having oral rehydration salts or things like that can go a long way.

Really quickly, there's been about 14 norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships so far in 2024 last year I guess now. Take a look at the numbers there. So, be careful. Take those medications along and have fun.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, excellent advice. As always, great to see you, Sanjay. Thank you very much.

A brand-new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Things are getting worse, not better. The windstorms fanning the out-of-control wildfires in southern California. Hundreds of firefighters on the front lines and tens of thousands are being forced to flee their homes as flames sweep through several cities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's literally apocalyptic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I've lived in Malibu my whole life, and I've seen tons of fires. I was - I'm cared for my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: We are live on the ground as three dangerous wildfires continue to rage, zero percent contained in Los Angeles County.

Plus, President-elect Trump heads to Washington today, ready to meet with Republicans on plans to advance his agenda, even as he irks international leaders with his bluster on trying to expand American territory, not leaving out military intervention.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. BERMAN: All right, the breaking news. Exit your house now. That is an

urgent, new warning as officials tell tens of thousands of people to get out immediately, with wildfires ripping through Los Angeles County.

We want to make clear, the situation at this hour is critical, with the explosive winds expected to make the fires even worse. The sun is about to rise there. We could get our first look at some of the devastation overnight. There's no real count yet of how many homes or businesses have been destroyed.

Winds are too fierce to fight them from the air. There's really almost nothing that can be done with the fire. Zero percent contained. This was the scene in Pasadena just minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a church here fully engulfed in flames. It is a very large church. According to the map here, it's an expressions church. We have just seen this thing explode in flames in the last couple of minutes. L.A. County Fire is up here helping out with Pasadena Fire as they try to get this under control, but the winds up here really just whipping through this area.

And I have to tell you, at times, when that happens, we have seen embers the size of your hand. They have been huge embers blowing off of this church and flying up into the air.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, I want to get right to CNN's Stephanie Elam. I see a lot of activity around you in Pacific Palisades.

Stephanie, if you can hear me, what's going on there?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, I'm going to step out so that we can show you this, because we watched the top of this complex up here burn down. We saw it - it really, in the midst of a massive wind gust, really just blew up in flames and burned down.

And then it seemed things got quiet. But now we've seen some action here where firefighters and it looks like law enforcement are blocking off the street because it looks like it's burning between these two buildings back there and still on top of the building. If you listen, you can hear some of the pops going off. And that is the fire destroying these buildings, things that are inside the building that are burning.

The wind gusts are still very strong. Just took my breath away there for a second. And we can see some more fire burning back in this canyon here.

This is why tens of thousands of people are evacuated. Also why you still have many people, tens of thousands there too, without power. Some of it because they don't want to spark another blaze here. Throughout the region, school has been canceled today. All firefighters are being asked to come back to work, even if they were supposed to be off. This is an all hands on deck moment, and things are tenuous right now. They are not working on containing these blazes.

Yes, there's black smoke there. That means something is burning there. And I can smell it. It's an acrid smell when it's not just wood burning, but when it's actually a building burning. There's a more metallic scent to it. I can smell that now. So, there is something burning back there that is of concern. And that is why we've seen these responders to get in line here.

But the Eaton Fire out in Palisades, we've seen those evacuation orders extended. What you were just listening to, that reporter there. This area is on the opposite side of, let's say, downtown L.A., just to give you an idea. I am standing right up against the Pacific Ocean here on the PCH.

[09:05:04]

So, this shows you just how wide this wind event is.

I was actually driving out to where President Biden was going to give a speech out near Joshua Tree National Park yesterday. So, I was hundreds of miles away. And coming back to the city, I could see the massive plume of smoke that was already blowing and cascading across L.A. County.

This morning, when I woke up, I could smell the wildfire where I live. That has never happened before. The winds actually woke me up at one point.

This is something that we haven't seen here, and it's really important to point out just how dry it is here in L.A. County. We haven't had any real measurable rain in months. In fact, we're back in drought. And this has been the driest start to the wet season in L.A. County ever.

So, you think about that. You think about how dry this wind is, how much vegetation it is up in the Pacific Palisades, where it's twisty, windy and very verdant. All of that now is just fuel for this fire. And that is why it's been so treacherous for people to get out, and also why they want people to stay away.

