How Disaster Cleanup Works – DT 329

Summary

Dirt Talk Podcast Summary: "How Disaster Cleanup Works – DT 329"

Podcast Information:

• Title: Dirt Talk by BuildWitt
• Host: Aaron Witt
• Episode: How Disaster Cleanup Works – DT 329
• Release Date: April 14, 2025

In episode DT 329 of Dirt Talk, host Aaron Witt delves deep into the complexities of disaster response and cleanup in the United States. Focusing on recent major disasters—Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and the Southern California wildfires—Aaron unpacks the often-misunderstood processes that follow such catastrophic events. Through insightful discussions with a knowledgeable guest and firsthand accounts, the episode sheds light on the challenges, strategies, and human efforts involved in restoring communities after disasters.

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1. Overview of Recent Disasters

The episode begins with Aaron and his co-host addressing the surge of natural disasters in the past six months, highlighting Hurricane Helene and the devastating Southern California fires. They emphasize the overwhelming media coverage these events receive, which often overlooks the subsequent cleanup efforts.

Key Points:

• Hurricane Helene: Struck Florida's west coast as a Category 4 storm before moving inland, causing significant flooding in North Carolina.
• Southern California Fires: Included the Palisades Fire and Eaton Fire, which rapidly expanded due to intense Santa Ana winds, threatening thousands of homes and businesses.

Notable Quote:

Co-host (03:07): "While, thanks to the news, most everybody understands how the destruction happens... But that's when the real work begins."

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2. Hurricane Helene's Impact and Cleanup in North Carolina

Aaron recounts his visit to North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, which brought unprecedented rainfall and flooding to the Appalachian Mountains. The saturated ground led to record-breaking floods, resulting in over 100 fatalities and extensive infrastructure damage.

Key Points:

• Flood Dynamics: Mountains exacerbated the flooding as saturated grounds couldn't absorb the massive influx of water, leading to "once in 500 year" flood events.
• Emergency Response: Local contractors, such as Branch Civil, played a crucial role in clearing debris and restoring access for first responders.
• Rebuilding Challenges: Narrow mountain roads made access to affected areas difficult, requiring weeks to months for debris removal and road restoration.

Notable Quotes:

Co-host (05:08): "Mountains... are actually what made the storm so dangerous."

Guest (05:10): "The ground was saturated from previous heavy rainfall... the only place for it to go was downhill."

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3. Southern California Fires: On-the-Ground Cleanup Efforts

Transitioning to the Southern California fires, Aaron discusses the rapid escalation of the Palisades and Eaton Fires. The Santa Ana winds played a significant role in spreading the fires swiftly, making containment exceedingly difficult.

Key Points:

• Fire Progression: Fires expanded from small origins to thousands of acres within hours, driven by winds exceeding 100 mph.
• Economic Impact: Combined, the fires burned nearly 40,000 acres and destroyed over 15,000 structures, with estimated economic losses surpassing $250 billion.
• Cleanup Operations: Anvil Builders emerged as a primary contractor, employing excavators, skid steers, and triaxle dump trucks to manage the extensive ash and debris.

Notable Quotes:

Co-host (18:07): "The material was being pushed down the mountain by 100 mile per hour gusts."

Guest (17:55): "The estimated economic loss could exceed $250 billion, making it one of America's most expensive natural disasters ever."

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4. Government Response and Addressing Misconceptions

Aaron addresses common criticisms of the federal government's response to these disasters, clarifying the multifaceted involvement of federal, state, and local agencies.

Key Points:

• Collaborative Efforts: Contrary to public perception, the federal government worked alongside state and local entities to provide comprehensive aid.
• Misconceptions Debunked: Claims about water shortages during fires were explained as limitations of municipal water systems under extreme conditions, rather than mismanagement.

Notable Quotes:

Co-host (09:17): "Those on the ground actually had a lot of great things to say about the government and how much they have helped out."

Co-host (29:06): "Municipal fire systems are designed for small firefighting, but not for giant wildfires."

