and these images from California uh just really break your heart the wildfires have been absolutely devastating as thousands of people have lost their homes and all of their belongings the Pacific Palisades is one area that has been hit the hardest and as of right now the fire is only contain about 6% that's actually some progress Alexandra feifer sadly lost her home to the fire she is a realtor in Los Angeles working to help clients who no longer have their homes uh good morning to you Alexandra thank you so much for being here with us given
everything that you're going through right now thanks for having me I'm sorry it's been a rough few days so a little disheveled but happy to inform everyone what's going on well listen I mean that's I know the least of your worries right now and not only you know are you kind of trying to figure out what you're going to do you're also trying to help a lot of folks will you just tell us what the last few days have been like and and how you get to helping other people um I think the reason I
wanted to do this is because I don't think people really understand how horrific this is and was and it's also something that people need to really be aware of in communities where there are heavy winds fire risk exposed power lines we went from leaving our home thinking that it would be a brush fire and and in a small area to losing an entire town I it is the most um unfathomable I just can't even explain it and it's a war zone where and and all I built a career and I've been there 20 years I
grew up there all of my clients and I'm talking about like thousands of people don't have places to live and their homes are gone and nothing is standing it's just it's like it's I can't even explain it it's you can't conceive of it and you we left you know as soon as we were told that that it was a voluntary evacuation because we're sort of we live with mountains behind us so we are used to the idea that there can be brush fire but not Community fire not homes not I mean it's it's you can't
imagine yeah absolutely and a lot of people talk about well folks in California usually have GO bags and things of that nature but this is a very different type of situation uh let me ask you even though we look at the video and you know your heart is just like oh my goodness what folks have been through walking through the area breathing in the air um kind of describe that for us well people have snuck in because everybody wants to know if anything is left but the problem is is that currently there are still active
fires they're spot fires they're not heavy but we have exposed gas lines and the power is shut off but the lines that are hanging are they still have electric charge so it's very dangerous um I I feel like while a lot of us are grateful that we're getting footage and people are seeing what's there it's I've been told by the fire department to tell all of my friends and clients and neighbors not to go um but at the same time we want to see what's left yeah um most I mean there are very few homes
that survived where I lived the ones that did they have terrible smoke damage and I had a client go back and they watched their house explode because there was an exposed gas line it wasn't from the fire it was from it was from the gas that was leaking so it's you know it's it's a relief to see that there there are portions of our home there if there are any it's dangerous it's it's just not safe Yeah you mentioned some of the things that the First Responders who told you to tell your clients just as
a realtor where do people begin what do you tell them when they have lost their homes we were talking about you know insurance so many homes not having it anymore what what do you tell people well what the first thing that we have to do is file insurance claims because all of us have you know I mean these this is a very what I will say that the neighborhood while it the homes are expensive these are hardworking people that have worked like all of my clients sorry to be emotional but we've worked really hard to
live there so um you know all of these people don't know what to do and where to go and we don't have coverage yet for where to how to live we're staying in a short-term rental and so I'm just what I've been doing for the last three days is trying to help people find temporary he housing um and a lot of people have to I mean most people are paying out of pocket until they know what what their insurance will cover but I'm like it's not a great system California has a a thing called the
California fair plan which covers damage but I don't think that the when they created this system of insurance they ever imagined that something like this could happen so none of us know actually what will and won't be covered but I'm just fighting for everybody to get housing because there isn't a lot of inventory in LA right now and and everybody wants a place to live and a lot of people you know people have kids in school it's it's it's it's honestly it's kind of chaos and everybody I know that's in my world and trying to
find housing for people are just devastated because everybody I mean people are in shock and so sad and with children and pets it's it's it's bad yeah you know and watching from far away so many of us kind of feel helpless or um you're contacting your friends your relatives I talked to a cousin of mine who lives out there last night and you're just like what can I do we'll talk about what fox is doing in just a moment but what would you tell people to do to help can I can I it is amazing
it's funny that you're in the midwest I have a girlfriend in Chicago who I you know I know through work and she sent me a text saying there are clothes coming for you don't say thank you don't worry about responding I can just tell you we we left with the clothes on our back I didn't didn't take any clothes for my daughter I didn't take anything so little things help I think everybody's just grateful that people reach out and say they're thinking about us because you know these are homes that we've had for our you
know years and years all of our heirlooms our you know our kids certificates and medals from school I mean they're all gone so I would say just just a call or sending a food basket or some clo clothes that you have in your house that you know I think everybody assumes that people are have things but we don't I mean I left my car it burned to the ground so it's just um I think little things matter and and all of the notes of care I mean I have I have so many texts from people
I haven't heard from in so long and it just helps lift your spirits you know it's it's this isn't just like a small thing I mean people's lives are gone so yeah it can um take years to build a home and then just minutes for it to uh burn so we really appreciate you again in your moment of need taking the time to speak with us taking the the time to try to help other people as well and please please uh keep us updated um yeah thank you for having me I really appreciate it and
and thanks for sharing the word our our town is a very special one it's not like a normal La sorry for the tears um all right it's a very this town is full of heart it's a lot like Chicago I know Chicago well these people care they're kind they they're hardworking people and family life it's just it's really devastating yeah and I know it's going to take a long time for things to feel normal again so uh again thank you for your time we appreciate it thank you and we want to let everybody know that
fox is partnering with the Red Cross to help uh victims of the LA fires you heard her story there are so many stories like that so here's how to help you can snap the code on your screen right now you can donate at the address that you see go Fox SL redcross do what you can every little bit as you heard there helps we'll be right back it's 9:49