And I can look down the Pacific Coast Highway heading north, and I can see something burning now. Something is starting to burn back here as well. So, while we're in the midst of this smoke, I am telling you, this is not over. It is still very precarious.

And I can hear some of the firefighters yelling. So, yes, something is burning behind this building. We're going to keep our eyes on it for you, John.

BERMAN: Yes, let's just take that full for a second so I can explain what happened there, because this all happened while you've been on the air with us in the last few minutes.

ELAM: Sure.

BERMAN: There's that big white building in the background. The roof had been burning on that. That had already happened.

But now what's new is between that building and this building with the staircase, there's clearly some kind of a fire on the - on the ground maybe there. You can see the glowing. And we saw a ton of smoke rising up from there. So, this fire, Stephanie, is moving closer to you, going through these structures.

ELAM: Yes. And you just also need to keep in mind too that the top of that building, there was a much taller structure. And since we've been here, it's burned down. So, we've watched that burn down.

And then I know I keep saying this about palm trees, but palm trees, I love them, but they're scary in wildfire because they move so much in these winds. If they get caught in one of those embers and start to go up in flames, they can then throw that fire. This is part of the reason why I've talked to firefighters over the years and they say, don't put palm trees on your property. And this is the reason why. You see how they're blowing in the wind there. That is concerning.

I can also see there's an equinox in this building here as well. So, I don't know what's behind the building exactly, but I can tell by the way the firefighters are responding and law enforcement is blocking off the road, they are concerned they're going into action to shut this down. But we'll keep watching it.

Oh, and starting to blow up over on this side too a little bit. So, we'll keep our eyes on it as we watch this because sometimes it looks like things are done and they're not. They get smoky and then they build back up. The winds are not done here either. That's going to make this more treacherous.

BERMAN: These fires on the move right around Stephanie Elam.

Stephanie, stay safe. We'll come back to you.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, Stephanie is in Pacific Palisades. We're going to be getting to a guest shortly also in Pacific Palisades.

But before that, we're starting to get a sense of some of the injuries that people are suffering from the fires as people are trying to run and flee from the fire, civilian and firefighters alike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN JACOB RAABE, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPT.: 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. We have a very large mandatory evacuation area and there's safe exit corridors to get out.

((END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Talking about burn injuries, broken bones, head trauma, smoke inhalation injuries, a lot they are dealing with.

Joining us right now is - joining us right now is Brent Pascua, a battalion chief with Cal Fire.

Thanks so much for jumping on the phone.

Talk to me. What does Pacific Palisades look like from your perspective this morning?

BRENT PASCUA, BATTALION CHIEF, CAL FIRE (via telephone): Yes, right now I'm sitting in an area that looks really apocalyptic. It's a whole neighborhood. I don't even see a house standing. It's really - it's really hard to see right now. It's still windy. There's still a lot of fire all around us. So, we're not out of - out of this by any means.

BOLDUAN: I was told last hour containment efforts are still on pause because of the winds. We see the winds whenever we talk to one of our correspondents on the ground, as we just did with Stephanie Elam. What is the most important thing for your teams right now? Is it getting the aircraft back up in the air?

PASCUA: Right now the most important thing is still life safety. If there's anyone in the way of this fire that may not have evacuated on time or needs help, that is our highest priority.

[09:10:01]

And then property. All - so, after that, yes, once we can get those aircraft up, if the winds subside a little bit this morning, we can get up, make a difference with our aircraft. But I don't think it's predicted to go that way. So, again, life safety is number one priority for us.

BOLDUAN: And with how fast the fires are moving and how erratic the winds are, are you finding that people are being caught off guard, that the fire is just suddenly upon them?

PASCUA: Yes, and that's why I like to echo that message of leave early if you can, because a normal street that you leave and get out of town on is fine on a normal day. But when the whole neighborhood's trying to leave, we saw it turn into a parking lot yesterday and give a lot of people problems. So, yes, leave early if you can.

BOLDUAN: This is all hands on deck for Cal Fire. How are your fire crews doing? What are you hearing from them?

PASCUA: Yes, talking to the firefighters out here on the line, they're exhausted. You can see it in their eyes But they're not leaving here until they have relief. So, with no relief, they're going to keep fighting and they know they're in it for the long haul. BOLDUAN: We had a guest on earlier. She was speaking to my colleague

Sara. She lives in Pacific Palisades. She's evacuated. She says she thinks half of the people she knows have lost their homes. Given what you're seeing, do you think more people are going to be saying the same by the end of this?

