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CNN Live Today

More Firefighters Joining Battle Against Wildfire That Threatens Hundreds of Homes in Colorado

Aired May 23, 2002 - 11:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: More firefighters are joining the battle against a wildfire that threatens hundreds of homes in Colorado. The fire is burning in the Pike National Forest, which is just southwest of Denver.

Reporter Erin O'Brien of CNN affiliate KWGN joins us live from Deckers, Colorado with the latest.

Good morning.

ERIN O'BRIEN, KWGN REPORTER: Good morning, Carol.

This fire is called the Schoonover fire because of the hill that it's burning on. Four thousand acres burned so far. And yesterday, the problem was really high winds and kind of coming from all directions. Twenty-five hundred acres burned in six hours yesterday. Obviously a fast fire.

Today the problem is a little bit different. You can see it's real calm around me right now. It's hardly moving at all. But that's created a different problem. We want to show you the valley here between the smoke; it's just hanging here. It's called an inversion layer, and because the smoke is hanging in the valley, they can't get that air attack going. They've got three tankers on standby. So far, we have only seen a spotter plane circling. But they can't see the ground, so they don't know exactly where to attack.

You can see how the calmness is really creating a different problem today. This is fire is burning to the south and east of us, near the town of Deckers, Colorado. Again, 4,000 acres burned so far. It's moving to the northeast, and it's burning at about 6,500 to 8,000 feet. It has consumed five cabins and a YMCA camp so far, and one shed in a subdivision.

The good news, no homes have burn so far. One-hundred homes are under mandatory evacuations. There are two Red Cross shelters set up. People didn't really stay in those Red Cross shelters last night, just a few people. But a lot of people go there for information, to find out exactly where the fire is burning and the names of the subdivisions that are under mandatory evacuations. Three-hundred homes and about 20 commercial structures are still threatened right now. The fire about a mile and half away from those areas. Five hundred firefighters expected today. There are 200 crews on scene already, including those air tankers that are on standby and helicopters as well. Two-hundred crews here already and another 300 ordered. This Schoonover fire is the highest priority in the country right now terms of forest fire.

We always try to end up on good news, and that is that snow is expected in the forecast today. It's been a chilly morning here. Snow is expected in those higher elevations, around 6,500 to 8,000 feet. So hopefully, that will quell this fire a little bit. That's the best news that firefighters have heard so far.

Carol, back to you.

COSTELLO: OK, we'll all pray for snow then. Thank you very much, Erin O'Brien, reporting live from Colorado this morning.

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