 All right well good morning everyone and thanks for coming in this morning. Mark Gilarducci I'm Director of Governor Brown's Office of Emergency Services here at OES and I'm gonna start off by kind of giving you a little bit of an update on what's occurred over the last 24 hours. It's been very busy. I have a series of briefings that'll take place for you this morning from the the various leads from the agencies that are directly involved in this. But let me first start off by saying that this morning the Vice President of the United States did make a stop here at OES at the State Operations Center and he announced that the President had approved the Governor Brown's request for a major disaster declaration. This is a significant and appreciated action and will greatly assist us in the state of California. It'll assist the the victims and survivors that have been impacted by this disaster and it'll greatly assist the community as we work to rebuild the damages that occurred. So very appreciative of the White House and and and certainly of FEMA in working with us to be able to get that that navigated and push through so rapidly and we appreciate the Vice President personally coming today and making that announcement. Well we continue to be very busy. Roughly about 4,000 or so personnel committed to the various fires throughout the state. These are fire and rescue, law enforcement, emergency management, emergency medical, public health, non-governmental support, volunteers and and and and and our military, our National Guard. Everyone working collaboratively together in a very systematic approach to support the various counties that have impacted by the wildfire. So with that I will start off by having Chief Ken Pemla, the director of Cal Fire come up and give us an update on the firefighting operations over the last 24 hours and where we're at with that. So Chief Pemla. Thank you. Thank you, Mark. Well good morning. As we wake up this morning we have over 17 large fires across California in the last 24 hours burning over 115,000 acres. This morning we've updated damage assessments and we're looking at 2,000 structures, homes, businesses destroyed in these fires. Our damage assessment is ongoing. These numbers will be updated. We are working very diligently to refine those numbers but understand these are very active fires and we are getting inspectors in there as quickly as we can to update those numbers. But our focus continues to be on life safety, getting people out from the front of these fires and then engaging in that perimeter control, those efforts that will engage in, you know, containing these fires and putting them out. We are this morning updated the fatalities on these fires and sad to report that this morning we updated that to 13 individuals have lost their lives in these fires and that number continues to be fluid. Understand we still have a number of missing persons or unaccounted for persons across all of these fires and so we continue to work locally with local officials as we can access these fire areas and do accountability checks. So we will continue to maintain that number as a fluid as a fluid number. We did experience much calmer winds overnight and into this morning humidities are up. All of that is giving firefighters a much better opportunity to start making control efforts on these fires. The red flag warnings that were issued have all expired this morning or will expire here shortly throughout the state. That is good news but we can't keep our guard down. We are looking at fire weather conditions and potential red flag warnings returning for later in the week, possibly as early as tomorrow in Northern California again for stronger winds and low relative humidities. So all of that comes at a time when obviously these fires are all in a very dynamic situation and so the primary effort for firefighters on these fires is going to be to put containment lines in as quickly as possible. As Director Geller Ducci indicated we have thousands of personnel assigned to these incidents and we have many many more pouring in as we speak. We have firefighting hand crews coming in from the state of Nevada. We've also requested resources through our federal partners and the Forest Service is bringing in additional fire engines and hand crews and other personnel from outside of California to bolster our efforts. I've heard a lot of discussion about aviation assets and I want to assure everyone we have access to almost every aviation and firefighting aviation asset in the country right now. The Forest Service, our federal partners have provided everything that we've needed that we've asked for. For example just yesterday out of our McClellan reload base here in Sacramento we actually had a record amount of retardant pumped over 266 thousand gallons of retardant was pumped yesterday. 45 missions were flown just out of that facility alone on several fires here in the region including the tubs and the the Atlas and that included seven missions by the 747. So we are actively employing every aviation asset. Challenges of course have been smoke conditions. One of the challenges with the wind when it subsides is that we get smoke conversions and that settles down in the valleys and makes it very difficult for some of the aviation assets to clearly see targets and be able to operate. So we're working around that and through that but we are actively using aviation resources wherever and whenever we can. Just a couple of quick updates on fires this morning. The Atlas fire is currently at 25,000 acres and zero percent contained and as you know that's in Napa County. The Nunn's fire in Sonoma County around the Glen Ellen area is 5,000 acres and zero percent contained. The tubs fire, the fire that was most damaging to the city of Santa Rosa is 27,000 acres this morning and zero percent contained. These containment figures we anticipate will start to increase. We have four incident management teams that have deployed across northern