The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | January 9th, 2025: LA Wildfires Intensify & Israel Mulls Plan To Break Up Syria
09 Jan 2025
In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: First, we’ll begin with an update on the devastating fires in Los Angeles, where firefighters are battling to contain massive blazes tearing through the city. Then, we’ll examine reports that Israeli government and security officials have been holding covert talks about the future of Syria, including an initiative for an international summit to break Syria up into different administrative divisions. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Full Episode
It's Thursday, 9 January. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Today, we'll begin with the devastating fires in Los Angeles, where firefighters are battling to contain massive blazes tearing through the city.
Later in the show, we'll dig into reports that Israel is calling for an international summit, or at least considering calling for an international summit that would divide Syria into different administrative divisions in order to guarantee the safety and rights of Syrian ethnic groups. But first, the PDB Afternoon Spotlight.
I want to give you an update on the wildfires raging through Los Angeles. They've destroyed entire neighborhoods and forced nearly 180,000 people to evacuate. Let's start with the Palisades fire. It first broke out Tuesday afternoon and has already become the most destructive wildfire in LA's history.
This fire has already ravaged the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood and is being fueled by hurricane force winds with gusts of up to 100 miles per hour. Now, these are part of the Santa Ana winds, which are common in Southern California during the cooler months.
As of this morning, the fire has consumed more than 17,000 acres and crept dangerously close to iconic landmarks including Sunset Boulevard, the Santa Monica Pier, and the Hollywood sign. The scope of destruction is, well, staggering. Late Wednesday, Cal Fire confirmed that 300 structures had been destroyed.
However, during a tense press conference, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Maroney suggested that the true number is in the thousands, making it the most destructive fire in Los Angeles' history. Adding to the chaos, evacuation orders expanded deep into Malibu, a neighboring community still reeling from the Franklin Fire that burned 4,000 acres just a month ago.
The Palisades Fire remains at zero containment. Further inland, the Eden Fire is also delivering devastation to the region, doubling in size within hours. The fast-moving blaze scorched 10,600 densely populated acres north of Pasadena. Los Angeles County Fire estimates roughly 970 structures there have been destroyed.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has reported at least five fatalities, alongside what it described as, quote, a number of significant injuries to residents and firefighters. As of now, 13,000 structures are under imminent threat from the blaze, prompting tens of thousands of residents to evacuate. Like the Palisades blaze, the Eden fire remains at zero containment.
Further west, the Hurst Fire in the San Fernando Valley erupted with shocking speed, ballooning to over 100 acres within 15 minutes of the initial blaze. The fire has since spread rapidly into the Angeles National Forest. By Wednesday night, it consumed 855 acres, forcing thousands to flee. Fire crews have managed just 10% containment on that blaze.
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