(rumbling)
(rocks falling)
(cracking)
Man on radio: It's 9:00 A.M.
Temperature is 72 degrees.
Man #2: Got a backup on the 10 westbound
at Hoover due to police activity on the off-ramp.
Apparently there was a drive-by shooting...
Woman: Eyelid surgery, body sculpting,
citric acid peels...
whatever it takes to create a whole new you.
(man speaking Spanish)
Man #3: Can plankton cure cancer?
The answer may surprise you according to a study published
by the Institute for Holistic Research...
Woman #2: A boy of 15 is sentenced
to 10 years for armed robbery.
The judge sent him to an adult prison...
In other news, a South Central crowd of 6,000
greeted recording artist Chilly B
on his release from country jail this morning.
Man #4: So test-drive a new or previously owned
Mercedes at your local dealer.
(rumbling)
Woman #3: You'll get a chance to get this rhinestone bracelet
if you're dialing now for $35.
Item#633802.
Man #5: The devil knows the wickedness of the city.
He knows he can prey on our ignorance.
He knows he can stoke unrighteous thoughts in our heads.
And he knows he can turn those thoughts into unrighteous deeds.
(rumbling)
Man #6: Citizens living near Olvera Street
are unhappy this morning over a proposed plan
to turn the site of one of the city's oldest churches
into a mini-mall.
Woman #4: Is this the right time for you to be investing?
Is love waiting just around the corner?
Dial 976-STAR.
A certified psychic astrologist is standing by to guide you
through the mysteries of the cosmos.
(rumbling)
Man #7: More trouble for the beleaguered
Metro Rail this morning as angry Beverly Hills residents gather
to protest the newest extension
of the Red Line subway into their neighborhood.
The demonstration called outside the Beverly Center shopping mall...
- The people I see here today... - Got any spare change, lady?
- Never voted for this subway. - (speaks Spanish)
- And they certainly... - They didn't have oat bran?
Never voted to see it stop in the heart of this neighborhood.
Councilman! Councilman!
Hey, Councilman, the people of your district
want us to clean their houses and to watch their kids.
If we have no cars, how are we getting to work?
Well, these buses run every 10 minutes.
- How would you know? - How would I know?
I know this... every time this line gets extended,
there's blasting, it's dangerous, it's expensive, it's noisy.
Nuke the whole city! Nuke the whole city!
- (rumbling) - (TV playing)
(yawns)
Kelly, the eggs are ready.
Hello. I think I already told you I don't eat in the morning.
The people of my district are being forced to provide
- over half the taxes for this project. - Ah!
We think that raises the question of fairness.
Max, clean that up.
Kelly, cornflakes are ready.
All the subway is gonna do is make it easy for downtown's problems
to make their way west... drugs, gangs, crime.
- What do we got? - Gunshots to the back.
Two exit wounds. BP 80 over palp.
- Heart rate? - Heart rate 130.
Get a CBC, a chest X-ray and an EKG.
- What do we got here? - Drive-by on Hoover.
- County full or what? - County and Kaiser.
Must be some holiday we don't know about.
- Ready, one, two, three. Go. - How many exit wounds?
Two. Here and here.
We got decreasing respirations and a weak pulse.
Can I have a number two swab over here, please?
Cool watch, Jaye. Is that a TAG or a Rolex?
Rolex. Hubby's big on anniversaries.
(rumbling)
Quake!
(beeping)
- That was refreshing. - I hate it when that happens.
Okay, quake's over. Let's tube him.
- Give me a seven. - Reporter: The quake did not have
the same power as the 1994 Northridge earthquake...
- 9:14? - 9:14, right.
Everything all clear? Folks, I don't know what to say.
All right, you can come out of there now.
Grab a jacket, Kelly.
We have to go by the office for a while.
You told Mom if I visited, you'd take the week off.
I am taking the week off.
I'll just wait here, okay?
I can't leave you here after an earthquake.
Why not? I'm 13 years old. I know what to do.
Okay, what do you do?
Get in the doorframe, stick your head between your knees
and kiss your ass good-bye.
All right, that's it.
Who are you calling?
- Anita. - Dad!
Shut up. I need a babysitter.
...not to panic. Please stay calm.
(siren blaring)
Reporter: Damage from this morning's shaker,
timed at 9:14 A.M., seems to be confined
to fender benders and jangled nerves.
Police radio: We have a 914 noninjury accident 72 Stanley.
Altercation reported.
(people shouting)
We cool now. It's the LAPD.
Hey, Officer, how about giving us a ride back to civilization, please?
What's up? You gonna come out or what?
This our hood.
You want to calm down and tell me what this is all about?
- You want to get out of my face? - Hey, if I'm in your face,
- you're gonna know it, all right, bro? - Ha, right.
Reporter: Still no official word on the magnitude of that quake.
Have we got any power failures?
Man on radio: Blue Line ready.
- What's the status on Green Line? - Green Line good.
All right, we got radio contact with the train?
Man on radio: Radio up and ready on Blue.
Okay, let's get some business done.
Epicenter and magnitude, who's in for a ten-spot?
- Palmdale, 6.8. - Palmdale, 5.0.
Give me Inglewood.
Vegas, 6.8.
Vegas. I love it.
Reporter: And we hope to be getting official confirmation
of the magnitude of this morning's shaker from the seismologist...
I can't. I can't.
It's a couple of sentences. Maybe a question or two.
- Then you do it. - When the ground moves,
people want to hear from a seismologist, not a pencil pusher.
You don't understand. If I go out there, I'm gonna throw up.
I don't think that's gonna send the sense of calm we're looking for.
Hey, you guys didn't feel anything this morning, did you?
Man: You're off the hook, Flash.
You weren't gonna make her talk to those nasty reporters, were you?
I've got some stuff I want to show you later.
Okay.
Good morning. Good morning. Good morning.
- How are you? - Hi, Amy.
- Morning, Doc. - All righty.
- You ready? - We're on air.
This was a small to moderate earthquake.
Epicentered in Palmdale...
- Palmdale. - Yeah!
- Who's got it? - Dobby's got it.
- Dobby's the winner. - Yeah.
- Get out of here. - You lucky dog.
All right, fellas, let's get back to work.
What do you think this is, a party?
Aftershocks could potentially reach the range
that we felt this morning.
Reporter: And, as you may have heard, it was a 4.9.
Man: Yes, baby, you can go to work.
Because the building's been retrofitted.
It's my job to know that, sweetheart.
- Hello, Emmit. - I got to go.
Hello, feet.
Man, it is so you to blow a vacation day for a little tremor.
What are you doing here, Mike? Vacation means you don't come in.
Your ex-wife called again.
If a dam breaks somewhere and the mayor calls,
I don't want you telling her Roark went fishing.
No, see, the mayor's in Aspen, okay?
We don't pull her off the slopes for only a 4.9.
Besides, I'd cover for you.
I'm sure you would. You looked very comfortable
sitting behind my desk talking on my telephone.
Yeah, it was kind of like I belonged there or something.
I thought he had the week off.
Yeah, it's that Midwestern work ethic, you know?
What is that? What is that?
- Water main ruptured... - The gas is gone, too.
I sent some crews out there. Other than that,
the phone lines and the power lines are all up.
Thank you.
You got to be fast, fast, fast.
Look, watch. You see that, that, and that?
- Wait, I forgot. - Okay, watch this.
That man loves to hover.
- Yeah, like you don't. - Yeah.
Reporter: Seismologists are saying they think this morning's quake
may have revealed a new fault system
not previously thought to be active...
Woman: I don't care what your supervisor said.
Nobody ran a work order past me.
And this vehicle is on public property.
What are you gonna do, ticket us?
Oh, you the cute one. How about I tow your ass, honey?
(explosion)
(coughing)
Jesus. Get an ambulance!
Quickly!
- What the hell happened? - Come here.
- Gently, gently. - It'll be all right, buddy.
Help's coming. Where's Danny?
- (coughing) - Danny? Danny?
Where are the others?
They're burned up.
Hot.
(computer beeping)
Woman: Getting a code six from Public Works.
MacArthur Park. Possible fire or explosion.
Casualties reported.
Reporter: And word is just coming in
of a possible gas explosion in the past few minutes
in the MacArthur Park area.
We don't have any details as yet
as to the precise nature or size of the blast,
which is said to have injured a number of city workers,
some seriously.
Rescue crews are responding at the site of the accident...
Oh, God.
- What are you doing here? - I got a call.
Said Public Works lost seven guys. What's going on?
Freak accident on the storm drain job.
They hit a steam pipe and got scalded.
No fires, no explosions, no continuing threat.
We'll copy you on the report.
Steam did that?