PASCUA: I believe so, yes. I had to tell some people that I met at the hotel that were evacuees, and I went to check on their house for them. And yes, there's nothing left of this neighborhood. I - it's dark, so I can't tell exactly how many homes, but it's going to be a large number, unfortunately.

BOLDUAN: I mean is Pacific Palisades just wiped out? I mean, that's what I feel like that's the sense is just so many businesses that are also destroyed as well. I mean, this is going to have - how huge do you think the impact is going to be?

PASCUA: You know, I can't say for sure yet without seeing the whole realm of this fire. And the wind is still blowing. So, even if something is standing right now, there's no guarantees that it can be saved with these 70 mile, 80 mile an hour winds out here. So, we're doing everything we can to save anything we can.

BOLDUAN: Brent Pascua with Cal Fire, thank you so much for jumping on the phone and for what you guys are up against right now. I really appreciate it.

Sara.

PASCUA: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

SIDNER: Thank you, Kate. That was a great update.

We have just learned the wildfires have forced an L.A. County sheriff's station to evacuate. And the winds, as you heard, they're going to get worse. Fire crews hoping to get a better idea of just how massive these wildfires are. And I know it's affecting a lot of school districts. More than a dozen.

Also this morning, President-elect Donald Trump is heading to D.C. after doubling down on his plan to expand American territory and refusing to rule out military intervention. Those stories ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:39]

BERMAN: All right, we've got some new pictures just in. These are live, actually, I'm told. This is Altadena, California. This is right next to Pasadena. Look at that. Look at those fires burning. They're just tearing through homes. I think that was a home right there.

You can hear the cracking and the popping of the embers as these fires just continue to push through so many areas. The Pasadena area is one of the areas at this moment being hardest hit. You can see it's 6:17 a.m. in California. The sun, I guess, will come up soon there. People are going to be able to see it through the smoke.

But we're really now just getting our first sense, maybe, of how much damage was done in this devastating, devastating night as these fires burn in at least three locations there.

We saw some fire personnel in these pictures, as the camera pans around a little bit. You can see them there. There's not much they can do. The fires right now are zero percent contained. The winds are too fierce to fight them from the air. For the most part, the firefighters we've spoken to, and they're there. They're at the ready. They tell us it's just too hot, too erratic for them to get close enough to try to put them out. So, they're positioning where they can, preparing where they can. Very dangerous as those fires move near that car, and the gas tank perhaps in it as well.

As we look at this, let's bring in CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam.

Extraordinary images from Altadena, Derek. Talk to us about where these fires are burning and what we can expect over the next few hours.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: John, extraordinary images, but also extraordinary sound to hear the crackling in the background and the firefighters talking on their intercoms and staying away from the fires.

Stephanie Elam was reporting on how the palm trees that are so synonymous with southern California become these flame throwers in an extreme fire event, just like we're experiencing right now. And you can see just that as the embers from these very dried out palm trees, the dried out vegetation, continues to be whipped around by winds in excess of 80 miles per hour, sometimes reaching as high as 98.

So, check this out. This is the moment that the Palisades Fire, one of three large, uncontained fires burning out of control over western Los Angeles County, erupted.

[09:20:06]

This is Tuesday afternoon local time. And look at the direction of the wind. You can see that more north to northeasterly component. This is really critical. Let me explain why.

So, we're kind of taking a broader perspective. This is the Cal Fire website. Here's the Santa Monica pier right there. Very famous beach. This is the area that's already burned. Look at the topography, the mountains and the canyons. And as we zoom in a little closer, notice all of these buildings, this densely populated residential area. Well, this is the latest information that we can actually provide to you. But this map hasn't been updated since late last night because the aircraft responsible for actually mapping the burned area from this fire can no longer fly. Either can the fixed wing rotor airplane they use to contain these fires, because the winds are too strong and they're too erratic. So, what we do know is that the canyons here have funneled the winds.

They have taken the embers, which you saw in the video of the flame torched palm trees in the area, taking those embers and started additional spot fires. Here's one. Here's another. Here are others. And, of course, all of the buildings and residential and apartment areas that surround it are at jeopardy as we speak.

