Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass Provide Update on 10 Freeway Incident Transcript

Over the course of the last few days, to do some periodic updates, yesterday, in our press conference, we relayed that we would likely complete, at 6:00 AM this morning, the preliminary investigation as to the cause of the fire that led to the conditions you see behind me. The fire marshal, who will speak in a moment after the mayor and a number of other speakers, they finished that investigation up about 12 hours early and they made a preliminary determination there was malice intent, that this fire occurred within the fence line of the facility you see behind me, that it was arson and that it was done and set intentionally. That determination of who is responsible is an investigation that is ongoing and that’s an investigation that can be aided by the people of the region, not just those that may have been witnesses nearby, although, those that are witnesses potentially nearby have already been contacted.

(01:02)
We have some preliminary tips as it relates to the prospects of determining precisely whom this individual or individuals may be, but we encourage the public, more broadly, to call a confidential line. 1-800-468-4408. 1-800-468-4408. If you have any tips, any information, confidentially, that can lead to the determination of exactly who is responsible. Arson appears to be the likely ignition for this fire. That ignition was determined, with precision, by the fire Marshal, Cal Fire and their teams, and it allowed us to turn this site back over earlier than anticipated to Caltran to continue the work on the structural analysis.

(01:57)
Number two, the structural analysis is ongoing. The core samples we referenced yesterday, the original core samples, have determined, on the basis of the preliminary sampling, that the structural integrity of the deck appears to be much stronger than originally assessed. That does not mean that we are moving forward without consideration of a demo. Quite the contrary. We are assessing additional samples, but the preliminary of samples showed more positive results than were originally anticipated, again, for the bridge deck structure. That’s the larger bridge deck structure. More specifically on that in a moment, but let me remind you, over 100 columns were damaged, nine or 10 quite severely. You’re seeing bracing already being conducted as we speak and we’ll continue the bracing work as we conduct subsequent sample testing.

(03:03)
That subsequent sample testing should be back first thing tomorrow morning and will allow us to make subsequent announcement of whether or not we’re tearing this down and replacing it or we’re continuing the retrofit and repairs and the bracing. It goes without saying that the bracing work would allow us to open up this structure much sooner than a complete demo and repair. Invariably and inevitably, you’re going to ask, how quickly can that work be done? We’re assessing both and we are working in parallel. We’ve identified contractors. Those contractors, many of them are actually working on site as we speak, and contracts. We’re looking at incentives that were part of the protocols of the Northridge quake as it relates to how we structure those contracts and we are in a parallel path looking at both repair and looking at the prospects of replace.

(03:59)
Once those samples come back, again, by first thing tomorrow morning, we will make that determination, but we don’t want to lose an hour in moving forward with whichever outcome is the most appropriate and, remember, that outcome will be determined on one basis, on one principle. That’s safety, not just speed. Safety, not just speed. The worst thing we can do is make bad short-term decisions that will profound and consequential life safety decisions in the medium and long-term.

(04:31)
The good news is preliminary samples looked more positive than we anticipated, moving forward with the structural integrity underneath, and we’ll continue to look at the prospects of a complete demo and replacement until we determine, on the basis of the last samples that will be coming in, that that may not be necessary.

(04:54)
As it relates to yesterday’s press conference, we made it clear that we would provide more information about the lessee. Apex Development Inc is the owner, or rather the corpus, of the lessee. It’s the entity that holds the lease to the property you see behind me. As I mentioned yesterday, we assigned an unlawful detainer in September, just a few months ago, and we are heading to court in January. The court date may be pushed to early February, but January, February is the court date. This guy, and this organization, whoever the members of that particular corporation are, have been bad actors. We’ve been in a litigious posture for some time. They stopped paying their rent, they’re out of compliance, and as was stated yesterday, and we could state with more clarity and conviction today, they have been subleasing this site to at least five, maybe as many as six, tenants without authorization from Caltran, without authorization from our federal partners, and I’ll remind you that authorization legally is required from both the state and federal partners.