- Yeah. - Where's the survivor?
He's at St. V's right now. Critical last time I checked.
But I'd like to notify the families
before they hear about it on "Geraldo" if you wouldn't mind.
You mind if I have a look for myself?
Roark, we'll copy you.
- Stan: Mike! Mike! - Okay?
Stan, get over here. I want to show you something.
How's the choo-choo behaving these days?
All right, this is where your problem is.
Was.
- This is your Red Line tunnel. - Okay.
What I want to do is shut down this section.
- Oh, God. - Just as a precaution until we know.
Why should we look bad just because DWP blew some pipes up?
Nothing blew down there, Olber.
They hit a steam pocket.
- Steam? - Yeah.
The tunnel walls are five feet of concrete.
Where's the threat to my trains?
(beeping)
- Mine. - Can we wrap this up, please?
Maybe the earthquake tore something up.
- Oh, shit. - Let's find out before we...
You're not happy unless you're declaring an emergency, are you?
No, actually I enjoy motor sports, music
and the company of close friends, sir.
30,000 people think they're taking the train home tonight.
What am I supposed to do for them?
Put on extra buses.
It's his mess. Let him take the shit for it.
Reporter: We arrived at the scene of this tragic accident.
All around me I can see rescue workers
and body bags on the ground right in front of me.
This is an awful tragedy for the families of the workers
who perished here this morning.
Reporter #2: The intersection of 7th and Alvarado.
Bodies of workers are spread across the sidewalks.
We're told that one worker did survive the accident,
but his identity has not been released yet.
170 over 105.
Let's give him some more morphine. Titrate is 10.
Start another line of ringers.
Let's cut away some of this burnt clothing.
Fran, look.
Steam doesn't char clothing like this.
This is a flame burn.
- Methane? - No.
(sniffs)
Something else.
The trouble was not caused by steam,
which, if you'll recall our briefing this morning,
was the department's position all along.
This is such a bad idea, Mike.
This isn't OEM. This is DWP's show.
Mike: I want to know what's in that hole.
Well, let Public Works send a crew in there like they said they would.
I don't feel like waiting three days for a report.
- Do you, Gator? - Hell, no.
Okay, let's go.
(man singing)
This is Emmit Reese. Emmit Reese to ground control.
Los Angeles, do we have a problem? Do you copy?
Yeah, we copy. It's hot as hell down here.
You all right?
Great.
Is it too late to switch jobs with Emmit?
He doesn't want your job. He wants mine, Gator.
Yes, and a company car, Mike. Please don't forget that.
Oh, okay. We're coming up on... oh!
- Gah! - A rat.
Okay, we're coming up on the storm drain now.
This is where those guys died. Seven guys, right here.
Must have died in a hurry.
Let's have a look.
Go on.
- (phone rings) - Emmit Reese.
Roark! Roark, is that you? Roark!
Emmit: Mike, it's Chief Sindelar on the line.
- He would like to speak with you. - Take a message.
You want me to tell the chief of police I got to take a message?
Yeah. Tell him...
I'm slightly busy right now.
I think that's the issue he wants to discuss with you.
Sindelar: What the hell's he doing?
Public Works is sending a crew in.
Those guys are idiots. He knows that.
Mike felt this was too time sensitive to wait, sir.
Tell him we've got procedures here.
Tell him he's not in Kansas anymore.
Emmit: You're not in Kansas anymore, Mike.
St. Louis. I'm not in St. Louis.
St. Louis. He's not in St. Louis.
I don't give a shit where he's not.
He has a desk now. That's where he works.
He doesn't give a shit. You have a desk.
- That's where you work. - Damn, it's hot.
(beeping)
Got a reading here.
There is a steam vent.
Water and Power had it right.
Steam's coming up through a crack in the concrete.
It's tremendous heat.
(concrete cracking)
Aftershock?
No, subway. We're right up against it.
- Mike? - What the hell is going on?
Hold on one minute, sir. Mike?
Wait a minute. I can't hear you.
Mike? What happened? I lost you. You there?
Look at those rats. They're cooked.
Damn, Gator. I'm cooked, too.
(sensor beeping rapidly)
So are you, man. This is not good.
Let's get out of here!
Emmit: What the hell is going on, man?
- (gasps) - Oh, shit!
Get LAPD on the line.
Clear everybody out of this park right now. You all right?
Get Olber on the telephone
before we lose a couple of trains down there.
Squeeze off everything in this sector... gas lines, refinery lines.
I lost you on the radio, Mike. What's going on?
Big jet of gas coming up out of the bottom of that tube.
I don't know what it is. Sparks hot as hell.
- He ain't lying, Emmit. - And find me a scientist.
A geologist. Somebody who can tell me what the hell is going on.
Got it.
Guide: Situated on Wilshire Boulevard's
famous Museum Row
the La Brea Tar Pits are one of the LA Basin's
most active geological features.
Here for the past 40,000 years,
a deep fissure in the Earth's crust has allowed oily tar and methane
to bubble up to the surface from far underground,
evidence of the ceaseless activity below our very feet.
Reporter: The 22-story Beverly Heights apartment building
will open on schedule this week in spite of construction delays.
That's the word from developer Norman Calder.
Many see the new landmark tower across from the Beverly Center
as a sign the LA economy is on the rebound.
Now here's Jere Laird with the rest of the business news.
Wow.
So?
I think I married a genius.
Three years, four banks, $100 million...
the doors are open.
Jaye: I am so proud of you, honey.
You never gave up.
You didn't let me.
Here's how I see our future.
We move into this penthouse
and then you transfer to Cedars, which is right down the block.
Norman.
I don't want my wife treating gunshot wounds.
I want her treating tennis elbows.
Right. Finished?
Hardly. This is only the beginning.
(music playing on TV)
I can't believe he got a babysitter.
Yeah, well, I'm doing him a favor.
A big favor. I'm gonna miss my class.
(phone ringing)
Hello?
Mike.
Oh, fine. A perfect little ray of sunshine
like I was after my parents separated.
Every couple of minutes, her head comes off her shoulders
and rotates 360 degrees
and then she starts watching TV again.
It's been hours.
Well, we've got a bit of a situation here, honey.
I'll come home as soon as I can.
But tomorrow we get to go to OJ's house
and then the Beverly Center, right?
I thought we talked about Disneyland.
Dad, we talked about getting my nose pierced.
- Not in this life, baby. - Ahem.
I'll be home as soon as I can. Hi, what can I do for you?
I'm getting my nose pierced.
It's a nice look.
Especially when you sneeze.
You can't do this. What?
You're talking about 10,000 customers
with no cooking and no heat.
The gas will be restored as soon as it's safe, all right?
When is that gonna be? You're talking about
sending a crew to every single house
to turn on every damn pilot. This could take weeks if not more.
Excuse me. Just one second, please.
- Having fun yet? - I'm starting to miss the Mississippi.
The mud, floods, your buds.
Woman: Mike, you have a call on your private line.
That'll be my little girl wanting a tattoo.
Would you help me with this guy? How you doing, darling?
Why the hell did you leave Kelly alone?
- Oh, Wendy. How are you? - Pulling one of your usual stunts.
What do you mean, one of my usual stunts?
- It was an earthquake, Wendy. - You know she hates earthquakes.
- She's only 13. - Nobody likes an earthquake!
- So she's been alone all day. - She has not been alone all day.
I left her with a babysitter.
- What babysitter? - A neighbor.
How is she supposed to know what to do if there's another earthquake?
You know she freezes up when she gets scared.
Kelly knows precisely what to do in the event of...
- You never change, Mike. - Hello? Hello?
Phone went dead.
Yeah. They've been doing that all over the city.
I'll get a crew out there right away.
Amy: I know. I've got it.
Why don't we just do some more underground blasting
and find out if there's a fault line down there?
- No, let's do it your way. - My way?
We'll empty every building over two stories and we'll all go back
to horse and buggy. How's that?
- God, you're a geek. - Mike. Emmit.
Did you know that? You're a geek.
Nice shirt, Stan.
- You Roark? Amy Barnes. - Yeah. Hi.
I'm from CIGS. Nice to meet you.
Careful, Mike. Disagree with anything Dr. Barnes says,
she'll have you in city council meetings for 12 months.
Would you please give it a rest?
All we said was Cahuenga was geologically unstable.
The whole city is geologically unstable.
That's why I don't want you blowing up tunnels under it.
Thank you for coming on short notice.
But could you save the fight for later?
Yeah, sure. 2:00 good for you?
Oh, go ahead. Encourage her.
So, Dr. Barnes, can you tell me what's underneath MacArthur Park?
Not with any certainty, no.
