00:00The wind event will begin to decrease in intensity this afternoon.
00:05However, a fire weather watch remains in effect Tuesday evening through Thursday evening
00:12with gusty Santa Ana winds and very low relative humidity.
00:17Your LEFD has had a very busy 24 hours.
00:21There were three additional brush fires fueled by high winds and dry vegetation within the city.
00:28I am happy to report that all three fires were kept very small
00:33and involved Griffith Park, Granada Hills, and the Tujunga areas.
00:38Due to the robust deployment models that included 64 additional resources
00:44and quick, decisive actions by LEFD firefighters,
00:48no homes were damaged or destroyed and no evacuation orders were issued.
00:54I normally pray for rain. God knows we generally need it.
00:58But right now, let me point out the obvious.
01:01The burn scar of the Palisades fire not only sits feet from the ocean itself,
01:07but already on hillsides that are already prone to slide
01:12and which have already absorbed a tremendous amount of water
01:15from firefighting, broken pipes, and melted pools.
01:20Adding water to this mess and saturated, unstable hillsides is the last thing we need,
01:27but we already know at some point it's going to happen.
01:30And let me remind folks, burn scars don't absorb water at a normal rate.
01:35They simply add to the risk of floods, landslides, and debris flow.
01:41Contaminants don't just stay where they fall.
01:44When it rains, they flow into our gutters and storm drains, our creeks and waterways,
01:49and eventually our beaches and ocean.
01:52As the representative of LA's Coastal District,
01:55I personally feel a profound responsibility to safeguard our city's most treasured
02:02and environmentally sensitive region.
02:05That's why last week, the City Council approved my motion instructing the Bureau of Engineering
02:11and LA Sanitation to create a comprehensive waste mitigation and slope stabilization plan.
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