1 00:00:07,194 --> 00:00:08,237 [Cristi] I've been very fortunate. 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:11,574 I've been a helicopter reporter for about 18 years. 3 00:00:12,658 --> 00:00:16,579 It is truly a passion for me, every day, to be able to report 4 00:00:17,288 --> 00:00:19,707 and deliver these stories live as they're happening. 5 00:00:19,790 --> 00:00:24,670 And many of them are tragic, and there's happy stories and everything in between. 6 00:00:41,353 --> 00:00:42,605 [man on radio, indistinct] 7 00:00:44,607 --> 00:00:46,776 -[Cristi] What's going on, Jay? -Hey, Chris, how's it going? 8 00:00:46,859 --> 00:00:48,152 -Um, so... -[Cristi] Have we got anything good? 9 00:00:48,235 --> 00:00:50,946 Yeah. LA City's working. I think there's actual structure fire right now... 10 00:00:51,030 --> 00:00:52,365 -Okay. -...over on San Fernando Road. 11 00:00:52,448 --> 00:00:53,532 It's a little near Sun Valley. 12 00:00:53,616 --> 00:00:55,451 They've sent everybody, but they haven't been arou-- 13 00:00:55,534 --> 00:00:57,078 -They haven't arrived. Here we go. -[man 2 on radio] Actual fire... 14 00:00:57,161 --> 00:00:58,621 Engine 57. We're on the scene. 15 00:00:58,704 --> 00:01:02,708 [Cristi] I was genuinely a news nerd at a very early age. [chuckles] 16 00:01:03,751 --> 00:01:05,544 [man 2 on radio] We're gonna be in the offensive mode. 17 00:01:05,628 --> 00:01:07,338 There are homeless people inside. 18 00:01:07,421 --> 00:01:10,174 From around eight, nine, ten years old, 19 00:01:10,257 --> 00:01:12,927 I was watching the news already, and I knew I wanted to be a reporter. 20 00:01:13,844 --> 00:01:16,847 [news announcer] From ABC, this is World News Tonight... 21 00:01:16,931 --> 00:01:18,974 [Cristi] There was World News Tonight every night. 22 00:01:19,058 --> 00:01:22,061 It almost felt like Peter Jennings and Barbara Walters were part of the family. 23 00:01:22,144 --> 00:01:23,646 [Jay] We're doing as well. 'Cause they're not watching. 24 00:01:23,729 --> 00:01:25,231 -[Cristi] That'll be good. -[Jay] It'll work out perfect. 25 00:01:25,314 --> 00:01:27,066 -And we'll keep in touch. -Absolutely, on the two-way. 26 00:01:27,149 --> 00:01:28,150 -All right. Sounds good. -[Jay] Great. 27 00:01:29,235 --> 00:01:33,280 My own career path ended up being paved by the O.J. saga, 28 00:01:33,364 --> 00:01:36,909 the unpredictability of what was happening live on television. 29 00:01:36,992 --> 00:01:38,828 [police officer on radio] Attention all units and stations... 30 00:01:38,911 --> 00:01:42,415 [news announcer] Down there on the ground is a white Ford Bronco... 31 00:01:42,498 --> 00:01:47,378 It was so dramatic and so exciting, I knew I wanted to be a part of that world. 32 00:01:47,461 --> 00:01:49,380 [news announcer] Weather back-to-back on the fives. 33 00:01:49,463 --> 00:01:52,174 Whenever you wake up, we're only a few minutes away. 34 00:01:53,259 --> 00:01:55,845 [Cristi] Working through college as a traffic reporter, 35 00:01:55,928 --> 00:01:57,596 after putting in a full day, 36 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,184 I would commute to Disney World and pilot the monorail all night long, 37 00:02:02,268 --> 00:02:05,021 and it was one of the most fun jobs I'd ever had. 38 00:02:05,688 --> 00:02:10,026 And in 2005, I got a call from New York 39 00:02:10,526 --> 00:02:13,446 to interview for a helicopter reporter job. 40 00:02:13,529 --> 00:02:17,992 So, I packed my bags, I flew to New York, and that was kind of a big break for me. 41 00:02:21,287 --> 00:02:23,873 You know, a lot of people ask, 42 00:02:23,956 --> 00:02:27,293 "What's the most amazing thing you've seen from the helicopter?" 