Cian Lawlor's father was dispatched to the Palisades Fire just over a week ago and he's been working it ever since. The 11-year-old had some questions for his dad.
Old photo of fire captain Shane Lawlor and his two sons at a Santa Monica Fire Station. Lawlor has been a firefighter for 17 years. He was dispatched last week to the Pacific Palisades and is still fighting the fires there.
Earlier this week, NPR asked Cian to interview his dad over Zoom. It was the first rest day since the fires began for Lawlor, who took the call from his post at the Santa Monica Fire Department Station 2. Cian was at their home in Carlsbad, a few hours south of L.A. This was also the first time the father and son had connected in a week."I'm glad he gets to do this and help people in need," Cian says about his dad's job."He puts out his heart for the greater good.
I used to live in Santa Monica before, so I do know a lot of the neighborhoods that have been affected and those neighborhoods are all gone. They're not even there anymore. Those embers are what start other fires. So you're constantly protecting yourself from those hot embers in that wind and you're constantly chasing the new fires that they're starting. So that makes it very, very difficult.Lawlor: It starts with a sense of disappointment that you couldn't have saved a lot or more of these homes. And then it moves on to sympathy for the folks who have lost those homes.
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