Ooh, that's a shock.
We ran trains through there all day and no incidents.
Yes, but this rock solid analysis is from the guys
who collapsed Hollywood Boulevard.
My engineers were down there. No demonstrable risk.
You got some conflicting evidence?
Some reason to strand all those passengers?
I'm all ears. Until then, we stay on schedule.
- Man: Stan, you got a second? - I'm sorry, Mike.
(groans)
He's got to change his nicotine patch.
(chuckles)
- So... - So...
So...
how do I find out what's underneath MacArthur Park?
A low-grade evacuation of MacArthur Park.
City officials won't comment whether this evacuation
has anything to do with the deaths today
of those seven public workers at an intersection next to the park.
- Amy: Take a look at this. - Mike: Oh, okay.
What am I looking at?
That lake was 62 degrees yesterday.
- Today it's up to 68. - It is a sunny day.
It is lovely, isn't it?
Mr. Roark, it takes a geological event
to heat a million gallons of water by six degrees in 12 hours.
What is a geological event?
I'm sure you're aware of this,
that our continents sit on tectonic plates.
Great big rafts floating over an ocean of molten rock.
Yeah.
When they shift like they did this morning,
we get an earthquake, okay?
Yeah.
Same mechanism can sometimes open a fissure.
Sometimes magma can find one of those fissures
and rise up through it.
- What's magma? - Lava.
Lava? Here in LA?
It's one of several possibilities.
It is unlikely, but it is a possibility.
We have a history of that here in the downtown area?
Paricutin, 1943. A Mexican farmer sees smoke
coming out of the middle of his cornfield.
A week later there's a volcano 1,000 feet high.
There's no history of anything until it happens.
- Then there is. - (mouths)
Well, thanks, ladies.
(chuckles)
Enjoy your day in the park.
- Ooh, yeah. That was subtle. - What?
What, you want me to humor him?
He asked us for a hypothesis. You have a better one?
- It's lava. - Lava.
Hey, hey, hey. That's me.
I got to call my mom.
- Uh-huh. - I'm on TV.
Excuse me. You invited us, remember?
You want me to call Olber and tell him
the demonstrative risk he's looking for is lava?
No. I want you to give me time to do my work.
Why, 'cause the lake went up a few degrees?
No, because seven men baked to death down there
and nobody knows why.
All right, MTA does not answer to the city.
You know that.
I cannot go to the mat with them unless you know something.
I do know something. Just not with any certainty.
Is that the company line?
I'm a scientist. Certainty is a big word.
Come on, I have to have time to collect my data.
I've got to get down there and get samples.
- I can't let you do that. - Why not?
It is too dangerous. That's why.
I'm sorry.
Shit.
What did he say?
Oh, it's too dangerous.
It's man's work and you're just little girlies.
- I can't let you go down there. - He likes you, I can tell.
He's okay, in a macho, controlling,
slightly superior, suspicious of anyone
who's not from his hometown kind of way.
So you like him. This is good.
We've got to go down there.
I don't see how we can. This place is swarming with cops.
Yeah.
Let's do it in the morning before the cops come on duty.
All right. I'll pick you up at 4:00.
4:00 it is. Bring coffee.
- Okay. - What have you got?
More harmonic tremors.
(bubbling)
Man on radio: Good morning. It's just after 5:10.
Didn't take long to get our first Sig Alert this morning.
We've got a jackknifed produce truck
on the westbound side of the 10
spreading tomatoes all over the roadway.
One lane open as Caltrans crews move in.
(laughing)
Amy: Wow.
- Earthlings, we come in peace. - (laughs)
God, these suits weigh a ton. I feel like I'm wearing a car.
Hey, look at this.
Looks like sulfur.
I can't smell it.
- It's everywhere. - Oh, shit.
My flashlight's going out.
May be traces of magnesium, nickel.
- What do you think? - Take some samples.
That's how we'll find out.
My battery's dead. Hold on a sec.
Hey.
What? What do you got?
I don't know.
(screeching)
- (rumbling) - (animals howling)
(barking)
Kelly: Daddy!
Kelly, baby.
Coming.
- Hang on. - Dad!
Hang on, baby.
No, come back. Come back.
Stay right there in that door, baby.
- (gasps) - Get down!
(wheels screeching)
(screaming)
(grunts) Rachel!
- (screams) - Rachel!
Help! Oh, God!
- Amy! Amy! - Hang on.
Rachel! Give me your hand!
- Oh, God. Come on. - Oh, God!
Come on! Come on, Rachel!
- I'm burning up! - Hang on.
- I'm burning up! - Take my hand!
- I'm burning! - Hold on, Rachel!
(screaming)
(panting)
Oh!
How about that wake-up call, everybody?
Okay, we have phone lines. Phone lines are up.
- All right, generator switching. - (powers up)
All right, emergency power's up. What do you got, Phil?
(computers beeping)
Katie, DWP?
DWP, I'm doing that right now.
- Billy? Anybody seen Billy? - He's stuck on the 10.
- He's not in yet. - (all shouting)
(exhales)
All right, listen up, people.
I want to have a meeting of all department heads
in Roark's office in exactly five minutes.
That's a very cool hat there, Emmit.
Oh, thanks a lot. You know, that's funny 'cause your wife
rolled over and she said the same thing to me this morning.
That's a pink slip.
Any more quips or can we work this thing?
Like all of you, we here at the Channel 10 newsroom
felt that big jolt this morning. It was a powerful earthquake.
We're having trouble getting through to the police, fire,
and other emergency officials.
Put your seat belt on, honey. Remember?
(news playing on radio)
That's okay, baby. There you go.
I want to go home.
We're going to the safest room in town, baby, I promise.
(dialing)
- Operations. - Yes, this is Roark.
- Got Roark, line one. - Yeah, got him.
Mike, listen, there's no reports of damage yet
to any of the hospitals, but 911 is off the hook.
ADSAC is reporting that all the freeways are clear.
Okay, we got some good news here.
ADSAC indicates that all the freeways are free and clear.
I want you to get all the helicopters up right now.
Bob, we've got to get some pictures.
Get those choppers in the air now.
I'm heading east on Wilshire.
We're coming up on the tar pits.
The poles are all up, but there's no light.
A lot of haze here.
- Let me in there, Brian. - Okay, hold on one second.
We have to get to that break.
Yeah, it looks like the power's down everywhere in the city.
- How'd you get in so fast? - Get in?
Come on, boss, you know I sleep on your desk.
Disaster is my life.
He's kidding, baby.
Woman on radio: Obviously it's too early
to get any kind of a reading from the scientists
at the California Institute of Geological Studies...
(explosion)
- Dad! - (tires squealing)
Hold it, hold it. What was that?
(steam whistling)
Is that something on your end, Mike?
Mike, come in. What's going on?
(clanging)
Daddy, what is this?
- I don't know, baby. - (shrieks)
(electricity crackling)
Mike, come on.
(whistling)
- (horns honking) - (tires squealing)
(whistling)
(Kelly gasps)
(siren wailing)
- We're gonna die. - No, we're not.
I'm gonna need both hands, sweetheart.
Emmit, what's the nearest fire station
- for Wilshire and Stanley? - Dad!
What are you looking at, Mike?
Mike? Mike, come in. What's going on?
Fire, heavy, on the ground and structural.
And there's immense conical smoke coming up out of the tar pits.
And something like meteors coming up out of the smoke.
Sounds like you said something like a meteor.
- (explosion) - Kelly: Look out!
Or something like bombs.
Emmit, get ahold of that geologist Amy Barnes right away.
- You have Amy Barnes, Katie? - Well, check him again.
No, I'm swamped.
We're looking all over for her, Mike. Nobody knows where she is.
- Okay in here? - Still shaking, man.
- Everybody all right? - (baby crying)
(gasping)
God damn it!
(siren wailing)
(water bubbling)
(whistling)
Where are we?
Power failures on all the lines.
- Contact with the trains? - All but one.
I think we've got a problem. Number four train
westbound on the Red Line outside MacArthur Park.
Temperature on board reached 20 degrees above normal.
And it's still going up.
What do you want to do, Stan?
I'm going down there.
Get a team together.
(steam hissing)
- (coughing) - (moaning)
- Man: What happened? - (coughs)
Everybody okay in here?
Man: How you doing? What's happening?
I'm fine. I think we had an earthquake.
- Earthquake? - Yeah, are you okay?
- What's causing all that heat? - I don't know, sir.
Hey, I'll help you.
No, no, please. Stay where you are.
- Nobody move. - Why is it so hot in here?
I'm gonna try and open one of these doors for you.
Woman: I can't breathe.
Reporter: The power outage is pretty widespread.
