Best Mysafe La Podcasts (2025)

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Rebuild:LA Episode 024 - Saving Homes from Wildfire One Assessment at a Time with MySafe:LA’s Dante Cornejo 43:40

10d ago43:40

43:40

Send us a text Dante Cornejo is MySafe:LA’s wildfire coordinator for Los Angeles County and is host Cameron Barrett’s guest this week. Dante has done assessments on hundreds of homes as part of his work, evaluating the wildfire risk of residences all over the County. In this episode, he talks about those assessments, and list things you can do toda…

1
Episode 025: Rebuild:LA - Rebuilding Our City in a Changing Climate with Probable Futures Founder Spencer Glendon, Part I 32:59

3d ago32:59

32:59

Send us a text This week’s guest is a thought leader taking on the daunting task of teaching people about climate change and how best to adapt to it. Spencer Glendon is the founder of Probable Futures, a non-profit that is helping businesses and communities understand that our weather is no longer something we can rely on, but instead is causing in…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 023 - Rebuilding Community One Park at a Time with LA Rec and Parks' Brenda Aguirre 42:41

18d ago42:41

42:41

Send us a text When the Palisades Fire ripped through Los Angeles, the Department of Recreation and Parks got to work on myriad fronts. Park Rangers, who are actually trained in wildland firefighting, battled dozens of smaller spot fires in parks all over the city that day. Rec and Parks facilities re-invented themselves as evacuation sites and she…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 022 - Post-Traumatic Growth with Dr. Veronica Viesca 30:57

20d ago30:57

30:57

Send us a text Months after the Palisades and Eaton Fires swept through Los Angeles County, many people are still struggling emotionally. So much so, that California Assemblymember John Harabedian has introduced legislation that would require insurance companies, as part of disaster claims, to cover up to 12 sessions with a mental health profession…

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Rebuild:LA Episode 021 - We Were At The Limit of Our Aircraft with Pascal Duclos 31:51

1M ago31:51

31:51

Send us a text For 30 years, the aerial firefighters of Quebec have had an agreement with California. When we call for help, they come. Pascal Duclos is the Chief Pilot of an elite firefighting force called the Quebec Scoopers. They fly a unique aircraft, the CL415, which was designed and built in Canada to do one thing - drop water on wildfires. A…

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Rebuild:LA Episode 020 - I Knew My Home and My Town Were in Danger with Survivor Jon Brown - Part II 36:44

2M ago36:44

36:44

Send us a text The second half of our conversation with Jon Brown brings him out of the ashes of the Palisades Fire, and right into a property fight with the owners of the mobile home park where he lived with his wife and two young kids. The Palisades Bowl was one of the last rent controlled neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and when the Palisades Fire…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 019 - I Knew My Home and My Town Were in Danger with Survivor Jon Brown - Part I 33:38

2M ago33:38

33:38

Send us a text Jon Brown is one of the 400 residents of the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Park that no longer has a neighborhood to go home to. All 170+ homes are gone, flattened by the Palisades Fire. Jon joins host Cameron Barrett for a two-part conversation about how he and his young family escaped the fire. But Jon’s story is bigger than j…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 018 - The Recovery Bible with Author Sean Scott 39:59

2M ago39:59

39:59

Send us a text Cameron Barrett’s guest this episode of Sean Scott, a contractor by trade, and the author of a book you want to get on your shelf as soon as possible. The Red Guide to Recovery is a spiral bound Bible for homeowner who is navigating a disaster, whether that’s something as personal a a burst pipe, or as catastrophic as the Eaton or Pa…

1
Rebuild:AL Episode 017 - Like Driving Through a Volcano with Jessica Fernandez and Pastor Anthony McFarland 51:07

2M ago51:07

51:07

Send us a text So much has been written and said about the Palisades Fire, that it sometimes is confounding how the “other” fire that burned through a community in LA County in early January, goes unmentioned. The Eaton Fire started within hours of the Palisades Fire. It came roaring out of Eaton Canyon, in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountain…