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5. The Cleanup Process: Phases and Tools

Detailed insight into the systematic approach to disaster cleanup was provided, outlining the phased process from immediate rescue to long-term rebuilding.

Key Points:

• Phase One: Search and rescue operations, primarily conducted by fire departments, military, and local contractors clearing debris to restore access.
• Phase Two: Hazard removal overseen by the EPA, addressing asbestos, heavy metals, and other contaminants.
• Cleanup Operations: Utilization of heavy machinery like excavators and skid steers, alongside triaxle dump trucks for debris removal and transport to landfills.
• Safety Protocols: Workers wear Tyvek suits and respirators to handle hazardous materials safely.

Notable Quotes:

Co-host (22:24): "Search and recovery is the very first step."

Guest (28:00): "They have many crews working as I record this, all throughout Southern California... cleaning up these properties."

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6. Rebuilding and Restoration Efforts

The final segment focuses on the long-term efforts to rebuild affected communities, emphasizing the extensive time and financial resources required.

Key Points:

• Temporary Access to Permanent Roads: Initial emergency contracts focused on restoring temporary access, followed by permanent road reconstruction involving ground stabilization and paving.
• Reconstruction Timeline: Anticipated to take years or even over a decade, with significant financial investments needed for infrastructure restoration.
• Personal Stories: Aaron shares a personal account of a friend rebuilding his home in Lahaina, highlighting the human aspect of disaster recovery.

Notable Quotes:

Co-host (14:48): "Based on what we saw in North Carolina, there will be years and maybe a decade plus of work in these areas."

Guest (31:37): "Everyone will begin rebuilding... it's a long road."

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7. Conclusion and Acknowledgments

Aaron concludes the episode by expressing gratitude towards the numerous individuals and organizations involved in disaster response and cleanup. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing the hard work and dedication of first responders, contractors, and utility workers in restoring communities.

Notable Quote:

Co-host (31:43): "They are extraordinary, extraordinary individuals... making these communities back on their feet."

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Final Thoughts

Episode DT 329 of Dirt Talk offers a comprehensive look into the intricate processes behind disaster cleanup and recovery. By addressing both the logistical challenges and the human efforts involved, Aaron Witt provides listeners with a deeper understanding of what it takes to rebuild after natural disasters. This episode serves as an informative resource, dispelling common misconceptions and highlighting the resilience of affected communities and those who aid in their recovery.

For more detailed visuals and on-the-ground footage, listeners are encouraged to visit the Dirt Talk YouTube channel by searching "Aaron Witt" on YouTube.

Transcript

[Aaron Witt]

For the first time ever, I am thrilled to say we have an official sponsor for the Dirt Talk podcast, and that's Ariat. I've worn Ariat boots on every job site I've visited over the years, traveling in them across five continents. More importantly, I have yet to find a single project where working folks, unlike me, are not wearing Ariat boots and workwear in every condition imaginable.

[Co-host]

And there's really good reason for that.

[Aaron Witt]

And that's because it's phenomenal stuff. And the more I've learned about Ariat and the company, the more I've loved their brand. So with this, Ariat is offering any dirt talk listener 10% off their next Ariat order at ariat.com dirt talk that's 10% off boots, jeans, and [e-mail] dirt talk or at the link in this episode's description. With that, let's get to the show.

[Co-host]

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Dirt Talk podcast Monday edition. We are back in Nashville in the studio to record another episode. Today we are going to talk about disaster response and disaster cleanup. There's been a lot going on in.

[Guest]

The United States regarding disasters over the.

[Co-host]

Past six months, and I wanted to dig into this subject because it's very misunderstood. There's a lot of bullshit on the Internet about what happens after these disasters strike, and I wanted to at least.

[Guest]

Hopefully provide some more context based on.

[Co-host]

What I have seen.

[Guest]

I have been to these areas. I've been speaking, speaking with a lot.