A number of fires are breaking out...
Refinery info's coming in. I got Marty on that.
Hyperion's got no damage.
We're still waiting on Tillman Reclamation.
- They're not calling. - Okay, look, call DWP.
- Stay on it. Yes, Chief? - Roark?
- No, this is Reese, sir. - Where's Roark?
- He's on his way. - I'm gonna be delayed.
My damn car's stuck behind my damn gate
because we have no damn power!
Yeah, I got it. No damn power.
Very good. Reese out.
Jerk.
(sighs)
Lisa, get me a bottle and a half of aspirin.
Our staff is caught in traffic and we will...
mainly due to the quake.
Man on radio: This is KNX 1070
continuing our live coverage of this morning's quake.
A situation is developing in the Wilshire District.
- (sirens wailing) - Our Bob Davis is there now
reporting from his car phone. Bob?
Mitch, I'm approaching the scene now.
There's some kind of ash falling everywhere.
Almost looks like a gray snow.
Several buildings are burning out of control at this hour.
It began a few minutes right after the quake
started by an undetermined source.
There was an explosion, lots of breaking windows
and then flames.
Mitch: Bob, are we talking about a ruptured gas line?
- (explosion) - (whistling)
(truck crashes)
(clamoring)
Mike: All right, calm down, everybody.
The fire department's on its way. Put some pressure on that.
Emmit! We've got a mess here.
Can you hear me?
I need a traffic perimeter for three blocks
in every direction around Wilshire and Stanley.
Okay, Wilshire and Stanley. I'm on it, Mike.
Man on radio: 17 is down. 17's engine is down.
Wilshire and Curson. Wilshire and Curson.
Reporter: Several outbreaks of looting
following this morning's strong quake.
Now, as you can see, these pictures just coming in
to the Channel 10 newsroom verify that looting is going on.
We are now hearing that the National Guard
has been activated and is on its way to Los Angeles...
(officer speaking over loudspeaker)
(crying)
(tires squealing)
- (explosion) - (gasps)
Stay with me. You still with me?
You'll be okay. Got help on the way.
Don't move, sweetheart. You'll be safe here.
- You're leaving me here? - No, I'm just going over there.
I'll be right back.
You'll be able to see me the whole time.
- If you get scared... - (honks horn)
...you honk that horn, okay?
Mitch, I've arrived at the park. I'm there now.
Get out of here! Don't touch that man.
Watch out!
Don't touch that man, ma'am. The ambulances are on the way.
I'm a doctor. This man has a skull fracture.
This other man has a compound fracture in his left leg.
Can you get him off the street and keep him warm?
And find out if there's anything in the fire truck
that we can use as a splint.
There are firefighters out in the street.
There's a man inside the truck.
(man screaming) Help! Help!
Get me out of here. Help! Help!
Bob: It's getting harder and harder to hear anything right now.
The roar is constant. It's very loud here.
I can barely even hear myself think.
There are geysers of steam going up right out of manholes.
All I hear right now is just this roaring sound.
It's roaring.
(roaring stops)
(rumbling)
(explosion)
(screaming)
Oh, my God.
Mitch...
Mitch, I don't know how to describe this, but the tar...
the tar pits themselves are on fire
and they're right now spilling out onto Wilshire Boulevard.
It's coming right up out of the ground itself.
It's as if the tar caught fire, melted, and somehow expanded.
The downed fire truck is still on its side.
Injured firefighters are desperately in need of medical help.
Rescue personnel are starting to arrive.
I know this sounds crazy, but it almost looks like lava...
volcanic lava pouring onto the street.
Dad!
Kelly.
(whistling)
(Kelly screams)
(screams) Dad, hurry!
My leg is burning! It hurts!
- It hurts. - Stay calm.
Don't panic. We'll get you out of here.
Come on.
Okay, baby, here we go. We're gonna be fine.
- Dad, look out! - Hold on. Hold on.
Dad, your feet.
Don't worry about it, baby. Don't worry about it, okay?
Look, we're gonna jump, all right?
Here we go. You're gonna be fine.
Okay?
There seems to be a downed...
Fireman: I can't move!
There seems to be a fireman in the downed truck.
The driver's still inside! Somebody get him out of there!
Let me out of here! I can't move!
Help!
Get me out of here! Get me out of here!
Oh, God! Oh, my God!
- (screaming) - Bob: Two firemen...
two firemen have just burned alive.
This is horrible. It's horrible.
It totally consumed the wounded firefighters.
Try to get those out of there! They're dragging other firemen
off the street now in an effort to save their lives.
Watch his head.
- Watch his left leg! - Give me a hand with this guy.
...suffering and human carnage
yet right along acts of incredible, incredible bravery.
Fireman: Fall back. Fall back.
We've got to get more units here.
Watch out for his leg.
This girl has a burn on her leg. Can you help her, too?
I have to get these men to a hospital.
I'm going to take them to Cedars.
- You want me to take her, too? - Dad!
Get down! Get down!
Mike: Don't worry about it. You're gonna be okay.
Stay calm. Give me that telephone.
Mitch, that was a large catering truck
and now it's just a huge, huge ball of fire.
It's a fireball burning out of control.
Emmit, we're at level one here.
I want you to have the CHP close all the off-ramps
on the I-10 at La Brea, La Cienega, Fairfax,
and bump that traffic perimeter to 10 blocks
- away from the La Brea Tar Pits. - I got that, Mike. What is it...
Emmit, I will give you details later, just get it done.
Get some hoses on those trees up there, fellas.
Turn the traffic around on Wilshire right now.
Back up. Get out of here.
- You're OEM, right? - Yeah.
You need to be here, she doesn't.
- She's my daughter. - Yes.
This is a second-degree burn.
- I'll take her to Cedars. - Ow!
It'll be fine, but it could get infected if we don't deal with it.
Here's my name and my pager number.
This is no place for her. You know it.
Dad, we're going home, right?
No, sweetheart, this is not a safe place for you to be.
We've got to get that leg taken care of right now.
- But I want to stay with you. - She got any medical allergies?
No. This lady's name is Dr. Jaye Calder, honey.
She's a doctor. She's gonna help you.
Watch your feet there, baby.
I want you to go with her. I'll talk to you by telephone
as soon as you get to the hospital. All right, there's my card.
Please, please. You can't just leave me.
Honey, you cannot be here and I have to stay.
- Why? - Because it's my responsibility.
- So am I. - (car starts)
Please, I promise I won't get in the way.
Just go. Go!
- Go. - Dad!
Dad!
(sirens wailing)
Hey, I need a radio. I really need it.
You guys have your radios...
As you can see, we've got a lot of confused people below us
running in every direction, obviously terrified.
This man is... well, I can't even guess where he's running.
- Ladies and gentlemen... - No, I don't think so, Chief.
I mean, why would Mike be running around down there?
- That's Mike Roark. - Shut up.
What? No. Look, I just talked to Mike, okay?
He was in the car. Yeah, and besides,
this guy's a lot taller.
Look, Chief, I'm kind of swamped right now.
I'd appreciate it if you'd let me call you back.
- Yes, all right. Reese out. - What the hell is that?
Marty, I'm looking at the same damn thing you are.
You guys seeing this shit?
Reporter: What can only be described as lava
is now snaking its way down Stanley Avenue
just off Wilshire.
(sirens blaring)
Jim, this is Stanley Avenue just off Wilshire.
The house behind me has just exploded into flames.
And to put it bluntly, all hell is breaking loose.
You can see the panic in residents' faces.
Reporter #2: And God knows what it is,
but something fiery is raining down from the sky.
It's a war zone here.
- My dog is in there. - You can't go in there.
My dog is in there. Bill! Come here, boy.
- (barking) - Come here, boy. Bill!
- My dog is in there. Bill! - He'll be okay.
- Come here, boy. Bill! - He'll be okay.
- Bill! Come here, boy. - (barking)
(woman shouting)
(whines)
(barking)
(growls)
Come here, Bill. Come here, Bill.
Oh, Bill.
- There he is. - Oh, he's a good dog.
You got it. You got it, boy.
My house, man. I was born in that house.
- I know. - Fire trucks!
How come I don't see any fire trucks?
- They're up on Wilshire. - I'm gonna get some help.
- I think you should pull over. - Why?
Because this guy's leg, it's, like, gushing.
There's a blanket underneath him.
Pull it out and press it down over the wound hard.
Look, I think that you should just pull over.
If I don't get to the hospital now, I'm gonna lose both of these guys.
Now do what I tell you and help me out here.
Look, Kelly,
I know you're scared. I'm scared, too.
So I'm gonna need your help.
Help me, okay?
