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CNN Live Today

Colorado Facing Massive Wildfires

Aired June 10, 2002 - 12:44   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And we are back now with, as we said before the break, news of this wildfire. The state of Colorado is now basically being consumed by them.

A wildfire about 40 miles outside of Denver is burning at a rate of more than 500 acres per hour. At the same time, thousands of Glenwood Springs residents were forced to leave their homes yesterday. Firefighters have got to be worn out by now. They have been battling flames there for days.

Heidi Hemmat joins us now live from Glenwood Springs to set the scene for us -- Heidi.

HEIDI HEMMAT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Leon.

In just the last few minutes, we have noticed that this fire appears to be blowing up a bit. And that may be because the wind also seems to be picking up a bit. And this is a fire that has already destroyed 24 homes in the Glenwood Springs area. And hundreds more are threatened.

More than 3,000 people were evacuated from this area. And, keep in mind, this is just one of several fires burning across the state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI HEMMAT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Downtown Denver's usually clear blue, mile-high sky is filled with choking smoke from a fast-moving wildfire 60 miles southwest of the city. The Hayman Fire, as it's now called, exploded from just 300 acres Sunday morning to more than 25,000 acres by nightfall, devouring more than 500 acres per hour.

TERRY MCCANN, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: This is an unusual fire. Normally they'll lay down a little bit, but this one doesn't seem to have been doing that, and that's tripled for the weather conditions.

HEMMAT: Further west, near the town of Glenwood Springs, firefighters are battling a fire that so far consumed 7,000 acres, destroyed more than 2 dozen homes, and forced the evacuation of thousands of people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Came out here and looked over my deck, and that ridge right there totally in flames. HEMMAT: Controlling the Coal Seam Fire, which has been burning underground for the past 100 years, is now one of the nation's top priorities. But state and federal resources are stretched to the limit by a wildfire season that started early this year, in a state starving for rain. Now Coloradoans can only hope for a change in the weather, a change forecasters predict won't happen for at least several days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMAT: Again, a visible change in the fire behind us: It does look as if it is blowing up a bit back there, which is bad news for the residents here.

Just a short time ago, we learned that the Hayman fire, the one that we reported, was about 25,000 acres just south of Denver. We now know that that is 30,000 acres. We also have heard that that was started by an illegal campfire -- back to you, Leon.

HARRIS: Boy, it is amazing to see how fast these fires fire can grow like that, Heidi.

HEMMAT: Oh, yes.

HARRIS: How many more people are officials there concerned about? How many more people may be in the way here and may have to be evacuated further? Do you know?

HEMMAT: Oh, definitely thousands of people who could be affected by this one way or another, depending on which way the wind shifts. But the people who have been asked to leave have been told they cannot come back, because it is not safe. So, that's 3,000 people right there.

HARRIS: Boy.

Heidi Hemmat, thank you very much. We sure appreciate that report from Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

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