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LA wildfire: Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks to fire command team in Los Angeles · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
• 0:07
  the critical crossroads, the Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The
• 0:11
  Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden.
• 0:15
  So honestly, we don't know yet. It's still in an investigation.
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  We don't know how it started, OK, but because of the wind,
• 0:22
  honestly just allowed it to outpace anything possible.
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  The winds are so strong air resources which we use to keep
• 0:28
  it small ineffective. Right now the fire is is looking
• 0:34
  good. We still have heat all around
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  the perimeter. We still have resources all over
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  and try to to secure those ages edges make sure that there is
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  limited the potential for any kind of growth.
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  So we're still out there, but the activity is way down.
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  Here with the fire command team at the Palisades fire.
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  Hey guys and see, so this is I, I was asked if if we could bring
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  some more Stirlings here. So we've brought some more
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  stalings here and I'm just here with the the team and they're
• 1:22
  going to provide a briefing of the Palisades fire.
• 1:25
  So please go ahead. All right.
• 1:29
  Hello. Good evening.
• 1:30
  My name is Christian Litz. I'm with LA County Fire,
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  cooperating with the partnership with Cal Fire Team 2 and I'm
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  operating section chief on this PAL States fire.
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  So PAL States Fire. I'll just go.
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  We've been here since the beginning of the fire on
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  Tuesday. We were looking at extreme
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  damaging winds, erratic fire behavior coming through and
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  blowing in from about midway on this map and blowing all the way
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  down to the coastline there. When did that?
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  So when's that start? Just the frame of the thing for
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  people, like I said, I can assume people like it's, it's
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  like great to get the story from like basically like straight
• 2:07
  shooter and, and like, you know, and, and so like how, how did it
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  start? And, you know, and, and then
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  maybe after, how did it start? Then like what are some of the
• 2:18
  things that can be done to prevent in the future?
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  But how but how did it start out?
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  Like what's this? What's the?
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  Story. So honestly, we don't know yet.
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  It's still under investigation. We don't know how it started OK,
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  but because of the wind, honestly, it just allowed it to
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  outpace anything possible. The winds are so strong, air
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  resources, which we used to keep it small, ineffective.
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  OK, so. It blew at record break it it
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  grew at a record break breaking pace.
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  Resources put themselves probably in a bigger danger than
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  they've ever done saves as many structures.
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  But you can see it started about here with the wind and pushed it
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  straight through the Palisades and it allowed it to grow.
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  Larry, as the wind slowed down, it allowed it to grow back the
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  go back the other way. But now the wind came back out
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  of the north and blew down again.
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  So we have several winds shifts. Resources are all around trying
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  to both structure the fence which is down along the coast
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  where this Trump is more heavy. We do have communities all along
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  the top that we have. We've just been working as hard
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  as we can from beginning that to now without any stop any rest
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  resources working 3648 hours at times just because of the need
• 3:28
  of the of what we had to do. Right now the fire is is looking
• 3:34
  good. We still have heat all around
• 3:36
  the perimeter. We still have resources all over
• 3:38
  and try to to secure those ages edges, make sure that there is
• 3:43
  limited the potential for any kind of growth.
• 3:45
  So we're still out there, but the activity is way down.
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  And then with these wins over the next couple days, honestly
• 3:52
  this fire we have to watch it and give you it, but it's going
• 3:54
  to blow down at least most of it into its own self.
• 3:57
  But any new fire, it's going to do the same thing.
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  We have the winds that's going to push it.
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  It's not as strong as it was on Tuesday, but there is still
• 4:05
  going to be movement. So we're keeping keeping all the
• 4:07
  resources available and we're ready to actually not only
• 4:10
  respond to where the fire is now, any new fires that start,
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  we're able to respond and help. OK, so it is so fires are
• 4:17
  currently under control. This fire, we're not calling it
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  control, but there is lying around almost all of it, OK,
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  very much almost all of it, but resources we're still working.
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  So about the excitement is about 10% of the fire where the flames
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  were there, but 90% of the work is done after those planes are
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  gone and we have to secure those edges.
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  Did you ever watch a campfire where the wind comes in and it's
• 4:41
  out? Yeah.
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  Then the wind comes and it blows embers.
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  Sure. Same thing can happen.
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  OK. So you have to keep pushing and
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  pushing and pushing deeper and deeper and stay around all these
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  homes and bond Anito Fernwood all the way.
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  Up when you when you when you when you build like full of
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  barriers to stuff the fire going is you just you clear the brush
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  and and and the trees and like like what what actions do you
• 4:59
  take around the perimeter that? So along the drummer we cut, we
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  call a cutting line, we use those.