1
RebuildLA Episode 016 - Can a Beacon Box Save Your Neighborhood From Wildfire with Jim Kniss 34:40

2M ago34:40

34:40

Send us a text Jim Kniss makes his living flying over wildfires, making GIS and infrared maps for firefighters. It's all pretty cutting edge technology. But what he's most passionate about is a little more old school. He's working to get Beacon Boxes into rural neighborhoods in fire-prone areas of California. He and the team at FireMapper, LLC have…

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Rebuild:LA Episode 015 - Where the Next Destructive Wildfire Will Be with NASA’s Dr. Chris Potter 39:27

2M ago39:27

39:27

Send us a text Dr. Chris Potter calls it VERM, or vegetation ember index. He’s an earth scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, and he’s developed a new mapping product that shows VERM areas. And VERM areas are those places most vulnerable to fire. In other words, he and his research team are predicting the next place a destruct…

1
RebuildLA Episode 014 - Disasters Are Going to Keep Happening with Bright Harbor's Joel Wish 45:37

2M ago45:37

45:37

Send us a text Monday, March 31, 2025 (an extended date) is an important deadline if you’ve been effected by the Eaton or Palisades fires. That’s when you have to register for FEMA benefits if you’ve had losses. It’s also the deadline to register for SBA loans from the Federal Government. These are the kinds of details Joel Wish and his disaster re…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 013 - The City Failed Us with Survivor Sue Pascoe 47:07

3M ago47:07

47:07

Send us a text Sue Pascoe, her husband, and their two dogs evacuated the Palisades Fire on January 7, 2025 with a couple of overnight bags and the dogs' food bowls. They'd evacuated plenty of times before. This would be like the last few times. They'd be back home the next day. But by the next day, her home was gone. Like thousands of other familie…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 012 - Build Back Better with Alexis Rivas of Cover 48:45

3M ago48:45

48:45

Send us a text Nearly two months after wildfires swept through the communities of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, the dust and ash have settled. People are now taking stock of what they have and whether they’ll be able to rebuild. Can they afford what they once had? Should they build back bigger? Smaller? Should they build back at all? In this epis…

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Rebuild:LA Episode 011 - Can We Out-Think Wildfires with the NFPA's Michele Steinberg 46:41

3M ago46:41

46:41

Send us a text The National Fire Protection Association has been creating fire code in American since the late 1800's. We have the NFPA to thank for fire sprinklers in apartment buildings and fire doors in high rise buildings. In the 1980's, the NFPA realized that wildfires were igniting in unusual places in North America, and they decided to do so…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 010 - Are The Kids Alright with Chloe Canton 33:43

3M ago33:43

33:43

Send us a text 5,000 Los Angeles school children were affected by the Palisades and Eaton Fires. That's a lot of kids who either lost their homes, or their schools, or both. Cameron Barrett asks licensed children and family therapist Chloe Canton to help explain the trauma kids are going through right now, how to spot the warning signs of children …

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 009 - A Particularly Dangerous Situation with Rich Thompson from the NWS 34:17

3M ago34:17

34:17

Send us a text Rich Thompson is an incident meteorologist (IMET) with the National Weather Service, which means he predicts weather during disasters to help first responders during the active phase of an incident. He was on the ground during the Palisades Fire and describes the conditions in early January as a "once in a career" weather event. He c…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 008 - Rebuilding LA for All of LA with Councilmember John Lee 26:15

3M ago26:15

26:15

Send us a text Councilmember John Lee of Los Angeles' CD #12 sits down with Cameron Barrett to talk about his district's recovery efforts in the wake of the January fires, how he plans on managing the independent investigation into the Palisades Fire as the head of the Public Safety Committee, and so much more in this episode of Rebuild:LA. Resourc…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 007 - The Ripple Effects of the Fires with Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez 25:36

3M ago25:36

25:36

Send us a text Eunisses Hernandez is the Councilmember representing District #1 in the City of Los Angeles. Her constituents live miles from both the Palisades and the Eaton Fires. No one in Council District #1 lost a home to fire. But many have lost jobs, employers, and even clean air to breathe. Host Cameron Barrett sits down with Hernandez to di…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 006 - A Tornado of Fire with Justice Tricia Bigelow (ret) 30:00