[Co-host]

Of people doing the cleanup. I am not the foremost expert on the subject, but I'm more in the know than most people. So I wanted to provide just more.

[Guest]

Context and tell some of these stories.

[Co-host]

So to dig in here, disasters make for great news. They are really hard to look away from. You've got the dramatic images of hurricanes and floods and fires, and it gets.

[Guest]

The news great ratings.

[Co-host]

So they love to show it, and I don't know if they love to show it. I don't know if love's the right word, but, boy, do they capitalize upon it. They. They. They really do. And in the past year, America has seen two of these major disasters everybody knows about. We had Hurricane Helene and then the.

[Guest]

Southern California fires, and before that was.

[Co-host]

Maui, and before that, you know, on and on and on. And while, thanks to the news, most everybody understands how the destruction happens. There are massive understandings, like I said, with what happens after the storm has passed. The fires are out, et cetera. But that's when the real work begins.

[Guest]

And over the Past six months I.

[Co-host]

Have visited North Carolina, Los Angeles and even Lahaina on Maui to understand better how everything plays out and to share it with you all.

[Guest]

And before I dig in, it's worth.

[Co-host]

Noting we have videos on the North Carolina cleanup and on the Southern California cleanup on our YouTube channel.

[Guest]

So if you search my name, Aaron.

[Co-host]

A A R O N Witt Witt on YouTube, you will find those videos and hopefully they can provide you with even more context. Now, starting with North Carolina in September, Americans on the east coast braced for what meteorologists said could be one of the most powerful storms to make landfall in decades. Florida was likely to see the most.

[Guest]

Devastation since it's right on the coast.

[Co-host]

And that's when that's where hurricane Helene would land first.

[Guest]

So on the evening of then September.

[Co-host]

26, the store to hit the storm hit Florida's west coast as a Category 4.

[Guest]

It ripped through Cedar Key, Tampa and Fort Myers, leaving all areas with significant flooding.

[Co-host]

But everybody didn't know that the worst was yet to come and it was.

[Guest]

Going to be hundreds of miles to.

[Co-host]

The north in America's Appalachian Mountains. Helene became a Category 2 storm as it moved into the United US and then a tropical storm as it hit.

[Guest]

Eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina on.

[Co-host]

The 27th of September. However, this is when record rainfall happened.

[Guest]

Which was over 30 inches in some areas, wreaking havoc on small Appalachian towns.

[Co-host]

The torrents wiped out roads, power and.

[Guest]

Many homes and ultimately claimed the lives.

[Co-host]

Of well over 100 of people. Hundreds of people I believe at this point. Now why the devastation here with the.

[Guest]

Flooding up in the Appalachians?

[Co-host]

Well, mountains everybody thinks the mountains protect, but the mountains here are actually what made the storm so dangerous. The ground was saturated from previous heavy rainfall, so. So when the record rainfall happened, it couldn't be percolated within the ground at all.

[Guest]

Nothing could be absorbed.

[Co-host]

So the only place for it to go was downhill to collect in these typically quiet streams and rivers and absolutely wreak havoc. So there was an estimated 40 trillion.

[Guest]

Gallons of water in North Carolina that.

[Co-host]

Quickly overwhelmed the natural flows. And this created once in 500 year events. Once in 500 year flood events. And this was the first question I saw people asking when we posted the video initially. Why are these people building their houses within the floodplain?

[Guest]

Shouldn't it be obvious? Shouldn't they know that flooding is going to happen here?

[Co-host]

But that's how 500 year events work. A 500 year event is a flood event so extreme that it happens on.

[Guest]

Average once every 500 years. So you have 10 year events, 50.

[Co-host]

Year events, 100 year events, 500 year events. So in theory, the last time this.

[Guest]

Flooding this bad happened was before the.

[Co-host]

English had even arrived in America. That's how long ago it potentially could have happened. So it's very rare.

[Guest]

It had never happened in these people's lifetime.

[Co-host]

And they figured, hey, I'm going to.