California. They are organizing all of these fires into complexes. So each team is managing multiple fires, sharing resources within these fires and allocating them to the critical areas. These teams are rapidly putting their plans in place, are identifying where they're going to put in control lines, and firefighters as we speak are being deployed out to the fire lines to get that containment up to get lines cut. So by this afternoon and then tomorrow we'll start seeing more progress and getting better containment on all of these fires. And I can tell you the priorities today are for example on the Atlas fire in Napa County. We want to button up the portion of the fire that's impacting the city and county area of Napa so that when winds change we've bolstered that fire. The Nunn's fire which is impacting Glen Ellen. We are working to keep it off of Sugarloaf Mountain to protect the eastern edge of Santa Rosa. We are working on the Partrick fire to establish and strengthen and again to protect the portions of that fire that are adjacent to Napa. And then lastly the Tubbs fire we are working along Calistoga Road again to protect that flank of the fire and protect any re-burn into the community of Santa Rosa. All of these efforts are really focusing on the southern ends of all of these fires because if these north winds return they will push these fires again further to the south and so our efforts are to strengthen control lines on the southern ends of all of these so they can hold up against the winds should they surface like they did over the weekend. So again we are far from out of the woods. We've got several days of fire weather conditions to come but I can assure you we are moving resources throughout the state as fires are being contained in other parts of the state we're moving resources in here to bolster efforts and so we will continue to do that. I want to encourage everyone there are many many local numbers for information. Pay very close attention to websites the Cal Fire website the Cal OES website social media and the local contact information all of the counties that's where the information on evacuations shelters and current real-time fire information can be obtained. So with that I'd like to turn it over to Commissioner Warren Stanley of the California Highway Patrol. Thank you director. As far as the CHPR deployment we have over 100 people deployed to assist with fire. Most of those personnel are working traffic control. We also have some personnel that are providing security at some of the shelters that are people are going to for support and help. Additionally we have some officers out of our San Jose area that are escorting some FEMA big rig trucks that are carrying water food and other supplies and they're headed to they're headed to Napa Airport. Additionally we have a group of eight officers and one sergeant that have been assigned to assist our law enforcement partners in Santa Rosa and Napa with general law enforcement and prevention of looting and we do have a little good news we have the 101 through Santa Rosa we've been able to open that up so traffic can get through that area however in that area there's still some off-ramps that are closed but the 101 is open and also the 101 a little bit further north north of Willis to Laytonville we've been able to open that up so we're very happy about that. From our standpoint appreciate working with our partners and the one thing that that we ask anybody who's driving around in these areas please please please if you're smoking in your car please do not throw your cigarettes out your window use your ashtrays to dispose of your cigarettes there's a lot of dry fuel out there as Director Penlot talked about yesterday and it doesn't take much to get a fire started so we're asking that you do that and with that I'll turn it over to General Baldwin from the National Guard. Thank you. Thanks Commissioner I'm Dave Baldwin with the California Military Department and the California National Guard. The California Military Department currently has 242 soldiers and airmen that are supporting the multiple incidents in Sonoma and Napa Counties. We continue to provide aviation support to Cal Fire and medical evacuation support in the region. We have military personnel police personnel that are providing security and assistance at the evacuation centers. Our new mission sets that are evolving we're providing fuel to first responders because some of the fuel gas stations in the area don't have power. We're also providing truck transportation support to the Sonoma County Sheriff to enable them to get in to areas that are otherwise inaccessible. Today we're also deploying systems that will enable people to communicate with their cell phones even in areas where cell phone service is not available so we'll set up phone centers at the major evacuation centers in both Napa and Sonoma County. We've also just received a request and forwarded a request for us to be able to fly our MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft to the Secretary of Defense that will enable us to do up-to-date fire mapping for Cal Fire and damage assessment for FEMA. Now we continue to stand ready with all the other assets of the California National Guard as the need arise and I'll be followed by Mr. Bob Fenton from FEMA Region 9. Good day Bob Fenton, FEMA Region 9's regional administrator. As Mr. Giladucci discuss the present issue to major declaration this morning this gives me the authority to coordinate federal resources and support of the state to help them respond and recover from this fire. In addition to that it provides me the authority to provide reimbursement for debris removal and reimbursement for emergency protective measures. In addition to the disaster declaration we've issued 10 fire management assistance grants over the last 24 hours and are providing commodities to help those that are sheltered as the California Highway Patrol discussed some of the trucks that are moving