(06:10)
There is a review committee that includes the state fire marshal. Questions that were asked yesterday, as it relates to the oversight of what is stored and what is allowable to be stored, that goes through a review process and determination, and the federal partners ultimately sign off. We had our federal partners on site earlier this morning. Administrator Batt was here, from the Federal Highway Administration. We thank them for moving quickly. We’re doing a preliminary assessment. It has to reach a threshold of about $25 million before we can draw down federal support and federal aid. While that’s important, it’s not necessary for the preliminary work on the basis of the state of emergency that we advance and on the basis of the director of Caltrans ability to order through an emergency fund and draw down money that allows for the work you’re seeing on site, 24/7, 7 days a week, rain or shine, atmospheric river or sprinkles. It doesn’t matter. We’ll continue to move as quickly as we can. Safety first and timeliness second.

(07:14)
With all the creativity that is required of this moment and the recognition of best practices that we have experienced across this country, and of course, with our own experience on contracting and own experience on incentivizing the speed and security and safety that is required on the basis of what happened here in Northridge. Our legal teams have been working overtime, including assessing what other leases Apex Development Inc may be holding. A preliminary analysis determined they have four additional leases in and around the area, five total. We’re assessing whether or not they’re in compliance of those leases, likely not, on the basis of the issues that we’ve had for years and years on this site that has led to litigation and unlawful detainer and is moving us into court. It’s a Calabasas-based company.

(08:12)
Beyond that, I don’t want to get into any more details as it relates to the lawsuits and the litigation, but as I assured you yesterday, as more information is appropriately brought to my attention, I’ll appropriately share it with you in real time. We are also… And I’ll extend this and I’ll ask the mayor to speak next, we’re also extending a deep dive analysis, not just of leases that may be held by Apex Development Inc, but all of our Caltran leases, making sure the inspection protocols are being met, making sure those annual inspections are actually being advanced, making sure we have adequate number of inspectors, making sure that all of us are being held to a higher level of accountability. Again, all of us includes not just Caltrans, but our federal partners that also have oversight and ultimate jurisdiction. There’s an actual manual as it relates to what’s appropriate and inappropriate to store on these facilities. What was legally afforded this lessee and, recall, they have an unlawful detainer for a reason, was the open storage, broadly defined, of non-flammable materials, non-exclusive materials and vehicles, operating vehicles. We saw those vehicles and we certainly saw a lot of pallets and a lot of open storage, but again, there were multiple subleases and they were out of compliance. They did not get permission from the state. Again, part of the unlawful detainer and the reason we are going to court in January and February. But, across the board, we’re looking at all of these other airspace

Case leases, and you can imagine they’re plentiful. You asked yesterday, “Where does the money go?” Goes to public transit. All the money that comes in goes to public transit accounts, goes back into the communities being served. So it’s an important source of revenue for those that want to disband the practice fully. That also has to be considered, but obviously the magnitude of this crisis suggests a sober review and reflective a view of the lease terms, our relationship to the federal highway and the current manual, that is a national framework of best practices in this space. This is not unique to California. This exists across this country, and of course around the rest of the globe. Number three or four, it is important the mayor will reinforce this, that we continue to do the work to clean up encampments in and around these locations for no other reason than the human toll and the human cost.

(10:56)
I’ll let the mayor speak more about that. As I said yesterday, and I’ll remind you again today, three years ago, and you see members of the legislature here, there wasn’t $1 that went in from the state of California to support locals and partnerships to clean up and canvas. Not $1, three years ago. We did a $50 million pilot program, was oversubscribed and working in partnership with the legislature, three quarters of a billion dollars has been set aside for encampment resolution grants.

(11:25)
I referenced yesterday 3,200. I was wrong, 3,200 turns out not to be the number of Caltrans cabinets that have been cleaned. It’s 3,275. That’s not enough, but 231 of them were cleaned up within a two-mile radius of this site. Again, it’s not enough, but the reason we were out here in August of last year, literally right on this site cleaning up was we recognize this is a hotspot and we have more work to do in that space.

