LA Representatives Explain Little-Known Steps for Cleanup and Recovery | Ben Allen | Jacqui Irwin | Sasha Renée Pérez

In the aftermath of Los Angeles fires, we get together with state representatives to see what they're doing for these communities that are impacted by the fires. My guest today is Senator Ben Allen, Senator Sasha Press, and Assemblymember Jackie Irwin. They will tell us how their communities are impacted, their plans for rebuilding, and what help they could use from us. I'm Siamak Khorrami. Welcome to California Insider. Ben, it's great to have you on. Welcome. Welcome back. Thank you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. You're a state senator representing the Palisade area. You have one million people in your district, and a lot of the fires on the Palisade side has been impacting your community. Can you tell us what's happened? Oh my goodness. It's been a very, very tough week. That's a community that's right next to mine. In fact, we literally had to evacuate my mom for a few nights during the fires. We belong to a synagogue in the Palisades, and over a third of the congregants have lost their homes. I've got so many friends up there. I've walked the fire zone several times. I've been bringing leaders from Sacramento and Washington to see the fire zone. It is devastating. Everyone's been watching the footage on television, but it's something different to actually be there in person and see how these once beautiful neighborhoods have been transformed into utter devastation. There's been so much loss on the cultural heritage side, the loss of Will Rogers' house and his stables, and some of those mountain trails that we all knew and loved, which are going to regrow, of course, but the beautiful theater in the Palisades, and the women's club, and so much of the downtown core, a lot of historic buildings that were destroyed, so many people's homes. It's just been a really, really tough time. Now we've been very engaged in the process of trying to provide assistance. Obviously, the big initial thing had to do with getting people out and then, of course, making sure the firefighters had everything they need to fight the fire. They've made incredible progress. It's not entirely contained yet, and there's still a lot of work to be done around the perimeter of the fire, but certainly, things are much better than they were a few days ago. There's now a long and arduous path toward rebuilding, recovery. We're very engaged in the process right now of trying to provide assistance to the people who've been impacted. Massive, massive need, massive loss. There's been an incredible outpouring of support from the community, huge number of donations of clothing, and toys, and all sorts of items for people. Actually, just yesterday, I went to San Marco College, where I spoke to the volunteers, hundreds of people that have turned out to volunteer to all of the donated items. That's been a beautiful thing to see. Now, we have professional services coming in. We've got, this weekend, an insurance workshop at San Marco College that we'll be hosting so that people can come and meet face-to-face with insurers, whether they be the FairPlan or private insurers, the Department of Insurance, so they can learn and get their claims dealt with and not be stuck on a telephone line. Similarly, there's a center at the Old Westside Pavilion on Pico Boulevard, and a similar one in Pasadena City College that has been set up by FEMA, so people can start the process of getting their FEMA claims and FEMA assistance. Then, of course, there's a, but in addition to FEMA, there's a room full of agencies that are there to help people get back on their feet, everything from the tax assessor to the park and recs to the franchise tax board. There's a wide range of agencies, so people can have a one-stop shop with regards to assistance, small business administration, loans, I mean, all those kinds of things. So, there's a lot of, there's actually a real infrastructure that is ready to help people. Unfortunately, this is not the first natural disaster, and I've gotten to meet some people that were literally just coming from North Carolina, where they've been working on assisting victims of the terrible flooding and storms there, and they just literally transport themselves here, and now they're engaging in the process of providing assistance to the victims of our fires here in Los Angeles. So, there's a process, and we're a part of it now. We're doing everything we can to, I mean, literally just this morning, I've been fielding inquiries about insurance issues or other assistance issues. Our office has been fielding hundreds of calls. We just try to help people with all the difficulties associated with the aftermath of these terrible fires. What was it like for you to walk there after the fires to see this scene? For some of us that have seen the footage, but we haven't really been there, what was it like for you? It's really heartbreaking, especially if you know what these neighborhoods were like before. It's a beautiful community up there, and just for me, you know, as you see, I grew up, you know, literally one community down. So, the Palisades has been part of my life growing up. So many of those places I knew and loved. I mean, I walked by a cafe where I literally, just a couple months earlier, had a wonderful breakfast with my buddies who were in from out of town, and now the whole place is burned to a crisp. And I saw that the charred remains of the table where we sat. You know, I saw the ruins of a theater where I had actually participated in a debate when I was first running for this position. You know, I learned that, you know, the bench that we had dedicated to my father up in the Santa Monica Mountains just above the community burned. You know, I walked by a couple of my friends' homes and took pictures of those homes for them because they'd asked me if they