Shadowing Practice: LA fires burn out-of-control as thousands evacuated from homes | BBC News - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Almost 180,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes around Los Angeles as five fires continue to burn,
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Almost 180,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes around Los Angeles as five fires continue to burn,
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two of them completely uncontained.
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This is what the flames are leaving behind.
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Entire neighbourhoods completely destroyed, everything gone.
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Only the charred remains of trees have been left standing.
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The first fire to erupt was on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood.
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It is the largest fire and it is still out of control.
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It spread rapidly.
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Look at how fast it moved in just five hours.
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It now covers more than 17,000 acres of land.
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That blaze alone is now one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of LA.
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There are still five fires alight around the city.
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Firefighters say two of them,
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the Palisades and Hearst fires, are still 0% contained.
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And you can see from this time-lapse of the Palisades fire just how quickly it spread,
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fanned by hurricane-force winds.
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And this, another neighbourhood, Altadena,
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this satellite imagery shows the homes and buildings,
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street after street, completely engulfed.
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Five people are known to have died,
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but the LA Sheriff says that number will rise.
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Our correspondent Emma Vardy is there.
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Well, fire crews are now into a third day of fighting these fires on multiple fronts.
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The good news is the wind has dropped.
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The weather is calmer today,
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so some of the fire's growth has been slowed down.
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But still, the largest blazes have not been brought under control.
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and we now know that large parts of this city will never look the same again.
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The scale of this disaster is clear to see.
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Block after block, a blanket of destruction.
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More than a thousand buildings burned in this community alone.
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Emergency services unable to save them.
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And still they burn, the most catastrophic fires Los Angeles has ever seen.
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Overnight, the Hollywood Hills resembling a disaster movie,
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a huge crescent of flame engulfing an iconic community of California.
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More than 130,000 people have been told to evacuate their homes.
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Here, just one of many properties engulfed turned to a shell.
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A lot of the stories of heroic actions by our deputy sheriffs,
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police officers, or firefighters, a lot of them are taking place from people who did not choose to evacuate,
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putting their own lives at risk.
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So please, if you're asked to evacuate,
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evacuate, because it's not only your life you're putting in danger.
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At least five major fires have been burning across Los Angeles County.
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The scale and spread has stretched firefighting crews...
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..on the ground...
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..and in the air.
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16,000 acres and counting, consumed by the inferno.
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One street filmed by a local resident, moments before he left he left.
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I thought maybe I would be able to get some extra stuff
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that we didn't take and come to see that the whole street is just gone.
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It's like a war zone.
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And we had so many memories in here that cannot be replaced.
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I had these great old pictures of my grandfather from World War II,
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both grandfathers, and I was going to get them framed.
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And now they're gone and they're lost.
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And I had so many things that are just lost forever.
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I just, I know we're safe, but I don't understand.
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Fueled by hurricane force winds,
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these fires have struck at a vulnerable time.
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L.A hasn't seen any significant rainfall for months.
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Currently, we're at the Palisades Fire,
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which is a very dynamic, fast-moving brush fire.
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I'm looking out the window here,
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and, you know, wind gusts are still 50 to 70 miles an hour
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headed right to the ocean and kind of turning back around and headed right up the canyon.
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There's embers flying one and a half to two miles ahead of the fire
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with a 75% chance that that would ignite a new fire.
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So they were caught in a very difficult situation.
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As dawn came in the Palisades,
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it revealed the grim reality of what the fire has left behind.
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There are miles and miles of streets like this,
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an utter shock at the devastation here.
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communities just vanished, now ghost towns,
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and once dream homes turned to dust.
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No-one is immune.
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Mansions now ash.
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The homes of Jennifer Aniston,
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Rihanna, Adam Sandler and Paris Hilton among those evacuated.
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The scale of destruction has upended life in Los Angeles and this ravaged city is braced for more.
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Emma Vardy, and we will be speaking to Emma live later in the programme.
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Well, the Pacific Palisades on the west coast,
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or the west side of the city,
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is where the blaze started.
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Thousands of buildings have been destroyed in the hills between Santa Monica and Malibu.
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John Sudworth is there, and he has been speaking to some of those affected.
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Late into the night we watch one of America's wealthiest neighbourhoods burn.
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The flames so intense the fire crews are powerless to stop them.
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So if I very quickly take my mask off the air is absolutely thick with smoke.
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The fire crews here tell us they have a shortage of water.
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And in many instances they're having to stand and watch these properties burn.
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It is a losing battle.
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They're using what little they have sparingly,
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trying to contain the spread.
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Defying the evacuation orders, some residents are defending their own homes.
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With all the surrounding properties burning,
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I help Tony and his neighbours scooping water out of the swimming pool and dousing the flames at their boundary.