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  But really what we're doing is taking everything out down to
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  bare mineral soil. So there will be a path of dirt
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  from where the pipeline is. Exactly.
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  We're building a fire break along the edge of the black.
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  OK, got it. So there's nothing left to burn.
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  So the only danger at that point was if the wind blows an ember
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  over that line. So we have to build it
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  appropriately big enough to secure that, to stop that from
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  happening, and then push into the black to take all the heat
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  away so it gives us a bigger buffer as much as possible.
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  How how big is a fire break needs to be?
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  It depends on the size of the fuel.
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  If you look at textbook size of fuel, it's anything that we see
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  and and it's different for terrain, size of fuel,
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  everything like that. Usually it's a couple times, 1,
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  1/2 times the size of the fuel. But we have fuel in the Topanga
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  Canyon area, the Palestine area. There hasn't been fire there in
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  60 years. So you're really wow 15.
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  Quite a rare fire, correct? Like it's a half century fire or
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  something. Absolutely.
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  OK. The last major fires I have
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  really pushed through Topanga is 9396.
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  OK, But there is there is part of these hillsides that there
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  hasn't been recorded fire in 60 years.
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  OK, wow. All right.
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  And, and all the things that like would be like, like, I
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  think what a lot of people are curious about is like what
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  things can be done in the future to ensure that houses are less
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  susceptible to burning down. I mean, it's like, like, like as
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  we rebuild for the future, because it's like, there's one
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  thing about like past recriminations and all that, but
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  like we can't go, we can't rewind the clock.
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  But what we can do is say, like in the future, what what, what
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  should we do to minimize the probability that, you know,
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  people's homes and businesses will burn down?
• 6:51
  Yeah, great question. And that's that's really what we
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  want. So throughout history as fire,
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  as fire prevention gets better, we we do better at safety
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  structures. So when you look at the LA
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  County website, LA City has references out there as well.
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  We call it, you always say the term defensible space.
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  That is the biggest thing to safe structures.
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  So and hardening your home. So defensible space, we'll start
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  there. That is basically clear and
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  brush as low as possible to about 100 feet is what our
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  minimum standard say 100 feet away.
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  You can you start at 10 feet, but you limit it out about 100
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  feet is the best. So then when it hits there,
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  you're basically building that 100 foot buffer of fuel brakes
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  around your home. So like no, no kindling for 100
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  feet basically that sounds that sounds pretty sensible it.
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  It it is, and then you're Harding.
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  Your home we call harness is. Don't stack firewood right
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  against. The against the wall, the
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  firewood, yeah. Really a big part of when we
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  lose structures on a typical, maybe not 100 mile winds, but a
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  typical, is there something by the house?
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  Flammable fire. Yeah, OK.
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  Wood furniture, something like that and it can burn up and gets
• 8:00
  into the attic and then we lose the house.
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  OK or it gets in the porch system, right.
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  You might have a wood deck and it comes up and just lots of
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  flame to go into the house. So a lot of times we talk about
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  or ember cast that gets in the ember.
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  So you put screens around every opening.
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  So you have vents on your house, put screens, very small screens
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  so the air can get through there.
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  But embers? Good sized embers that will
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  actually catch house. Get in there.
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  OK, so there's stuff like that, move everything right from your
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  house. And the vegetation in this area
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  is is astonishingly beautiful. And we understand that, Yeah.
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  But, well, yeah. There's things you have to do
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  for, I mean. I haven't heard like some
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  things, like some of the issues with fire breaks were like
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  there's like some endangered like plant or something and then
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  we can't do a fire break or that's an issue like like like,
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  is there stuff that would be helpful from a regulatory reform
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  standpoint that would help with fire prevention in the future?
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  Well, LA County, I mean, we do have standards.
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  We go in certain areas, we actually have these lists of
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  residences like this is what we have to do, OK.
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  I think it's just an awareness. So when people good and bad
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  about the the bad thing is this happened, the good thing, maybe
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  it'll bring a greater awareness that there is a way to help
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  defend your homes. There is a way to help this from
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  stop happening in the future. And that defensible space,
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  building that and building those, that's that's the way to
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  do it as far as. Well, I guess, I guess people
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  are like, obviously we definitely want to give people a
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  sense of, of hope for the future and if the things get rebuilt,
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  that their house is not going to burn down again.
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  It's like a reasonable thing. So, so, so it's so it's like,
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  like if there are things that should we should push for from a
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  regulatory reform standpoint, this would be good to to know,
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  you know, and, and yeah. Clearance phase OK, building
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  building material, right we could we can now these are newer
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  things. So now the up to the standards
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  of building construction codes have been brought and have
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  changed over the years. So maybe when their house was
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  built, they weren't there OK, now we have new the new codes.