yesterday and today. That concludes my briefing. Thank you. Okay well thank you. Let me just talk a little about a few things. Shelter operations we still currently have around 3,200 individuals that are in shelters, roughly 28 shelters throughout Napa and and the Sonoma area. We are working to slowly consolidate those and make a smaller footprint and better services for those shelters as we move over the next several days but we are working and in supporting those shelters with additional cots and blankets and water and food as necessary as well as addressing access and functional need requirements at those shelters. So we have additional equipment and supplies Administrator Fenton mentioned was coming in from FEMA, also the California Department of Public Health and the Red Cross have all supported additional items for our shelter operations. Power and water continue to be a little bit of an issue. The water is better now although in the area directly impacted by the fire there's not really access there anyway and that water is being checked but outside the area the water is fine. Power is still a problem. We have several thousand without power in Napa and Sonoma and the power is also affecting the ability not only just to charge cell phones but also to keep things like gas stations open because if you don't have power you can't move the fuel and so what we're doing is trying to support that by bringing in fuel trucks and actually being able to gas vehicles right out of the fuel trucks so that it doesn't require power. Where we can we're putting generators in place until that power comes up but we're working closely with our utilities. They're actually embedded right here in the State Operations Center to address the power needs and try to get the power back up. Same problem with the telecommunications our cell sites there there were roughly 77 sites that were damaged or destroyed as well as a key hub that moves the communication pathways. This remains a challenge but we are working we yesterday the utilities brought in additional cellular on wheels capabilities and in addition as General Baldwin mentioned they're bringing in some military assets called Joint Incident Site Communication Units these are units that will help augment the communications in the area. We understand that communications is absolutely critical for being able people to be able to get information and messages but also to reach out and talk to their families so that is a it is a top priority for us to be able to address communications. Commissioner Stanley mentioned law enforcement we've got roughly 230 personnel law enforcement mutual aid they're from police departments and sheriff's departments and other law enforcement entities all throughout Northern California that are working in Sonoma and Napa supporting the local law enforcement authorities as well as what General Baldwin mentioned National Guard Military Police these are augment force multipliers to be able to go in and provide security to decrease any potential for any looting the secure sites to enforce road closures and to support any other evacuations that may be necessary they'll continue on with that that mission said until the situation is mitigated or the local authorities think that they've got they've got they can they can take it back over again. There are a number of school closures in the seven counties that have been impacted by fire not just in Sonoma Napa but in Butte and the other counties as well roughly 14 school sites have been closed and the Department of Education is coordinating school closures with local school districts throughout the the area. We began discussions with the local authorities on establishing a local assistance center this is a center where state local federal insurance non-governmental public health groups come together it's sort of like a one-stop shop for disaster survivors to be able to come in and be able to get whatever services they need particularly if they've lost everything like driver's license and other critical records we will help them rebuild all of those at these local assistance centers and that'll be a supported effort between local state and federal and our hope is that we can get those centers at least a few of them up in the coming days if not early next week to be able to address it. A lot of this will depend on on on firefighting operations and the safety in the area to make that happen. We are also working with the Department of Insurance to ensure that everybody who has insurance and the insurance providers step up and effectively and adequately support the people who have lost homes and we're working closely with the Attorney General's Office to ensure that there's no gouging or any kind of criminal activity on the part of additional contractors coming in contractors licensing board will also be involved in that. So far we're really kind of focusing on unmet needs let me just take a moment to thank really thank our private sector partners they have been great in being able to lean forward Rayleigh's, Walmart, Facebook, the California Grocers Association just to name a few have been exceptional partners in being able to support all of the operations and they're a key partner for us as they move forward. So with that I'd be happy to take any questions. No it's a very good question so obviously we investigate the origin and cause of all fires it's very important for us to know those causes so that we can work on prevention and certainly if they're negligently started or criminally started in terms of ours and obviously we can hold the appropriate individuals accountable. All of these fires are under investigation and it's obviously very early in the process our focus has certainly been in the beginning here as we are focusing on life safety and putting these fires out so it's very early to we don't really have any information but I can assure you those are all being actively investigated. I will tell you the chances that it's lightning are