needed some evidence and they wanted to know what happened at their homes. I mean, these are homes that I had been in, that I'd hung out with them in their living rooms, and they're now just a bunch of ashes. Walking the streets where I'd been on parades for the 4th of July, they're just flooded, memories flooded back for me. And just pain, pain for this community. You know, pain knowing about all these wonderful memories that have just gone up in smoke. You know, this is close to me. As I say, my own synagogue is there in the Palisades. My mom is part of a Bible group that meets on the Friday mornings. And I think out of about 15 people that regularly show up, I think 13 of them have lost their homes. It's just, it's really hard. I mean, there's a community impact and pain, and there's a personal pain. And so many of my friends are going through that right now. And so it's been pretty heartbreaking. What are the next steps for the victims? Is there a path to rebuilding? Or is it, is there just helping right now to fix, to clean up the debris? What are the next steps that you guys see? Yeah, so all of the above. So right now, right now, they, well, the utilities have been working, everything from the electricity people, the gas people, the water people have been just going through and turning off everything to make sure that there's not any open lines. Then it may have come to cadaver and the anthropologists, cadaver dogs and teams that are looking for bodies. And they have to, you know, it's so sad. I mean, they have to bring in people that can differentiate between a pet's bones and a human bones. It's a grizzly process. And unfortunately, they have found a few bodies of people, not many, but a few in both of the fire zones. So that process is underway right now. Then there's a whole protocol for, for the CalRecycle and the Department of Toxic Substance Control to come through house by house and clear out all the toxins and dangerous materials that might be in those homes. When there's a big fire like this, there's so much toxicity because a lot of the items in our homes, appliances and others that are perfectly safe under normal circumstances have now been burned and they've, they're now pretty dangerous. So there's that process. There's the process of cleaning up the streets, getting all the wires out of the streets. You know, of course the firefighters are also continually examining every aspect of the zone and making sure that we're just putting out whatever existing smoke might be in the underbrush or even in some of these homes. So there's just a long process associated with cleaning up and fixing up the sites, getting to a place where we can start to make it so it's safe for people to return, you know, and then, and then, and then get power back and all those kinds of things. On the, on the assistance side, the recovery side, obviously we've got people out in either staying with, with friends or in shelters. We're trying to just make sure that they know that they have whatever assistance they need, both on the, on the food and the clothing, I mean the basic side, but also in providing them with services, whether it's legal services, you know, mental health services, healing, and we're working with the faith community to make sure that churches and synagogues can, can continue to meet and provide healing for their communities. And we have mental health and we actually got people, I just was on the, you know, contact, contacting with a mental health provider who wanted to provide her services voluntarily to, to assist the community there. And then of course, as I, as he mentioned before, there's the whole process of providing, you know, governmental services and financial services and insurance. That's a whole process too. And making sure that that process is as easy as possible for people. And of course, some insurance companies have made it easier than others. And, you know, it's my job working with the insurance commission and others to make sure that we, we really stay on the insurance companies to, to do what they have committed to do, which is assisting those, those people who have, who have policies with them and making sure that we follow through with them and they follow through on their commitments to people. Are people calling you guys with help for insurance, getting the insurance reimbursement? People reaching out to us. It's part of why we established this special workshop at Santa Monica College this weekend. So the 18th and 19th of, of January, it's going to be at the, the Broad Stage Campus on Santa Monica Boulevard. And, you know, it'll be open all day Saturday. And I think, you know, kind of morning and early afternoon on Sunday. And we encourage people to call in and make appointments. There will be a similar workshop the following weekend at Pasadena City College on the East side to assist victims of the Eaton fire. But it's an opportunity for people to come in, in person and get to meet with their insurers, get to meet with a fair plan, not be stuck on some phone call or stuck on hold on someone in 100 line. And, you know, it's a way for us to bring the insurers directly into the community so people can get the assistance that they need. And I'm just very hopeful that that will be a meaningful and important opportunity for people to get the, you know, get, get any kind of bottlenecks shaken up. The insurance commissioner will personally be there. And it's, of course, his job to regulate these folks in this industry. And he's committed to me personally, and I've been in close touch with him to do everything he can to ensure that they're treating all of the people of our community well, and that they're following through on the commitments that they have made through those policies that people bought. As you know, the insurance commissioner has placed a one-year moratorium on cancellation policies and also on non-renewals in