"The Only Thing Precious Is Life." The LA Wildfires - And The Importance Of Having A Plan Now For An Emergency
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Welcome to The Politocrat. I'm Omar Moore. It is Wednesday, January the 8th, 2025. On this edition of The Politocrat, lives lost and memories up in flames. The wildfires that have affected Los Angeles County and have wrecked lives across the city, the county, and Southern California and beyond. All of that

Coming up next.

natural disasters and human tragedies are unfolding. And one of those places is in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, about 400 miles south of here. And

And what you're hearing about and what you obviously know by now, if you have paid any attention to any news whatsoever, is that there are some major fires that are burning in Los Angeles right now in the county, in the city, and lives have been lost. And you'll hear a press conference that took place this morning saying,

And there were a number of people who spoke at that press conference. I will play one of those speakers, the L.A. County Fire Chief Anthony Maroney, who will be briefing about that. But from what we know so far is that there are, as of this recording, four major fires in Los Angeles. They have been sparked by the wind. So wildfires have been sparked by brush that's been

dried out for so long and the winds which are gusting anywhere from 80 miles an hour to 100 mile an hour plus have been the major reason

while we have what we have now. The winds have been sending the embers into the sky and drifting them all over the place. And those embers, which have obviously flame and fire in them, are the things that then set fire to other houses and other structures. And so you've had a really nightmarish situation in that part of Los Angeles. And before I say anything more, I think it would just be helpful for those of you who may know someone in this area,

who happen to be listening to this, if you know someone in the area, you might want to listen to what I'm about to play now. This was from around, I guess, 8 o'clock Pacific time this morning. This particular...

press conference, at least the first speaker, began just after 8 o'clock a.m. Pacific time here in the U.S. And this is what he had to say. This you will be hearing now from Anthony Maroney. He is the Los Angeles County Fire Chief. Here is his assessment of the fires, two of the fires, one of them in Pacific Palisades, which is in Los Angeles County, as of course,

is the other fire he's going to talk about which is the Eaton fire E-A-T-O-N the Eaton fire both of these fires are fires that he is going to be briefing on and you'll hear from him right now so good morning thank you supervisor Barger my name is Anthony Moroney I'm I am the county of Los Angeles fire chief and I'm also the region one coordinator for fire and rescue resources

I'm going to be giving an update on the Palisades Fire in addition to the Eaton Fire, although I am aware that we have four large fires burning in LA County at this time. The Palisades Fire is located in both LA City and LA County. We are in unified command with the City of Los Angeles Fire Department in addition to CAL Fire.

We have well over 5,000 acres that have burned and the fire is growing. We have no percentage of containment. We have an estimated 1,000 structures destroyed and also no reported fatalities and a high number of significant injuries to residents who did not evacuate in addition to first responders who are on the fire line.

We have over 1,000 personnel assigned and the cause of the fire is unknown. However, it is under investigation. For the Eaton Fire, it is located in both the Angeles National Forest, the Altadena area of LA County, and Pasadena. LA County is in unified command with both the Angeles National Forest and the Pasadena Fire Department

We have over 2,000 acres burning at this time and the fire continues to grow with 0% containment. We have over 500 personnel assigned and unfortunately we have two reported fatalities to civilians. Unknown cause at this time and we do have a number of significant injuries. We have over 100 structures destroyed

and the cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation. I will ask that LA City Fire Chief Kristen Crowley update you on the Hearst fire after I am finished with my remarks.

The LA County Fire Department operational area consists of 29 separate fire departments in LA County and all of those fire departments are at drawdown with no fire apparatus or additional personnel to spare. As the Region 1 Coordinator, I have requested mutual aid

from the five counties of Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Additionally, last night I contacted the State Office of Emergency Services and requested 50 engine strike teams

50 engine strike teams is composed of 250 fire engines and over 1,000 personnel. We have also requested resources from out of state as well as Northern California. Thank you to the first responders from Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State that are already on the road coming to LA County to assist.

