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consultation. again, that's one 800 712 3800. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we have breaking news into cnn this hour. we are watching apocalyptic scenes unfolding across los angeles county. four separate wildfires rapidly spreading, fueled by brutal, tornado like winds, some as strong as 100 miles an hour in certain areas. none of these fires at this point have been contained to any degree. all of them 0% contained. >> because right now, firefighters are just rushing to save lives, as many lives as possible as tens of thousands of people are racing to evacuate, unsure if they're going to have a home to return

to. dramatic video now showing flames from the palisades fire erupting in one resident's backyard. this gives you a sense of just how quickly this can happen. the homeowner actually watched this happen through a security camera while they were away in new york. and in the meantime, fire officials say the eaton fire, which is burning near pasadena, has exploded in size. it's grown to more than 10,000 acres. it's also being blamed for at least two deaths. cnn's julia vargas jones is live in altadena, near that fire. the eaton fire. julia, give us an update on what you're seeing. >> well, brianna, what we're seeing is these flames engulfing house after house, jumping over streets. it's jumped over highways. altadena. pasadena. we're at the foothills of the angeles national forest. but we're pretty far down at this point. 20 blocks at least from that wooded area. this is where people live. these are residents i want to i'm going to step out of the shot here so

that you can see where that american flag is. that used to be a house. in my last live shot that was going up, engulfed by these raging, raging flames, we're seeing car after car being engulfed by flames as well that is spreading and that is in part in great part because of those 100 miles an hour winds. that is what's helping fueling this fire. also is a very, very dry summer that we've had here in california. as the fire spreads, spreading through the structures, touches the brush, touches these trees, it will it just explodes. and we've seen that time and again, these trees that are just so ready for it, so ready to feed this fire and help spread it. both sides of the streets. people here in this community, we've witnessed quite a few of them trying to reach their homes. we spoke to one family that said, look, we left our dog and we just want to go back and get

him. but we don't know that we can because it's no longer safe. we talked to people who evacuated last night to neighboring areas, pasadena. this woman says, i left to go to that. that is the kind of noise that we keep on hearing. i'm not sure if that is a tire. if that's a tank. we hear these haunting noises as the air is also thick with the smoke. you can smell the chemicals, you can smell the construction material. it's apocalyptic. it. right, boris? like that. that is what what it feels like here. and the 0% containment. that is scary. and also scary is we have 750 firefighters on this fire. we seen machines coming from different counties. we know that there are resources coming in from different parts of the country. arizona. i hear oregon, but right now it's just not enough. and firefighters are going from one hot spot to the next just trying to contain

this fire. but they have to make tough choices. and, you know, maybe some of those choices are not going to be a single family home. it's going to be an apartment building. it's going to be a cluster of businesses. it's going to be somewhere that could cause much more damage than just one home. and so we're seeing people pleading and coming up to the sheriffs and to the firefighters that are roaming around these streets, pleading with them to get some help to take them to the house. but people are just these firefighters are so busy, they're working. 36, 48 hour shifts just to try and get through this. brianna. >> yeah, they're trying to save lives at this point in time. julia vargas jones thank you for the latest from altadena, california. and with us now is sue cole, who evacuated from pacific palisades where they're dealing with another fire, the palisades fire. she is also the president of the pacific palisades community council. sue, thanks for being with us. can you just tell us a little bit about what it was like

evacuating and what the status is right now of your neighborhood? >> well, the status of my neighborhood is that it's pretty much all gone. i live in the village in an area called the alphabet streets, and from the videos and reports that i've had, it's all gone. um, typically these fires start in the hills and the fire department gets on it and they usually get it contained and and usually the flatlands down below consider themselves pretty safe. in this case. what they're dealing with now, the biggest enemy are these huge, you know, 50 to 80 mile an hour winds. and no matter how many firemen you have, no matter how many people are battling these fires, there's nothing you can do about that. so the embers and the fire, um, traveled all over town to all of the bluffs, to every single neighborhood

imaginable. and we evacuated yesterday as soon as we could, as soon as we got the the notification and we evacuated pretty, pretty easily, going, um, east out of the palisades, the people that really got into big trouble are the people that were trying to go west and get to the ocean. they a lot of them came down a street where there's only one way in and one way out. and that's why the cars got all stuck and people were getting out and walking. and then there was a fire impeding even their walk. so it was treacherous for all the people in the western part of town to get out. but i pray that they all did. >> yeah. so scary. so we and also, uh, i know sorry. go on to say i've, i've heard from i've heard from people all over town. >> um, churches have burned. all the schools have burned, the markets, the gas stations.

