Shadowing Practice: LA firefighters ready for ‘hurricane force winds’, mayor says | BBC News - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Hello and welcome to BBC News.
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Hello and welcome to BBC News.
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The number of people killed in the Los Angeles wildfires has risen to 24,
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with 26 people still missing.
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There are fears that high winds could soon return to Los Angeles and again fan the flames.
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Three fires are still burning around the city.
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Firefighters say they now have a small window of opportunity to
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contain them before the arrival of winds of up to 70 miles per hour.
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Planes continue to dump fire retardant on hillsides across LA and firefighters are cutting vegetation to slow the spread of the flames.
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Evacuation orders remain in place.
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Well, let's go straight to the BBC's Peter Bowes,
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who's there in LA for us.
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And Peter, bring us right up to date in terms of the latest assessment we're getting from officials.
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Well, from the information that we've just been given in this news conference,
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the containment percentages of these big fires hasn't really changed that significantly over the last 24 hours.
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But we learned that they are making good progress in other aspects of fighting those fires.
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The forward movement of those fires has been curtailed quite significantly.
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Well, that means that they're not burning into new areas.
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And that is positive.
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So good news.
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But overall, the picture is that still a lot of work to do,
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a lot of talk about the winds.
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And what I'm noticing is,
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and I have been outside for the last few hours,
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and I'm noticing every hour that the winds are indeed getting stronger
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and are expected to peak over the next 24 to 36 hours.
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But I'm noticing the language from officials is becoming more serious regarding these winds.
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We have been told and led to believe that perhaps they wouldn't be as strong as last week,
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the hurricane force winds that we experienced at the beginning of this fire emergency.
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But now that is the language,
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that they could be as bad as previously,
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up to hurricane force, which does not bode well for the firefighting effort,
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clearly making it more difficult for firefighters.
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These strong winds also have the effect of just drying the air,
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and, therefore, the humidity drops.
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And that makes it easier for other fires to start when the embers start blowing around into different neighborhoods.
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And Peter, in that news conference,
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we'll play a little more for viewers who have just joined us in the next few moments,
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but some pretty grim details about the grid searches they described.
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And they're urging patience amongst the residents of Los Angeles,
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because as they said, they are still finding human remains.
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It was very distressing, wasn't it?
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How the authorities essentially are going from house to house,
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or at least what is remaining of those properties,
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to find the remains of humans who may have perished in these fires,
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and reflecting the anxiety,
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the perhaps impatience of people from those neighborhoods who want to get back to what used to be their homes.
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They want to get back there and see what is remaining and try to figure out their own lives.
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But they're being told to be patient while the authorities move around this,
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as they describe it, this grim search for human remains.
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And that is going to be,
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it's a slow process to do this meticulously and to ensure that they've covered all the ground.
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But that is the process that is going on now.
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Tragically, some people just didn't have time to escape from their properties.
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In some cases, we know that those who perished were actually trying to fight the fires themselves.
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And clearly, the authorities continue to want to let people know that,
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look, if you're ordered to leave your property straight away,
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that's what you should do for your own safety.
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Peter, thanks once again.
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Let's play you a little more of the detail from that news conference because,
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as Peter was saying, so much concern about the wind speeds,
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what is likely to happen tomorrow.
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In Wednesday as well, there are nervousness as the winds pick up.
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The L.A.
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Fire Chief, Kristen Crowley, was just saying to reporters there,
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warning that the danger isn't over.
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We're not in the clear.
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I want to make sure of that.
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We are not in the clear as of yet,
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and we must not let our guard down.
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As we have right now extreme fire behavior,
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and we need to make sure that the community is staying updated with the most information,
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updated information as well.
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Follow all evacuation warnings and orders without delay.
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And please, please stay safe.
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Well, there has been looting across areas of Los Angeles County.
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The district attorney at that news conference slammed those he said had been,
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quote, taking advantage of the tragic events and said they would be brought to justice.
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So the criminals have decided that this is an opportunity,
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and I'm here to tell you that this is not an opportunity.
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You will be arrested, you will be prosecuted,
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and you will be punished to the full extent of the law.