Lastly, the National Weather Service has predicted a continued red flag weather event with strong winds and low humidities, placing all residents of Los Angeles County in danger. To all of our viewers, please prioritize your safety as well as the well-being of those around you as we come together

to continue to get through this widespread disaster. Los Angeles County firefighters will remain on the front line until we reach full containment.

And we ask that you keep all of Los Angeles County in your thoughts and prayers. Well, there you heard the LA County Fire Chief Anthony Moroney speaking this morning about the updates on the status of the Pacific Palisades wildfire, as well as the Eaton wildfire.

Those are two of the at least four major fires that are going on in and around Los Angeles and in and around the county of Los Angeles, inside the county of Los Angeles. And as you heard there, Pacific Palisades, this time, at least 5,000 acres, as of around 8 o'clock this morning, at least 5,000 acres have been burned in Pacific Palisades alone.

with at least 1,000 structures completely destroyed by fire. And as you heard the fire chief of L.A. County say, there are a high number of significant injuries to residents who refused to evacuate. I'll talk about that in a moment. Plus injuries to first responders as well. And in the Eaton fire,

in a different part of Los Angeles County, there were two people who were killed, two fatalities. That is the first news that we've had of any fatality, any loss of human life. Two people have lost their lives in the Eaton Fire. And that one is more toward the Angles County, that area into the forest area there. But that Eaton Fire,

has come all the way down into places like Pasadena. And if you know anything about Los Angeles, Pasadena, home to the Rose bowl, um, and all these other things, um,

They've hosted Super Bowls there in Pasadena. But look, it's not about the Super Bowls. It's about the people's lives. And 2,000 acres have been burnt to the ground. 1,000... 2,000 acres have been burnt. 1,000 structures burned. Excuse me, 100 structures in Eton. The Eton Fire burned to the ground. And so two people's lives have been taken in this fire in Eton. The Eton Fire, as it's being called. So...

Very, very sad news. Very, very sad indeed. Look, I know that natural disasters, things like this happen across the world. And I know someone might be thinking, well, you know, you don't talk about these fires when they happen on the African continent, when they happen, say, in India, when they happen in South America, when they happen somewhere in Europe, when they happen somewhere in Australia. And yeah, I know that. Yeah.

Remember in Australia, they had these major fires about 10 or 12 years ago that absolutely destroyed so many parts of Australia. In fact, the prime minister at the prime minister at the time was taking a vacation in Hawaii as those fires were going on. And he took a major hit for that, rightfully so. I forget the name of the prime minister at the time who did that. So I don't want to even say his name because I don't want to get it wrong. But the bottom line is, is that

Yeah, I know. I think that it's human nature. I'm not defending it. I'm not justifying it. I'm only just explaining that it's human nature to be concerned with what's around you and what's immediately around you. And that's an issue. We need to be a bit more broad-minded and a bit more elastic in our thinking, in our understanding, in our comprehension. And even though Los Angeles is not near where San Francisco is, it's 400 miles south, as I've said,

you know, it is in the same state. Um, it is, uh, you know, it's part of the state. And, um, besides all of that, I actually know somebody who lost their home in the Pacific Palisades. So yeah, I think this is a bit more personal for me. Um, having, you know, you know, having known someone and know someone who lost their home in this fire and, um,

Devastating, devastating indeed. You have no idea if you've not experienced losing your home, what that's like, you know? And I know someone directly who has and been in contact with that person as well. It's very, very difficult. It's a very, very difficult situation. I was told that the whole block was destroyed. The whole street, the whole block was destroyed. So there was no chance

that any structure that was on that block would survive. And that included the person who I know who lost their home. So yeah, this is obviously very difficult. And for people anywhere who've ever lost a home, no matter where you are on the planet, it's a very, very sad thing. But the most important thing is that your life is intact. For those of you who were, you know,

not evacuating you know you know there are people who lost their lives in this fire in these fires in the Eaton fire at least two fatalities and I hate to say this but I would imagine they're going to be more people who are going to be reported dead in these fires as firefighters are able to get closer and get into these structures once they have uh

finally burned out. You heard it from the fire chief of LA County, Chief Anthony Maroney, that there's no containment at all. These fires are still very new.