so honestly, it's it's not as if even people can at this point think about, oh, maybe i'll, you know, rebuild and get back in. people are are kind of questioning, you know, um, rebuilding and what to go back to because it's just so incredibly devastating, more so than anyone's ever seen. >> yeah. it's, um, it's so, so much of it is destroyed. and just the idea for people. i'm from southern california, south of you. and just for people who are not from that area, the idea that the pacific palisades is destroyed to this degree is unfathomable, not the least to residents like yourself. um, but i'm so glad you were able to evacuate easily. but you're grappling with the fact that your life has has, you know, your your place, where you've lived, all your memories, where you've been with your friends and neighbors is is going up in

smoke. um, how are you dealing with that? >> well, it's tough, you know, when we left, um, you know, you always try and figure out. what do i take? what do i take? family photo albums, obviously. the dogs, the dog food. you know, um, medications. got all of that. um, i, i really didn't think it was going to be a long term evacuation. we've evacuated before, but like i said, in the flats, we've always come back. so what? what i neglected to take really was, um, clothes. so i think today the focus is going to be on trying to get to a store and buy something to wear. um, knowing how to go forward, i don't know, because also i'm a real estate agent and obviously, you know, our business is going to be pretty much closed down for the near future. at least that's that's what i think. the devastation is everywhere. the homes are, the homes are gone. and i hope

the town rebuilds. i know it will. i've heard about people thinking about leaving, but we don't know where we're going to go. we don't know where we're going to be living for the next year or two. it's just hard to know. we sit like everyone watching the news and it's, um. it's just hard to know. so one day at a time, i guess. >> one hour a day, one day at a time, for sure. sue, we're so glad that you're safe. we thank you so much for being with us. we're thinking of you and your family. >> thank you so much. and i just want to say thank you so much. our lafd and lapd officers are absolutely outstanding. what they're going through is unfathomable. and our, councilwoman traci park has been so communicative, really sort of helped us all stay together. so thanks to all of them. >> yeah. to a resident that we have had on, they have all been

thanking the firefighters and also their local representatives. it's pretty amazing to see that gratefulness. sue cole, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> firefighters. they're really up against these winds. that's the problem is they're racing to contain the flames. >> cnn meteorologist allison chinchar is tracking conditions. allison, what can we expect over the next few hours? >> right. so we are going to finally start to see these winds beginning to come back down. but it takes time. and you have to understand too, where they're coming from. look at some of these peak wind gusts that we know of 80, 90, even 100mph. so even if you cut those numbers in half, you're still looking at 40 to 50 mile per hour wind gusts. that is plenty to be able to continue to spread the fires and keep the keep the firefighters from really being able to make advancements in the containment because they have not one, but four separate fires. you've got the eaton fire hurst, woodley and also palisades. now, for those who are not familiar with this area, we've put some landmark spots on here so you can kind of understand the area. so here's where the hollywood sign is. dodger

stadium a little bit down here, the rose bowl stadium. just to kind of put that in perspective. now the palisades fire specifically, we've been able to kind of map out where the fire has actually burned through this particular area. so all of this red shaded area, that's where the fire has spread through these particular regions. and the one thing to note is look at all of the structures here. you're talking buildings, businesses, homes that it's kind of crossed over, even some pretty decent roads. but notice it also comes right up to the water. you know, places that you don't traditionally think of, of where you would see these fires, especially just raging up to the point of making it to the water. and it's thanks to that wind. it's been so strong for so long now, 24 hours in some of these areas have had winds at least of 40 to 50mph and sometimes gusting stronger. as we go through the rest of the afternoon, we're finally going to start to see them coming back down below 60mph, then below 50, below 40 and below 30, especially as we get through the overnight hours. this is when the firefighters will really be able to make the most advancement in those