[Guest]

Build my house up here.

[Co-host]

The flooding is going to be bad, 10, 50, 100 years even, but it's not going to come up here anytime soon. We're going to be good to go. Obviously that wasn't, unfortunately the case. As the flooding was still happening, local heroes sprang into action. And the priority is always first access to aid in search and rescue. So the fire departments and military do the rescuing. But it's typically actually down to local.

[Guest]

Contractors like Branch Civil to remove downed.

[Co-host]

Trees and debris using their heavy equipment. So first responders don't have excavators, they don't have loaders, they don't have skid steers, and all of these downed trees result in limited access to the areas they need to get to for the sake of rescue.

[Guest]

So that's when these local contractors again.

[Co-host]

Like Branch Civil and others, had to step in, use their equipment to clear these roadways to allow these first responders to get into these communities and do the rescuing required. And that's what happened for weeks following, even as the water started to recede. Most work happening was emergency purely for the sake of restoring access to the worst affected areas after this disaster. Now, large towns, some large towns like Asheville were pretty hard hit, very hard hit. The worst areas were actually high up in the mountains, far from the major cities. And that's because there's these very narrow.

[Guest]

Roads leading to these communities.

[Co-host]

And to get access to some of these areas took weeks and months of work to even get back back to where these people live. And not even thinking about power, utilities, anything like that. Just getting to these homes sometimes took weeks and months, it was so bad back there. Another major challenge during these events is communication. So power and utilities in general are the first things to go, which renders communication almost impossible. Fortunately, tools like Starlink were able to connect people at as needed and helped in this process. Now we get to the next port of criticism here of this response.

[Guest]

That is how little the federal government.

[Co-host]

Gave to those affected. But when we were there, those on the ground actually had a lot of great things to say about the government and how much they have helped out. The federal government has, has remained involved since the beginning but also the state and local governments have served people every step of the way. So we often get caught up in blaming the federal government because it's easy to blame one entity and especially one person. But that's completely ridiculous. That's not how anything works. And even with the federal government removed.

[Guest]

There are so many state and local.

[Co-host]

Agencies involved in this and they're necessary, they're a necessary part of this and they've done, based on what I've heard, a lot of great work. So I just wanted to give the government some credit here because they have done an enormous amount of, of. They put in an enormous amount of effort to get these communities back on track. Yeah. Has the response been a complete disaster?

[Guest]

In other regards?

[Co-host]

Yes. But based on what we had heard specifically in the Burnsville area, everybody there was was actually very appreciative. So once search, rescue and recovery are over, it is time for the rebuilding.

[Guest]

Process which starts with more permanent access.

[Co-host]

To the affected areas. And this is where contractors like Branch Civil, Wright Brothers and others worked under emergency contracts to rebuild the washed out roads that often followed the typically quiet rivers. A question people are asking, why do.

[Guest]

They build the roads along the rivers?

[Co-host]

Well, I don't know.

[Guest]

You can't build them over a mountain.

[Co-host]

You're not going to go tunnel through mountains. For small local roads, following the river is the easiest alignment for each road. And that's true across the entire United States. If you look at any major road, especially up canyons and across harsh terrain, it typically follows running water because that is the, the best alignment. Nature knows where the best alignment is. As we drove up to the work area when we were there late last year, I thought the flood waters would be like a few times normal flow. But based on what we saw and based where the water was, it must have been a hundred times what normally flows there. The rivers and streams there are pretty quiet. They're pretty, I mean you can walk across some of these. They're so quiet.

[Guest]

But they were these raging torrents when this happened.

[Co-host]

And I just, I could not believe, I couldn't even imagine how much water.

[Guest]

Must have been coming through these valleys.

[Co-host]

To create water levels that were that high. Now the work is somewhat straightforward. They were removing the washed out rock.

[Guest]

Within the riverbed and hauling it to.

[Co-host]

Placement areas along the road alignment. Then they were filling the washed out areas to restore temporary access.