And there's zero containment. And so that means that these things are burning and burning and burning. And there are firefighters all over the place trying to fight them. And as for the person I know who has lost their home, I was told by that person directly that there were no fire trucks sent to that area in the Pacific Palisades. No fire trucks whatsoever. And so obviously people are upset and angry about that.

as is the person who I know who lost their home. It's completely understandable. And it heightens your anger and upset heighten when you realize that if you look at KTLA Channel 5 in Southern California, in Los Angeles, you see these live shots of lots of fire trucks in one neighborhood parked on the side in one neighborhood. Literally, I saw this last night, a dozen fire trucks in one neighborhood parked

And they're all lined up, they're parked there, and they're doing what they have to do, those firefighters, to stem the tide of these really vicious fires that have been swept by these hurricane force winds. You know, 100 mile an hour plus gusts.

I mean, this is not something that the Southern California area has seen for a long time. Santa Ana winds at 100 mile an hour, plus the gusts and all the rest of it. This is obviously a factor of climate change with these winds being as ferocious as they are. Winds like this have not been experienced in at least 20 to 25 years in some cases, according to some of the meteorologists that I've been listening to on KTLA Channel 5.

Down there in Los Angeles. So and no one mentions climate change, not once, not once. And so, you know, that's a major factor here for why these fires have been as severe as they've been, because it's really what happens. What ends up burning these structures is the embers that get blown.

from place to place. And so maybe one side of the street doesn't have a house damaged, but then the gust of wind catches the embers from the other side of the street for those houses that have been damaged by fire. And boom, all of a sudden, the house that had not been damaged is now covered in flame in seconds. That's how scary and frightening and devastating this is. The speed at which these houses catch fire, the speed at which this fire travels, and then the wind, when you've got...

50, 60, 80, 100 mile an hour winds sweeping through. There is no chance and the wind just goes anywhere. Obviously, there's not in one particular place. It's blowing all over. The wind shifts from west to east. These things happen in an instant. You have some houses that are burnt to the ground. You have some houses right next door who were intact and you have that survivor's guilt. So it's a very, very difficult situation all around. The fact that there would be...

a dozen fire trucks in one area and then none, uh, in the neighborhood where the person I know was. And that whole neighborhood, that whole block in that neighborhood, at least was burnt to the ground, um,

grocery stores that would be frequented burnt to the ground people's lives intact which is the most important thing the memories are intact but the memories in the home are gone in terms of the home itself the symbol of those memories are gone and so that's the thing that's very painful but for goodness sakes to go to the thing i wanted to really talk about the evacuations uh

I'm glad that the vast majority of people in these areas in Los Angeles County, in greater Los Angeles, I'm glad that they absolutely evacuated. I am very happy about that. But there are a few people who didn't. And we see this with hurricanes. We see this with tornadoes. We see this with floods. People not evacuating. Some people wanting to stay to think that they can do something to protect their home. And they end up getting killed. Some of them, some of them are very fortunate.

