Sheryl Lee Ralph and her son Etienne Maurice are offering solid advice to fire-affected families ... emphasizing that not everyone in L.A. is wealthy, and victims need all the help they can get.
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00:00Can you guys talk about the impact of the fires and what they had on the community?
00:07I have to tell you, for me, Tuesday morning, it was like hell being there on the Warner
00:12Brothers lot and when I looked down through all the studios, the sky was just orange.
00:20I was frightened because I hadn't seen anything like that and it was like it was coming right
00:24through the canyon at you.
00:26They evacuated us, we went home and then I turned on my TV and I see from the palisades
00:34all the way down just lit up and on fire.
00:37It was like really being in hell.
00:40I can't explain what it was like to see everything just light up and catch fire like that.
00:47So you know, we're here at the studio at the Walgood Yard, there are a lot of families
00:52that are part of our community here at Walgood who have nothing.
00:57And so we're doing what we can, organizing, mobilizing, getting these cars lined up to
01:03go to different drop off shelters, drop off centers, excuse me, so that families can get
01:09the help they deserve.
01:10And this is what LA looks like.
01:12This is everybody coming together.
01:13This is not some of the people, as you can see, it is a very diverse group of people
01:18who have come out on a call to help folks who are left with nothing.
01:24And everybody's got this idea, it's all rich people in LA.
01:27There are a whole lot of poor, middle class, regular working people who have lost everything
01:33and we want to make sure that they are not forgotten in this conversation.
01:37And people have to understand, it hasn't been a week yet, it has not been a week yet.
01:42This is probably something that will go on for two weeks and maybe a bit longer.
01:48For some families it's going to be years.
01:49That's exactly right.
01:50And so we're just doing the best we can and we're just encouraging others to do the same.
01:54This is just the beginning of a long process.
01:57Look at what happened at Lanaya in Hawaii.
02:02Look at what happened just upstate.
02:04I think the city was paradise when they lost everything.
02:07It's going to take a while.
02:10Do not forget that this is happening now, it's going to be happening.
02:16Don't give up hope and give all the help you can.
02:19To those who have lost their homes, what do you say to them and to those who don't know
02:23where to turn to right now?
02:25People don't know what it's like to be in a fire.
02:28People don't know what it's like to lose your stuff.
02:32My house has been on fire once before.
02:35And that's that feeling of, where do I go?
02:38Where do I call home?
02:39Where do I rest my head?
02:41Where are the things that I'm so comfortable with?
02:44All I can say is, do not lose hope.
02:50Things have got to get better.
02:52And I know they look bad now, because they're pretty bad.
02:57But hold on.
02:59Just hold on.
03:00And if you have a community, try and find a community.
03:03And lean in.
03:04Lean on them.
03:05You can't do this alone.