3M ago30:00

30:00

Send us a text We mark the month anniversary of the January firestorms with our first survivor story. Cameron Barrett sat down with retired Superior Court Judge, Justice Tricia Bigelow. She barely had time to evacuate her Pacific Palisades home, but was chased from two more places she had gone to seeking shelter, as the Palisades Fire kept advancin…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 005 - Stories from the Firestorms of January with Greg Doyle 37:19

3M ago37:19

37:19

Send us a text Greg Doyle has been shooting photographs of wildfires for the last 12 years. His works has been featured in fire magazines and websites, including www.wildfirela.org. It's safe to say that in those 12 years, Greg has never been as busy as he has been this past January. In fact, the last four months have seen him driving all over Sout…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 004 - Do You Have Enough Wildfire Insurance with Real Estate Broker Pat Hanley 31:00

3M ago31:00

31:00

Send us a text When homeowners who lost everything in the Eaton and Palisades Fires called their insurance companies, some of them had a rude awakening, adding more misery to families who had already lost nearly everything they owned. What happens when you lose your home to wildfire? Do you have enough insurance? Can you even get enough insurance i…

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Rebuild:LA Episode 003 - Fighting the Palisades Fire From The Sky with CAL FIRE Aviation's Linnea Edmeier 45:30

4M ago45:30

45:30

Send us a text Linnea Edmeier sits down with host Cameron Barrett, to bring us her story from thousands of feet above the Palisades Fire. Edmeier is the Public Information Officer for CAL FIRE's Aviation Unit, and was deployed to the Palisades Fire. There she recorded the conflagration, keeping tabs on the dozens of flights in the air night and day…

1
Rebuild:LA Episode 002 - Making Sure Your Pet Survives Wildfire with SPCA LA's Madeline Bernstein 38:20

4M ago38:20

38:20

Send us a text For the last 30 years, Madeline Bernstein has been fighting the good fight to help rescue, shelter, and find forever homes for the pets of Los Angeles. She is the president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. During the Palisades Fire in January 2025, Madeline evacuated twice. Each time…

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Rebuild:LA Episode 001 - How to Protect Your Home and Your Neighborhood from Wildfires with MySafe:LA's David Barrett 38:29

4M ago38:29

38:29

Send us a text In the first episode of the Safe Community Project's Rebuild:LA, we talk with MySafe:LA Executive Officer David Barrett about how his non-profit is helping HOAs, neighborhoods and individual homeowners find ways to make their houses safer from wildfires. As Los Angeles begins to rebuild in the wake of the Palisades and Eaton Fires, M…

1
Leave Fireworks to the Professionals! 21:17

2y ago21:17

21:17

Join MySafe:LA's David Barrett and our special guest La'Veyah Mosely and her mother to discuss the life changing fireworks can have on a person. La'Veyah - a talented 7th grade student in L.A. - and an athlete playing for the L.A. Watts Rams youth league lost all of the fingers on her left hand when she was handed a firework device on the 5th of Ju…

1
BAM! The issue of illegal fireworks in Los Angeles 1:14:20

3y ago1:14:20

1:14:20

In the City of Los Angeles, ALL fireworks are illegal. In the County of Los Angeles, it depends on which city you're talking about. Many cities offer "Safe and Sane" fireworks for sale on and around the 4th of July. The lack of consistency from city to city complicates the public's understanding of fireworks and the law. Join host David Barrett as …

1
Are You Ready For Wildfire? 29:24

3y ago29:24

29:24

Join MySafe:LA's David Barrett as he covers the ongoing threat of wildfires in California generally, and in Southern California more specifically. Los Angeles City Fire Department Deputy Chief Trevor Richmond shares insight in what to expect this year and unveils a new collaboration between the LAFD and MySafe:LA - the Los Angeles Wildfire Resilien…

1
Making L.A. Safer in 2022 14:28

3y ago14:28

14:28

Join MySafe:LA Executive Director David Barrett as he discusses the challenges in public safety and resilience for 2022. David shares some of the new initiatives at MySafe:LA and how the public may benefit from the programs being offered by the recognized, award-winning community resilience organization. This episode focuses on the upcoming wildfir…

