 So, good morning. Thank you all for being here very much. My name is Brian May. I'm one of the Public Information Officers for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. Thank you very much for being here. All of the speakers who will be speaking today will be available for one-on-ones afterwards. I would ask if you could keep the AFN sign language interpreter in your shot if you don't mind, and each speaker will be introducing the next after them. So, if this time I'll introduce the Deputy Director of Response and Recovery Operations for Cal OES, Eric Lamarrow. Well, good morning everybody, and thank you for being out here today. This is a hugely significant day. More than for anybody, the survivors of the Hill and Woolsey fires for us to reach this monumental milestone today. You know, today's event really signifies what we're all about at state and local and federal government, and that's one team, one fight. And this cleanup effort was a tremendous example of just that. This was a successful multi-agency response, while at the same time we had multiple catastrophic events happening throughout the state. The partner agencies rapidly deployed in support of Los Angeles and Ventura counties move forward quickly to assess the needs on this cleanup, establish this consolidated debris removal program and move as quickly and safely as possible as conditions permitted to get survivors' homes, home sites cleaned up so that they can begin moving forward with their lives. You know, this phenomenal undertaking was complicated by the fact that since the Hill and Woolsey fires, we've had two additional major presidential disasters in California with significant weather events in January and February of this year. But that did not stop our crews. Our incident commander, Kendra Boyer, who's here today, did a phenomenal job leading the multi-agency team that stayed focused on this mission, and we worked to ensure that we were never pulling anybody off to deal with another mission. You know, in California, we're always prepared for disasters and prepared to respond to the next one while responding to the last one. And that was certainly illustrated here in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Further complications, obviously, last weekend when the significant earthquakes that struck Southern California. But your emergency management team from local, state, and federal government levels is the best in the nation and able to continue helping communities to recover while we continue to respond. Today, we're closing in on 100% completion after moving more than 838 million pounds of wildfire ash, debris, metal, concrete, and contaminated soil from nearly 1,000 properties throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties. At Cal OES, our role is the coordination piece. We ensure that every agency and entity involved in the response and the recovery efforts is able to focus on a defined set of objectives. We do that together. We work in support of one another to accomplish the mission. And I'm really proud of everybody that's assembled here with us today and the crews that are still working and our partners at the federal government who aren't here today that have helped us move this ball forward. It's all in an effort to enable the survivors in the local economies to move forward. That is how we transition from response to recovery in California. It's a collective effort. The communities impacted by these fires are going to come back even stronger. And we're here today to celebrate the work of the crews that have been working six days a week for the last several months to get this job done. I want to thank first Cal Recycle and Mark to be their deputy directors with us today. They're the ones that get the mission assignment from Cal OES to move forward and oversee this cleanup. And in addition to the cleanups here in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, they're overseeing the cleanup in Butte County as well where we have nearly 11,000 properties that were destroyed by the campfire. I also want to thank our partners at the Federal Emergency Management Agency that authorized the reimbursement for the cost of this significant cleanup. I want to thank Director Pastrella and his LA County Public Works team for their tremendous efforts. Supervisor Park and the Ventura County team that stepped up, although they're asking us to come in and do this cleanup, both those counties have a responsibility to work in unified command with us to ensure that we can continue to move forward. And both the LA and Ventura County teams did a phenomenal job in working in collaboration with us. Also our partners at the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. EPA, Caltrans, total team effort to get where we are today. There's still a little bit more work to be done, some final soil testing and erosion control measures to be put in place. Some final inspections to be completed before properties can be returned to homeowners. But our focus moving forward will remain consistent, staying committed, working together to rebuild stronger, more resilient, and leverage the partnerships that were formed during this response for future coordination in response to whatever may hit Los Angeles and Ventura counties. You know, it's sort of appropriate that I think if we're not on the property today, we're