(11:57)
We recognize that responsibility and we recognize the clarity of this moment to continue to prioritize even if this turns out to be arson, as it’s suggested to be, and not an accident associated with any encampment that does not obviate the concerns around subsequent fires and general issues of life and safety associated with encampments throughout Los Angeles and throughout the state of California. So that’s the broad strokes overview. We’ve set up a command center 24/7. We’ll be setting up websites for more transparency in this space. In the Q&A, you’ll invariably ask me and I’ll be happy to answer timelines, but until then, let me invite up the most important person up here with respect to myself and others, and that’s your mayor who’s been doing an outstanding job starting at 6:00 AM this morning as people were waking up to make sure that we’re addressing the immediacy of concern and that’s logistics and traffic and challenges that all Angelinos are facing in real time. With that, it’s my honor, our great partner, mayor Bass.

Thank you. Good afternoon everyone. Let me first and foremost thank the governor. The governor and his team have been with us side by side. We have been joined together through this crisis, and I know and I have full confidence with his leadership and the support of our state legislators who are here. Senator María Elena Durazo, assembly member Joan Sawyer, and in a minute I’ll introduce our supervisor that we are joined at the hip and we will make sure that we get through this crisis. As Angelinos knows, we have been through crisises before. Just a couple of months ago, we were here preparing for what we thought was going to be a hurricane. What happened was our city came together, united, and if any other time, we need to be united, it is right now. We need to make sure that as Angelinos, we never ever turn on each other.

(14:07)
So I want to reiterate what the governor said. We know that the origin of this is arson. We do not know other information. There is no reason to assume that the origin of this fire or the reason this fire happened was because there were unhoused individuals nearby. I want you to know that we are working urgently to address this crisis. On Saturday, we activated our emergency operation center to coordinate a response.

(14:37)
I’ve been in touch with our federal and of course our state partners. I want you to know that the White House Secretary Buttigieg called immediately. As the governor said, the Federal Highway Administration was here. The administration has made it clear that they are ready to do whatever is necessary to get Los Angeles hold again. We’re making sure that Angelinos are informed. Last night, we sent a wireless emergency alert to ensure that all Angelinos would be able to plan ahead and mitigate risk on their commutes.

(15:16)
Over 300,000 people travel through this freeway every single day. We’ve urged Angelinos to stay on the freeways, not get off onto the side streets because the side streets cannot withstand 300,000 people. To pay attention to your apps. Whether it’s Google Alert or Waze, to pay attention because we are giving that information to those apps. We’re also posting on Nextdoor, but to reach communities directly, but you can also visit emergency @emergency.lacity. gov.

(16:00)
Losing this stretch of the 10 freeway will take time and money from people’s lives and businesses. For commuters, we’re still exploring ways to open up faster and more effective routes of communication. We would also encourage people to take metro. Metro has increased the number of trains and buses available and have alternative routes for you to take. Whether you are talking about traveling to and from work or your childcare plans and the flow of goods of commerce, we know that this will disrupt the lives of Angelinos, but we will not settle for anything other than rebuilding a repairing plan that prioritizes safety and gets our freeways up and running.

(16:45)
So we’re taking a three-pronged approach. Number one, ensuring that we are coordinating a comprehensive plan from the city’s traffic center and our Emergency Operations Center to address the traffic impacts of this closure with our local, state and federal partners. Number two, we’re getting the 10 freeway up and running as fast as possible and bringing accountability to that effort, and finally providing updated and detailed information to ensure that our communities and commuters are well-informed every step of the way.

(17:20)
I assure you that we will not stop until the job is done. To Angelinos, the most important thing you can do is stay informed about the commutes. Unless you have to enter downtown, stay on the freeways. If it is possible telecommute. We all learn during the pandemic. We don’t have to be in the workplace every day. If you have to go onto safer streets, make sure you visit again, emergency.lacity.gov to be aware of the safer street routes that we have established to move traffic in the best way.