So, the wind direction is crucial. Right now, generally out of the north to northeasterly direction. But if it changes to more of a north northwesterly direction, that's known as a backing wind, meaning that it changes in a counterclockwise direction. I'm going to go back one graphic to show you that this could fan into a more densely populated area of western Los Angeles County.

So, again, the latest information we can provide you is that, of course, buildings are burning out of control. We've seen the video. But an additional area that's densely populated here is at risk as well.

John.

BERMAN: You know, Derek, if we just can, we can put up the map again of the three locations these fires are burning in Los Angeles County so people can just see how spread out it is.

I'm going to walk actually into the shadow here just to point this out. Again, you see Pacific Palisades right here. This is where it's right near the coast. And that's where the wind from the water is coming in and going out, but providing no relief. Up here in Pasadena, unfortunately, where I have some friends, people are having to evacuate very quickly. It's been terrible there overnight. And then up there, the Hearst Fire, near Santa Clarita and San Fernando, again near population centers. Wind shifts could make it even worse.

Derek Van Dam, we'll check back in with you in a little bit.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

The message from officials this morning, if you get the evacuation order, don't mess around. Take it seriously. Your life will depend on it. Take a listen to one evacuee that I spoke with just last hour about what she saw as she left.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRICIA COSENTINO, PALISADES FIRE EVACUEE: 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 residences that are gone.

It was so surreal. I felt like we were in that movie, the "War of the Worlds." It - I didn't recognize the streets that I were on as our own.

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That was Tricia Constantino saying that she believes half the people she knows has lost their homes. And we just heard Kate talking to an official who said likely more homes will be burned.

With us now is Dave Waterfall, a former CNN producer and current Santa Monica resident, where there is also fire burning that is somewhere between five and eight miles from the Pacific Palisades down, as most people know, near the beautiful Pacific Ocean.

Dave, what are you experiencing in your cool capacity there at Triumph Motorcycles?

DAVE WATERFALL, FORMER CNN PRODUCER AND SANTA MONICA EVACUEE: Hey, good morning, Sara.

We - we've had the misfortune of having the fire come to our neighborhood. So, we were forced to evacuate around 9:00 p.m. last night. And so my family and I, we evacuated to our dealership here in Santa Monica.

SIDNER: That is a terrifying call to get. We've gotten it before. I used to, as you know, I used to live not far from you. And when you get that call, I mean, what is it that you grab? What do you do to get out? And when you left, what did you see around you?

WATERFALL: So, I - we took a bunch of video just so we could share and document it as well. But, my wife, we have a go bag. And she over the Christmas break she actually filed everything. So, we have all of our important documents, papers, a couple of hard drives, our pets, our kids and our kids packed a backpack of essentially anything. I did sneak out of here on a motorcycle this morning, and go see my neighborhood. And it is blocked by the police. There's a lot of wind damage. I saw my house.

[09:25:00]

We lost our gate and our fence. There's trees down. There's crushed cars. And on top of houses. And the fire is - the fire line's eight blocks from our home.

SIDNER: Wow, just eight blocks, which means there will be a ton of smoke damage usually that comes into these houses. Luckily, it sounds like yours is still standing at this hour.

When you hear from authorities that things are going to get worse, that in the next, you know, four hours or so the winds expected to pick up and really push this fire, what is your greatest concern at where you are?

WATERFALL: I mean, ultimately it's just life. People need to heed the evacuations. This fire came up so fast. We haven't had a burn since - it's been eight years since we had a big fire. The Skirball Fire. And there's so much dry vegetation. We're surrounded by canyons. Homes are thicketed in with trees and on top of each other. And so, I mean, we have a cedar shake roof and any of those palm fronds that catch on fire, it's like a, you know, bottle rocket that just.

SIDNER: Yes.

WATERFALL: So, it's those things where a home just - yes.

SIDNER: Dave, I mean, you make a really poignant point. The point is to survive this. That's just stuff. But it is certainly hard for, when you work your whole life, especially in a place where things are so expensive, to - to buy something, to have a home and then to watch it just go up. It is devastating.

Dave Waterfall, thank you so much. You're there in Santa Monica watching what's going on. And you have had to evacuate with your family from your home. I'm very sorry to hear that, but glad to hear that at this point your home is still standing. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Germany this morning for his last trip to the region and likely his last meeting with NATO allies, coordinating continued support for Ukraine.

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