nearby property that former Governor and President Reagan once owned. And I think it's important to remember something that he said regularly that's indicative of our partnership. To paraphrase, there's no limit to what we can do if we don't mind who gets the credit. And that's really an illustrative of the work that went on here. There is no one entity at local state or federal government level that cared about getting the credit for where we are today. The credit is really to the team that came together to get this done. So I want to thank everybody that was part of that team. And it is phenomenal to be here today to celebrate their work. And I want to thank all of them. I'd like to now introduce Mark to be the Deputy Director of CalRecycle to make a few comments. Thank you, Deputy Director Lamaroe. It's an honor to be here with you all today to celebrate this milestone for the people of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Well, there is work left to do. Today we celebrate an important step in the recovery process. Today we see the incredible progress we can make together when a tragedy is met with resolve, resources, and the resiliency of local communities. Today is the result of a lot of hard work and many long days for wildlife, wildfire survivors, fire-affected communities, state-managed crews, and all the local, state, and federal partners that are needed to clear more than 419,000 tons of ash, debris, metal, and concrete from nearly 1,000 properties destroyed in the Woosley and Hill fires. We throw out these big numbers, but it's important to remember that these numbers represent many families who just want to go back home. Six months ago, it's hard to imagine that this day, California was just coming off the deadliest and most destructive series of fires in state history. But California got to work. The unprecedented disasters demanded an unprecedented response from the affected survivors, their communities, and every level of government. Working with Cal OES and local leaders, the California Department of Toxic Substance Control and US EPA were immediately deployed to remove household hazardous waste from more than 1,400 burn properties in Los Angeles, Ventura counties. It's crucial to get paints and gas cylinders and other household hazardous waste removed immediately to prevent hazardous material becoming airborne or seeping into the water or soil, causing even more harm to the environment and the people that live nearby. The household hazardous waste sweep is the critical first step in the recovery process that allows the second phase of the California's Consolidated Debris Removal Program. Phase two, debris removal is where Cal Recycle comes in. And to be clear, as Deputy Director Lameroe indicated, it's not just Cal Recycle. No one agency can handle this big of a job on its own. We have volunteers from many state agencies, including Cal OES, Fish and Wildlife, the Air Board, Water Board, and Caltrans to name just a few. And as well as our partners with Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Tribal nations were also involved in as well as federal agencies. The recovery effort also includes the hundreds of private contractors, truck drivers, small businesses who come together to help the recovery and rebuild these communities to the highest standards. It's everyone coming together to work as a team. And while working safely is and will remain our highest priority, this recovery work is not without risk to the communities and the workers. I'd like to take a moment to remember Dave Wilson. He was a water truck driver on the job and he lost his life in a traffic accident during the debris removal mission. It has been a consistent reminder to us that this is a dangerous work and it is work that must be done. Cal Recycle Overseas and Manages contractors to conduct debris removal at no out of pocket cost to private property owners. Cal Recycle contractors first arrived in January and began the first steps in the debris removal process. It's a five step process. The first step is site assessment and documentation, just getting a good record of what's there, what's the need, as well as dealing with any asbestos that might remain behind. Then debris removal begins. All the burnt ash, contaminated soils and concrete and metal are removed. The concrete and metal are recycled. All this material has to be handled and tracked for operational needs as well as fiscal accountability. After all the materials removed, there's confirmation sampling. Multiple soil samples are taken from the lots to determine that they meet background standards. They're analyzed at California certified labs. If the samples come back clean, great. We move on to the next phase. If not, there's a reevaluation that could require additional soil to be removed. Then we move on to erosion control, implementing storm water best management practices to control sediment runoff. And then there's a final inspection, which is a walkthrough of the property. And Cal Recycle delivers a notice of final approval to the county for acceptance. It's been inspiring to those of us with Cal Recycle to work alongside this community over the past six months. We are incredibly proud of the progress we've made together. Los Angeles and Ventura counties have gone above and beyond to provide the resources and assistance needed to