(17:57)
Again, Angelinos, in this time of crisis, in this time of emergency, we need to pull together. Being stuck in traffic is something that makes Angelinos angry. We will do everything we can and work 24 hours a day until we settle this, but this is a time to turn toward each other, not against each other. Whether you are housed or whether you are unhoused, we can do this. We have been here before and I know that we will be able to get past this and we will get past this united. Let me now bring up the supervisor from this area. Supervisor, Hilda Solis.

Thank you Mayor Bass, and thank you to our governor and to the elected officials, and especially to our public safety and firefighters that we’re really the ones that we need to consider because they put their lives out there every single day, and this was no different. I happened to represent this area, but I am working in partnership, arm in arm, hand in hand, mano a mano with the governor, with the city, with our mayor, and also with our elected officials here.

(19:07)
I want to say that earlier today I also had a tour of this predicament and found that it was very disturbing to see the magnitude and the destruction that is now facing the residents of LA County. And I’m not just talking about the city, but I’m talking about the region because in totality, we’re talking about a major artery that you have different freeways conversing here. You have people traveling as far as other counties, San Bernardino, Riverside, and people coming in from Lancaster. Many were not aware of what was taking place over the weekend, so I know that staff did everything they could in their power to help, to mitigate and to try to control the congestion.

(19:50)
I would ask that we continue to tell our residents to have patience, paciencia. We need to have patience because people want to get places very quickly,

… but we have to be very mindful of what is happening here. A big transformative project that will be undertaken in the most, I think, important and with safety as a number one priority, as our Governor said. It isn’t just about building something that’s going to run, it’s going to be building something that’s going to last, that’s going to provide protection, and to make those corrections in the state, the legislature, the county and the city to see that we don’t see these kinds of circumstances occurring. We are also a tenant of Caltrans. The county is. We also lease properties under freeways and areas. We want to do the right thing and make sure that places are safe and that we are attentive to that.

(20:41)
This coming week, we’ll be putting forward a motion at the board of supervisors to ask for all of the tools necessary so that we are also focusing hand-in-hand with the city and the state and legislature to see what more we can do. Briefly, I just want to say a few words, if I might, in Spanish, for those that may be interested. Because the area, if you think about it, is heavily populated by Spanish speakers. You have people coming in and out of this area 24 hours, seven days a week, and it hasn’t stopped. Not necessarily because people need to get to work, and many still need to understand the consequences of that. [foreign language 00:21:21].

(21:20)
Now, it’s my pleasure to introduce State Fire Marshal, Daniel Berlant. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Supervisor. Again, Chief Daniel Berlant, California’s State Fire Marshal. I want to reiterate what Governor Newsom said. Our investigators, after being assigned here for just about 48 hours, have been able to confidently determine that the fire was caused by arson. Now, I have no doubt that you all want additional details on how we got there, but I have to stress while we have determined what started the fire, we are still working to determine who or who, multiple people, may have started the fire. And so our work is not done. In fact, investigators today, while we were able to conclude our work of sifting through the rubble in search of valuable evidence, our investigators have been paired up with the Los Angeles Fire Department. Thank you to Chief Crowley with the Los Angeles Police Department, canvassing the area, talking to potential witnesses, talking to local business owners that are open today, trying to get access to footage, working to try to get additional information that will corroborate what we already believe to be, again, malicious and willful intent of starting a fire.

(24:52)
That is what separates arson from any other type of accidental or negligent start of a wildfire. But it’s really important, and again, I have no doubt that there will be questions on that, we have to keep the integrity of this investigation strong. And so our ability to give additional details right now beyond the cause, we have to wait. But as the Governor stressed, we need the public’s help. In order for us to track down who may have started this fire, we need valuable information. The Governor did a much better job of remembering the arson tip line. So thank you, Governor. The number he said, if anybody has any information as small as it is and as maybe meaningless that you think it is, you can stay anonymous. But we need that information that will help us track down the person or persons who we believe started this fire, and then more importantly, get a conviction in court.