(groans)
Reporter: Still no one has any idea
what to put in the way of this lava.
Declaration of emergency, immediate assistance
from county, state, and federal,
all available National Guard units to this site,
and air tankers.
We're gonna have to drop some water here.
Okay, now listen, Mike. I've got a bunch of meds coming in.
I'm gonna route them over to Midway.
- Is that okay with you? - No, no. Send them to Cedars.
That's where we're sending the patients. It's the safest place.
All right, Cedars. Good.
Look, I just got a little message here from Sindelar.
He's stuck on the damn freeway directing traffic.
- He wants me to tell you... - I've got a desk.
- That's where I work. - And never shall you stray.
- Yadda, yadda, yadda. - Tell him not to expect me.
No problem.
Bob: Mitch, it's an even more chaotic scene here
with emergency personnel still desperate
to find some way of stopping this thing.
Officers! Do you know where the driver of that bus is?
- What are you talking about? - Come with me. Come on.
Bob: Right now rolling past the County Art Museum
igniting palm tree after palm tree.
Reporter: Well, we now have a name for this crisis.
It is, according to the US Geological Survey,
a volcano. Yes, you heard that correctly.
As remarkable as it sounds, a volcano here...
Amy: Excuse me!
Oh, my.
(explosions)
You would have loved this, Rachel.
- (whistling) - Cover!
- Hey! Hey, hey!
Don't. Look at it. Keep watching it.
Now! Move! You guys, that way!
It's a lava bomb.
You don't do anything
until you know where it's gonna land.
Mike: All right, I need 20 strong men
as soon as you can get them standing right here.
Go get those firemen right now. Get those officers right there.
(whistles) Get over here, guys.
Right over here by this bus. Right now. Let's go, hurry up.
God, This Hieronymus Bosch is heavy.
That's 'cause he deals with man's inclination
towards sin in defiance of God's will.
- I didn't mean it like that. - Oh.
All right, fellas, come over here. Right over here, please.
- Are you all right? - Hardly.
All right, gentlemen, what I want to do is move the bus
up against the museum like so.
- Like so? - Yes, like so.
Then I want to shoot out the tires on the other side of the bus.
I cannot turn it over unless the tires on one side are flat.
All right?
What we want to do is build a corridor
to keep whatever this is out of the middle of Wilshire.
- Amy: It's lava. - All right, it's lava.
- What? - Get around to the front, fellas.
Hurry up. Let's move. Get around to the front of the bus.
All right, on the count of three, fellas.
One...
two, three.
We got it. Go, go.
All right. Police officers on the other side of the bus.
Shoot out those tires. Rest of you guys right along this bus.
Right here. Come here.
All right, on the countdown. Aim low.
Three, two, one, fire.
(grunting)
All right, we know that stuff is lava. What do I do next?
You have got to evacuate the Westside.
This thing is gonna burn through the city until it hits the ocean.
The Westside? There's a million people.
They're gonna be a million dead
or homeless people if we don't evacuate.
This is going to destroy everything it touches.
(coughing)
All right, he's still breathing. Can you grab this arm?
- Yeah. He's heavy. - Grab there. Right there.
All right, here comes the lava. Let's go, let's go.
All right, let's get this guy out of here.
Are you getting a sense of what we are dealing with here?
This is a volcano. All we can do is get out of its way.
You mean run for the hills and hide.
- That's right. - I can't do that, not ever.
- Man: Look out! - Oh, God. Look out.
Stay with this guy. Stay with him.
Hey, get that ladder over here now.
- Bring it down. - What are you gonna do?
- What are you doing? - Get us out of here if I can.
Fireman: Hey, watch out for those flames.
- All right, grab his feet. - Get that ladder out of the fire.
- The hose is gonna burn. - Mike: Come here.
- Out of here! Move out! - We're not gonna do this.
Pull it out! Get out of here, move.
Oh, God!
- Amy: Oh, God. Oh, God. - Hang on.
- Push them in. - I can't, the ladder's buckling.
There's too much weight on it. I'm gonna have to swing 'em over.
Move it.
He couldn't swing us the other way?
I'll ask him when we get down there.
The hose is burning. The hose is on fire.
- The hose! - Ah!
- Shit! - Hold on.
I'm holding on!
Faster. Move it. They're cooking in there.
I'm burning! My feet are burning!
Fireman: Keep the guy still. The ladder's gonna give.
It's buckling. Keep him still!
It's gonna break! The ladder's going.
Amy: Keep still. You're moving your legs.
- Keep still. - Move it!
- Hang on. Hang on. - Stop kicking!
(screams)
Oh, my God.
This guy needs some oxygen.
Get him over to Cedars right away.
You all right?
Oh, sorry. Sorry.
- Are you all right? - Yeah.
Oh, God, I've never been better.
So what do we do now? Come on.
(grunting)
(rumbling)
That lava is coming from a vent.
The bad news is there could be other vents.
Maybe bigger ones. Maybe even 10 times as big.
Which means we probably have not seen the main eruption yet.
- You think that's going to happen? - I don't know.
I need specifics. I need a phone.
- A phone. Give me that. - Hey, I need that back.
- Get off the line. - Stay where you are.
I'm right here. I need that back.
Man: Hey, look, the lava's moving around the bus.
- It's working. - Give me that phone.
- Hey, that's property of KNX. - Not anymore, pal.
All right, Emmit, how soon can you get me a couple hundred K-rails?
- I want to build a corridor. - What are K-rails?
They're freeway dividers. Concrete freeway dividers.
Are you planning on channeling this?
I don't think flood control is gonna work.
- I'm on the telephone, all right? - Sorry, sorry.
Mike, I'm gonna put a call into Public Works.
I think they probably have something we can use, too.
- Roark. - And any private contractor we have
that's working on freeways, doing roadwork...
Roark!
Whoa.
And call Gator. Cedars is gonna be swamped.
I want him over there.
You don't want him there with you?
No, Kelly is on her way to Cedars now.
- She got burned, Emmit. - Shit.
Look, she'll have a suite by the time the sun comes up, all right?
All right, out. Out. What?
All right, the bus is just deflecting this, okay?
It is coming back around. It's obviously got in the store.
We are dealing with very determined stuff here.
All right, we're gonna have to build some berms
- until the K-rails get here. - Yeah? With what?
Well, we'll dig up the sidewalk. We'll dig up the street.
We'll improvise, okay?
Reporter: Literally hundreds of firemen,
police, city workers have grabbed jackhammers,
pickaxes, they've grabbed shovels,
to try to channel this lava.
...the ash and the smoke in the air right now...
...even make a dent in this latest attack on Los Angeles.
That wall has to be five or six feet tall, fellas.
- Stay with it. - It's hitting every side street.
We've got structural fires,
a couple hundred inhalation cases already.
I can't keep it up unless you get me some help.
I'm working on it. In the meantime, do everything you can
to keep it on Wilshire. You push abandoned vehicles
in there with your fire trucks if you have to right there.
My street's on fire. You got to get some trucks down there.
- What street? - What street?
The one with the smoke coming out of it.
- Stanley, right over there. - Soon as we get this under control.
There won't be any houses left by then, man.
Look, I'm sorry. We'll get to it when we can.
Yo, I'm talking about people's houses.
You're up here saving a museum.
You want to get this guy off me?
- Hey! - Oh, great. Mark Fuhrman.
- Let me see your hands. - You got to be joking.
Give me your hands.
Yo, get your goddamn hands off me.
- Terry, what's going on? - Harassing a firefighter.
Bullshit. I was asking that guy for help.
Terry, this is stupid. Let him go.
- I'm taking him in. - All right, he's all yours.
- Shouldn't you be saving lives? - Don't move.
Stan: Watch that third rail. I don't want anybody hitting that.
- Damn it, it's hot. - It's getting hotter.
Watch that rubble right there. Watch for the rubble.
Oh, Jesus.
There she is.
Looks like we got a hell of a fire, Stan.
Yeah, we sure do. All right, let's go.
Let's go. Double time, let's go.
Can't be gas. They turned off the whole quadrant.
It's got to be electrical. Call LAFD.
Tell them there's a fire 500 yards from MacArthur Park station.
Get those first aid kits and those oxygen masks
down here now.
Here, give me that.
Come on.
Hit it.
Come on, hit it.
Oh, my God.
Give me a push.
Let's check these people out in here.
Check 'em out at the other end.
I've got a pulse here. Look at the other one.
Come on, hurry up. How many we got?
Give me a count here. Give me a count.
Some oxygen up here!
- Stan. - Just a second. Just a second.
Stan!
Let's get everybody out of here on the station floor right away.
What do you got, Pete?
What the hell is that?