the area to protect insurance policies moving forward, which is an important protection for people. And so that's, that's also an important part of this process is ensuring that, that people will not be dropped. But we, you know, we certainly encourage people to, to, to come to the, we will accept walk-ins. But, but in addition, we encourage people to call in and we'll provide the number to you. You can post it on the, on the video so people can call in and make an appointment because that's the most efficient way of ensuring that you'll have, you'll be, you'll be, you'll, you'll have your meeting at the time you like. What about the people that lost their insurance a few months before this incident? Is there any, anything for them or people that didn't have insurance? Okay. So for the people who were dropped, that is a, that, that's a work in progress. And I think the insurance commissioner is doing a deep dive into that issue and seeing what we can do to assist those people on the insurance side. FEMA is, is there to take, to, to take over where, where insurance is not providing help, whether it's an uninsured person or an underinsured person. So that is the kind of the, the sister of, of, of last resort. And nearly everybody who has lost their home is going to, I encourage nearly everybody who lost their home, even if you had really good insurance to go to FEMA and file a claim there because they will provide some additional assistance beyond what your insurance covered. And certainly if you're uninsured, you should absolutely file a claim with, with, with, with FEMA. As I say, you can file it online. You can also go to the disaster recovery center at the old Westside pavilion on Pico Boulevard. And FEMA is there. They will be there for a week, maybe more. And you have to get your claim in within six, within 60 days after the disaster. We may end up pushing them to extend the deadline so people have more time. But right now, as right now, the rules are, you have to get your claim within 60 days. You can file it online. You can also do it in person. So if you have any challenges with FEMA, please come to the old Westside pavilion. It's a, I was there just the other day. Lots of people are there. They have lots of FEMA workers, agents that are there helping people get their claims in. The way FEMA works, there's an initial 750 or so bucks that they will give per person to folks who have been impacted by the fire. That is, it's a modest amount of money, but it's an important amount of money to just help people with the basics, you know, if you've lost everything. Beyond that, there is a process by which they will recompense you up to, I think, a little over $90,000 for items, both the inside materials in your house and the loss of your property. Again, it's usually way lower than the value of property. You are not going to be made whole, but it is still a substantial amount of money to help you with your recovery efforts. And that will, of course, be based on the level of your loss, the level of the extent to which you have other sources of support, whether it be insurance or other sources. But all that process, they will walk you through it, and if you want to have a real person that you can work with, please come down to the center on Pico Boulevard on the west side at the old Westside pavilion. Similarly, if you're on the east side, you can go to Pasadena City College, where a similar center has been established, and you can get all your questions answered from FEMA to get assistance. And Ben, a lot of people are wondering whether these communities would get rebuilt the way they were, and some of these were really under, some of these homes were underwater, and the Coastal Commission will oversee them. What are your thoughts? Well, you know, the governor has declared the suspension of some permitting requirements under the Coastal Act involving the Coastal Commission and CEQA. There's some details, I think, that are still yet to be worked out. You know, I think we want, and the mayor has made similar pronouncements about permitting reform and streamlining. We want people to be able to get in there and rebuild. Of course, we also want to make sure it's the people themselves. I mean, the reason why we want to streamline is to allow the folks who are actually, who've lost their properties to rebuild. I don't want to see this as some big giveaway to developers who will maybe dangle some price in front of a distressed person and then utilize the streamlining reform to put in place a property of their liking as opposed to the actual homeowner that we're trying to help. So that's one element of this that I think we've got to work out. In addition, I would hope that we rebuild in a way that learns the lessons of this terrible tragedy. We need to engage the most up-to-date information on fire science, on climate science, rebuild the community so as to make it much more fire resilient because we don't want to see this ever, ever, ever happen again. And that's a whole other part of this story, making sure that we rebuild in a fire-smart way. I'm also working on legislation for those properties that are deep in the mountains, that are within the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and very high fire risk zone, to also provide a mechanism for the state to buy some of those properties and provide some tax incentives for that sale, the state or some state-related agency, so that those properties can go to parkland and open space for the public if the seller wants to do that. And I want to provide a system that would incentivize that type of sale. Again, that wouldn't be for properties in the middle of the Palisades. That would be for properties that are adjacent to or within the current boundaries of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. So that would be another option for people who might want to go somewhere else. But the core of the