43 00:02:27,376 --> 00:02:31,005 The "Miracle on the Hudson" was it. 44 00:02:34,133 --> 00:02:35,718 The news isn't always good. 45 00:02:35,801 --> 00:02:38,888 I mean, we cover wildfires, we cover earthquakes, 46 00:02:38,971 --> 00:02:45,770 but being over that crash-landing, it was a happy ending to an amazing story 47 00:02:45,853 --> 00:02:47,480 that we still talk about today. 48 00:02:49,065 --> 00:02:52,151 So it's been a long path to get to this point, 49 00:02:52,234 --> 00:02:57,656 but I had always been inspired by KABC in Los Angeles. 50 00:02:58,324 --> 00:03:01,035 It was, to me, the Holy Grail of local news. 51 00:03:01,118 --> 00:03:02,953 [woman on radio] 10-12 we do have an ambulance responding 52 00:03:03,037 --> 00:03:04,163 for the patient at one... 53 00:03:04,246 --> 00:03:06,332 [Cristi] Hey, are you hearing about this rescue going on? 54 00:03:06,415 --> 00:03:10,169 You know, it's a lot of fun flying around Los Angeles 55 00:03:10,252 --> 00:03:13,422 and covering news from 1,500 feet up. 56 00:03:13,506 --> 00:03:14,590 Hey there, Jay. What do you got? 57 00:03:15,174 --> 00:03:18,260 [Jay] So, initially, the people who were seeing this on the freeway 58 00:03:18,344 --> 00:03:21,972 thought it was a small brush fire, so they sent out a small brush response. 59 00:03:22,056 --> 00:03:24,100 They found out it was not a brush fire at all. 60 00:03:24,725 --> 00:03:25,559 [radio beeps] 61 00:03:25,643 --> 00:03:27,728 [Cristi] Copy that. We should be there in about 12 minutes. 62 00:03:28,187 --> 00:03:30,856 It's really amazing when I think of the things 63 00:03:30,940 --> 00:03:33,317 that I've been able to see from the helicopter. 64 00:03:33,401 --> 00:03:35,194 [David] Now let's get right to Chris Cristi for this. 65 00:03:35,277 --> 00:03:39,198 He is live with the scene in Air7 HD with the very latest on this firefight. 66 00:03:39,281 --> 00:03:40,282 Chris. 67 00:03:40,366 --> 00:03:43,285 David, yes, this is the refinery at Alameda and Sepulveda. 68 00:03:43,369 --> 00:03:45,955 That fire continuing to burn out of control, 69 00:03:46,038 --> 00:03:50,626 started just before 5:00 this evening, now going on hour number three. 70 00:03:50,710 --> 00:03:54,130 Flames still shooting really high up into the air. 71 00:03:54,213 --> 00:03:55,798 The hazmat team is out here as well. 72 00:03:55,881 --> 00:03:58,300 In times of emergency, in times of disaster, 73 00:03:58,384 --> 00:04:01,262 it's a huge responsibility that we take very seriously. 74 00:04:01,345 --> 00:04:04,432 [David] Well, let's get some breaking news. This is in Maywood. 75 00:04:04,515 --> 00:04:07,810 [Cristi] Hey there, David. LA County Fire on the scene here in Maywood. 76 00:04:07,893 --> 00:04:10,062 It's gonna be the cross of Slauson and Downey Road. 77 00:04:10,146 --> 00:04:13,607 You can see the locomotive of this small-cargo train, 78 00:04:13,691 --> 00:04:16,444 uh, basically coming off of the tracks there. It looks like... 79 00:04:16,527 --> 00:04:19,321 Feel like I've kind of come full circle in my career. 80 00:04:19,405 --> 00:04:23,117 Being a kid, being so in love with Disney World, 81 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:27,580 to be able to come back and work for ABC as a journalist, 82 00:04:27,663 --> 00:04:29,248 is really a dream come true. 83 00:04:29,331 --> 00:04:33,377 Reporting live from Air7 HD, I'm Chris Cristi, ABC 7, Eyewitness News. 84 00:04:33,461 --> 00:04:34,754 [David] Chris, thank you, and... 85 00:04:34,837 --> 00:04:36,714 [Cristi] What you got for us? What's the plan? 86 00:04:37,173 --> 00:04:38,758 [woman 2 on radio] I think you can return to base. 87 00:04:39,091 --> 00:04:39,925 [radio beeps] 88 00:04:40,009 --> 00:04:41,844 Copy that. Heading back to Glendale. 89 00:04:43,095 --> 00:04:45,514 There you go. All in a day's work.