But I really do think that people have to start reordering their priorities, however tempting it is to want to stay behind to try to save your home. Remember, you are not a firefighter, you are not a professional firefighter, you're not someone who's trained in dealing with fire, you don't have any strategy to deal with fire, you don't have any strategy in that. And

Fires travel really quickly. They spread. Wildfire, brush fire. These winds are not rinky-dink winds. These are 100 mile per hour gusts. 80 to 100 mile an hour gusts. 100 mile an hour gusts. You do not want to play hero in these situations. You know, there have been some news items I saw with people saying, oh, I'm staying behind. I've stayed here. I'm watering my house. You know, all it takes is for some embers to

to get blown in the direction of your home and your house, and that house is aflame in seconds, and you're in trouble, and then you can't get out of there. You can't get away. You can't get out. The smoke is what kills more than the fire because if you've got this pitch black smoke, the smoke inhalation, white smoke, black smoke, whatever color smoke it is, that kills. The smoke inhalation, that's what kills you in these fires.

you know, and the winds and all that stuff. It's not something to try to play hero with. And there's going to be a few foolish people because that's what I would call them. Foolish people who want to play hero. Let me save my house. Believe me, you can always get another house. What you cannot get is another life.

Authorities say that two people have died in the fire, though they did not reveal the circumstances surrounding those deaths. They did say they were civilians. There are also a number of significant injuries that have been reported from these fires. The Eaton Fire is more than 2,200 acres in size. There is no containment. About 100 structures have been destroyed, and 28,000 more are being threatened this morning. We spoke to one couple a few hours ago who watched as their home and cars burned.

It's a very sad situation in Los Angeles and a state of emergency has been declared.

We've also had statements from a number of officials beyond the LA County Fire Chief. We had statements yesterday from Governor Newsom, the California governor, who is expected, by the way, to run for president in 2028 if there's going to be a presidential election in that year. We also, of course, have heard from a number of other public officials. In fact, yesterday,

a public figure, an actor, Steve Guttenberg. If you remember him from back in the day, he was in the Police Academy films. He was in the Cocoon movie that he was in, and he was in another one or two other movies that escaped me at the minute. But he was live on television on KTLA Channel 5 down there in Los Angeles talking about people who were leaving their cars in the middle of the road and just evacuating but without...

Leaving their keys in their cars

Because everyone was either panicking or they just felt that maybe their keys would magically open their cars from miles away. I don't know what they were thinking, but Steve Guttenberg was really on TV stressing the importance of leaving your keys in your car so that people can actually move your cars out of the way and allow for the fire personnel to try to do what they have to do, save lives and save structures. And so...

Steve Guttenberg spent a lot of time on TV there yesterday talking about that on KTLA in Channel 5 down there in Los Angeles. And he was stressing to people, you know, for heaven's sakes, making a plea. Please, if you're going to leave your car, leave your keys in it so that people like me, that's what he said, people like me can help move your car. Because he was trying to do that. He was moving cars for the people who left their keys in there. But most people didn't leave their keys in their cars. So you ended up having bulldozers coming in.

And the bulldozers had to come in and move these cars out of the road so that there would be access for the fire trucks to get in and save the structures and save lives. I mean, it was just absolutely ridiculous. Your car's going to get damaged anyway, whether you leave it there,

because you know you're leaving it there and or you know because you just haven't you're just panicking or whether you you know leave the darn thing there uh and you don't leave a key in it at least you give yourself your car a chance but people think that you know i don't know what they think in these situations um but it's just absolutely insane to what are you going to do with your keys

You think someone's going to steal your car? There's nowhere to go. There's a million. There were a million people on the road. There, yes. And there's tons of people on the roads trying to get out of that area of Los Angeles. How are you leaving your cars and not leaving your keys in them? It's just crazy. So, look, I don't understand it. I've never been in a situation directly like that. Look, there was a tsunami warning here in San Francisco a month ago. And so...

That situation was the closest I've been to in this state of California, having to evacuate because they did evacuate. But that's a different story than when you've got places burning and wildfires. That's a very different story from this that we've got in Los Angeles right now. But people have to start to take leave of their senses. And some people, put it this way, not take leave. People have to try to regain some sense rather.

But a lot of people have taken leave of their senses completely. And I think a lot of it is because it's this idea, well, this could never happen here. This kind of false sense of comfort and security. You've got this big, expensive home and nothing will happen here. And, you know, it does. It happens anywhere. You know, this can happen anywhere. You know, so we have earthquakes here in California, earthquakes across the world. You know, in New York, we've had earthquakes here.