(25:49)
Again, I have to stress, the work of the Los Angeles Police Department and Fire Department and our arson and bomb investigators will continue, potentially for several more weeks, but that will really, timeline-wise, be dependent on how quickly we get additional information from the public or from witnesses who may have seen or heard any valuable information over the past 48 hours. And then lastly, as the Governor said, we have committed as well to assist Caltrans in their assessment of additional lessors underneath our freeways, and we will continue to assist Caltrans, as we have now for several years, to make sure that those leasing or even subleasing land from the state are held to California’s rigorous fire code and building code elements. And so we will continue to participate in that analysis as well. I’ll now turn it over to our Secretary of Transportation to conclude.

Good afternoon, everybody. And I want to start off by thanking the State Fire Marshal. As the Governor mentioned, he and his team, they got the work done on this investigation. They got it done 12 hours ahead of schedule. They initially predicted 6:00 AM this morning. They got it done by 6:00 PM last night. So thank you to you and your team for all the hard work. Also want to thank all the elected officials who are present, state and local. Thank you as well for your support. Mayor Bass has been, as the Governor mentioned, she’s been key in all of this, her partnership. So thank you, Mayor, for all your support. And to Governor Newsom, he’s been all over this issue from day one. He’s stressed to me that this is the number one priority for the state and for him, so that means no choice for me.

(27:36)
Number one priority, undoubtedly for me and the entire team that works for the Transportation Agency. Before I get into some prepared remarks, I just want to share with you a new website, a new website that is now online. FixThe10.ca.gov. FixThe10.ca.gov, F-I-X-T-H-E, 10, as in number 10, .ca.gov. It’s where you can go for updates on this project, alternate routes, additional information about everything that’s going on related to getting this roadway behind us back open. So as you heard from the Governor, Caltrans is working 24/7. There are 12-hour shifts happening right now to get this roadway repaired or whichever path we go down, to determine the engineering impact of this vital structure in Los Angeles that carries nearly 300,000 vehicles every single day. The contractors will be clearing hazardous material. They’re doing that as we speak. They’ll be doing it as safely as they can, and they’re shoring up the deck so that engineers could continue to collect quarrying samples to give us a clearer determination of the path forward.

(28:57)
We’ve been able to take concrete and rebar samples from the bridge, and engineers are analyzing those samples as we speak to determine the structural integrity of the bridge. They should have more recommendations and possible scenarios and options within the coming days, so you will have more information from us in these briefings on a potential path forward. A lot of that information will be coming directly, potentially, from the Governor. Please know that we’re determining the best course of action for getting this roadway back open as quickly and as safely as possible. As the Governor mentioned, we were fortunate to have the administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Shailen Bhatt, present with us this morning to toward the damage on this roadway. He promised support from the financial, environmental, and policy side, and that’s wonderful news from our federal partners. Caltrans and the city

… City of Los Angeles are also fortunate to have the full support, as I mentioned, of the Governor’s Office and his team. We also appreciate the partnership of several other state agencies. As I mentioned before, Cal Fire has been critical to this. The CHP have been very important partners. Captain, thanks for being here right now, throughout the day.

(30:26)
We’ve also had the great partnership and support of some of Mayor Bass’s teams: the transportation department, local transportation department, LA DOT, Metro Link, and LA Metro have been key partners in making sure that transit service is online and transit service is increased to help get people around the region.

(30:50)
So, to everybody, all Angelenos, please continue to use alternate routes, take public transit, plan extra time for your trip, and telework if possible until we can again get this roadway back safely open. With that, I want to jump to Q&As. Anybody here, the governor, the mayor to take questions, any of us up here. Questions?

It’s all about you.

[inaudible 00:31:22] and the question is we have multiple points of ignition here and we have accelerants and more paper than is [inaudible 00:31:27] the start of this fire.

While we have identified the point of origin of the fire and the cause of the fire, the additional information that you’re asking right now, we need to hold as part of the integrity of the overall investigation. If you have additional, or anybody in the public has additional, information including what you just said, that’s the type of information that we need to help us in this case. But at this point it’s too premature for me to comment on that.

The reports say [inaudible 00:31:58] multiple points, sir. Not just one. Do you have multiple points: yes or no?

At this point it is still under investigation.

Have you got [inaudible 00:32:06]? Have you talked to them? Have they given you indication who started this thing?