Palisades, we definitely want to rebuild. That's a beautiful community. We want that community to rebuild and grow and thrive. It's an important part of Los Angeles. It's a dear and beloved part of Los Angeles. But we want to do so in a way, we want to rebuild in a way that better ensures that this will never happen again. How can our audience help you guys? What's the best way to help? I mean, certainly, we really appreciate all the donations that have come in. That's been great. Though I will say, so many donations have come in we really don't need anymore, at least of the physical donations, the clothing, that sort of thing. I mean, food continues to be an issue a little bit in some places. But please call ahead if you are looking to make a donation just to see if the place you're looking to donate to needs what you're donating. Because we've actually had too many things coming in. Lots of volunteers have been volunteering with SMC Cares and with the Red Cross and with those centers. The Red Cross is great. The Salvation Army. There's the World Food Kitchen. These are wonderful organizations. Quite frankly, they need money. Cash donations are meaningful because they allow them to focus on what is most needed. We also need professional support services, so lawyers, mental health practitioners. I know the British Federation, for example, is drawing up a database of mental health practitioners that have put their names forward to provide support for mental health services that people may need through the course of the fire. I'll give you one little story that, for me, I think illustrates what some of the needs might be. The obvious things are actually being taken care of, but it's good to go beyond the obvious and step in in a way where you can help that maybe someone else didn't think of helping. There was one synagogue, and I know this has happened with churches too, but I'm going to tell you this one story because I know it well. The rabbi at Sinai Temple in Westwood called up the rabbi at Kehillan Israel in the Palisades, who had literally lost his home, and said, hey, what can we do to help? The rabbi in the Palisades said, I'll call you back. Thank you so much. Thank you for calling. I'll call you back. Of course, he was in no place to even know what he needed at that moment. The temple in Westwood then called him back and said, you know what? We're going to take charge here. We're going to give you our sanctuary on Friday night, and you're going to do a Friday night service. We're going to do a toy drive for your kids and a clothing drive for families, and we're going to get you to bring food, and you're going to come. You're going to come and do it. They sent an email out, and 200 people from the synagogue in the Palisades showed up in the Westwood to be a part of this. I mean, probably at least 75% of those people, maybe more, had lost their homes or were evacuated, but they were around. They're crashing with friends in Santa Monica and Westwood and the Valley, and they were desperate to come together and find a place of healing. It was a beautiful evening. I went. I spoke. I got to hug a lot of people. It was just a beautiful evening that never would have happened had that other synagogue thought proactively about trying to make something meaningful happen for the other. The people who showed up that night, most of them are not going to be calling up asking for mental health support, but they heeded the call when they heard that this was happening, and they wanted to be there. They wanted to be with their community. Part of what's so shocking and terrible about what's happening is people have lost community. They've lost the coffee shop that they would go to every morning, or the Pilates studio, or the soccer team, or the folks that they practice basketball with at the rec center, or the people they have lunch with. All those kinds of wonderful community experiences that make a beautiful community like we had in the Palisades, that make all the communities that we know and love where we live are now gone, and they're now kind of spread out. This was a wonderful opportunity for community. I just bring this up as an example of people who were not affected by the fires thinking proactively about offering their space, offering what they had. If you're a church, or a union hall, or if you have an office, reach out to your counterparts who might have been impacted. Remember that even if you didn't lose your house or your business, anyone who's evacuated, their life is in absolute disarray right now. So reach out proactively. If you have a friend who lives in the area, offer them a place to stay. Maybe they're staying with some friends, but they don't want to overstay their welcome. One thing we found out at the recovery centers is that a lot of people show up about five days after the disaster because they kind of feel like they've overworn their welcome, couch surfing with their other friends, and so now they kind of feel badly. So even if they're staying somewhere, ask them, say, hey, you're always welcome at my place, so that they don't feel like they're a burden on the place where they're staying. If you have an office space, reach out to a counterpart. Those businesses in the area need help. We've heard that they're down to 20% of their level of business before the fire, and they need to stay afloat. We need them to stay afloat. But Palisades is an important part of LA's economy, and we need them to be successful and keep growing and doing well for us all to do well as a region, similarly with Pasadena and El Cedena, and similar with Malibu and some of the other impacted areas. So I guess I would just say, think proactively about ways that you can help people who've been impacted. Half of these folks, they're so bereft, they are dealing with their homes having burned down. They've lost their birth certificates, let alone, they're trying to just