You know, you've had earthquakes across the globe. You know, we've got this climate situation and climate change, which has been a real problem. And you see how it's really begun to affect the situation. Of course, no one mentions climate change. All the coverage I've watched on local station KTLA 5, not one person has mentioned climate change. Those two magic words.

that account for why these winds are so vicious. That's because of climate change, folks. But let's not pretend, let's pretend that that doesn't exist. I mean, that's played a major role in these fires, this wind, the wind being so gusty as it is, you know, but the bottom line is, is that, you know, it's a terrible situation. People really need to

really assess what they're doing in these situations with cars being left where they are with no keys in them you've actually made your property even harder to get to you've made people whose lives are in the bounce who may not be so easily evacuated because they have disabilities or they may be under distress or they may be elderly you've made it very hard for them when you block these roads and don't have keys in your cars so that people can drive them out of the way

And, you know, we'll see what happens. You know, I think the key thing here is to have a plan. Have a plan. If you wherever you are on the globe, for God's sakes.

I don't care where you are in the world. Forget just Los Angeles or California at large. Wherever you are on this planet, have a plan in advance as to what you're going to do in the event of some kind of national disaster or a natural disaster or a national emergency. You know, whatever it is, your local area, whatever it is, you need to have a plan.

And in fact, you should have a drill for that plan. In fact, you should spend half an hour today, whenever you're listening to this, thinking up a plan and executing that plan as to what belongings you're going to be taking with you, who you're going to be communicating with, write that stuff down and have a conversation with your loved ones. Because maybe your cell phone won't work because the cell towers might be out because everybody's using them at the same time.

Have a plan as to what you're going to do in the event of an emergency. Please do not wait for the emergency to happen before you're sitting there scrambling and panicking. Have a plan now, wherever you are listening to this across the globe. Have a plan now. The emergency may never happen in your lifetime, may never happen. But at least if it does happen, you are already prepared.

Pack things now. I'm telling you, I would pack some personal belongings and items now. I really would. Even if you've not had a sniff of a disaster or an emergency. Why? Because if something happens, you can already put your hand on a bag, your hand on some kind of area where you can just grab your belongings and go.

Believe me, your passport, your birth certificate or whatever. I mean, whatever it is, your IDs, whatever.

Your ATM cards, your credit cards, whatever it is, you need to be able to locate those, put them in a safe place and know exactly where they are so that if something happens, boom, you can put your hands on those and you can go. Your photographs, some of the photographs that you got, maybe a book or two, maybe a CD or a vinyl or two, grab them. You can't grab them all.

you know, but you've got to think about these kinds of things because you never ever know what can happen. You never know. You never ever, ever know. And so it's just critical to be aware of that. Just think of some belongings, a few things, some clothes, some perishable items, you know,

non-perishable hours, like you can have a can of something, a can of soup, a carton of oatmeal, or a carton of whatever it is. You've got to be able to think like that in these scenarios, in these situations. Because again, make sure you have a battery-powered radio with you, a flashlight,

You know, believe me, these things can really help aid you and save lives. If you're going to grab a laptop, grab a laptop. But for goodness sakes, man, have a plan now. Diagram a plan out. Write down a list of things that you're going to take. Be able to locate where those things are and be able to know that if, for God forbid, some emergency happens, you can put your hands on these things and you can go. Five minutes and go and you're out.

You know, your family, have a plan, you know, so that you all know what you're doing. You all know what the drill is and you go. You need to practice that. You need to practice that. I'm telling you, we are way too complacent in this world as human beings, especially in the United States. Oh my God. Oh my God. We are so comfortable and so isolated and in such a bubble from the rest of the world. I think that's a major problem of us. We are so, so insular and this technology does not help.