Yeah. As I mentioned earlier, not only has the team been working to dig through the rubble to look for evidence, but they have been canvassing the neighborhood, talking to witnesses, including those that are unhoused, that are in the approximate area, talking to business owners, asking for footage of this area. And so, to your latter part of your question, yes, we have been talking to potential witnesses, as well as business owners that might have footage. Anybody who maybe we have not made contact with who has a business in this area or knows somebody who may have been here during the time of the fire, those are the people that we need the information from to help us in this investigation. Thank you.

Let me just say something. Let me just clarify: in terms of the unhoused individuals, there were 16 and they have all been housed now, including one woman who is expecting a child in a few weeks.

Governor, what do you tell the residents of [inaudible 00:33:14] who are going to be in the middle of [inaudible 00:33:16]?

Well, we won’t be producing on a daily basis any changes in routes, but one of the number one things I would say is public transportation, because there will be extra trains, extra buses, for people to get around. That would be the number one thing I would say. The other thing would be to pay attention to the apps because the apps will be able to direct you as to how you should navigate the freeways and we want people to stay on the freeways because, again … especially during the week might be a little different during the holidays … our streets cannot handle 300,000 cars.

Here’s what I would tell them: we’re working our tails off to get this reopened. We’re going to know a lot more tomorrow morning. As I said, the preliminary sampling looked positive. That’s the preliminary sampling, so it looks at the moment like a demo and a complete replacement. That said, we’ll know more in the morning. We’re working in parallel tracks so we’re not losing an hour, let alone a day, in terms of advancing both scenarios.

[inaudible 00:34:29].

Can’t hear you.

[inaudible 00:34:35].

Correct.

How many [inaudible 00:34:39]?

We’re assessing that entire number. There are thousands and thousands of them and they’re held private sector as well as public sector, so across the spectrum we’re having that information crunched and we’ll provide that right when we get it. I’m sorry.

I can’t hear you.

I’ve got four kids and they’re a little bit quieter than the four helicopters.

Does the state have any [inaudible 00:35:08]?

Yes. Once that information is brought to light, we will be providing all that information. We’re assessing all of that, all the leases in every Caltran jurisdiction and division in the state. We have teams of people crunching that data and provide that information when we receive it.

[inaudible 00:35:36].

Yeah. Look, I’m not going to get … We already are in a litigious posture with Apex Development Inc. and have been for some time. There’ve been lawsuits going back and forth for some time. There was a recent unlawful detainer in September of this year. We’re going to court in January; maybe it’s being pushed back to February, early next year. We’re looking at all of the other Apex Development Inc. Leases. We’re looking to see whether they’re in violation. We’ll provide that to you in real time.

(36:07)
We know what we know today in the context of the five or six subleases that were not approved by the state or the federal government. Thousands and thousands of other leases, not Apex development, exist all across the state of California, and that protocol in terms of getting you that information is being advanced in terms of that information being collected. As soon as we have it, I’ll make it available to you.

(36:35)
Anybody else?

What was being stored under the freeway [inaudible 00:36:39]?

Well, what we know is being stored … I’ll just … Because I don’t know if you can hear me. What we know is being stored just from what we saw were cars, pallets-

Fruit truck.

Fruits and vegetables. Determination in real time of other materials through the hazmat teams is being made as we speak, as part of this criminal investigation, now that we know it was arson.

[inaudible 00:37:07] materials [inaudible 00:37:08]?

All that’s being assessed and determined in real time. Again, there’s no lease that is afforded anyone in the state of California for explosive materials or hazardous materials. That said, they’ve been out of compliance for some time. That’s why we’re going to court. We’re determining exactly what materials led to this catastrophic event and that’s part of the ongoing investigation, as the Fire Marshal said, ongoing investigation. I’ll remind you, those that want to assist, that may know anything large and small, please call that 1-800-468-4008 tip line. It’s completely confidential.

[inaudible 00:37:47].

I’m not aware of any other fires that occurred in this particular area on that day. Well, thank you, all.

Thank you.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you.