WEBVTT

00:15.390 --> 00:17.557
Hi , my name is Colonel Eric Swenson ,

00:17.557 --> 00:19.668
Army Corps of Engineers , and I'm the

00:19.668 --> 00:21.779
recovery Field Office commander . The

00:21.779 --> 00:23.890
fires in the Eaton fire impacted area

00:23.890 --> 00:25.779
started on the 7th of January . I

00:25.779 --> 00:25.569
arrived with my colleagues from the

00:25.569 --> 00:27.791
Army Corps of Engineers starting on the

00:27.791 --> 00:29.625
12th of January , and we quickly

00:29.625 --> 00:31.569
partnered with local , state , and

00:31.569 --> 00:33.680
federal government in order to figure

00:33.680 --> 00:35.680
out a way to get all of this public

00:35.680 --> 00:37.736
health and safety threats removed so

00:37.736 --> 00:39.791
the community can rebuild , and it's

00:39.791 --> 00:41.791
been a long journey over the past 6

00:41.791 --> 00:43.847
months to get to this . When I first

00:43.847 --> 00:45.958
got here , what we saw were thousands

00:45.958 --> 00:48.180
of homes destroyed by a fire , families

00:48.180 --> 00:50.236
who were impacted that evacuated the

00:50.236 --> 00:52.402
night of the 7th or the morning of the

00:52.402 --> 00:54.236
8th , oftentimes in the cover of

00:54.236 --> 00:56.458
darkness , escaping to save their lives

00:56.458 --> 00:58.458
and taking only their most valuable

00:58.458 --> 01:00.347
possessions with them . When they

01:00.347 --> 01:02.291
returned home a day or 2 or 3 days

01:02.291 --> 01:04.513
later , what they found was their homes

01:04.513 --> 01:06.458
had been impacted by this fire and

01:06.458 --> 01:08.791
everything they had worked for was lost .

01:08.791 --> 01:11.069
When we came in , we wanted to partner .

01:11.069 --> 01:10.550
The local community and with these

01:10.550 --> 01:13.349
survivors and provide them heart and

01:13.349 --> 01:15.470
handshake to get these community back

01:15.470 --> 01:17.470
on their feet . And over the past 6

01:17.470 --> 01:19.414
months we have met these community

01:19.414 --> 01:21.581
where they're at . We have worked with

01:21.581 --> 01:23.526
them . We've helped them find lost

01:23.526 --> 01:25.748
articles that they thought were lost to

01:25.748 --> 01:27.803
the fire . We have found possessions

01:27.803 --> 01:29.970
that might not have any material value

01:29.970 --> 01:32.192
but had great value to the survivor who

01:32.192 --> 01:34.359
thought they were lost . In the past 6

01:34.359 --> 01:36.414
months , we have cleared over 95% of

01:36.414 --> 01:38.870
Parcels in both the Eaton fire impacted

01:38.870 --> 01:41.029
area and the Palisades fire impacted

01:41.029 --> 01:43.140
area and that represents somewhere on

01:43.140 --> 01:45.251
the order of 4 million tons of debris

01:45.251 --> 01:46.862
have been removed from these

01:46.862 --> 01:48.973
communities and safely transported on

01:48.973 --> 01:51.339
highways to proper disposal sites . And

01:51.339 --> 01:53.450
in the case of the recyclables , they

01:53.450 --> 01:55.506
can get reused in the supply chain .

01:55.506 --> 01:57.830
Behind me , what you see is the 6 month

01:57.830 --> 01:59.941
effort of the Army Corps of Engineers

01:59.941 --> 02:02.052
to remove the fire , ash and debris ,

02:02.052 --> 02:04.108
that public health and safety threat

02:04.108 --> 02:06.219
that At the core to this community to

02:06.219 --> 02:08.386
help them recover from the devastating

02:08.386 --> 02:08.149
wildfires that started on the 7th of

02:08.149 --> 02:10.093
January . And today I'm pleased to

02:10.093 --> 02:12.205
announce that we are almost done with

02:12.205 --> 02:14.316
all the debris removal from this fire

02:14.316 --> 02:16.482
in this community , and our efforts to

02:16.482 --> 02:18.570
go fast , to go safely has enabled

02:18.570 --> 02:20.869
residents like the one behind me to

02:20.869 --> 02:22.925
start rebuilding their home . So the

02:22.925 --> 02:25.036
recovery effort that's underway right

02:25.036 --> 02:27.036
now has truly been a record setting

02:27.036 --> 02:29.147
pace . I think nowhere else in modern

02:29.147 --> 02:31.147
history has the core of or even the

02:31.147 --> 02:33.313
state been able to recover and get the

02:33.313 --> 02:35.313
debris removed this quickly after a

02:35.313 --> 02:37.480
devastating wildfire , and we're proud

02:37.480 --> 02:39.425
to be part of this and part of the

02:39.425 --> 02:41.425
story of this community and helping

02:41.425 --> 02:43.425
them get themselves back onto their

02:43.425 --> 02:42.990
feet . But on behalf of the federal

02:42.990 --> 02:45.101
government , it's an honor to be here

02:45.101 --> 02:47.212
to help this community recover and to

02:47.212 --> 02:49.509
bring a federal benefit to those in

02:49.509 --> 02:51.789
this community which is in need as they

02:51.789 --> 02:53.456
are still recovering from the

02:53.456 --> 02:55.567
devastating impacts of the fires that

02:55.567 --> 02:56.509
struck this community on the 7th .