1
The Fireworks 2021 Podcast 59:09

4y ago59:09

59:09

Join host David Barrett as he navigates the complex environment of illegal fireworks in Los Angeles. David is joined by three important guests, including LA City Area Prosecutor and Deputy City Attorney Gabrielle Taylor, Deputy Chief for the Office of Operations of the LAPD, Beatrice Girmala, and Public Information Officer Erik Scott of the Los Ang…

1
S2; E2: Fireworks in Los Angeles, Boom in the Year of COVID-19 1:18:40

5y ago1:18:40

1:18:40

Fireworks have traditionally been at the core of national and regional celebrations. In Los Angeles, all fireworks sales and use are illegal - but even so, Angelenos celebrate every June through August with a nightly show of rebellion that brings joy to some, and fear and disaster to many. This special edition of CityTalk:LA looks into the issues s…

1
S2; E1: COVID-19 Safety for the Armenian Community (in Armenian) 28:04

5y ago28:04

28:04

In this exciting Armenian-language podcast, Harout Harry Semerdjian of MySafe:LA’s Board of Directors and EMT Henry Halajian of MySafe:LA (and an ambulance operator for the Glendale Fire Department) discuss COVID-19 and important community protections related to the coronavirus epidemic. They also touch on our signature Smoke Alarm Installation Pro…

1
S1; #21: Earthquake Prep 25:26

11y ago25:26

25:26

We continue our earthquake podcast conversation with Cameron Barrett, Education Director, and Mark Benthien, the Director of Communications, Education and Outreach at the Southern California Earthquake Center. Mark's team are part of the core group or organizers behind the ShakeOut drill every year. In this podcast he discusses the need for earthqu…

1
S1; #20: Earthquake Tools That Save Lives! 24:18

11y ago24:18

24:18

Margaret Vinci is the Manager of the Office of Earthquake Programs at CalTech. She's been busy lately, what with the 5.1 La Habra Earthquake, the 4.4 Encino Earthquake, and the monster 8.2 Chilean Earthquake. All in the last few weeks. Cameron Barrett chats with Margaret about the earthquake tools available online that she, the scientists at CalTec…

1
S1; #19: LAUSD and earthquakes - what happens to your kids when the Big One hits? 23:01

11y ago23:01

23:01

In the wake of the March 28th La Habra Earthquake, Todd Leitz, MySafe:LA's public information officer, speaks with Dr. Jill Barnes, the Coordinator for Disaster Services and Emergency Preparedness for the Los Angeles School District. If you have kids in the LAUSD, here's some details about the district's earthquake preparedness that should ease you…

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S1; #18: Look out: "The Big One" is coming - A major earthquake is just around the bend. 30:30

11y ago30:30

30:30

Cameron Barrett speaks about the latest string of earthquakes to strike Southern California with Kate Long, the Earthquake Deputy for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. The 5.1 magnitude La Habra earthquake that struck March 28 did $10.5 million in damage to Orange County. Long says the La Habra Quake, like all temblors, is a wake up call…

1
S1; #17: Hands Only CPR - A few minutes and you, too can save a life! 17:08

11y ago17:08

17:08

February is American Heart Disease Awareness Month. In celebration, let's review cardio pulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. When was the last time you took a CPR class? A year ago? 5? 10? Do you remember all the things you needed to do? All the compressions-to-rescue-breath numbers? No? You'll be happy to know, there's a new method. This ain't your Da…

1
S1; #16: Smoke Alarms Save Lives - Double your chances of surviving a house fire. 21:47

11y ago21:47

21:47

Did you know that you don't have to be hard of hearing to NOT hear your smoke alarm go off in the middle of the night? Education Director Cameron Barrett discusses smoke alarms with Nancy Trench, the Assistant Director of Fire Protection Publications at Oklahoma State University. Trench is a smoke alarm expert and speaks about the latest research i…

1
Smoke Alarm Experts - #15 19:51

11+ y ago19:51

19:51

How many smoke alarms are in your home? Are they all working? Are they in the right locations? If you don't know the answer to any of these questions, this podcast is for you! MySafe:LA Public Information Officer Todd Leitz chats with Deborah Hanson, the Director of External Affairs for First Alert, the smoke alarm manufacturer. First Alert and Deb…