containment numbers, as once these winds can finally come back down and that is going to happen, just not really until later tonight and into the overnight hours. >> allison chinchar thank you so much for the update. still to come, more coverage on the wildfires burning out of control across l.a. county. what one pharmacy owner is doing to help people get the medications they need after they had to flee their homes without them? >> plus, president elect trump heading to capitol hill today as he talks up using either military or economic force to bring greenland under u.s. control. we'll break down why trump wants it and speak with trump's former u.s. ambassador to denmark. >> kobe believed in himself at the youngest possible age. >> it's one of the most remarkable stories in sports history. i don't want to be remembered as just a basketball player. kobe 25th on cnn.

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today at four on cnn. >> a strategy session today on capitol hill in just a few hours, president elect donald trump will meet with senate republicans amid a debate over the best way to push forward his agenda. trump has called for, quote, one big, beautiful bill to approve plans for immigration, energy and tax policy, as well as raising the national debt limit and installing spending cuts. but some republicans feel the most effective way is splitting this bill into two, and they want more guidance from the president elect. here's republican senator kevin cramer. >> i hope he provides some real clarity on what he'd like to see in this reconciliation package, and how he'd like to see us proceed with it. obviously, i have a strong opinion that that i think would be easier and and faster to do, too. but if he wants to do one big, beautiful bill, so be it. we'll do it.

>> some republicans have expressed concerns that congress won't get to a second package if they take that two bill route. meantime, today, much of the conversation on capitol hill has revolved around yesterday's news conference with trump and his comments about seizing areas like greenland or the panama canal. obviously, brianna, a subject that is quite interesting. >> yeah, controversial even. and we can understand why, because in that same news conference, trump was asked if he would rule out using american military force for his stated desire of the u.s. acquiring greenland and the panama canal. and he wouldn't rule it out. it was a significant moment. so why is he fixated on these particular places? well, first, let's talk about greenland, because it has long been seen by experts as key for u.s. security, especially to repel a potential attack from russia. and the u.s. actually has an air base there in the northwest part of greenland. it is the northernmost outpost of the u.s. military, and it's

equipped with a missile warning system. so those are some of the national security interests there. but there's also economic interests. greenland has oil, it has gas. it has rare earth metals that are key components of cell phones, electric cars, wind turbines and other products as well. remember, china currently dominates global rare earth metal production and greenland is changing. climate change is reshaping the island and the sea around it. so arctic shipping is up 37% over the last decade, and that's in part due to melting ice that's opening up the crucial shipping lanes known as the northwest passage. and that allows more commercial and military ships to cross. so what does greenland's government say about all of this sales talk? the island's prime minister has said we are not for sale and will never be for sale. now to the panama canal. the waterway connects, of course, the atlantic and the pacific ocean. it's a shortcut for

transporting key goods like lumber and petroleum. the u.s. ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway back in 1999, and shortly after, the panamanians retained full control. shipping volume quickly exceeded the waterway's capacity. on top of that severe drought in recent years has led to lower water levels that has endangered passage through the man made lake that is between the locks on the atlantic side and the pacific side, and as a result, canal authorities have restricted traffic and they've jacked up the price of passage through the canal. and those fees are one big aspect of trump's issue with the canal. he calls them ridiculous. he calls them highly unfair. and then there's trump's other claims that china is seeking to exert more control over the canal zone. there is a little truth to that. in 2017, panama actually signed a joint statement that stressed it would not maintain any official ties with taiwan. since then,

china's influence in the area around the canal has grown. though panama's president recently dismissed the idea that china has overt control over the canal after trump wished a, quote, merry christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of china who were lovingly but illegally operating the panama canal. that is not true. china certainly has made progress, bolstering its influence in latin america, including panama, but they are not operating the canal lovingly or otherwise. >> boris, i want to discuss this further with carla sands. she served as u.s. ambassador to denmark in trump's first administration. she's also the vice chair of the center for energy and environment at the america first policy institute. thank you so much for being with us, ambassador. i do wonder whether you ever heard trump express interest in taking over greenland during his first term. was this something that you discussed with him directly? >> well, you know, we had really been absent the whole

