when we flew over altadena, where chief fennessy grew up, he found it hard to get his bearings.you can see the rose bowl from here. >> i had no idea it went this far. >> you can see grocery buildings. >> everything gone. >> reporter: chief fennessy couldn't reach his brother. although it was out of his jurisdiction, he drove up from orange county. >> here's tommy's house. total nightmare. >> when he learned his brother was safe, he went to check on his long-time friend, tony goss, and this is what he found. >> i'm so sorry, tony. >> oh, my god, brother. >> this place was glowing. it was completely hot. there was a gas main over here that was venting. it was like a jet engine. it was pretty loud. tony was still in his pajamas. he looks like a firefighter. his face is black from all the soot. and he's walking around -- i don't know if you remember this. you walk around, kind of, talking to yourself. >> reporter: goss had tried to save his home, armed with just a garden hose. but the fire was too fierce. when we met him, he was still in disbelief that he'd been forced to walk away

my source tonight is the orange county fire chief, brian fennessy. and chief, it's great to have you here because we're looking at this investigation that's underway, looking at this specific street. and, you know, i guess a question that people have is how critical it is to know how this started in order to be able to stop future fires from starting. >> well, yeah. >> you know, after every fire start, whether it's big or small, you know, the fire service does an investigation. >> the agency having jurisdiction and, um, you know, quite frankly, if it does turn into arson, uh, it's pretty tough for, for us to, to prevent. i mean, that is a crime, you know, whether it's utility started or accidental lightning, you know, which, of course, is the case down here. um, all cases are investigated, and i imagine it'll probably be a while before we find out there. you know, the investigators are going to be very sure, um, you know, before they go public with the cause of, of these fires. >> okay. so you think it'll take some time. and i know you described the

joining me now is brian fennessy. he's the fire chief of the orange county, california fire authority. he's also, importantly, a collaborator with x prize wildfire. it's a competition that incentivizes the innovation of firefighting technologies. brian, thanks for being with us. we really need very desperately your your guidance and your advice at this point. you've been a firefighter for about 45 years. talk to me about what specific about this fire are. reporter compared it to lahaina. it's not fully a forest fire. it's not fully an urban fire. but it's got components of both and super high population growth and the winds. >> yeah. >> i think you and dana really hit it. well, you know what sets this apart? i've been a firefighter since 1978. >> i grew up in altadena. >> and when you grow up in altadena, near the foothills, you're very used to santa ana winds. when it's not blowing anywhere else, it's blowing there. and this was significant. talking with friends and family that still live there, that have experienced

my good friend, chief fennessy in orange county said, you know, this was this was basically unstoppable. now, does that mean that we don't need to do more going forward as a nation, as a country, as the american west? of course we do. there's a lot that we can do to make sure that we're establishing resilience on the part of our western communities. but this fire was, was, was, was unstoppable. and, and, and we need to make sure that that disinformation is rebutted everywhere we can. >> well, as you point out, california has, i think the best environmental rules and counter, you know, wildfire rules and regulations in the country. so if it can happen there, what more has to be done? do homes have to be rebuilt in a different way? do new regulations have to be put in place? >> yeah. so i like to put forward a three part plan that i think are the are the key things that most people who have been studying this topic agree on. number one is we need to make sure that we're doing fuels reduction in the wildlands. in order to accomplish that, we need many more people, and we need to make sure

chief brian fennessy is the chief of orange county, california fire authority. we're going to continue to monitor the fires in los angeles county throughout the program and all day on msnbc. however, we are eight days away from donald trump's return to power and confirmation hearings on several of trump's cabinet picks begin this week. so we're going to look ahead to wednesday when trump's pick for cia director, john ratcliffe, appears before the senate intelligence committee. and trump has vowed to launch the largest deportation effort in american history. millions of mixed status american families are now preparing for the worst. i'll talk to two women who've experienced what happens when families get caught in america's families get caught in america's broken immigration system. still living with odors? get back in there and freshen instantly with febreze air mist. febreze's fine mist floats longer in the air to fight even your toughest odors. so long stinky smells and hello amazing freshness. febreze air mist. supplements are scientifically formulated to sup

and joining us now, orange county, california, fire chief brian fennessy.l raging there in southern california. >> yeah, the fires, you know, are roughly palisades, i believe is about 24, 000 acres and is holding at about 14,000 plus. >> you know, there has not been significant growth in the last day, but per your report, certainly a lot of hotspots. >> and probably our biggest fear is that the winds have resurfaced. >> they're blowing very hard. and ventura, la, orange and riverside counties. >> so and we're we're one ignition away from another disaster sadly. >> so speak to us if you will, about what, if anything, can be done to sort of blunt the impact of these winds and just to the, to the morale and frankly, fatigue of your officers, of these firefighting personnel who have now been at this for days upon days upon days, you bet the you know, there really is nothing, you know, that that humanly that we can do to prevent or stop these winds. >> you know, the best we can do is, you know, provide information in advance and have people, you know, have their