deal with maybe finding a new school for their kids and all these kinds of things. And the basics associated with their businesses are sometimes getting left behind, or their community, or the help that they need in other respects. So I just encourage you to think proactively about ways that you can help people you know work within the networks that you're part of to assist, because these people are going to need a lot of help going forward, given all that they've lost. We hope that your community recovers soon and fast, and it was great to have you on, California State Senator Ben Allen. Thank you. Thanks so much, everybody. Thank you for all the concern and support you're giving to our community at this time of need. Sasha, it's great to have you on. Welcome. Thank you. You're a state senator, and your community has been impacted by the Eaton fire. And Altadena, one of your neighborhoods, one of your cities, is actually impacted significantly. Can you tell us what happened? Well, we had the Eaton Canyon fire occur last Tuesday at 6.30 p.m. You know, unfortunately, it had pretty devastating impacts throughout my district. About 80% of Altadena has been impacted. We know parts of Pasadena, as well as Sierra Madre, there have been over 9,000 infrastructure units that have been impacted in Altadena alone. So this has been really devastating. We've never seen anything like this here in the San Gabriel Valley. And our community is really just trying to navigate through this. It has honestly just been a very, very difficult time for so many. But, you know, I'm here at a site where we have volunteers coming together. There's a donation drive going on. And it's been volunteers and community members like this that have really been keeping the community going and pulling together and helping each other. And what was it like to go see these sites? I imagine you got a chance to see the sites of Altadena. Yes, I have had an opportunity to go and assess the damage. On Wednesday, when I actually went to assess the damage, much of Altadena was still on fire. It was this bright and intense situation. We were at zero percent containment at that time. You know, since then, I've gone up to assess the damage and, you know, things have calmed down quite a bit. Containment is up, I think, you know, over 40 percent. So we are on the right pathway, you know, to getting this fire contained. You know, I think the real shock is, you know, that it's just wiped out entire neighborhoods, entire sections of streets. Almost all of the commercial corridor, you know, has really been wiped out in Altadena. So many families that have been impacted. And there's just a lot of work that has to be done to clean up that debris, to clean up this community and to start this process of rebuilding. And now some of the residents we have talked to, they are really desperate for having some sort of housing. They asked us even if they could get tiny homes in a parking lot, they would really want to be having a place to go to. They don't want to be going to different places like on people's couches and family members. Is there a pathway for them to get something? Well, right now, there's a couple of different things that we're working on. So first and foremost, for immediate housing needs, you know, Hilton just announced yesterday that they're going to be providing housing assistance. We're working on kind of what a more permanent program looks like. As you probably saw, the governor announced that 2.5 billion dollars was being invested to specifically assist those that have been impacted by the Eaton Canyon fire, the Palisades fire, and some of the other fires that have happened in the region. And part of that investment, I think, really needs to go towards figuring out temporary housing for folks, right? We have children, we have families, we don't want these kids to miss out on attending school. And so making sure that they're being placed somewhere that's nearby is really critical and crucial. And that is part of what we are going to be working on figuring out. So we're really excited and happy to see the governor make this such a priority. He's been really quick in his response. And this is a really big investment. We just need to make sure that those dollars are being utilized correctly and that we're taking into account that we have many Black and Brown working families that have lost absolutely everything, right? We have a historic Black community in Altadena. We have census tracts in Altadena that are 40 to 60 percent Spanish speaking. These folks are going to need specific resources to get back on their feet. And in terms of the schools that have been lost, is there a way for the kids to attend other schools? Are you guys expediting that? How does that work? Right now, the state has actually approved several executive orders to make it easier for these schools to rebuild. We know that we had about six schools that were impacted, many of which burnt down. I had an opportunity to check out Pasadena, Rosebud Academy, and the impacts to that campus were quite severe. The campus is no longer there. I mean, it is just completely been taken out. On top of the executive order being passed, we also passed a school bond. If you might remember, you know, this past election cycle in November, we can use some of the dollars that have been retained through that school bond towards rebuilding. There's going to be a lot of efforts here to make sure that we're not just investing money, but that we're really getting through the red tape so that bureaucracy is not holding up the process of getting these schools put back into place. You know, I've spoken directly with children and families. I met with Jennifer Siebel Newsom yesterday. We visited some of these children that have been impacted and, you know, they've shared with us, I just really want my school back. I really want to see my friends again. And so, you