[Guest]

So they were borrowing from the river. All of this material had washed into the river, so they were pulling it.

[Co-host]

Out and then they were basically filling.

[Guest]

In these enormous holes.

[Co-host]

In the road, like where we were, it was a two lane road. One of the lanes had just disappeared.

[Guest]

So they were pushing the material off.

[Co-host]

The first lane, the one that was existing, to then build out that where that second lane should have been. Why use material from the river?

[Guest]

Well, it's twofold.

[Co-host]

Most local quarries were either flooded or entirely overwhelmed by demand for other projects. And it also helps to restore the river's natural flows to allow the water, the normal flow, to flow a little bit more normally. At this point, they've placed hundreds of thousands, if not millions of yards of rock to restore these small mountain roads.

[Guest]

Which is then allowing people to finally begin the cleanup and rebuilding process for their homes and businesses.

[Co-host]

Then in the future, the state and.

[Guest]

Federal governments will issue official contracts for permanent restoration of roads, which includes ground stabilization and paving.

[Co-host]

So initially it was just get some kind of access, clear debris, restore really big holes, just allow people to get back into these areas for the sake of rescue, search. Then it was, all right, let's restore temporary access, let's get two lanes, let's get the roads back to where they should be, but let's not worry about anything permanent. And then, all right, now that we understand the extent of the damage, let's issue formal contracts for these companies to come back in and do the permanent.

[Guest]

Reconstruction efforts, which is what's happening today.

[Co-host]

Especially with i40, for example, it just reopened one side of it, it's still getting worked on on the other side. But restoring that permanent flow is now the, the, the, the goal. So based on what we saw in North Carolina, there will be years and maybe a decade plus of work in these areas. Some of the areas could potentially not come back. I don't know. Based on other disasters I've seen, even post Katrina, there's still areas that haven't.

[Guest]

Come back in New Orleans.

[Co-host]

So it's going to be a long road. But I'm very appreciative of everybody working there to get these, these communities back on their feet. And it's going to cost tens of billions of dollars to even restore the roads and infrastructure that was lost. So that was North Carolina.

[Guest]

Now, on the other side of the.

[Co-host]

Spectrum, I also wanted to cover the LA fires. On January 7, smoke began to rise outside of Los Angeles and it started with relatively small fire at only a few acres, but then quickly grew past a thousand acres.

[Guest]

By the afternoon, residents in the Pacific.

[Co-host]

Palisades and the surrounding area evacuated and famous streets like Sunset Boulevard were gridlocked. Cal Fire, which is California's state fire, Agency, Los Angeles county and municipal fire assets mobilized to contain the fire that threatened thousands of homes.

[Guest]

And the footage was absolutely insane, including movie like scenes featuring large fire dozers pushing luxury cars aside to make way for fire vehicles.

[Co-host]

As the sun set on what was soon to be a disaster, another fire emerged to the east near the quiet town of Altadena, only 10 minutes from Pasadena. Called the Eaton Fire, the flames were.

[Guest]

Soon out of control, sweeping down the.

[Co-host]

Santa Ana mountains into the typically quiet neighborhood. With these two fast growing fires and others like the Hearst fire also beginning over the same night, fire crews were outgunned in what is typically not California's fire season. By morning, both fires were a few.

[Guest]

Thousand acres, but by afternoon, thanks to the Santa Ana winds, showing no mercy.

[Co-host]

The Palisades fire was at more than 15,000 acres, while the Eaton Fire was beyond 10,000 acres.

[Guest]

With both fires now threatening tens of.

[Co-host]

Thousands of homes and businesses, hundreds of.

[Guest]

Firefighters in every air asset in the region were now on the scene.

[Co-host]

But they could only do so much with the intense gusts which grounded aircraft.

[Guest]

Over the coming days, the winds finally.

[Co-host]

Settled and the fire crews made progress in containing both fires. And after working 24 hours a day for weeks, the crews finally contained the fires nearly one month later.