high north for decades. we hadn't had a diplomatic relationship for 67 years with greenland. when i got to denmark as the ambassador. and so i set out my number one goal was to open a consulate in greenland to reestablish those diplomatic ties. so i was able to work with the trump white house, the state department, and the department of defense, and to get this done. and we did. so we put a consulate there. and president trump, while i can't talk about the conversations that we had that were private, i will tell you that i admire the fact that he wants to secure our country and make sure the american people are safe, and also not let our big, dear neighbor, greenland, just off our northeast coast. that's big. it's one third the size of the continental u.s. so it's the world's largest island. and he is not going to let them fall into the hands of, for instance, the control of the chinese communist party. i admire that. >> is there an indication

that you have that the chinese are intent on invading greenland? >> it's not about invasion. that's not how they do it. they do it through things like debt trap, diplomacy. so in 2017, the chinese communist party flew the then greenlandic premier, his government, his top ceos over to beijing, rolled out the red carpet, had the c-suite meetings and tried to pull them into their belt and road initiative. no american company, no american government was doing that. china was doing that. and so they were on it. when i tried to get a high level visit in 2018 to go to greenland for a ceremonial occasion, one of their big anniversaries, i couldn't i couldn't get any interest from the state department. but when president trump focused on it, he said, we cannot have this. denmark can't afford to develop or defend greenland. so i really am excited about this next step for greenland, since they have been talking about going

independent for decades. finally, their premier has said it from the podium. so they are looking, i think, to fast track this, but with 57,000 people living on the world's largest island, they will never be able to defend themselves or develop themselves. so they'll need a partner like the united states. in my opinion. i'm not speaking for the trump administration. >> sure, sure. greenland has been a part of denmark for something like 600 years with relatively minor interruption. i do wonder if denmark, being a member of nato, potentially invoking article five, wouldn't they be able to defend themselves that way? and also, doesn't the u.s. potentially strain relations with the nato ally by suggesting, as trump has, that he's considering using military force as part of an effort to take over greenland? >> well, there's a lot to unpack in your question. so i will just say that that greenland does have a long history with denmark. they were owned by the king, the island

and the people until not that long ago. they got they became semi-autonomous about 75 years ago. and now they want to go independent, but they don't control their defense or their foreign affairs. everything else they have control of. but as a matter of fact, if you look at denmark, it can't defend itself. and i'm talking about little denmark in northern europe. they have an economy and a population around the size of the state of colorado. greenland is a gigantic area, and it's out there in that huge sea there in the giuk gap. there's only a handful of countries that could the u.s. being the predominant country and certainly the one that, you know, is part of the rules based order. that's not going to you know, use undue influence and go down the road that the chinese communist party has gone down in so many african and south american

countries where you see they are taking over and basically and it's very corrupt. so we want we want greenland to have opportunity, just like every country wants. president trump has the right idea to secure greenland and to bring business opportunity to have good paying jobs. that's what greenlanders want. and denmark can't provide it. it hasn't ever provided it. so why would it happen? now, i know that they've suggested putting toward their defense or their awareness in the greenlandic area, around $1.5 billion denmark has, but that's over multiple years, and that's a drop in the bucket of what is needed. president trump's idea is common sense. >> ambassador, perhaps on the merits, it makes sense from an economic and security standpoint. you can argue those merits. i do wonder about the approach, though, suggesting that the u.s. military might be involved in some kind of takeover of greenland. that doesn't concern you. does that not go against what the united

states has tried to fight against in, for example, ukraine and other parts of the world in iraq during the war and saddam hussein's saddam hussein's invasion of kuwait. doesn't that stand against american doctrine? >> well, we already occupied it once during world war ii. we occupied greenland. and that was the the first time that they had actually modern buildings built. they have no development there. they have no road between any town that justifies sending u.s. forces. >> there. ambassador, i'm not i am not going to get in between president trump and his negotiations about how we move forward with greenland. >> this is this is his deal. he wrote the book the art of the deal. he's the best deal maker i ever saw. so. and he knows how to negotiate with foreign leaders. so let me let him decide how he's going to do this negotiation. and i'll talk to you about the merits and about the situation.