complete the mission. The property size and terrain here in Southern California provided quite a challenge. But the coordination and support helped state managed crews overcome these challenges a bit ahead of schedule. In the coming weeks, California will complete the final task in wildfire debris removal mission in Southern California so that homeowners can begin the rebuilding process. Our responsibility first and foremost is to protect the health and safety of the affected residents and their environment. Our goal is to make sure these properties are safe for homeowners and their families with lots cleaned enough for kids to play on. With the help of our government partners and these local communities, I'm proud to say California is fully fulfilling the responsibility and achieving that goal. With the last debris from the Woolsey and Hillfires removed, fire survivors and their communities can begin a new phase in the recovery process that is focused on the future. We still have some work to do, but we can be sure Cal Recycle, you can be sure that Cal Recycle will be here until the last property is clean, safe, and approved for rebuilding. Next, I'd like to introduce Mark Pastrella with Los Angeles County Public Works. Thank you Deputy Director DeBee, I appreciate it. As stated, my name is Mark Pastrella, I'm the Director of Public Works for Los Angeles County. I'm here today joined with County partners in representing Supervisor Kuhl, her Chief of Staff Lisa Mandel, the Chief of our Office of Emergency Management Kevin McGowan, and my Deputy Director and Incident Commander Rosanna DiAntonio. And our purpose today is to say thank you for the collaboration with the State of California and the agencies that spoke before me, and thank you to the cities of Malibu and Agora Hills, Calabasas, for allowing us to serve in the unincorporated community as well, allowing us to serve in the recovery, which will go long beyond this day, but also to celebrate this very important milestone in the recovery of the community known here as the North Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles County. In my role as Director of Public Works, I act as the Chief of Recovery Operations and Planning for the County of Los Angeles, and again representing this area, Supervisor District 3 is represented by Supervisor Sheila Kuhl, and I have to mention the support from Supervisor Kuhl and her directive to us to recover as quickly as possible with resilience in the area, and we've done just that, and this again is one of the first major milestones in doing that. We also have to mention, as Mark mentioned, the Woolsey Fire was unprecedented within Los Angeles County for its wildfire devastation. 97,000 acres developed and undeveloped in this watershed were destroyed by the Woolsey Fire. Many, many people who live in the area have never seen anything like the devastation that occurred with the Woolsey Fire, and we're reminded that less than 1% of all people in our population ever experienced such devastation, let alone try to rebuild a home or rebuild a life in an area that's been devastated in a fire like this. Three lives were lost during this fire, including a mother and son who were attempting to evacuate along Mulholland Highway in Malibu. We always want to remember those who passed during this event. 1,500 structures damaged or destroyed in LA County area. Three major bridges in the area have been damaged or destroyed. Six miles of guardrail and 600 traffic and road signs destroyed. These signs are important, the roadways in the area absolutely important in terms of evacuation, commerce, and again recovery for the community. Damages within the burn area are estimated at $98 million. It's impossible to measure the fires long and short-term impacts to families that have been displaced from their homes, but I can tell you that we take those calls every day and one of the major milestones they've been worried about is when can they get back to their homes and back to rebuilding their homes, and today marks that day that we're able to tell them your homestead is safe to return to. Public Works is in the recovery business. The county is in the recovery business. This is the largest and most comprehensive recovered effort of my 32-year career. In the fires aftermath, the county established a recovery coordinating center under the leadership of the County Los Angeles Board of Supervisors. Federal and state and local partners came together to provide temporary housing, consumer protection, financial assistance, debris removal, advice on mud flow mitigation, rebuilding support, and among many other services including mental health services. There were many agencies involved in providing that service, and I'm proud to tell you as a government employee that your federal state and local government have been working tremendously together to support the survivors of this devastating event. Those agencies include FEMA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Cal OES, Fantastic Partners, Cal Recycle, Cal EPA, California Department of Toxic Substances Control, the County Office of Emergency Management, the County Departments of Fire, Regional Planning, Public Health, and Public Works. And of course, again, the cities of Agora Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Westlake Village, and various nonprofit agencies all