[Guest]

As the flames died down, the damage became clear. The fires combined burned nearly 40,000 acres of land and destroyed over 15,000 structures.

[Co-host]

The estimated economic loss could could exceed $250 billion, making it one of America's most expensive natural disasters ever. How did this happen? Well, what started the fires is still contested. I believe for the Eaton fire, it does look like it was started by the power lines just up in the mountains. A few known factors grew them completely out of control.

[Guest]

First, the intense Santa Ana winds noted earlier blew more than 100 miles per hour, causing the fires to move too fast to control. And then, making matters worse, the winds begin at higher mountain elevations and blow.

[Co-host]

Downhill toward lower pressure, which pushed the.

[Guest]

Fire from the mountains directly into civilization.

[Co-host]

Second, a few wet years caused brush and vegetation to grow, and then low.

[Guest]

Rainfall over the past few months dried.

[Co-host]

Everything out, which provided plenty of fuel. So that's what everybody saw on the news. But how does the cleanup actually work? Well, fortunately, we were able to visit with Anvil Builders, a company that I have known for many years now, and they have done just about more firework than anybody else in California at this point. They've worked in paradise in Santa Rosa and Malibu previously. They have a ton of experience. And so to me, it was no.

[Guest]

Surprise that they were the first contractor.

[Co-host]

Doing cleanup work after these fires happened. Fire is particularly devastating because it deletes people's entire lives. All that remains of homes and businesses are ash and typically whatever concrete or stone was there. Flooding is just different. It pushes everything, it wipes things away. And then it. It doesn't get rid of any debris though you see all of the debris somewhere, whereas fire, it removes a majority of the debris. So you're really just cleaning up ash, concrete and burned cars, steel, etc. It's dystopian and it almost makes. It does it makes your stomach sick. The first sites of the Southern California cleanup were the local schools, eight of which were totally or partially destroyed in the Altadena area. And before we get into how the work works, it's worth talking about some of the tools. So While cleaning up 10,000 properties is a massive project, giant scope, each project is very small, so you're only working.

[Guest]

On one house at a time.

[Co-host]

And they don't just clean up one house at a time. They have many crews simultaneously craning up different lots, but it's just one at a time. So it's basically a bunch of very small projects within this enormous project, which means you need not just a lot of people, but a lot of equipment and a lot of smaller equipment. So Anvil's primary tools for the fire cleanup are excavators and skid steers. So they typically use 20 to 30 ton excavators, mostly reduce tail swing because they're in these urban environments. And then the skid steers typically have four in one buckets so they can grab pile grade. And they're small enough to work in that tight footprint as well. Next, the excavator, the skid steer is.

[Guest]

Sorting through the ash and debris.

[Co-host]

Then they load it into hundreds and what will now be thousands of triaxle dump trucks.

[Guest]

Those triaxial trucks are hauling all of.

[Co-host]

That material to local lined landfills. And then we finally have support equipment like water buffaloes, water trucks, to eliminate ash into the air. As each crew is working now for the disaster cleanup process itself. It's not as simple as local contractors.

[Guest]

Showing up with shovels in hand.

[Co-host]

I wish it was like that, but it's not like that because there is a lot of grifting, a lot of companies taking advantage of people trying to make money. And so the government has to control it to allow for some kind of process.

[Guest]

And oftentimes the process is maddening.

[Co-host]

But there's a process for a reason. And again, based on the Contractors, I've spoken with people on the ground. The process is, is typically regarded as.

[Guest]

A very good thing following the fire.

[Co-host]

Like flooding, like any disaster, search and recovery is the very first step.

[Guest]

So first responders will search for missing.

[Co-host]

People within the disaster area. And in fires, they'll often use dogs.

[Guest]

As they can more effectively find people, either alive or not alive, underneath the debris.

[Co-host]

Dogs are extremely effective in fire scenarios, so they can not just find the people they need to that are still living, but the dogs will also mark where people likely perished. There's typically not bodies post fire because it's fire. It's so hot, it again deletes everything, including human beings. So the dogs, but the dogs can still smell typically human remains. So if a dog hits some area, they'll, what they'll do is they'll typically take that dog away.