is probably fairly minimal you know these are all fires that were in areas where they were they're populated and 95 percent of our fires in the state are started by people of some form and so but we're actively looking into all of them. When we have a wind event like this that we are looking at opportunities where you have 50 mile an hour winds bearing down on areas so every fire that starts has just a significant potential to grow into a large fire very very quickly at the peak of fire season we were seeing almost 300 fires a week start in the state but when you're under normal conditions our firefighters can get in there put them out very quickly and 95 percent of those we do but a fire starting after 10 o'clock at night under 50 plus mile an hour winds under absolutely dry dry fuel beds and every one of those fires had a fighting chance to get going long before firefighters are even able to get there and so they all grew into major fires very quickly so you know it's a very it's a good question and a very real concern for all of us look these folks have lost everything these the when you look at the destruction you know it's literally like it exploded these people ran out of their homes literally with minutes notice and so literally barely the clothes on their back and so they don't people people don't know what's left and there's always a desire to get back in and find out what's left in my home survive they are extremely hazardous areas and that's why we put in evacuation zones and we when people leave we don't allow folks back in because of those hazards and and they are very real hazards when you burn an urban area like this electrical lines gas lines structures that are unstable hazardous materials that's all there those are all the things that we're going to be working as the team local state and federal to work and clean up and we want to very quickly as soon as we can render these areas safe get people to repopulate and that's one of our first priorities as soon as we stop the hazard and stop the fire absolutely we take we have zero tolerance for people that are entering these properties illegally when we hear of reports of looting law enforcement works very closely locally and at the state level to to take that very seriously looters will not be tolerated whatsoever and so obviously we don't want people not walking in these areas not just because of the hazard but because it it's a crime to trespass on somebody's property and and and obviously take things and just have that fire to spread or to the point where so obviously as we dissect all of these fires over time and we will be looking all through all of that to determine what notices occurred what worked all of these areas have these plans you know in the last five years Lake County Napa County all of these counties have experienced way beyond their share of emergencies and fires there are processes in place for early warning notifications through cell phones through you know reverse 911 or different systems that do that but understand these fires started after 10 o'clock around midnight on a Sunday night people are sleeping and they burned so quickly there was there was no time to notify anybody these these fires came down into neighborhoods before anybody even realized the fires were occurring in many cases and so it was very difficult people were in bed and as we dissecting you know what occurred with these fatalities over time you know we're going to find that some of these folks were literally just sleeping at home in bed and had no idea because there were only minutes if not seconds but those are all things every time we have an emergency like this and a disaster we go through all of this to determine is there anything we can do differently what can we learn from this but a phenomenal effort was made and continues to be made by all of the law enforcement firefighters ems professionals and so many others to get in harm's way to get people out of the way we'll find out when this is done that just the stories folks will tell about what they faced it's just a it's just a tragic incident but an amazing amount of work was done to get people out from out in front of these fires yes so all of this information is being coordinated directly through the county sheriffs the county coroners no death notifications or names will be made public until all that information is adjudicated locally next to kin notified all of those things and so we rely upon our counties and the local coroners to process that as far as the ongoing we are constantly working to adjudicate those that have been reported missing we continue to look we work with employers with families there are missing persons hotlines that are taking calls and then we follow up on every one of those leads and then we're doing ground truthing to assure that obviously if we can get into these areas once they're rendered safe to determine you know are we finding anybody there yes so as as she reported we're now up to a total of 15 fatalities with two additional on the tubs fire for a total of nine on that fire and again it just speaks to the dynamic situation as we're getting into these areas and looking and working with local law enforcement it's still very fluid I think until you get out on the ground I'm certainly from the pictures we've all seen this is this is just pure devastation and it's going to take us a while to get out and get through and comb through all of this and that's also that what we want to ask everyone to be patient our first priority is to get people back into their homes when it's rendered safe but this could be days this could be weeks for some folks and so we encourage everyone to be patient all the information is going to be passed down is being passed down through shelters and through social media so please pay close attention to all of those venues I know well I just thank you very much and we'll be happy to answer in the individual uh interviews as necessary thanks for coming today folks