The cable networks are giving expanded coverage to the wildfires this morning in and around Malibu, CA. During a live shot for FNC, KTTV’s Amy Murphy said covering the fires was much like covering a tropical storm, which she has in Florida. Only this time, the winds are also carrying burning embers and smoke.
On MSNBC, Pepperdine University student Stefan Holt did a phone interview with Alex Witt. Holt is the son of NBC Weekend Today and Nighly News anchor Lester Holt. The younger Holt telling Witt, the school “sent a text message several minutes ago about the fire…and that they’re moving the students away.”
This is not the first time a Holt family member has done an interview during a breaking news story. After an explosion at the APEX techincal school in Manhattan a few years ago, Holt’s wife Carol called in to MSNBC to explain what she was seeing. The Holts lived up the block from the school.