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At 2 p.m today, we'll be holding a press conference to announce the first charges in a looting case
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and the first charges in an arson case.
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This is not an arson case tied to the major fires.
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It was an arson case that was done on the side, in essence.
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You will hear that these people who've committed these crimes are facing very significant sentences.
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I'm working with over 750 deputy district attorneys
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and the entire law enforcement community to bring these people who are despicable and disgraceful to justice.
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Well, that was the Attorney General.
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THOUSANDS OF FIREFIGHTERS HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED RIGHT ACROSS THE STATE TO HELP FIGHT THESE FIRE.
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THEY HAVEN'T BEEN WORKING ALONE.
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THEY'VE ALSO BEEN JOINED BY SOME PRIVATE FIREFIGHTERS.
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LET'S TALK NOW TO JOE TORRES.
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HE'S THE CEO OF ALL RISK SHIELD,
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A COMPANY WHICH PROVIDES PRIVATE FIRE PROTECTION SERVICES.
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JOE, WELCOME HERE TO BBC NEWS.
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JUST TELL ME FIRST OF ALL WHAT THE LAST WEEK HAS BEEN LIKE FOR YOU.
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Fire Protection Services.
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Joe, welcome here to BBC News.
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Just tell me, first of all,
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what the last week has been like for you.
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Hello.
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Thank you.
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Yeah.
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Good morning.
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This last week has been quite busy.
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There's a lot.
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There's a lot of it going on.
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Our teams were actually already in the area because we do,
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for our clients, we do what's called a red flag patrol.
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So we already had teams in the area prior to any start of the actual Palisades fire.
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We're showing pictures that we've received from you,
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the sorts of conditions you are actually having to battle with,
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not just the fires, but those embers that are being thrown around by the high winds.
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I mean, these are extraordinary sort of conditions that you're having to deal with.
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How many homes have you tried to protect in the last seven days or so?
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You know what?
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I wish I had a number for you.
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It's kind of countless right now.
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We're still trying to gather
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that data within our own team as to how many houses we've actually been able to to touch
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and get to and how many clients we've actually interacted with,
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let them know, hey, your house is still standing or,
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you know, maybe there was a loss.
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But we're still gathering that data.
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The devastation and destruction of this particular fire
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and this event is just something I've never seen in my 24-year career in the fire service thus far.
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Yes, we're going to put onto the screen some of the flames at their very height over the last seven days.
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Tell me a little more about how your teams work,
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how big the teams are,
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how you get water,
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because I've seen reported certainly in the media quotes of perhaps
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some private firefighters being paid $3,000 a day going up to $10,000 a day.
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Yeah, yeah, my company operates a little different.
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We're a price point at everybody.
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Everybody can afford what we do.
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So we're really focused really on the preventative side of things,
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making sure we engage our clients well ahead of anything,
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any event for preparation, home hardening,
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the installation of flame and ever resistant vents,
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pre-application of long-term fire retardants.
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and then just preparing our clients throughout the year with kind of what you could say,
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I guess, it's called an incident action plan or an IEP.
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Again, our price points are at every level sort of thing.
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There's no exclusivity as to,
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you know, you have to be ultra wealthy or high net worth in order to engage us.
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It's interesting to use that phrase exclusivity because you will know,
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you don't need me to tell you,
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there's been a backlash because at different points,
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people have put online appeals for private firefighters,
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and there's been a real backlash to that with the thought being
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that there are those very rich who are trying to somehow insulate themselves from everything else
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that everyone else is going through do you understand perhaps
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that sort of feeling yes absolutely yeah i think you know
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again there's uh there's a negative connotation that's kind of kind of goes along with
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that but again you know with my company specifically we we're not we don't operate
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that way we're a little different when it comes to that
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because look there's a lot of folks who just they just want to talk to somebody
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and all that it is is a phone call
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and talking to somebody and going hey is my home okay
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and for us it's hey let's go take a look
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and see and we'll get you a picture and that's it that's all they need and
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you know hey we're not charging for
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that we're not there's there's no like hey uh you know
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we're just we're trying to help as many folks as possible
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because in an event like this um resources are spread thin
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and that's where we come in
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and we again with our clients we're engaged throughout the year
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we have local knowledge we know what the properties look like yeah authorities
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and these these resources coming from out of state from out of county even some of the local authorities and
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jurisdictions may not have the knowledge we have that with some of our clients.