>> ambassador carlos sanz will leave the conversation there. thanks for the time. >> hey, thanks to great to talk to you, boris. >> you're looking at live pictures now out of los angeles county, where firefighters are currently battling four separate wildfires. this is in the altadena neighborhood. the area facing off with the eaton fire. and this has been an ordeal for everyone in l.a. county. it is far from over too. we have a live report coming from the pacific palisades in just moments. stay tuned to cnn. >> for the whole story with anderson cooper sunday at eight on cnn. >> the thompson's new front door looks sharp, right? >> did we need to wave her down to tell her that? no, no. for a young homeowner turning into their parents, the neighborhood is their life. >> i wonder who's visiting the burkes. >> it's not their car. >> hey, guys. who's winning now? >> most of the neighborhood uses progressive for their cars and house. >> she didn't ask. >> oh, progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when

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pushing the eaton fire into pasadena and altadena area to more than 10,000 acres. >> we're also getting a look at the destruction being left behind by the palisades fire one that's exploded to nearly 12,000 acres just today. neither fire is currently contained. cnn's stephanie elam is in pacific palisades. stephanie, what are conditions like right now? still very windy. it appears. >> still very, very windy. and with that wind makes it very impossible for firefighters to try to contain this blaze. that's why they're not even focused on that right now. they're still making sure that people are getting away safely and that they are protecting property as they can. this is a very difficult series of conditions to fight fire in, because not only do you have these winds that are hurricane force, and it feels like some massive creature is like trying to pick up and toss our cars while we're

sitting in them. let the firefighters do their jobs there. but just that wind alone. it is really difficult to work in because it's hard to see out here while you're doing all of this. and on top of it, in these small canyons back up in this area, it also makes it very hard if fire gets in there to stop it. we have been out here almost all night long and through in the morning, and i can tell you this black smoke is not what you want to see. that means something is burning in this area. we have over 10,000 acres burning in just this area, let alone the other fires that are burning, taxing resources. so we have the national guard now coming down to help governor gavin newsom. also sending resources down here to help. they've also deployed firefighters from different regions of the state to come help because things are so dire, so much of the county and the area is on fire. and keep in mind, i know we've talked about other wildfires that have burned maybe 10,000 acres, 20,000 acres. the difference with this one,

though, is that this is a densely populated area, and that is why this is such a scary fire. and these are such scary circumstances that people are up against here battling this blaze. and as people are waiting to see if their homes are okay. >> stephanie elam, thank you so much for the latest there. the intensity of those santa ana winds, coupled with nearly a year of dry brush, are driving the rapid spread of these fires in these images from cal fire, you can hear just listen there. that is the fury of the winds that have been carrying embers all around and starting fires. joining us now is climate scientist michael mann. he is the director of the penn center for science, sustainability and the media at the university of pennsylvania. he's also the author of our fragile moment how lessons from earth's past can help us survive the climate crisis. and, michael, i wonder when you're looking at this, how does climate change contribute to this perfect fire

storm? >> yeah. >> hi, brian. it's good to be with you. although i wish it was under better circumstances. we're certainly seeing a tragedy play out. and when we see these sorts of events, these massive wildfires, 15 of the worst 20 wildfires have occurred during the last 15 years in california. and so there's a clear trend towards these faster spreading, hotter burning, more destructive, more deadly wildfires. >> and as is always the case, there's an underlying factor and there's an immediate factor. >> and it's the interaction between those two that that give you these extreme events. the underlying factor is, as you already alluded to, a profound drought, very dry conditions, an extremely late start to the winter rainy season. it basically hasn't started and we're already into january. >> and there's a key meteorological variable that we look at, which is called the

evaporative demand. >> it's basically how dry and thirsty the atmosphere is. and that correlates highly with wildfire potential. >> and we're seeing very high levels of evaporative demand precisely in those regions where these wildfires have broken out. now, the immediate factor, these winds, the santa ana winds, and we can't say those are caused by climate change. it's a natural occurrence, but it's the synergy between that natural occurrence, the santa ana winds, that immediate factor and the underlying dry conditions that are definitely related to a trend of drier conditions in california and the western u.s. caused by human caused warming due primarily to the burning of fossil fuels. >> so, you know, this has become a bit of a political issue, as certainly the wildfires in california do when it gets bad there. and you've i wonder if you can explain or kind of fact check for us because we are hearing from president-elect trump who is blaming governor gavin newsom