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  There's going to be certain fire return materials, there's going
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  to be certain things that they can do.
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  If you look a lot concrete buildings don't burn.
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  So there's some of these people that have built their concrete
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  in the middle and it is right on the middle of black all around
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  and nothing was done, but they did burn because of the building
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  material. Yeah, you can't.
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  You can't burn concrete. Correct.
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  So face any yeah and flat and return materials.
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  Ceiling concrete is going to be OK, yes.
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  Great things. They have other materials out
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  there now that will definitely help.
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  Like what? I think you'll just like like if
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  I'm like hopeful that this video can be like helpful to people,
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  you know, like what, what should people do differently?
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  Like if it's not steel and concrete, you said there's some
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  new materials like like like synthetic materials or, or what?
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  Absolutely. And there's stuff that they put
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  in to the to the materials to be able to do it.
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  Hi, Yeah, hi. Hi.
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  Help my partner out over here. Yeah, yeah.
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  You know, anyways, I just wanted to kind of point.
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  Something out back. OK.
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  In 1962, we had a fire was called the Bel Air fire that
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  burned from this area into kind of the same burn pattern, OK
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  And. Then after that.
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  Fire. That's when they.
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  Basically in the city of Los Angeles they outlawed.
• 11:01
  Wood shaped roofs. So wood shaped roofs were
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  outlawed. Yeah, I mean, that's the, I
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  mean, that's the nightmare. Yeah, that's true.
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  Partner is saying there's a roof, a roof made of kindling,
• 11:11
  right. So.
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  We we update the village standards, the fire, 'cause
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  there was a fire. Prevention standard?
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  Sure. And then, and that's up to you
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  and the people out there that are a little more into the
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  architecture and to find some something that actually could be
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  potentially more fire saving, you know, and then maybe the
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  silver lining around the Gray cloud is that that may happen
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  and we'll live in a safer Fire Zone or area where there's prone
• 11:33
  to. Fires OK, Safer.
• 11:35
  Type of structures, that's kind of what we're hoping to come out
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  of this, you know, as maybe one of the very small but good
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  things. All right, sounds good.
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  Well, I mean, and do you have any any guidance for for people
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  like if there's like obviously steel and concrete not are not
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  going to burn, but like other the new synthetics that you
• 11:53
  think would be better than like or or besides steel and
• 11:56
  concrete, is there anything else?
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  I I no. I really AM.
• 11:58
  Not an expert or stones actually.
• 12:00
  Like OK, it's pretty hard to burn stone.
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  I mean, steel and concrete, there's some stuff out there.
• 12:08
  Yeah, we're worried about. Putting it out.
• 12:10
  OK. But yeah, and I think that
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  there's some some people will come together and find
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  something. But yeah, there's certainly some
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  stuff out there. We just.
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  All right, sounds good. All right.
• 12:23
  Hey, everyone. So, all right, what about what
• 12:28
  about order availability was water availability?
• 12:30
  I understand that was like not not an issue in in Malibu.
• 12:33
  Is that correct? Was it water?
• 12:35
  Yeah. So there was water.
• 12:37
  We have several reservoirs that seen as we use a lot now, just
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  an example, if we have one building burning, we could flow
• 12:47
  1000 gallons a minute on that one building with the hose legs
• 12:50
  that we put in to stop it. You can imagine 1000 gallons per
• 12:54
  house we can do, right. So the amount of water we're
• 12:56
  flowing, there really is no water system that's going to
• 12:59
  keep that pace. So we have to bring in water
• 13:01
  tenders, which are these big tank water tanks that you know,
• 13:04
  25103 thousand gallon trucks and they'll come in and that's what
• 13:08
  we have to do to overcome to compensate.
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  So they park out there, do it. DWTP did a great job.
• 13:14
  They brought in big water trucks for us and we use them as
• 13:18
  basically mobile hydrants. All right, all.
• 13:20
  Right. And then we have our own agency
• 13:22
  as well that. Has water tenders.
• 13:25
  OK. Am I saying is that that like
• 13:28
  along the maybe correct me if I'm wrong, along in Malibu,
• 13:32
  along the coast, there was no shortage of water.
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  In the Palisades there was a shortage of water at at a
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  certain point, or is that? Well, we were just, we were
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  flowing just an amount of amount of water that those system
• 13:45
  couldn't. That was just.
• 13:47
  Buried just because of how much? Water these firefighters were
• 13:51
  utilizing. OK.
• 13:53
  All right. Sounds good.
• 13:59
  All right. Thanks guys.
• 14:04
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• 14:06
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