know, that is something that I'm keeping in mind. Giving these kids normalcy is something that's a really big priority to me. Now, Sasha, how can our audience help you guys? How can people help? Well, I think there's a number of ways that folks can assist. First and foremost, what's most critical is to give people direct cash aid. I know many folks have been looking at the GoFundMe's that are available online. If you're able to donate, that is a key place to donate. You know, I think families that have been impacted by this fire need as much as possible that kind of cash assistance. Other ways that you can help, you know, as I mentioned before, I'm here at the Pasadena Job Center right now. We have hundreds of volunteers that are assisting people with handing out donations. They have a donation drive-thru here. You have volunteers that are coming out to help with cleaning up debris, to help with cleaning up fallen trees, fallen branches that occurred during the winds. And there's many other donation drives that are happening at St. Philip, at the Santa Anita Racetrack. So there's really no shortage of opportunities to kind of get involved. But really, directly from families, they're seeing that cash assistance, donating to the GoFundMe's, that is the greatest need right now. Is there a lot of people in your community that lost their insurance? There are some in the community that are uninsured and there are some in the community that are also underinsured. So, you know, both of those situations are going to, you know, require both FEMA assistance and, you know, we're having active conversations too about how we ensure that we're making those families whole again. You just got elected. This is your first term and this is a major disaster. How does it feel for you to be in the middle of this? It's been a lot. You know, it has been quite intense. Although this has definitely been very difficult, this is also, you know, I believe in many ways what I was, you know, elected to do is to step up in times of crisis like this. And, you know, unfortunately, I'm no stranger to navigating crises like this. Before I was in this role as mayor of the city of Althambra, I was elected during the pandemic. You know, we had the Monterey Park mass shooting and had to navigate with our community through that and now navigating this disaster. And so it has definitely been challenging. It's been very hard. But, you know, at the same time, I know that I have to stay focused, that I have to gather as much information as possible and just make sure that I'm getting that out to my residents and my constituents. You know, people want to know how to get help. And that's what, you know, I see my job is, is to make sure that I'm getting that help directly to them. You know, one of the things that I think is really important to highlight is I think often what's been a misconception is that, you know, these were fires that just impacted, you know, celebrities. I know that that's a lot of what's made headlines lately. And I really want to emphasize that there were many communities that were impacted, whether it's renters, whether it's black and brown communities, you know, folks that lost absolutely everything. And, you know, those folks are going to need specific assistance and specific aid in order to work their way out of this situation. And I want people to keep that in mind. I know Los Angeles can sometimes get this reputation that it's a city of celebrities and when reality is working class people that are really making the city run. And that are, these are the folks that, that lost their homes. So it is everyone from renters, from undocumented folks, you know, to black families that have been in Altadena for three, four, five generations. And those are the people that, you know, I want to make sure that we're centering in the conversation and we're helping. And what's the best way for people to get help? Should they contact you guys, your office? Yes. You know, you can reach out directly to my office at our official website. I believe it's sd25.ca.gov. You can go ahead and head to our website there. If you type in my name, our website will go ahead and populate. We have a whole resource page with those people that have been impacted by the Eaton fires, where they can get help, where they can receive direct relief and assistance. So you can also call my office directly as well. We're here to help and serve. And we're going to continue to do that. I mean, this is not just something that we are going to resolve overnight. You know, we're here for the long haul and I don't want any of our constituents to think that they're going to have to navigate this alone. We're going to be there with them every single step of the way. We hope that your community recovers fast. California State Senator Sasha Prez, it was great to have you on California Insider. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me, Sam. Jackie, it's great to have you on. Welcome. Oh, thank you so much for having me. Your area has been significantly impacted by the fires. Can you tell us what's going on right now? The Palisades fire is completely in my district and there has been total devastation there. It is very, very sad. We also had the Kenneth fire a couple of days after the Palisades fire started. And thank God there were a lot of assets in place and they were able to put that fire out. It was going on the path of the Woolsey fire, which was a number of years ago and was obviously a very destructive fire, also completely in my district. So if there's a fire, it's often in the district that I represent. You can't imagine, it's completely, it's like a bomb hit most of Palisades. I would say I've been representing Palisades for the last two years. I've been in the legislature for 10 years, but we had redistricting a couple of years ago. And I would say 80% of the people that I have met have lost their homes. People