and saying that this is about water policy to protect threatened species. and really, that is the culprit for what we're seeing is, is that part to blame here? what do you see? >> yeah. no, it's really unfortunate to see, you know, the president elect engaging in what can only be characterized as disinformation and politically motivated disinformation. >> we know what's going on here. this is part of a larger trend. hotter, drier conditions due to the warming of the planet. and that's the reason that we have seen, again, the most destructive, the fastest spreading, the most deadly wildfires in california history in recent years. and you know that the fact that we're seeing wildfires like this in the middle of winter, during what is supposed to be the dry season, is testament to the fact that there's a new ingredient, there's a new meteorological ingredient here, and that's climate change. and what the president elect appears to be trying to do is

to deflect attention away from the fact that his incoming administration, his priority, is going to be to essentially. dismantle all climate and clean energy programs in the united states that are our effort to actually deal with the underlying problem, and instead double down on fossil fuels. the very factor that is underlying this trend, terms, warming conditions and worse, you know, more damaging and deadly weather extremes, including these wildfires that are we're seeing play out right now. >> michael, thank you so much. obviously, it's so important to get a look at the big picture here. and you always help us do that. we appreciate it. thank you. and let's head now to altadena, california. that is where anderson cooper is, where the eaton fire is burning. anderson, tell us about this scene behind you. >> yeah, we're at the corner of harriet and glen, and i got

to tell you, it is. we've been here for about 40 minutes. this whole area is just engulfed in flames. this house really just kind of exploded in flames that went up to this. >> all right? >> which with these winds, even though, brianna, the winds have have died down. uh, the wind is just taking these embers from the tree. they're all over the block, and they are moving to other houses. and you see new fires being created from these embers. um, this house is gone. i mean, just look, all these houses are gone here. this there's a fire crew here. i was talking to the captain, uh, earlier. they ran out of water here on this street. uh, about 30 minutes ago. they went they they they hooked up the hydrants. they turned them on the water ran out. so now they're just moving on to

another area. what they did when they don't have water is they try to create defensive perimeters around houses that they think they can save. and those houses are houses that don't have a lot of bushes, hedges, plantings in front of them or around them. or if it does, they try to rip. they they've spent like the last hour just trying to clear debris from houses to try to maybe save it. but it's a matter of luck or misfortune where these embers land, where these the flames hop this area over here. i want to show you, uh i mean, this house is completely gone. we've watched this entire house burn down the house next door. the car that you see over here, we watched that. the flames jumped from the house onto the car. uh, there was a small explosion as the as the gas canister blew, but look, look, brianna. see? there's one two houses on fire. the third house down. now, the roof has caught fire. uh, the fire captain was telling me they watch for the

attics. once, the attic. once you see smoke billowing out of the attic, and the attic is on fire. that house may be. it may be a lost cause. um, but it's like this. i mean, it's not just on this block. it's. we just ran. we just drove to alta, you know, altadena and just happened upon this block. got out, and i imagine it is like that. and you hear these explosions. there was an explosion that i caught. i put it on instagram about 20 minutes ago from a house right down there. just heard an explosion. and that is, you know, gas canisters, propane tanks, uh, go off. so you hear these steady booms off in the distance or sometimes uncomfortably close. but look, see, that's the the crew i was talking to before. they've now moved down there scoping out, you know, let's walk over there. they're looking at these houses. i'm assuming if they're going to stop here, maybe they would decide that these are defensible houses and they're going to try to do what they can. there was a woman who who

lives in that house, that second house down there about five minutes ago. we saw her on her lawn and she looked very confused. and i mean, i'm no expert, but i said to her, like, i think you should leave. and she did. she had actually come back to just get some stuff. but when this house exploded and it was quite, it was quite loud. i think that freaked her out and made her realize maybe she should get out. anyway, she got in her vehicle, she got her cat, she's gone. um, but it looks like this fire truck now. it looks like they're just going somewhere else. it's it's an extraordinary thing. uh, you know, 30 minutes from here in, you know, hollywood or west hollywood, beverly hills, there's coffee shops open, and you can see smoke in the air. you get in your car, you come here, these areas are blocked off, but it's it's it's so close to where regular life is continuing. and for the people on this block, their lives now are forever changed. look, this