Get off the train. Get off the train!
Every one of these bodies off the train now!
Fireman's carry, go! Go!
- We can't get them all. - Anybody see the driver?
- Give me your gloves. - What are you doing?
I'm gonna go find the driver.
Every one of these people off the train now.
- Pete: Stan! - Come on, move it. Go!
Go!
Pete: Stan, get back here!
Reporter: We are in the parking lot at Cedars-Sinai
and this is an absolutely incredible scene.
These injured people are staying in the parking lot
because the emergency room right now is filled to capacity.
The injured just keep coming here one after another.
This to me seems more like a MASH unit
than a major metropolitan hospital.
- (phone rings) - Yeah?
- Gator, you got my little girl? - Right here.
- How is she? - Doc says she's gonna be fine.
- Doctor: Nearly done. - Let me talk to her.
Man's got a direct line to the governor, but he's calling you.
- I'm fine, Daddy. - This is gonna sting.
Honestly, I'm okay.
Okay?
I love you, baby.
Then stop sending bodies this way.
We have got a full house over here.
Well, I don't have any choice.
Cedars-Sinai is the only emergency room
that's still safe north of the flow.
Gator: We got earthquake victims, car accidents, burns.
We got a ton of smoke inhalation.
They're doing triage on the sidewalk.
Put the post-ops in the mall.
Beverly Center's got to have its own power. Put 'em in there.
- The mall, huh? - Yeah.
Anything good at the Cineplex?
I'll have the cops close down all the streets for you, Gator.
Jesus. Oh, God damn it.
Jesus H. Christ.
Did you see that? The flow's gonna turn.
Yeah, I saw it. What's south of here, Lieutenant?
Convalescent homes, hospitals, residences.
I'll tell you what's south of us. A big gas station.
And a million houses and everyone I know.
Where do you think you're going? Get back in there.
- We need everybody we can get. - Shit.
Mike: Emmit, where are those K-rails?
I need them right now.
Hey, Terry, what were you trying to do,
take that guy downtown?
Better take the freeway, man.
- Wilshire's looking pretty bad. - Hey, enough.
- (coughing) - Let's get these people on the cart.
Come on, Stan. Come on, Stan.
Where the hell are you?
(grunts)
(sizzling)
Holy Mary, mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee...
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God...
Get on the walkie. Make sure Jenkins is at the station.
- It's Stan. - There he is.
- Jump, Stan! - Come on, Stan!
Stan, get out of there!
Jump!
Get out of here!
Stan, you can't save him.
- Come on! - Jump!
- Forget him. - Come on, Stan.
- Come on! - Come on!
Save yourself!
(screaming)
(coughing)
(Stan screaming)
Katie: Emmit, FAA is on the line. They want an update.
- Where are we with the airports? - Marty: We shut down all outgoing.
Everything incoming is being rerouted to Ontario.
No, no, no, Marty. No. Look at that screen, okay?
That cloud is blowing due east.
We got to send everything to San Diego.
Emmit, they got a couple of gas lines burning up Fairfax.
They can't get any hydrant pressure.
It's like a blowtorch. This thing's gonna pop.
- Swimming pools. - What about swimming pools?
Pump out all the swimming pools.
That's thousands of gallons a pop.
- That's all the water we need. - Emmit. Emmit.
Just got a call from La Brea.
There's total gridlock from Pico to Sunset.
Didn't we send over all those damn traffic cops?
That's who's calling. They're stuck at Olympic.
Cars keep stalling out because of all the ash.
It's clogging up the air filters.
Chevettes, right?
Reporter: Okay, okay. Now you can see it.
Coming right at us. Just a relentless tide of lava
melting the street itself.
It simply incinerates everything it touches.
Reporter #2: They're using concrete,
they're using cars, they're using benches...
You've got to get me some water pressure.
I'd love to. The whole city's out.
- The hydrants are going dry. - Lights are out in San Francisco.
We've got to get these guys some help.
- They're getting their asses kicked. - Yeah, I can see that.
(sirens blaring)
Don't you hear me? The lights are out in San Francisco.
The street is on fire.
Nobody gives a shit about San Francisco.
(truck horn blares)
(radio chatter)
All right, good to see you.
What we want to do is build a corridor out of these K-rails,
keep everything flowing down Wilshire and headed west, all right?
- Where are the rest of them? - What rest of them?
- This is it. - There's only about 80 here.
82. Everything else is stuck on the 5 or the 10.
We're trying to keep this city in one piece, pinhead.
- 80 rails ain't gonna do it. - What're you blaming me for?
Convenience, okay? Maybe we could chopper more in.
One at a time? Forget about it.
Why don't we knock down a couple of buildings
and block this son of a bitch?
All right, come with me. You guys come with me.
- You got to open up a reservoir. - And the city drinks what?
There won't be a city if you don't get off your ass.
- I'm doing the best I can. - Knock this shit off.
What is with you people?
Chief, how long's it gonna take this stuff to get to Fairfax?
At the speed it's moving, about 10 minutes, give or take.
Is that enough time to build a barricade?
Oh, fuck it. All right, look.
Wilshire Boulevard, Fairfax.
80 K-rails double-stacked in a horseshoe, okay?
A cul-de-sac.
That's got to be a wall at least six feet high.
All right, do you have any helicopters, water tankers?
- Not yet, but they're on the way. - All right, great.
Once you get this lava to pool, dump everything you've got on it
all at once, try to form a crust.
Maybe it'll dam itself. That's what they did in Iceland.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
This is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg.
I got to tell you, I don't know how many men
we should keep putting in front of this thing.
We're gonna put as many people in front of it as it takes.
Listen up, people, let me tell you what's south of us.
No more museums, no more department stores.
Just homes.
People, if we turn and run now, they're gonna be defenseless.
You don't like my plan, that's good.
Give me another plan, but don't tell me we're backing out.
- Is everybody clear on that? - Yeah!
All right, let's go build a wall.
Come on, CAT, push 'em over.
Push 'em over.
All right, come on, push 'em on in.
Give me 14 to 15 guys on each one of these things.
Right over here. On this K-rail.
Right in here. Right in here. Hold it, hold it.
Somebody hold this thing on the other side.
Watch your legs.
Right over here, fellas. Right over here.
Pick 'em up!
Right up under.
Let's go.
- Let's go. - Come on.
We need more guys on this one.
Shit, it's too heavy.
Hey, man, you know what they say.
No pain, no gain.
- All right, that's it. - I knew it. Here it comes.
I'm about to be the volcano version of Rodney King.
Officer: Give me your hands.
Roll tape, fellas. Y'all got this, huh?
Give me your hands.
- Go home. - I'm supposed to say thanks?
No.
- What'd you do that for? - Let's go.
Come on, now.
Still don't have enough guys over here.
Give us a hand.
(straining)
Yo, you block this shit, it stays out of the neighborhood, right?
Yeah, that's the idea.
Come on, let's go. Come on, move. Move!
Come on. What you waiting for?
- Come on! - All right.
Let's move this thing!
One, two, three.
(all groaning)
All right, come on. Wheel it in. Wheel it in.
Get it in there. Okay, keep moving.
(whistles) Over there.
Reporter: With so many people who have been horribly injured,
it is so easy to forget the victims
who can't tell you where it hurts.
And fortunately these wonderful veterinarians
put their lives on hold to help these animals.
This is a great story.
This potbellied pig was actually trying to find his owner...
Okay, just one more stitch.
You're really brave, you know that?
We got internal bleeding here.
Can you watch her?
Are you okay?
Yeah.
- Is the boy hers? - Yes.
Hi, sweetie. We're putting the kids in the mall.
- Prep her. - Mommy.
- How are you at babysitting?
Get me a milligram of epi on board now.
- Hi. - Hi.
You okay?
Mike: Step right up. We don't have a lot of time.
- Roark. - Yeah?
There is lava in the Red Line.
Just came through on the emergency band.
It overtook a subway train near MacArthur Park
and completely destroyed it.
- It is still flowing? - It stopped.
But I think there's more under us.
There's got to be something feeding this from below.
A source. We know it broke through here
at the tar pits, created this vent.
We now know that it broke through at MacArthur Park.
That means that it's traveling laterally underground
over the course of at least eight miles.
Yesterday you said it flows straight up.
I've never tracked lava under a city before, okay?
I just don't know what it's going to do
with man-made tunnels to travel through.
It doesn't matter. I need everything I've got
to deal with what's in front of me. I don't have time to take a flier
- on a geological theory. - All right, but somebody's got to.
I can only fight what I can see.
I know. Good luck.
- I'm gonna check it out. - All right.
Reporter: Here's a recap of the crisis as it stands at this hour.