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And then on top of that,
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you know, the private, the water usages and with such,
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we don't, we're not touching hydrants.
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Those hydrants are for municipalities,
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for AHJ or authorities having jurisdiction.
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That's not for privates.
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That's not for us to touch.
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And that's something we do not engage with at all.
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So there's a hard, very,
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very hard line in the sand with that, especially with my company.
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Joe Torres, we'll leave it there.
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But interesting to see how you've been working through all of these unprecedented events.
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So thank you so much for joining us live on the program.
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Well, as we heard in that news conference,
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so much focus on what the weather is doing,
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the wind speeds over the next 48 hours.
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I've been talking to the meteorologist Alex De Silva from AccuWeather.
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He gave me the very latest.
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Yeah, over the last 24 to 36 hours,
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the winds did come down a little bit from their peaks,
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and that has allowed the firefighters to get some containment on some of these blazes.
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You look at the Hurst fire,
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89% containment, the Eaton fire up to 33% containment,
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and the biggest fire of them all,
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the Palisades fires, up to 14% containment.
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So a little bit of good news there that the firefighters have gotten a little bit of these fires under control.
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But unfortunately, yes, over the next 24 to 36 hours,
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these winds are going to be picking up considerably coming out of the northeast,
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right over those same areas that are dealing with the fires right now.
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We could see gusts 60 to 100 kilometers per hour across a pretty widespread area across the Los Angeles area,
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even 100 to 130 kilometers per hour in some of this pink area here just north of the city.
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And again, this is the area where the fires are.
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So we could see some rapid spread of these fires.
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I'm concerned about the embers that could be lifted into the air and travel perhaps,
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you know, several kilometers away from the parent fire.
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And that has the ability to start new fires.
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Why practice speaking with this video?
Engaging with real-life news segments, such as the coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires, provides an excellent opportunity for english speaking practice. This video presents a challenging yet relatable context, where you can enhance your speaking skills by mimicking the tone, rhythm, and diction used by the news reporters. As you shadow the speaker, you’ll not only improve your fluency but also gain valuable insights into current events, which can serve as conversation starters in everyday settings. Moreover, practicing with this type of content allows you to navigate serious discussions effectively, equipping you to articulate your thoughts clearly and confidently during emergencies or crises.
Grammar & Expressions in Context
The language used by the speaker contains several key structures and expressions that are useful for learners. Here are some important ones to note:
- The present continuous tense: Phrases like “the winds are indeed getting stronger” illustrate how ongoing actions or events are expressed in English.
- Passive voice: Expressions such as “the containment percentages... haven’t really changed” emphasize the action rather than the subject, a useful construction when discussing ongoing situations.
- Specific modifiers: Words like “significantly” and “positively” help convey the degree of change or impact and are vital for precise communication.
- Direct quotes: The news anchors use direct quotes from officials, a style that can add credibility and urgency to your speaking.
By incorporating these structures into your own speech patterns, you’ll be able to express yourself more dynamically and effectively during discussions related to current events or emergencies.
Common Pronunciation Traps
In this video, several words may present challenges for learners when it comes to improving English pronunciation. Here are a few to focus on:
- Hurricane: This word often trips up non-native speakers—pay attention to the stress on the first syllable and the soft “i” sound.
- Contain: Listen carefully to how the speaker articulates this word, noting the emphasis on the second syllable. It’s a crucial term in discussions about fire containment.
- Evacuation: Pay attention to the flow of this word, making sure to practice the smooth transition between syllables.
Practicing these tricky terms in conjunction with shadow speaking can help solidify your skills and build your confidence in addressing complex topics. By focusing on these areas, you can significantly enhance your capacity to communicate effectively in English, empowering you to effectively discuss pressing issues as they arise.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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