fire is now spreading down this block. we've been watching this. here's what happened on this block. this house was on, on flames. let's walk over here. there's a downed cable line. so we just want to be careful about that. let's go around it. um, okay, so now the house next door caught. this tree exploded into flames. you can see up in the palm trees. now, those embers made those trees go on fire. i don't know if you can see through the smoke behind the palm trees. there are now these very tall vertical trees. i. i don't know much about shrubbery. i don't know what they're called, but they're huge, tall trees. they are now just like flames shooting up into the air. this second house now, i mean, that's that is just gone. that car, i believe that's the explosion. we heard, uh, a short time ago that i, that i recorded. but now, look, it spread down. this is new. yeah, we've been watching it then spreads from these trees. look at all these embers. just. i don't know if you can pan up, but look at all these embers just flying up. you see them in the smoke? all of that. those can

those the winds are a little or have died down here. but those can just get picked up by winds for miles and they can go for miles and light down, you know, fall on somebody's roof and a whole new fire will pop up. so this house is gone. this house has now is now underway. the the left side of this house is ignited. and also now the house nearby. it. but i mean, these numbers are like snowflakes. they're falling all around us. the sun. i mean, this is what's so crazy. if you you can't even see the sun. it is completely blacked out. i mean, you can't even see this house, but that that inside that smoke is another house. it is sandwiched between two houses, completely ablaze. there's no way that house is going to survive. and then just down the block, you know, you see smoke, but you don't

see fires. but there's a lot of houses which have already been destroyed down there. but this is very active. this is recently caught. i mean, this is now completely engulfed. okay. yeah. and now now you see it. now this house, which was relatively untouched. now this house is. is being destroyed. the the fact that the crew here left, uh, there was no water coming out of the hydrants, obviously, that's a huge concern as you guys have been reporting in the, you know, in the palisades. that's been a real issue through the night. and there is more of a gravity issue, um, in terms of, uh, the way water is actually able to get pumped up through hydrants into the hills. i'm not sure what the issue down down here is. if it's the same issue. they do obviously have water tanks that they try to bring to a number of locations, but, uh, i haven't seen any in this area and there weren't any for the crew. that was right here, uh, trying to to do what

they can. and it's really tough for these firefighters. i mean, they, you know, they want to save everything. they want to they want to stop this thing. but there's only so much you can do. authorities have put out, um. um, no, actually, i mean, look, we're we're in a we're actually on the side of the street. that's what's so surreal. i mean, that side of the street, it's blazing hot this side of the street. it's cool. no house is on fire. there's a firefighter right over there. uh, you know, it's. this is a you can operate in this area. we obviously wouldn't be here if we would get out. we have been in this location for about an hour. uh, just watching the. i mean, it is a sickening thing to watch the the strategy of the fire, if you will. not that it has thought, but how it jumps from one house to another. it jumps into the trees and then the embers move. you literally see it happening in real time and and i mean, for homeowners who

are watching this, it is just it's just devastating. now potential issue which we may move i think we're going to move now because this car, let's walk over here a little bit. this car from this house, i can see the trunk is now caught on fire. um, so it's if that car go. yeah. so look, you can see the back tires are flame, so it's very possible there will be some sort of, uh, ignition from that, from the gas. so we'll move. we'll move a little bit more over here. um, these cars have already have already exploded. but it's so strange. i mean, there's cars parked on the street that have not been touched and hopefully won't be, um, but, yeah, it's the size of this is obviously something that, uh, you know, look, people in los angeles, in this area, they're used to fires. they've seen this before. this is something that they have not seen. it may be i don't know. you know, we'll have to look at the historical records, but it is certainly up