Throughout the city, Red Cross shelters are being
hastily erected out of high school gymnasiums,
churches, and synagogues in an attempt
to house the flood of shaken citizens now left homeless.
Okay, ready, you guys? Ready?
One, two, three.
Shh.
Okay, rock beats scissor and scissor beats paper.
I'm not paper, I'm lava.
What beats that?
My dad.
I hope.
(men shouting)
(sirens blare)
Save your hoses, Chief.
I want to let it pool up all the way to the top.
- Save your hoses. - Hold the hoses.
None across until I give the word.
Just have to wait it out now.
This is the moment of truth.
The entire street is now completely engulfed.
The weight of this lava has got to be absolutely intense.
(speaking German)
Will this plan work?
(helicopters whirling)
(speaking German)
All right, that's it, Chief. Open 'em up.
- Open hoses! - Open hoses!
(cracking)
(cheering)
There must be thousands of gallons of water being dropped
over this entire area.
The entire area is absolutely drenched
and the steam that is coming off of this thing is unbelievable.
Oh, shit.
(hissing)
(beeps)
Oh, God.
- (cheering) - (horns blaring)
Reporter: I don't believe this. It looks...
it looks just possible
that this whole thing may be nearing an end.
Reporter #2: It's working.
This incredible gamble seems to be paying off.
Did we just beat this bastard?
- It looks like it. - (laughs)
- Flood control! - Reporter: Ladies and gentlemen,
- it is a miracle of the Miracle Mile. - Hallelujah!
Reporter: Look at the faces of these people.
Look at these guys. It looks like they've done it.
They have accomplished the impossible.
They've beaten back Mother Nature
and claimed an extraordinary victory over the volcano.
One last heroic stand here on the corner
of Fairfax and Wilshire.
Hell of a party.
I probably should have brought a hat.
- Chief. - Yeah?
They need some help over on Stanley.
Structural fires. Residential.
Miller, get your engine over to Stanley.
Yes, sir.
I guess that's my bus.
Hey, good luck.
You, too, man.
Let's see what this baby can do. Come on, you ready or what?
Yo, I always wanted to ride one of these things, man.
Stanley Ave., here we come.
Whoo!
You're a good man, Terry.
- All right, Roark. - (phone ringing)
Way to go, guys.
Roark. Hey, way to go.
How fast can you get to the corner of Wilshire and Western?
- We got a problem. - No, not anymore.
We got it stopped.
The volume of ash coming down is way too high to think
- that we're out of danger. - Then how come it stopped?
Maybe it didn't. Maybe it just went someplace else.
How do you know it didn't just stop?
You know, I don't. But when Mount St. Helens blew,
the force was 27,000 times greater
than that of the Hiroshima bomb.
You think that vent released anywhere near
- that much energy yet? - No.
Let's just assume we haven't seen the real bulk
of the magma yet, okay? Trust me, get down here.
Shit.
(revs)
Hey, hey! That's my bike!
Reporter: As crews battled the flow on Wilshire and Fairfax,
emergency rooms at Cedars-Sinai, Midway,
and Kaiser Permanente hospitals have all reported
that their staffs and supplies are being...
Yes?
Norman: Jaye, I want you back home with me where it's safe.
Norman, can we talk later?
I don't like his breathing. Let's tube him.
Norman: Jaye, you've been there for hours.
Let someone else take over.
God knows what those people are coughing up on you.
Woman: Dr. Calder, we need some help over here.
- I'm hanging up now. - Jaye!
Amy: Go!
- (hissing) - Oh!
Right over the Red Line.
That steam could come from anywhere.
Maybe the earthquake broke a water main.
- How'd it get heated? - I don't know.
- You've got to lower me down. - I'm not letting you go down there.
- Why? It's too dangerous? - Yes.
- I thought it was a water main. - All right, I'll go.
You'll go? How are you gonna get up?
- I'm gonna lift you? - I'm not letting you go.
Then what are we gonna do?
Amy: Oh, God. This is so stupid.
The city's finally paying for its arrogance.
Which particular arrogance is that?
Building a subway under land that's seismically active.
Yeah, it was a foolish man that built his house upon the sand.
Mathew 7:26.
A favorite among geologists.
All right, there's the tunnel.
- I don't see anything. - What way are we facing?
- West? - I don't know.
I can't see anything.
Huh?
- Hey! - Ah!
Oh!
- Damn. - (coughing)
Ah, damn!
Oh, God.
The tunnel's insulating it. It's like a lava tube.
It's keeping it superheated and fluid,
which is why it's moving so fast.
Yeah, but moving where?
It's gonna go through the tunnels until it hits a block.
When it hits a block, it's gonna punch through.
You mean erupt.
Yeah.
One, two, three.
How far between tunnel sections?
- How should I know? - Guess.
10 or 12 feet. Yes, this is Roark.
I need to know where the Red Line stops.
Got to figure out how fast this this is moving.
You mean where the last station is?
No, no, no. Where did you stop the tunnel?
We stopped drilling under the Beverly Center at La Cienega.
My God. That's where Cedars-Sinai is.
That's where Kelly is.
How long before it hits La Cienega?
Hold on.
How long before it hits La Cienega?
I don't know.
If a tunnel's caved in anyplace, it's gonna be a little bit slower.
God, 30 minutes, maybe less.
That's no good. That's not enough time.
- No kidding. - We got to move those people.
No, no. That ain't a possibility, Mike.
We don't have any hands left for that kind of evacuation.
We got secondary fires popping off all over the city.
They're looting in Beverly Hills, for Christ's sake.
All right, then we have to reroute it or block it in some way.
We got 2,000 people in the way down there, Emmit.
Mike, listen, Moses couldn't reroute this shit, okay?
It's everywhere.
We got a flow in the storm drain under Fairfax.
The Genesee transformer's out. That means the whole Westside...
Wait, wait. Where's that storm drain go?
It dumps into Ballona Creek.
- What? - What did you just say?
- Emmit. - Hold on! Hold on!
It dumps into Ballona Creek.
Ballona Creek goes into the ocean.
Yeah, we caught a break on that one.
Yeah, I would say. How close is it to Cedars?
It's close enough. All right, listen up, Emmit.
I need a demolitions team, LAPD, National Guard,
- private contractor or all three... - Bobby, move. Move!
...at San Vicente and 3rd right now
loaded with everything they've got.
(chuckles) Oh, shit.
Man, I want to be like Mike.
(sirens blaring)
Reporter: Right outside Cedars,
we don't know what's going on right now.
Officials have told people
around here to evacuate immediately.
Now realize, these are injured people.
Some severely injured. So something is going on.
All right, here's what the lava is doing.
It will flow down the Red Line subway tunnel.
It will continue until it comes to a dead end right here
under this intersection.
This is the Holly Hills storm drain extension.
It connects here to the Holly Hills trench.
And anything that flows into that trench is gonna come through
the storm drain on down the Ballona Creek to the ocean.
- We got 25 minutes here. - No, we've got 20 minutes.
All right, we got 20 minutes to extend the San Vicente trench
200 yards up San Vicente Boulevard to this place right here.
- Extend it? - Yes, extend it.
- Lieutenant, where are we at? - Ground zero.
He said the lava's gonna break through right here.
- Right here? - Mike: Yes, right here.
Look, what I want you to do is drill holes in San Vicente Boulevard.
Lower enough charges into it to blow up a trench
200 yards long as wide as the street and as deep
- as you can possibly make it. - What?
We're gonna take this thing to the ocean.
Wait a minute. This is not gonna work.
The street slopes the other way. Look at the contours.
Look here. It is not going to move into the trench.
It is going to go the opposite direction
right into the patients.
Maybe some of it can be diverted...
It won't. Would you trust me?
It is going to flow that way.
Now everybody just grab some stretchers.
Let's save as many lives as we possibly can, okay?
Ed: There's a couple of thousand patients.
They're doing surgery in the street. We can't possibly save everybody.
Oh, I know that. I sent them all over there along with my daughter.
I...
I don't...
I don't know what to do.
- What about a dam? - What?
What about a dam? Something that we can drop
in front of the hospital and divert the flow this way.
- What? - What you said.
- Knocking a building down. - Are you serious?
Yes, I'm serious. Look at that thing.
That's got to be 50,000 tons of steel and concrete. Will that work?
You are gonna knock a building down?
Yes, I am. Will it work?
I think it might. I think it might.
Wait, you want to bring that thing down flush against the mall?
- Absolutely. - That's a precision drop.
That takes days to plan.
Set a speed record.
So you just want to blow up the street
and knock down a building in 20 minutes?
- 19 now, buddy. - Let's split the squad.
