Deadline Tip Us Dismiss News Banner Breaking News The Week Hollywood Stood Still: Entertainment Industry Struggles To Carry On Amid L.A. Fire Devastation Home TV News L.A. Wildfires: ABC7’s Dallas Raines On How We Got Here, What’s Coming Next, & What We Can Do For Each Other To Help Stop It Next Time By Dominic Patten January 13, 2025 8:20pm Services to share this page. Share on Facebook Post Share to Flipboard Email Show more sharing options Dallas Raines on airStory Arc Dallas Raines on air ABC7 Los Angeles EXCLUSIVE: Dallas Raines wasn’t born in the City of Angels, but few Angelenos exemplify Southern California like the Georgia-bred ABC 7 News chief meteorologist. A perspective that is especially true in times of extreme weather like the hurricane force winds and raging wildfires that have cut a seemingly unprecedented destructive swath through the region this past week. “This is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but these winds and fires are things that we are going to have to deal with forever,” the 40-year resident of LA says bluntly Monday, as he prepares to go on-air for the West Coast flagship of Disney-owned ABC. Since winds started gusting last week, LA County has seen fires scorch tens of thousands of acres, decimated thousands of homes and other buildings, and hundreds of thousands evacuated. Over two dozen people aredead, that we know so far. The fire that roared up Hollywood’s Runyon Canyon on January 8 was put out fairly quickly, and the Kenneth Fire is contained. However, flames are still blazing and residents still under mandatory evacuations with the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, and the Hurst Fire. Deadline Tip Us Dismiss News Banner Breaking News The Week Hollywood Stood Still: Entertainment Industry Struggles To Carry On Amid L.A. Fire Devastation Home TV News L.A. Wildfires: ABC7’s Dallas Raines On How We Got Here, What’s Coming Next, & What We Can Do For Each Other To Help Stop It Next Time By Dominic Patten January 13, 2025 8:20pm Services to share this page. Share on Facebook Post Share to Flipboard Email Show more sharing options Dallas Raines on airStory Arc Dallas Raines on air ABC7 Los Angeles EXCLUSIVE: Dallas Raines wasn’t born in the City of Angels, but few Angelenos exemplify Southern California like the Georgia-bred ABC 7 News chief meteorologist. A perspective that is especially true in times of extreme weather like the hurricane force winds and raging wildfires that have cut a seemingly unprecedented destructive swath through the region this past week. “This is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but these winds and fires are things that we are going to have to deal with forever,” the 40-year resident of LA says bluntly Monday, as he prepares to go on-air for the West Coast flagship of Disney-owned ABC. Related Stories Tyler Perry Tyler Perry Denounces "Appalling" Insurance Company Cancellations Amid L.A. Wildfires: "Pure Greed" Side-by-side photos of the original Snapchat HQ in Evan Spiegel's father's dining room and the aftermath following the Palisades Fire Snap CEO Evan Spiegel Pens Emotional Letter To L.A. As Company Disburses $5 Million For Wildfire Relief Since winds started gusting last week, LA County has seen fires scorch tens of thousands of acres, decimated thousands of homes and other buildings, and hundreds of thousands evacuated. Over two dozen people aredead, that we know so far. The fire that roared up Hollywood’s Runyon Canyon on January 8 was put out fairly quickly, and the Kenneth Fire is contained. However, flames are still blazing and residents still under mandatory evacuations with the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, and the Hurst Fire. Watch on Deadline 00:04 01:12 And, with another red-flag warning in effect, more looks likely to come – soon. The National Weather Service has issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warning across most of the county with winds that could reach up to 70 mph anticipated from 4 a.m. on January 14 until and noon Wednesday. While the LAFD and other First Responders are dug in to fight whatever fires may flare up, turbulence could make it impossible for choppers and Super Soakers to take to the air to douse the flames Amidst all that, Raines spoke to Deadline about what the past week has wrought. The AP Award winning weatherman with one of the most distinctive names in all of TV also looks at what could be coming, where to get your information from, and what could be done to help cut down SoCal’s never-ending cycle of such fires. DEADLINE: The past week has been gut wrenching for our town, like all the worst parts of the Bible