there with some of the worst fires and the fact that there are, you know, there's this fire, there's obviously the palisades, which is the larger fire. i mean, this was called the the smaller fire. and in terms of damage so far, it probably is, i believe, a thousand structures they've said in the palisades, i don't know at this point what the count is. and frankly, any count that authorities give you, as you see, i mean, it's changing by the minute, uh, at the whim of these flames and the whim of these, these embers. >> anderson, this is this is boris sanchez. i'm just, uh, kind of concerned for your safety. i mean, these are very serious images behind you, and you are very close to flames. you spoke about sort of the process of getting to where. let's go over here. yeah. you spoke about the process of getting to where you are and how eerie it was that it seemed like life was just going by like another day not far from where you are. and we'd spoken to residents not far from

where you are now, who discussed the difficulty that they had in getting out. i do wonder, is there a safe passage of egress from where you are? would you be able to get out safely? would residents like that woman that you spoke to be able to get out without issue? >> yes. there are streets. i mean, the fire is spreading in a certain direction. so there are streets. we you know, we have a lot of people who are watching this. we obviously have teams who are very experienced in this. i do not include myself in that. but we have much smarter people around me. um, but there are there are ways to get in and out. um, yes there are. in answer to your question. so, um, you know, this is obviously there's police here, there's fire personnel here. um, and this actually, you know, i mean, strange to say, this corner is now better than it was in terms of safety for anybody on it than it was 30 minutes ago. that location, even that location where we were five minutes ago, uh, you know, that's a much less safe

location now, just in the last few seconds, because now the winds have picked up and that whole area is just completely blackened. and you can you can hear that, that crackling. but a number of these houses, i mean, look, we've been watching very carefully this north side of the street on harriet and glen, uh, on mainly these houses on harriet and a couple of them going a little bit northward on glen. uh, and so far they are untouched. and that's obviously a great blessing for, for all those folks. they have also evacuated, thankfully. um, but it's a real question of, of just what happens over here, particularly without water. i mean, that's obviously a huge concern for firefighters. >> yeah, it certainly is. and the scene has just changed and gotten so much darker from all of the smoke in just the minutes we've been speaking with you, anderson. we are going to get in a quick break. please stay safe. uh, it looks like conditions there are getting very severe. thank you for the incredible report. we do appreciate it. we'll be back with much more on the wildfires burning and not wildfires. the

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but forgot their refrigerated medication. so that's definitely been a challenge. another patient needed a pet medication, and the chain pharmacies wouldn't fill it because it wasn't sent electronically. so we're helping them. and, you know, the community pharmacy really is just there for the community. so we're here to help everybody make sure that they get the medications that they need. >> and how have you been able to stay open, jeff? >> um, thankfully, the fires on the other side of the 405. um, but like the palisades, beverly hills is a small community. um, we we are open and we deliver seven days a week. and a lot of our clients actually have been affected by the by the fires. um, and a little shout out to my friend james woods, who posted. i just sent him a text to tell him that i was thinking of him because i knew that his house was in, uh, in the fire zone. and i said, just let you know if you or anybody needs

medications. we open at 730 in the morning. um, so we were here for patients who got out with their lives but didn't get their medications, didn't have their medications with them, unfortunately. >> it's interesting you mentioned him, jeff, because i noticed in that interview that he did with our pamela brown. one of the things he said was, you know, he didn't bring out much, but he has, of course, his family. he has his pills. and i thought, of course, that is what people need to remember to bring you. your house is in l.a. county. is it okay? do you have preparations? just in case. >> we are not like most people were not as prepared as we should be. we also do live in one of the canyons north of beverly hills. um, and about a year or so after we first moved into our house, there was a fire nearby, and we couldn't figure out where the fire was. um, and it's just very, uh, you just

lose your stomach. um, so, yes, we have our medications, um, and our pets, and we have all the carriers ready to go. last night, i actually backed my car in, uh, just never knowing, you know, if an ember were to jump over. we're about four miles. five miles from where the fire is. so, um. yeah, it's a very uneasy, uneasy night jeff. >> gross, we're glad that you were okay and able to help others. we hope that that continues as this situation rapidly develops. jeff gross, thank you so much thank you very much. >> and, uh, shout out to all the community pharmacies across the country. we are there for our patients and for, um, and for the, the team. so thank you very much and have a wonderful rest of your day. >> thanks, jeff. stay tuned to cnn. we have more of our coverage of the fires in los angeles. on the lead with jake tapper starting right