[Cristi] I've been very fortunate.
I've been a helicopter reporter for about 18 years.
It is truly a passion for me, every day, to be able to report
and deliver these stories live as they're happening.
And many of them are tragic, and there's happy stories and everything in between.
[man on radio, indistinct]
-[Cristi] What's going on, Jay? -Hey, Chris, how's it going?
-Um, so... -[Cristi] Have we got anything good?
Yeah. LA City's working. I think there's actual structure fire right now...
-Okay. -...over on San Fernando Road.
It's a little near Sun Valley.
They've sent everybody, but they haven't been arou--
-They haven't arrived. Here we go. -[man 2 on radio] Actual fire...
Engine 57. We're on the scene.
[Cristi] I was genuinely a news nerd at a very early age. [chuckles]
[man 2 on radio] We're gonna be in the offensive mode.
There are homeless people inside.
From around eight, nine, ten years old,
I was watching the news already, and I knew I wanted to be a reporter.
[news announcer] From ABC, this is World News Tonight...
[Cristi] There was World News Tonight every night.
It almost felt like Peter Jennings and Barbara Walters were part of the family.
[Jay] We're doing as well. 'Cause they're not watching.
-[Cristi] That'll be good. -[Jay] It'll work out perfect.
-And we'll keep in touch. -Absolutely, on the two-way.
-All right. Sounds good. -[Jay] Great.
My own career path ended up being paved by the O.J. saga,
the unpredictability of what was happening live on television.
[police officer on radio] Attention all units and stations...
[news announcer] Down there on the ground is a white Ford Bronco...
It was so dramatic and so exciting, I knew I wanted to be a part of that world.
[news announcer] Weather back-to-back on the fives.
Whenever you wake up, we're only a few minutes away.
[Cristi] Working through college as a traffic reporter,
after putting in a full day,
I would commute to Disney World and pilot the monorail all night long,
and it was one of the most fun jobs I'd ever had.
And in 2005, I got a call from New York
to interview for a helicopter reporter job.
So, I packed my bags, I flew to New York, and that was kind of a big break for me.
You know, a lot of people ask,
"What's the most amazing thing you've seen from the helicopter?"
The "Miracle on the Hudson" was it.
The news isn't always good.
I mean, we cover wildfires, we cover earthquakes,
but being over that crash-landing, it was a happy ending to an amazing story
that we still talk about today.
So it's been a long path to get to this point,
but I had always been inspired by KABC in Los Angeles.
It was, to me, the Holy Grail of local news.
[woman on radio] 10-12 we do have an ambulance responding
for the patient at one...
[Cristi] Hey, are you hearing about this rescue going on?
You know, it's a lot of fun flying around Los Angeles
and covering news from 1,500 feet up.
Hey there, Jay. What do you got?
[Jay] So, initially, the people who were seeing this on the freeway
thought it was a small brush fire, so they sent out a small brush response.
They found out it was not a brush fire at all.
[radio beeps]
[Cristi] Copy that. We should be there in about 12 minutes.
It's really amazing when I think of the things
that I've been able to see from the helicopter.
[David] Now let's get right to Chris Cristi for this.
He is live with the scene in Air7 HD with the very latest on this firefight.
Chris.
David, yes, this is the refinery at Alameda and Sepulveda.
That fire continuing to burn out of control,
started just before 5:00 this evening, now going on hour number three.
Flames still shooting really high up into the air.
The hazmat team is out here as well.
In times of emergency, in times of disaster,
it's a huge responsibility that we take very seriously.
[David] Well, let's get some breaking news. This is in Maywood.
[Cristi] Hey there, David. LA County Fire on the scene here in Maywood.
It's gonna be the cross of Slauson and Downey Road.
You can see the locomotive of this small-cargo train,
uh, basically coming off of the tracks there. It looks like...
Feel like I've kind of come full circle in my career.
Being a kid, being so in love with Disney World,
to be able to come back and work for ABC as a journalist,
is really a dream come true.
Reporting live from Air7 HD, I'm Chris Cristi, ABC 7, Eyewitness News.
[David] Chris, thank you, and...
[Cristi] What you got for us? What's the plan?
[woman 2 on radio] I think you can return to base.
[radio beeps]
Copy that. Heading back to Glendale.
There you go. All in a day's work.