01/13/25

Good morning! It’s Monday, January 13th.

Make Your Dream Come True Day

Just like that.

Hey, I’ll tell you something – it’s a dream, in fact, just to be here with you.

Yuck. Sorry. I wanted to start the year so strong and then I just… ruined it.

More than three years of this show and nothing’s changed.

And now, the news.

LA Fires

-via Twitter, CBS News, AP News, LA Times,

The story of the day is, of course, the fires in Los Angeles. For those that don’t know, I’ve lived in LA for fifteen years. Yes, I was just six years old when I moved here if you can believe it.

No no. I was twenty-five. I moved here, like many people do, for a wild dream. And LA’s hard, you know. And so there was one particularly hard night, I’d worked four days on a pilot before it shut down (my very first job), and then was having trouble finding a job. And it just sort of felt like… okay I tried LA and maybe it’s not for me.

And so my friend Carly took me out to the Mulholland Overlook and said, basically, this is your city. You can’t leave. This is yours.

And I tell that story because it means a lot to me, and this is my show, but also… I’m not the only one that feels this way. Everyone has a story like that.

LA is a million things. It’s a city that belongs to all of us individually and collectively. It, itself, is an impossible dream.

But, as a boss once told me – nightmares can be dreams too.

On January 2nd, the National Weather Service warned of strong Santa Ana winds and extreme fire conditions.

On Monday the 6th, those warnings were escalated as the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services repositioned equipment in preparation of those extreme conditions, while the National Weather Service upgraded their warning to a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” which, looking back… seems a little too mild.

Because suddenly it was Tuesday.

Around 10:30 AM came the first signs of the Palisades fire.

That same day, just after 6:15 PM, the Eaton fire started.

While there have been other fires here and there, including the Hurst Fire (831 acres), Kenneth Fire (960 acres), Woodley Fire (30 acres), and the Sunset Fire (43 acres), but the Eaton and Palisades Fires are the two big ones. And they’re huge. As I record this on Sunday evening, the Palisades Fire is just about 24,000 acres and only 11% contained. The Eaton Fire is just over 14,000 acres and is 27% contained.

For reference, Manhattan is 14,600 acres.

So far, sixteen people have died, but authorities expect that number to grow as these areas are able to open up to inspection. More than 12,000 structures have been destroyed. More than 130,000 people are under evacuation notice and another 450,000 customers are without power.

The fires were fed by the Santa Ana winds, which caused gusts up to 50 and 75 MPH. That’s the same speed as a cat 1 hurricane. Hurricane speed winds spitting fire around the city. That’s what we’ve been dealing with.

For those who aren’t familiar with the area, the Palisades fire started in the Pacific Palisades area of LA. It’s coastal, just north of Santa Monica and east of Malibu.

The Eaton fire is in the North-East area of LA, a little north of Pasadena. It includes the city Altadena.

Historical cities just… gone. Altadena was California’s first middle-class neighborhood for Black Americans who were otherwise unable to buy property because of racist redlining policies. Their history, their vibe, their food… It’s just one of those neighborhoods you go to and think “dang, this place is so cool.” It’s so cool, I’m only allowed to visit.

The aerial footage of the Palisades and Altadena is just unreal. It looks like a warzone, I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s just heartbreaking.

And when something’s heartbreaking, there’s one thing you can count on to make it worse… President-Elect Trump has already called the handling of the fires “incompetent,” reviving Governor Newsom’s “Newscum” nickname and saying that the reason the fire hydrants ran out of water (oh, did I tell you that part? Yeah, for a quick bit we ran out of water) was because Gav’s wanted to save the smelt fish.

That’s… a lie. You’ll be shocked to hear that, I know. But yeah, Trump is famously not a fire fighter, nor is he a curious man.

Fire hydrants ran out because there were just too many fires at once. Los Angeles doesn’t have any water.

The last time it rained in LA was May 5th, when we got a whopping .13”.

This is our rainy season!

I was sweating on December 19th. Oh Kim, you’re always sweating. I know! I’m a sweating kid and also I’m always nervous! But in this particular time… I was sweating because it was hot. In December!

As I said, fires are still burning as I record this. The California National Guard has been deployed. Firefighters from nine other states, as well as Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and the Klamath Tribes of Oregon have come to assist firefighters working around the clock, sleeping on the ground or in their truck, in quick spurts between the grueling work of saving our lives.

More wind is expected through Wednesday, and as we’ve already seen – we know what that bring can bring, but we don’t know what it will look like.

And look - of course we will rebuild.

We are a city that is constantly rebuilding. We are a city that tells you that if you can just get here, if you can just stick it out, you can be anything you want.

We are an impossible city - a melting pot of people, religion, and regions. LA County has at least 572 neighborhoods, including 88 cities, 187 unincorporated areas, at least 234 self-designated neighborhoods, and 29 historic districts.

We are constantly inventing ourselves, and then inventing for the world. Culture. Food, music, movies. It starts here.

So of course we will rebuild.

We are impossibly resilient.

But right now, in the moment - rebuilding feels a million miles away. I don’t even know what this place we love will look like when this episode airs in 12 hours.

And so now all we can do is give where and what can, I’ll have links in my bio about where you can donate; and love and support in much much higher measures.

Everyone once in a while, people ask if I’ll always live in LA, and you know what? Who knows. There may be temporary changes, but I’m always a little insulted by the question. LA is my city. Just like it is the city of everyone else who lives there. I love LA. It will always be my home and home base.

As I often am, I was thinking about a Mandy Moore song. This time in particular the song is Tryin My Best Los Angeles. And I won’t torture you by harmonizing, but here are a few choice lyrics:

More than I imagined // More than I was asking for // Anything can happen // In a city of open doors // Laughing and crying // Either way, you know I'm yours // There's so much left to do

I’m going to put links to places where you can volunteer or donate in show notes. Time, money, or influence - everything helps.

Because when the flames die down and the smoke clears, Los Angeles will do what it’s always done.

It will continue.

There’s so much left to do.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I mean, that’s not all of the news but that’s just this episode. If you’re new here, I usually do more than one story an episode but, you know… this is my show. I live in LA. So sue me (jkjk don’t sue me! Waste of both of our times, frankly.)

I’m proud of the Watch Duty app. It’s a nonprofit and it’s the app we’ve all been using to track the fires. It’s been incredibly helpful and they should never have to worry about funding again.

And I’m proud of LA. I’m proud of this city, (county, technically) and the people in it. Except the bozos who went on Fox News to try and spread conspiracy theories. But everyone else… LA, you magnificent beaut. I’m proud to be a part of it all. Proud to be tryin my best.

And because you are also trying your best, and because your best is the actual best… I’m proud of you.