1
Vision 20/20 - #14 26:14

11+ y ago26:14

26:14

MySafe:LA Executive Officer David Barrett chats with one of the most respected voices in fire prevention, Jim Crawford, the former Fire Marshal for Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. Crawford has more than 37 years of firefighting experience and is currently the Project Manager for Vision 20/20. Crawford and Barrett discuss smoke alarms, w…

1
Meri-K Appy - #13 18:12

11+ y ago18:12

18:12

In our first fire and life safety podcast of the month, David Barrett speaks with Meri-K Appy, an internationally recognized fire and life safety expert. Meri-K has spent her professional life in public safety education. She was a consultant to MySafe:LA and part of the Vision 20/20 Coalition. She and David speak about the recent rash of fire fatal…

1
My Quake Story - #12 17:21

11+ y ago17:21

17:21

Executive Officer David Barrett speaks with retired Los Angeles Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Greenup, who on January 17, 1994 was three stories below Los Angeles City Hall in the LAFD's dispatch center when the Northridge Earthquake struck. Greenup spent the day (and many after that) sending LAFD resources to the devastated areas of Los Ang…

1
My Quake Story - #11 18:04

11+ y ago18:04

18:04

In our continuing series on the 20th Anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake, MySafe:LA Public Information Officer Todd Leitz speaks with retired LAFD Battalion Chief Steve Ruda. In 1994, Chief Ruda lived one mile from the Northridge Meadows Apartments and not much farther from the epicenter of the quake. He describes the preparations he had made,…

1
My Quake Story - #10 12:11

11+ y ago12:11

12:11

Executive Officer David Barrett sits down with the former Fire Marshal for the city of Los Angeles for our continuing special series on the 20th Anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake. Assistant Chief Donald Frazeur was a Captain II on January 17, 1994. He was at home when the earthquake struck, and some of his most vivid memories of that day cam…

1
My Quake Story - #9 23:22

11+ y ago23:22

23:22

MySafe:LA Public Information Officer Todd Leitz talks with retired LAFD Captain Steve Owens who was a station commander at fire station 76 in the Cahuenga Pass of Hollywood 20 years ago. When the Northridge Earthquake shook him out of bed, Owens was immediately in earthquake mode, reviewing his escape options and preparing for the possibility of fi…

1
My Quake Story - #8 16:41

11+ y ago16:41

16:41

Todd Leitz, MySafe:LA's Public Information Officer brings us the next installment of our special podcast series on the 20th Anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake. Todd sits down with Jayson Johnson, an LAFD firefighter/paramedic and father of four. Jayson had just finished fighting a fire and was on his way back to the station when his fire engi…

1
My Quake Story - #7 18:01

11+ y ago18:01

18:01

Our podcast series on the 20th Anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake continues with MySafe:LA Education Director Cameron Barrett's conversation with LAFD Battalion Chief Greg Gibson. 20 years ago, Gibson was a station commander in South Los Angeles, but less than an hour after the quake hit, he and his crew were on their way to the devastation i…

1
My Quake Story - #6 25:46

11+ y ago25:46

25:46

MySafe:LA's Executive Officer David Barrett talks with one of the most instrumental figures in the Los Angeles Fire Department's response to the Northridge Earthquake 20 years ago. Assistant Chief Frank Borden (retired) was in charge of much of the department's resources that day, but he had also spent the decade prior to the Northridge Quake creat…

1
My Quake Story -#4 22:20

11+ y ago22:20

22:20

In our continuing series on the 20th Anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake, MySafe:LA's Education Director Cameron Barrett talks with retired LAFD Assistant Chief Robert DeFeo, the man in charge of the harrowing rescues and recoveries at perhaps the most iconic disaster site that day in Los Angeles, the Northridge Meadows apartment complex. Supp…

1
My Quake Story - #5 21:12

11+ y ago21:12

21:12

Education Director Cameron Barrett continues MySafe:LA's recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Northridge Earthquake in this episode when she interviews retired LAFD Chief Deputy Joseph Castro. In 1994 Castro was a station commander in Hollywood, where destruction was widespread following the temblor. He remembers he and his crew having to fig…

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