[Guest]

They'll bring in a second dog. If the second dog hits on the.

[Co-host]

Same area, they can then, with a certain degree of confidence, note that a certain missing person likely perished in this spot, and they at least know that that person is accounted for. It's grim, but it's the reality following these disasters. Once the area is clear, which is typically a week or two after it happens, phase one begins, which is the removal of hazardous materials via the epa. So hazardous materials includes asbestos, heavy metals, gas and batteries. EPA workers will go from house to house, business to business, evaluating each property for hazards. And once they know what is exactly.

[Guest]

There, if anything, crews can come in, usually by hand, and remove those hazardous.

[Co-host]

Materials before phase two begins. And it's also worth noting that as crews are inspecting properties, utility crews are nonstop working 24 hours a day to reestablish water, power, communications and gas. So in these areas, there were also a lot of homes that were not totally destroyed, but they're still unusable because they don't have utilities.

[Guest]

So these utility crews bringing in the.

[Co-host]

Power, the water, the gas, again, everything gets shut off, everything gets ruined. Bringing that back in is essential to getting these communities back on their feet.

[Guest]

After phase one comes phase two, which.

[Co-host]

Is the official cleanup process. The federal government divides the US into districts, and then contractors over a certain amount of years will then bid and.

[Guest]

Hold on to the emergency contract within those districts.

[Co-host]

So if a disaster happens within that district, they already have a general contractor there to manage the work. They don't need to go bid it. They already have somebody to step in as quickly as possible and manage the process. So in this case, ECC was the.

[Guest]

General contractor, essentially a very well known construction remediation and disaster recovery company.

[Co-host]

And then from here, residents can fill.

[Guest]

Out a right of entry form, which then gives the government permission to clean.

[Co-host]

Up their property at no cost.

[Guest]

So the money can be from the.

[Co-host]

State, but in this case in Southern California, it's mostly federal money via fema. And so then the ECC bids out.

[Guest]

Portions of the work to qualified contractors.

[Co-host]

And that is when anvil comes into play.

[Guest]

Them being a qualified fire contractor, them doing a lot of firework, them being.

[Co-host]

Able to mobilize very quickly to this area. They were the first ones on the scene. The cleanup process itself, it's not that complicated. So these small crews, they'll get dispatched to these properties. Each property typically takes one to two days to clean up, depending on its size. It'll be maybe 10 people on a crew. You'll have one excavator, maybe two excavators. You'll have a skid steer, maybe two skid steers. You'll have water buffalo, water truck. Then you'll have people on the ground, people in the equipment. The equipment will sort through everything. They will demolish any structures that are still standing. They will pick out all of the steel from the debris. They will then put the steel into containers for recycling. They will gather up the ash and other debris that will not be recycled. They load it into triaxial dump trucks.

[Guest]

Those dump trucks are lined with plastic, covered completely.

[Co-host]

And those dump trucks then haul to the landfills. There's people spraying down the site to.

[Guest]

Keep the ash on the ground, not up in the air.

[Co-host]

And then part of the process as well is removing the hazard trees. So a lot of trees burned. And those trees need to be removed because they pose a hazard to people. Future state. Once they are done with the debris.

[Guest]

Removal, they'll also remove roughly 6 inches.

[Co-host]

Of the soil, which is considered contaminated. And then at that point, the property is turned back over to the owner for eventual rebuilding.

[Guest]

So they basically scrape the property clean.

[Co-host]

Remove everything, haul it off, recycle what they can, and move on to the next one. Takes a few days, if that, to clean each property. You have many crews working on these properties. And this process will probably take in Altadena, hopefully maybe six to nine months.

[Guest]

I know they've also started in the.

[Co-host]

Palisades now as well. So that's the process, because it is contaminated material and ash, which is hazardous.