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Since 1993, I have seen a couple of fires, but nothing like this.
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I wouldn't see this in my nightmare.
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I never thought it would come through yet.
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David was hoping his home might have survived.
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But the whole neighbourhood has gone.
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And with it, his house too.
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I would have thought I'd be seeing more planes flying over with water.
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I mean there appears to be just two.
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I mean in California are there not like 20 or 30 of them that they could have got you already?
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I would have thought the firemen would like take a stand on a certain area.
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Maybe they did and I'm just not seeing it but.
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Wealth and privilege are no protection from this disaster,
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with the ordinary human defences rendered futile in the face of its devastating force.
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John Sudworth, BBC News, Pacific Palisades.
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Well, the fires have swept through neighbourhoods home to film,
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television and music stars.
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Anthony Hopkins lost his multi-million dollar mansion the actor Billy Crystal lost his home where he'd lived since 1979
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some celebrities have been taking to social media to describe what has happened to them
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sitting here and waiting to find out whether we're going to be evacuated or not is
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it's like the time can't go by any slower yes baby come here baba
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so instead we decided to pass the time by putting together
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bags of clothes for our friends who have lost everything okay
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we found everyone we are packing up the car getting ready to go to the hotel it's
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so big it's so red my thoughts and prayers are with everyone tonight
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I have never seen flames from my house like this, ever.
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This is insanity.
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I hope everyone is staying safe tonight.
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Well, let's go back to Emma Vardy,
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who is there in Los Angeles.
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And Emma, the authorities have been saying today that the tide could be turning,
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but the situation is still very perilous.
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that's right there is some new hope
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but we're certainly not out of the danger zone yet
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and with so many neighborhoods
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that have had to be abandoned a new issue arising in the middle of this crisis is looting police say
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that there are criminals going into abandoned neighborhoods looting homes
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that haven't been
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so badly destroyed there's been 20 arrests for looting they've stepped
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up patrols in affluent areas places like this in malibu where people have had to leave their homes
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and say they'll be clamping down on this.
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And another issue too is price gouging.
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Businesses being warned not to put their prices up.
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Hotels being told don't spike your rates while there is a spike in demand in the middle of this crisis.
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Now this crisis is very much still being fought on the ground but already the political finger pointing has also begun.
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There are questions over cuts to fire service budgets,
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questions over the way California has managed its resources to be prepared for a natural disaster like this.
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And in due course, thoughts will return to the recovery process,
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which is going to be a long one because so much of this city is very much changed forever.
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But in terms of the danger,
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we're not out of the woods yet.
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Emma Vardy, for now, thank you.
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We'll be speaking to you again at the end of the programme.
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And just to say that there is a BBC News special on the Los Angeles fires at 7pm tonight.
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You can watch all the latest on BBC Two,
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on the BBC News Channel,
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and you can also find it on the BBC's iPlayer.
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Context & Background
The video "LA fires burn out-of-control as thousands evacuated from homes | BBC News" captures the devastating wildfire situation in Los Angeles. It highlights the urgent response required from residents and emergency services as more than 180,000 people are ordered to evacuate due to rapidly spreading fires. The speaker details the destruction left in the wake of these flames, illustrating the scale of the disaster and the brave efforts of firefighters and local authorities. The language used conveys both the urgency and gravity of the situation, providing rich context for learners to practice their English skills.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “You must evacuate” – This phrase is crucial in emergencies where safety is at risk.
- “The fire is out of control” – This emphasizes the severity of a situation.
- “It is spreading rapidly” – Useful for describing quick movements or changes.
- “Please stay safe” – A compassionate reminder in times of crisis.
- “Emergency services are on duty” – Important for acknowledging those who respond in emergencies.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
Shadowing helps improve speaking skills by mimicking the rhythm and intonation of native speakers. Here’s how you can effectively shadow the dialogue from this video:
- Watch and Listen: Start by viewing the video without subtitles. Focus on the speaker’s tone and pace.
- Pause and Repeat: Play segments of the video and pause after every sentence. Repeat exactly what the speaker says to practice pronunciation.
- Use Keywords: Pay attention to phrases like "evacuate", "out of control", and "firefighters". Understand their context and use them in your sentences to enhance your vocabulary.
- Record Yourself: After a few repetitions, record your voice. Compare it with the original audio to identify areas for improvement.
- Practice Regularly: Make shadowing a daily habit. Use the shadowspeaks method to incorporate various accents and tones, assisting you in adapting to diverse English speaking styles.
Utilizing this approach on a shadowing site or through direct shadow speech practice will significantly enhance your speaking abilities. By integrating news content like this fire coverage, you're learning English with YouTube while gaining essential vocabulary for real-world situations.
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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