This technology makes it a lot worse. This AI stuff, I know some people love it and it may have its benefits here and there, but I think it's a horrible thing. We saw what happened in that horror in Las Vegas a week or so ago where someone, it's been revealed now by the authorities, used AI to do what he did, you know, to blow himself up.

in this Cybertruck and all the rest of it. But AI, you know, listen, AI to me is a disaster. It's going to cause a lot of jobs it already has to be gone.

And look, the bottom line is that I think this technology has really kept us very passive. These cell phones, these iPhones, I know I'm brand naming, but so what? All this stuff has made us more passive. We're not sharper thinkers. We're not critical thinkers. An education system that's so rotten by design here in the United States. It makes us like our brains have turned to mush.

They really have. And we're not thinking. And we're doing things that are irrational. And we're so impatient. And we're so angry. And we're so frustrated. And we're not thinking. And we're not using process or deliberation. And what we need to be doing now, I think, is to have these plans in place. I don't care where you are in the country, where you are across the world. Have a plan so that if there's an emergency, if there's a flood, if there's a hurricane, a tornado, a wildfire, mudslides,

earthquakes, you have a plan on what you're going to do. You know exactly which belongings you're going to take. You pack them already. You have an idea that you've got a toothbrush, you've got toothpaste, you've got, you know, toiletries, you know, you can't pack your whole house into a bag, but what you can do is get the most essential and important items, the IDs, the credit cards, the, uh, passports, you know, um, the, uh,

birth certificate, whatever it is that you need to put your hands on. And the photographs, a few photographs, a couple of books, you know, a vinyl or two, whatever it is, get your hands on them, right? And put that, you know, and put them in a location where you know where you can just grab them and go. Battery powered radio, a flashlight, you know, obviously your phone and obviously your laptop if you've got one.

Put them in a place that you can put your hands on them so that if, God forbid, you've got some emergency, you can evacuate with a few things and you're out.

Right. And then the rest is the rest. And you just pray that that everything is OK. But your life, as I said at the end of the last segment, is the most important thing. I understand the sentimental value of properties and all that. We live in a world and live in a country that is so much heavily based on property and property ownership. This whole country here in the United States was all about white men owning property, rich white men. They were the only people who had rights.

Rich white male property owners. They were the only people who had rights. And this whole society is predicated off of that. And so property in this land, in this country, in this culture is deemed by this culture to be more important than people are.

And if we had a society and a culture and a structure in this country that valued people over property, you would see a shift in the way the news coverage has gone around this particular fire and these fires in Los Angeles. You would see a shift all over the place. And it would be about abandon ship and F the house. Only thing precious is life. Everything else is secondary.

That is from KTLA 5 earlier today, a man who had just lost his home, he and his wife watching their home burn to the ground. And he rightly said it at the end of the day, the only thing precious is life and life is precious, you know, and we live in a culture and a country that

discards of life, is very disposable, has a very disposable attitude toward the loss of life. And I think that man that you just heard from on KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles put it very well. That's someone who's watching his house burn as he said what you just heard him say. And so his perspective is a really good one, despite the fact that he's lost everything in terms of that house. But

One thing he hasn't lost is his life. One thing he hasn't lost is his spouse. She's alive. So, you know, that's really what you have to take out of these things.

And I know that perspective is very, very narrow for people who obviously are right in the middle of that. When they've lost their home, they're not thinking about their lives. They're thinking about all those precious memories. They're thinking about what more they could have done, what more they could have taken out of their home, what all these things. I understand that. You know, some people even don't care about their lives. They, you know, don't view that at all. They think that's secondary to the property. But I'm sorry, that's not the case.

your life is much more important than the property, you know? And I know that the fire insurance in California in general is not something that is even really happening very much anymore, you know? And it's certainly in Southern California where you would think that there would be a lot more of that fire insurance and that kind of thing is not being really given very much credence anymore, you know? So, you know, your house...