[Guest]

Everybody working within the ash footprint needs to be trained and needs to be.

[Co-host]

Wearing Tyvek suits and respirators. So that is why you will see everybody, even in machines Wearing the Tyvek suits.

[Guest]

That's just the rule.

[Co-host]

That's not just a California thing. That's fire cleanup in general. I saw a lot of comments about how they now have water, but they didn't have it during the fires. This has been a talking point that makes no sense at all. One of the talking points is about the reservoir that was empty, that was over in the Pacific Palisades, that had nothing to do with the Altadena area. To these municipal water systems, they're based on tanks. So there's giant tanks up in the hills, because it's up a hill. And so you pump the water with bigger pumps up into these tanks and then it's gravity fed from there, using.

[Guest]

That head pressure with the water sitting.

[Co-host]

Up in that tank above these houses to then feed the area.

[Guest]

Now, these municipal fire systems are designed.

[Co-host]

For small firefighting, but not for giant wildfires. So once the tanks are drained, the water system, municipal water system just can't keep up. The tanks are going to run dry. You're not going to have water.

[Guest]

That's just how municipal water systems work.

[Co-host]

And I looked into this heavily as well.

[Guest]

The local fire departments, the people on.

[Co-host]

The ground said even if we had as much water as we wanted, it would have made no difference because this.

[Guest]

Was fire being pushed down the mountain by 100 mile per hour gusts. There's nothing you can do to fight that.

[Co-host]

It was just. It was going to happen regardless, unfortunately. And maybe there were some other things.

[Guest]

That could have happened beforehand.

[Co-host]

But the water point is, I believe, completely irrational. The other point I saw was about how some trees were not burned, but others were. It's another dumb comment. Trees have water within them so they don't burn as well as a house made of dried wood and flammable stuff. Again, it's just people like, was there mismanagement here? Yeah, I think there was, but it.

[Guest]

Then just goes too far.

[Co-host]

You start to grasp at these ridiculous draws that are so far from reality. And that's why I'm here. I'm trying to at least clear up some of this stuff. So also, I saw some people pointing out how many new machines there are because of the money these contractors are making. One, it's low bid work.

[Guest]

Two, the new machines are there because they're rental machines.

[Co-host]

They had to mobilize very quickly, so.

[Guest]

They had to get rental machines from the local dealers. Typically, rental machines oftentimes are brand new machines.

[Co-host]

That's why the machines were brand new. So that is the fire cleanup process. There are now, hundreds of crews working as I record this, all throughout Southern California, in the Altadena area, in the Malibu area, in the Pacific Palisades area and elsewhere to clean up these properties. Once all of the debris is removed, once the utilities are restored, people will then begin rebuilding. That is what I saw when I was in Lahaina earlier this year. In February, a lot of new houses were starting to get built.

[Guest]

I saw my friend Kimo.

[Co-host]

His house was lost during the fire there.

[Guest]

He's been there every step of the way.

[Co-host]

He was rebuilding his house. It was now, you know, 15 months.

[Guest]

After the fire happened.

[Co-host]

So it is a long road. It will be years, if not a decade plus before these neighborhoods are back to even what they were remotely like beforehand. But again, Godspeed. God bless to all of the people that were involved in fighting these fires. I don't think the fire agencies and Cal Fire especially got enough credit. These are some of the hardest working people in the United States. They are extraordinary, extraordinary individuals. And thanks to all the people working out on these, these projects, making this happen, all the equipment operators, laborers, truck drivers, people managing the work, the utility workers, everybody out there making it happen. It's a really big deal. And I'm very appreciative of them getting these communities back on their feet. So like I said, if you want more context, we have videos on both of these operations on our YouTube channel. Aaron Witt at YouTube, I hope this provided just a little bit more context. You won't find a lot of this information on the Internet on the news sites now. The news cycle is on to other things, but it's important nonetheless, and hopefully you learned something. So thanks for listening and we will see you on the next one. Everybody stay.