All right, what do you want me to do?
Find my daughter.
Please.
I left her with a Dr. Jaye Calder.
I gave that woman my child, she gave me this card.
Find her.
Okay. I'll find her.
Okay? Trust me. I'll find her.
(men shouting)
Sergeant. Bring your men and follow me right now.
Caltrans, come this way. Put your first charge right there.
Food. Where's Tommy?
He went through there. Can I have French fries?
- (people screaming) - (police shouting)
Officer: Remain calm.
We are evacuating the triage units now.
(speaking Spanish)
Excuse me. I'm looking for a little boy.
- He's about three years... - Un momento.
Have you seen a little boy? He has blond hair.
You should be back in there, honey.
No, I'm looking for a little boy.
One of the Red Cross people will find him.
No, you don't understand. He's my responsibility.
Man: Everybody out. We're evacuating the Hard Rock.
All right, people. Evacuate. We must leave right now.
Everyone put down what you're doing.
Everyone out. We must evacuate.
Everyone out. Put down what you're doing.
Come on, let's go. Bring that through.
- Is the building empty? - Yeah, all clear.
Reporter: We're told that large amounts of explosives
are being brought in from National Guard armories,
private contractors, and LAPD depots.
That's good, fellas.
Reporter: It's an extraordinary effort underway here.
Tommy!
This urgent advisory from the city's emergency operations center.
(overlapping broadcasts)
As a result of the emergency situation in the area
surrounding the Beverly Center,
there is the possibility of a series of explosions.
Please do not leave your homes.
Stay away from windows and protect yourselves...
(police talking over loudspeaker)
They put some kids in the mall. In the Hard Rock, I think.
Okay, you've done your duty. Can we go now?
Do you think there's a chance she still might be there?
Maybe. She was watching some children.
Norman, hold this. What have we got?
- Thank you. - Here, take this.
These people are strangers, Jaye.
Are you gonna die for them?
Jaye, answer me.
I am answering you, Norman.
This man's in cardiac arrest. I'm defibrillating.
- Charging. - Shit!
- Clear! - I'm out of here.
(pulses)
Not much time. Hurry up.
Reporter: An amazing scene here as demolition teams
and city workers pour into the area.
Reporter #2: Once again, if you live in the Beverly Center area,
stay inside and stay away from all the windows.
Kelly! Kelly Roark!
- Kelly Roark! - Man: Beware of flying glass.
Kelly! Kelly Roark!
- Low, are you set? - Ready!
- Danny, are you all ready? - We're good.
- (rumbling) - Here it comes.
- Danny, are you ready? - 10 seconds away.
You haven't got 10 seconds.
(people screaming)
It's coming. It's coming.
Everybody out! Everybody out!
Get out of here! Move it! Move it!
- Come on, come on. - Come on, move!
- Go, go, go, go! - Give me a hand here.
- Put them in. - We got to move, buddy.
- (screaming) - (hissing)
It's gonna blow. It's gonna blow.
- I'm done! - Look out!
(screams)
(screaming)
- (all gasp) - What the?
My God.
Reporter: This is just an incredible scene.
We are watching, literally, a stampede...
Some...
some...
(screaming)
(lava bomb whistling)
My leg, I think it's busted.
Get me out of here.
- Ah! - It's broken.
Kelly Roark!
- Tommy. - Start detonation sequence.
(siren blaring)
(straining)
Ah!
It isn't gonna budge. Go on, get out of here.
- You can make it if you run. - I won't leave a man down.
I'm gonna get you out of here, pal.
(straining)
- Ed: La Cienega, are we clear? - La Cienega clear.
- Lower San Vicente? - Lower San Vicente all clear.
- Upper San Vicente? - Upper San Vicente all clear.
Tower? Tower, can we go?
We have to go. I repeat, are we clear?
I got all hell breaking loose up here.
We got to go now. I repeat, are we clear?
- We got to go now. - Tower clear.
I copy.
Go.
Hold it. Hold it, there's a kid out there.
There's a kid out there on 3rd and San Vicente.
Hold it. Hold it. There's a kid out there.
- Tommy. - (Tommy crying)
Get out of there! Kelly, get out of there!
Abort. There's people. Abort the...
stop the explosions!
(Tommy crying)
- (screaming) - (crying)
Reporter: The skyscraper...
Dad.
Get out of there! Kelly, get out of there!
Reporter: Jim, as far as we can tell
through the clouds of dust and rubble,
this audacious plan seems to be working.
Reporter #2: Relieved city officials
are breathing their first sigh of relief in many hours
as this desperate strategy looks like it's paying off.
Reporter #3: And in the triage area
there is rejoicing as the lava flow...
Mike Roark?
Mike Roark, are you there?
Mike?
Reporter: ...through the dust and smoke
there is an atmosphere of celebration here.
People are laughing and smiling.
Feeling a sense of more than just relief.
And about 200 feet away, there is a 20-story apartment building
lying on its side, a temporary dam.
Roark? Roark, can you hear me?
Roark!
Roark, can you hear me?
The flow is at Crescent Heights and turning.
The trench is holding.
Reporter: The improvised rerouting through the storm drains
and trenches seems to be holding.
Roark!
Amy: Roark!
Approaching Wilshire intersection.
Reporter: The flow is passing underneath the 10 freeway.
And way down below us we can see that fiery flow
moving along the creek.
The concrete walls seem to be holding up
against the weight of the lava as it steams toward the Pacific.
- Roark! - Roark!
(people continue calling)
Mike: Hey! Over here!
Katie: Just got word on Mike.
He's okay. His little girl, too.
- Roark is okay. - Nice.
(cheering)
(sighs)
Reporter: And it is good news at last.
Satellite pictures show the volcano is shutting down.
The lava is subsiding.
This may be the first chance for stunned Angelinos
to finally look around and take stock.
For with nearly 100 dead, thousands injured,
and damage in the billions,
this crisis has surely touched every one of us.
Let's go find your mom. What's she look like?
She looks like...
Look at their faces.
They all look the same.
(thunder rumbling)
(cheering)
Well...
had I been in charge, I would have evacuated the Westside,
sacrificed half the city,
maybe made parking a little easier in Beverly Hills,
but I would have been wrong.
If you'd have been in charge,
we would have known about this 24 hours in advance.
You saved a lot of lives today.
Aw, shucks, Roark.
I let the guy out of my sight for one minute.
Max, go. Go.
Hey, Kelly. Look who we brought you.
(gasps)
- Max! - Mike: Hey, Maxie.
Aw. (laughs)
Just another day at the office, huh?
Yeah.
Mr. Roark. We got a phone call for you.
It's Chief Sindelar. Yeah, just a moment.
- Finally made it in, huh? - Yeah.
He says we got mudslides in Malibu.
Yeah, a couple hundred structural fires,
gas and power's down over half the city,
gridlock on all the freeways.
Hope you got some bright ideas for this.
I do.
You handle it. I'm on vacation.
I'm going home with my daughter.
Come on.
- Come on, Max. - (barking)
You know, I could get used to this, Mike.
(chuckles)
All right, let's go. Hello, Chief.
No, it's still Emmit.
I know. I don't know what to tell you.
It's not personal. Yes, it's raining here, too, sir.
Guys, it's a little wet out here. You want a lift?
Yeah.
Well, you said you wanted to go to the Beverly Center.
- How'd you like it? - (laughs)
- Huh? - It was cool, Dad.
- Cool? - Cool.
(music playing)
♪ Rolling down ♪
♪ Imperial Highway ♪
♪ Big nasty redhead at my side ♪
♪ Santa Ana winds blowing hot from the north ♪
♪ We were born to ride ♪
♪ Roll down the window ♪
♪ Put down the top ♪
♪ Crank up the Beach Boys, baby ♪
♪ Don't let the music stop ♪
♪ We gonna ride it till we just can't ride it no more ♪
♪ From the South Bay ♪
♪ To the Valley ♪
♪ From the Westside ♪
♪ To the Eastside ♪
♪ Everybody's very happy ♪
♪ 'Cause the sun is shining all the time ♪
♪ Looks like another perfect day ♪
♪ I love LA ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ I love LA ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ Look at that mountain ♪
♪ Look at those trees ♪
♪ Look at that bum over there, man ♪
♪ He's down on his knees ♪
♪ Look at these women ♪
♪ Ain't nothing like 'em nowhere ♪
♪ Century Boulevard ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ Victory Boulevard ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ Santa Monica Boulevard ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ Sixth Street ♪
♪ We love it, we love it ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ We love LA ♪
♪ I love LA ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ I love LA ♪
♪ We love it ♪
♪ I love LA ♪
♪ We love it. ♪