Los Angeles County Fire Department

Dick Hammond, basketball at USC, helped him reach the Final Four in 54.

He represented the U.S. in volleyball in 64 in the 64 Olympics, became a captain at the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and appeared in movies, TV shows, commercials, and modeling.

One of those modeling jobs was the Marlboro Man.

I had no idea that was Sam Donald's grandfather.

So I also was pregnant with my baby girl.

I actually got accepted with LA County Fire Department.

I had my medical exam day.

I also had a pending tower day to go into the academy with my fellow EMT friends.

Just moments ago, they've opened up an evacuation site at Los Altos High School, uh, for the folks who live in this neighborhood.

In the meantime, LA County Fire is continuing to tackle this fire on two separate fronts.

Some active flame near the right side, where three homes have already been heavily impacted-

Mm

Mm

... and spread right up the top of the hill, to the top of the hill along Casalero Drive, guys.

Switch over to Keith Navar with LA County Fire, who joins us right now, and, uh, Mr. Navar, thank you so much for joining us.

What can you tell us so far on this fire?

How do they prove that each and every one of them is stolen? And that can be difficult to prove unless, of course, they have some way to connect a catalytic converter to a particular car, which, generally speaking, is not going to be the case.

Agencies involved in the investigation include the Orange County Sheriffs, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, California Department of Motor Vehicles, California Department of Insurance Investigation, and the City of Irvine.

And the insurance investigation, of course, is fascinated by this because, unfortunately, a lot of these... thefts cause insurance payouts.

And I say unfortunately because it drives everybody's rates up.

And, you know, you said about some, some other cities having, having the 343 on.

You know, uh, last January after the fires out west, uh, I went out, I went out there and, uh, was a guest of LA County Fire, and we're visiting a f- the firehouse over by, uh, Eaton.

I'm forgetting which it was, but their apparatus has FDNY on the side.

And it, it, it kinda, it kinda struck me and, and I, I don't think I was, uh, was expecting that, but it had FDNY and something about either never forget or, you know, always in our hearts or something like that.

That was very, very challenging time for, for California in general, but in particular the folks that were tasked with, with battling the fire, whether it was in the air or on the ground.

Jack and I had a chance, uh, to talk to Mike Sagely from LA City F- or LA County Fire during that, during that time, and man, the, the, the, the conditions were challenging to say the least.

So from your perspective, can you just kind of break down what you saw and what your experience was during those, those fires?

I was actually off duty Yeah.

You know, you, you work your way through the ranks on the, on the floor of the fire department before you get into the, the pilot seat or the air crew.

Just as in law enforcement, we talk about, you know, when you go to aviation, typically you go up as a TFO and as a TFO, you need to understand the tactics on the ground so you can effectively do your job in, in the air.

Talk about how that translates for you guys on the fire side and how unique your selection is as compared to other fire, like LA County Fire is much different, right?

Right.

Yeah, thank you, Sean.

Steve Blackburn, Fire Captain and Peer Support Coordinator for the Los Angeles County Fire Department and currently in our wellness section.

as peer support coordinator i get to teach mental health to our new recruits and their families i get to make sure that our firefighters that are currently working and are soon to be retired firefighters understand the mental health impacts that this career has on our firefighters and then i also today which brings us here today i get to work with our firefighters who are in crisis We make sure that they get the resources that they need if they have substance use disorder, PTSD, or if they are contemplating suicide, we make sure they get the help and support services that they need.

So thank you for bringing us here today and talking about this important subject.