have no idea about the scale of destruction in the Palisades. So, you know, a lot of my constituents are in shock. Even the ones that still have homes cannot get in and they're very concerned about moving. It's going to be a while before that area is safe enough even to enter. But, you know, if you didn't lose your home, you did lose your neighborhood, you lost your community. The downtown area, there's not much left standing there. We had a satellite office there and that was destroyed in the fire too. So it's really going to take a tremendous effort to rebuild this community. And we really are trying to listen to as much as we can to the community members to make sure they are getting what they need at this point. Is the insurance covering a lot of this or does the public have to commit a lot more? I mean, some of these buildings that were destroyed might not have been insured, right? Yeah, and I think a lot of that remains to be seen. We have not seen a disaster of this magnitude, I believe, in the United States. I've heard numbers up to $100 billion. So it's a difficult question to answer right now. The insurance companies that I have been in communication with have set up offices so people can start with their claims. They've been very responsive. But we really have to look at, you know, a fair number of these folks were on the plan. A lot of unknowns. It's very hard to grapple with the magnitude of destruction and the cost of rebuilding. So we really need to look at it one step at a time. And Jackie, how's the state going to help you guys rebuild? What's the plan for rebuilding? Are you guys thinking about that at this moment or are you still thinking about the fire? Well, I think with the red flag warnings that we have both in this area and obviously the Palisades fire, I don't even think it's 20% contained yet. So I'm really focusing on what are the short-term needs of residents. We have helped in the shelters there. A lot of folks had no place to go. And I think that that's the biggest thing, getting people settled in at least temporary housing. And then, you know, then you take it one step at a time, like I said, you know, starting with the process of insurance. I think the biggest thing that we are pushing for right now is to get the state to commit quickly to do debris removal or to pay for the debris removal. So that would be the first step along the way for residents to start recovery. And then we have to look at how fast can people rebuild? That's going to be a big issue. And the role that the state can play is making sure that we have for, you know, streamlining for the residents that are here, making sure local government doesn't step in the way and permits don't take five years. And that's going to be a big focus of mine. And then looking at the forbearance or things like that. But with a fire of this magnitude, local government will not be able to pay for it. The state certainly doesn't have the resources. So we are really going to be leaning heavily on on FEMA and the federal government. I met President Biden last week. And he was certainly he saw the devastation and committed the federal government fully to support the victims and the rebuilding effort. And you mentioned the debris, how long does it take to remove that? I'm not sure about the timeline, but it's very tricky because you first have to have residents be able to sift through and find what type of remains there are of their, you know, their belongings, maybe pictures, there's there's always a chance that they can find something that is meaningful for them. And after after that step, it's there's a lot of toxic materials when you are burning plastics, when batteries burn, there are toxins. And so it's a debris, debris removal has to be done by professionals. For the Thomas fire, the residents were very happy with the work that it was the California Department Cal Recycle did, and they were fairly quick in in getting that removed. Obviously, it's a huge job, the amount of debris that's out there is, is unfathomable with all these homes that have fallen. But it was something that was done quickly. And and both me and john Caribbean, who represents the area that the Eaton fire are working together to try to bring as much certainty to the residents as possible. And in terms of the help, we have talked to some volunteers that have mobilized themselves to help out with getting people hotel rooms, and some are collecting supplies, Huntington Beach and bringing them to LA. How much help have you guys gotten from the the residents of LA and surrounding areas and the rest of the country? Oh, it's it's the the generosity has been just extraordinary. And and everybody wants to help. You know, it is sort of difficult to find what is it that people need exactly at this point. Certainly, the shelters, they have stopped in many cases have said we can't take any more food because we have so much food and no more clothing. I it's just people are incredibly generous. But you know, we really need to understand this is a long term effort. And in this case, a lot of the victims don't know yet what it is exactly that they need beyond their their short term needs. And right now that's housing, which is, is very difficult in LA. And, and then you even add the complexity of if you were renting your home, and you know, had no renters insurance. So there is, right now there is FEMA assistance, a lot of the insurance companies are stepping up and giving out money. What I really think is most helpful at this point, when people want to be generous is to donate to organizations that are going to be giving just pure direct support to victims of the fire. And that's like some of the community foundations, I think California Community Foundation, there are the fund me sites, we just got an email that that they are being very careful with who is putting up their requests for support. I, so I would urge