at once. But in all that, local TV and you guys on ABC 7 have been essential in keeping people informed from the wind movement, the fires, the devastations and the efforts to combat the destruction. So, my question is, what has the past week been like for you? Deadline Tip Us Dismiss News Banner Breaking News The Week Hollywood Stood Still: Entertainment Industry Struggles To Carry On Amid L.A. Fire Devastation Home TV News L.A. Wildfires: ABC7’s Dallas Raines On How We Got Here, What’s Coming Next, & What We Can Do For Each Other To Help Stop It Next Time By Dominic Patten January 13, 2025 8:20pm Services to share this page. Share on Facebook Post Share to Flipboard Email Show more sharing options Dallas Raines on airStory Arc Dallas Raines on air ABC7 Los Angeles EXCLUSIVE: Dallas Raines wasn’t born in the City of Angels, but few Angelenos exemplify Southern California like the Georgia-bred ABC 7 News chief meteorologist. A perspective that is especially true in times of extreme weather like the hurricane force winds and raging wildfires that have cut a seemingly unprecedented destructive swath through the region this past week. “This is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but these winds and fires are things that we are going to have to deal with forever,” the 40-year resident of LA says bluntly Monday, as he prepares to go on-air for the West Coast flagship of Disney-owned ABC. Related Stories Tyler Perry Tyler Perry Denounces "Appalling" Insurance Company Cancellations Amid L.A. Wildfires: "Pure Greed" Side-by-side photos of the original Snapchat HQ in Evan Spiegel's father's dining room and the aftermath following the Palisades Fire Snap CEO Evan Spiegel Pens Emotional Letter To L.A. As Company Disburses $5 Million For Wildfire Relief Since winds started gusting last week, LA County has seen fires scorch tens of thousands of acres, decimated thousands of homes and other buildings, and hundreds of thousands evacuated. Over two dozen people aredead, that we know so far. The fire that roared up Hollywood’s Runyon Canyon on January 8 was put out fairly quickly, and the Kenneth Fire is contained. However, flames are still blazing and residents still under mandatory evacuations with the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, and the Hurst Fire. Watch on Deadline 00:00 02:08 And, with another red-flag warning in effect, more looks likely to come – soon. The National Weather Service has issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” warning across most of the county with winds that could reach up to 70 mph anticipated from 4 a.m. on January 14 until and noon Wednesday. While the LAFD and other First Responders are dug in to fight whatever fires may flare up, turbulence could make it impossible for choppers and Super Soakers to take to the air to douse the flames Amidst all that, Raines spoke to Deadline about what the past week has wrought. The AP Award winning weatherman with one of the most distinctive names in all of TV also looks at what could be coming, where to get your information from, and what could be done to help cut down SoCal’s never-ending cycle of such fires. DEADLINE: The past week has been gut wrenching for our town, like all the worst parts of the Bible at once. But in all that, local TV and you guys on ABC 7 have been essential in keeping people informed from the wind movement, the fires, the devastations and the efforts to combat the destruction. So, my question is, what has the past week been like for you? DALLAS RAINES: Just doing my job, Dominic. DEADLINE: More than ever sir … RAINES: Well, thank you, but you know, anything that we can do on this end, from a meteorological perspective, we just want to try every day to give our viewers and all of Southern California an opportunity to kind of know what’s coming. And that’s the real key – Is try. And, can we forecast well enough in advance without scaring people. DEADLINE: How do you mean? RAINES: I remember when we were working on this about eight days before the event itself, and I was talking to some friends of mine at National Weather Service. I was saying, you know what, this looks really bad as far as damage. Now, we all just hope and pray that a fire is not ignited during these types of winds and wind events, but at least, I think we did a really solid job of getting the information that what, more than likely was going to happen. That it was going to be an excessive Santa Ana wind event. These curve out once every 10 years, or so. Give it or take a few years, and in even though Southern Californians are used to Santa Ana wind events, one of this magnitude can still be shocking. ADVERTISEMENT