pulling together to support the survivors of this event and to return people again to their homes. With respect to debris removal, you've heard the numbers, and as of this week, as stated earlier, over 400,000 tons of debris has been cleared from burned properties within L.A. County. That's no simple task. And in years past, this was done in a very unordily complex way, in that each individual property owner had to make their own way with their insurance companies to figure out how to make the property ready for building again. Cal OES along with Cal Recycle introduced this program of debris removal to the County of Los Angeles, and it's been outstanding in my opinion. In my 32-year career again, I have not seen such great coordination, which after all is what the purpose of government is to help people do what they can't do themselves. And in fact, what we've done is done a great job alongside our partners in making again those properties ready. A total of 839 parcels in L.A. County have completed the debris removal process and are ready to rebuild. In fact, we've issued the first building permits already with less than 10, but certainly the first building permits have already been issued in the area to get reconstructing. It is important to remember that as we celebrate the milestone, we anticipate that this recovery will take many, many, many years, probably over five years to recover. Not only the homes to be rebuilt, but if you look around the environment, the nature, the trees that were destroyed in this area, the parkland that has been devastated by it, all taking a tremendous amount of time and a tremendous amount of toll on the natural resources in the area. As we look to help home and business owners rebuild within the burn area, we're doing it with community resilience in mind. So we want to remind you, as I said, Sue Vesercule's charge was to rebuild with resilience and we're looking for every possible way to safeguard and create a more resilient community because we know that such events will occur again. Wildfire is a natural condition of these areas and as you know with climate change, we're seeing more frequent and more devastating wildfires in California. That means that new structures built to not only meet current fire codes, but also to meet new seismic standards as well. LA County is a self-help agency, a self-help county, but given the scale of this incident, we greatly appreciate the support we receive from Governor Newsom and the AB 74 budget appropriation, basically paying for the recovery here in Los Angeles County. We look forward to continuing the partnership with the state to bring much-needed recovery funding to local communities. I want to thank you for your time today and now I'd like to introduce Supervisor Linda Parks from the county of Ventura. Twice in less than a year, the California Office of Emergency Services and Cal Recycle have been out to Ventura County to help devastated residents who lost their homes in the wildfire. We're so appreciative of their professionalism and the services they offered and I know it provided comfort to our residents. We also know that recycling and debris removal, that can be incredibly dangerous and we witness that with the tragic loss of life of David Wilson and he will always be remembered in both Ventura County and Los Angeles County. I want to be able to take this opportunity to thank the people that came from all over the state of California to help Ventura County and I might note too it was during the holidays and during some major winter storms but they soldiered through and really assisted our residents and we are very fortunate for that help. And particularly I want to call out the City of Thousand Oaks for their collaboration, our Environmental Health Department and the cities throughout the area that witnessed these fires because it's through their collaboration that we are able to be here today and this is a very positive thing and it's nice to be with these individuals on a positive day because we know that this can happen again and we want to make sure that we're prepared but are particularly appreciative of the fact that they are here to help us to recover. In addition to that I do want to call out Sean Debley with the Environmental Health Department of the County of Ventura. Sean like many in our county staff have become experts in recovery unfortunately. Sean is the overseas, the office of debris removal and has done an excellent job for our county on that so I want to thank him also. We know that we could well be here again in the future so our main emphasis is to make sure that we are there for our residents and so with that I just really want to extend my thanks to the California Office of Emergency Service to CalRecycle for what they have done and what we know that they will continue to do. Thank you very much. So in the interest of the heat all the speakers are available for one-on-one interviews. I recommend you find some shade if you can to do one-on-ones. We also have Craig Sap with the State Parks Department. All around us right now is area that was burned, buildings that was burned by the State Parks Department so if you are looking for an explanation of what was here before the fire Craig is here available for interviews as well. Thank you all for attending and again all of our speakers are available for one-on-ones.