Yes, you can always get another house, but you cannot get another life. And, you know, I just really wanted to play that clip to start this final segment because it's important to remember that. And sometimes we lose that perspective. You know, the world is traveling so fast, so quickly. We as human beings really need to reorder our priorities. I know it's probably very cold for someone to say that to you because, hey, you know, you didn't just lose your home.

Omar. So, you know, what does that make me saying that to you? But to you, if you have lost your home anywhere in the world,

Remember, your life is much more precious, much more important, much more precious than a house or a home. You can always have another home. If you're fortunate enough to be able to afford that, you can always do that. You can always have that option to purchase another home or get an apartment or rent somewhere, whatever you can do. But once your life is gone, your life is gone.

And unfortunately, in the Eaton fire today, two people, at least at this point, as of this recording, have lost their lives. In the Pacific Palisades fire, as I said earlier, and as the fire chief in the L.A. County area had said earlier, Anthony Maroney, there have been a high number of significant injuries for people who decided to stay.

They were being told to evacuate and they refused to do so. They didn't evacuate. And so they get severely injured. Significant injuries. Is it worth it? Is it really worth it when you are significantly injured, not evacuating and your house is gone? So why? Why would that be?

The thing to do. I just don't understand it. I just can't understand it. And even if it happened to me, I would never understand why people choose to stay behind in these situations. I really do not understand it. So I'll leave it at that. As judgmental as I have just sounded, I just don't understand that. So anyway, that is really...

the thing I would leave you with and also again to those people out there whether you're in Los Angeles or whether you're elsewhere across the world please continue to stay safe be well

Of course, my heart goes out to all of those people in the Los Angeles area who have lost their homes and to those two individuals who lost their lives, to their families and to those who also were injured. I know that we're going to hear a lot more about what's been happening down in Los Angeles and all these fires. There are at least four major fires there now and the winds are still pretty significant in a number of areas. So

We will keep talking and keep tabs on what's been happening there. And there'll be more news, of course, on this and numerous other issues. And I'll be talking about some of those on tomorrow's edition of the Politocrat Daily Podcast. But I just wanted to focus really on this. And also, again, a personal note that I know someone who lost their home in the Pacific Palisades and died.

It's a very sad thing. Very sad indeed. You can follow this podcast, of course, by going to Apple Podcasts or, of course, you can go to a number of other podcasting platforms, including Spotify, as well as Pandora and GoodPods.

And as for social media, I am no longer posting on threads now after what's been going on there the last 24 hours on Facebook. So no longer posting on threads, but you can find me on Spotify, excuse me, on spoutable, spoutable.com forward slash popcorn R-E-E-L on blue sky. That would be popcorn R-E-E-L dot B sky dot social. You can also find me, of course, on

on fanbase, fanbase.app forward slash popcorn, R-E-E-L. Get on board the fanbase revolution. Isaac Hayes III's new social media platform is revolutionizing social media, and there are some big things coming for the fanbase community and for you. If you start to get on fanbase right now and also invest in fanbase, go to startengine.com forward slash fanbase.

to get a piece of fan base, ownership of a great platform, which will only be even better coming later on in the next few months of this year. Thank you very much for listening to this edition of The Politocrat. I'm Omar Moore.

Fire, we should say there's a fire also coming in the other side. So we just walk through one on the other side and then Dan, take a look right there. There's a fire. Five homes, all these five homes. They're out on Lincoln Ave, you know, trying to save a home that's already burned to the ground. I have to say there are a few homes that are still standing over there on the other side that they're trying to work on. But to your point, sir, the resources are so thin.

This is your father's home here? This is my father's home. You grew up here? Yes. I mean, what is it like to see, as someone who's lived here for so long, what's it like to see Altadena like this? Well, I'm sorry. I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about trying to save the place. And, you know, if you can get through to the park... We'll let them know. We'll let them know. We'll let them know. Stay safe, sir.