anybody that wants to help to look at supporting some of the groups that are on the ground financially, but really do your research, because this is also a time that the scamsters come out and try to take advantage of this disaster. And, and I would urge the victims to start to look at these nonprofits that are collecting money and see if they can get some support. What do you recommend to the victims right now? I think it's very important to just hold on to all the receipts of everything they're spending, because insurance in many cases will be reimbursing. And look at, for instance, my website has all the information, we are updating it every day, we're getting a lot of information out from everything that's happening, and we're trying to consolidate it on our website. So there's information, for instance, about how to file a claim with FEMA, and what type of resource resources are available. There's also two new resource centers open, and both of those are on our website. And they will have all different organizations that might be helpful about rebuilding and, and, you know, dealing with the insurance commissioner if your, your insurance company is, is not fulfilling its obligations. But there's, I think there's 20 different organizations that are going to be at these resource centers, I would really urge them to go by there, see what the resources are that are available, but look out to for the fires that are potentially coming up, stay safe. And, again, trying to find housing. The other thing I would say is that if it looks that like, the landlords have jacked up the rents, report that to the AG, the price gouging is just really horrific. People that are doing that are really taking advantage of victims that they're most vulnerable. So we encourage you to file a claim with the AG. We've also said, if you don't want to go through the AG, we will file a claim for you. So just reach out to our office, give the information, because we really want this, that behavior to, to stop. These people need to find housing, need to see what the resources are that are available. And, and, you know, frankly, the most difficult right now is for families that have children. And the schools and my, we've had schools burned down. Pally High is, is not open. We've lost elementary schools. The, it's the same situation in the Eaton fire. And trying to find a place where the kids can go to school is, is really, it's, you know, urgent and short term. And, and I, I, just my heart breaks for those families also. Is there a solution for that to find where they can go to school? Can they go to the neighboring areas? There is. It just takes a little research. We, we were just, you know, the school district that they are supposed to be in has to let them go. And plenty of schools are, are opening, you know, welcoming kids with open arms. But it does take a few phone calls to make sure that you can get the permission to leave the school district that you're in. So you don't have to pass any laws. It can just happen. No, I, right now it doesn't look like there have to be laws passed for public schools. We have heard that potentially for charter schools that, that there might be some difficulties. So we'll be looking at, we'll be looking at any laws that have to be passed in the short term. There was, the governor did issue an executive order. We have to take a look at, on education and we have to take a look at does that solve all the issues that families are looking at. But I think that, you know, kids a few years ago already went through COVID. We don't want them to be out of school for a long period of time. We want to get people settled as quickly as possible. And then we want to help as much as we can from a state perspective with getting their houses rebuilt. And especially people that have lost their homes, that might be very traumatizing the kids. Do you have any thoughts from Californians after, in the aftermath of this disaster? What we're seeing is more and more extreme weather. And these winds that I experienced last week were the worst I've ever seen. I've been in my home for 28 years. Never, the winds have never blown that hard. We haven't had rain for a very long time. So we're seeing more and more extreme weather events and, and we need to be more resilient. This weekend I cut, I shouldn't say I did, we hired someone to remove three trees that were close to the house. I removed another two, a few weeks before. We're looking at how do we harden our home, because we have high fire zones, risk zones, all through, especially the coastal areas. And if we're going to have folks living in these homes, I think we don't want, we know that we have to be really careful with where we build, but for everybody else, you need to do everything you can to maintain defensible space and make sure that your vents are appropriately covered. And you have to look at the type of plants that you're putting around your house. And as you drive through the fire, you definitely see that at least some of the homes that were left standing had done some home hardening. Now, some of them, it was rather random, but I think when you talk about home hardening, you are just bettering your odds of surviving this. Californians are strong, Angelenos, Venturians, we have been through an incredible amount. If we just all stay together, don't let these things get partisan, support our neighbors, support these nonprofits, call up folks that you know are in the area. Pretty much everybody I'm calling that is from the Palisades area, they have lost their home and we need to just have incredible passion for what they're going through. But we are resilient and we will do what we can to make sure that those communities that have been so terribly impacted are rebuilt. We hope your community soon comes back. Assemblymember Jackie Irwin, it was great to have you on California Insider. Thank you so much for having me.