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CNN Live Today

Weather Turns Against Firefighters Battling Massive Flames Raging in Colorado

Aired June 20, 2002 - 11:13   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: Turning now to -- speaking of things that are in the air right now, with pollution and all, as we were just talking about moments ago here, the weather has turned against the firefighters who are out there battling these massive flames that are still raging in Colorado. In all, nearly 200,000 acres have burned, dozens of homes have been destroyed. And, to add insult to injury, a U.S. Forest Service veteran is indicted for having caused all of this, the largest wildfire in Colorado's history.

CNN's Charles Molineaux is covering the fires for us this morning. He is in Lake George, Colorado. He joins us now to bring us up to speed this morning -- Charles.

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Leon.

Yeah, we saw some really lousy weather conditions for firefighters yesterday, as winds whipped up. But then a cold front moved in, and right now they're trying to take advantage as much as they can of more favorable conditions.

We've also been talking to people who are really counting their blessings this morning. A small group of those evacuated from their homes actually got to go back behind the fire lines to take a look. And they've seen some pretty dramatic scenes of their homes having been saved. In some instances, they saw fire that burned right up on to their property. And then a line of that bright orange slurry across their lawn, and then the rest of the property was saved.

Very obvious signs that the fire department -- firefighters and those tankers that have been coming in trying to stop the fire succeeded in keeping them from burning some of these homes. But some 8,900 people are still evacuated. And the wait continues as to what's going on out there.

Well we did talk to some of these people, after seeing that it turned out that their house was OK. Just listen to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm feeling pretty good. I would love to get back in some day. But to tell you the truth, I really feel sorry for all the people that lost the homes. And these guys that are working their butts off, man, I appreciate it big time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been very, very stressful, because most of the information we've been getting is from the TV, which -- and a lot of it is not exactly accurate from what we hear from people down here. So when we heard last night that we could get in this morning, that's when we came down first thing this morning so we could get in the house and actually see what it looked like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOLINEAUX: Meanwhile, a painful story will continue to unravel today. Terry Lynne Barton is the forest service worker accused of setting the Hayman Fire and she is going to court. She was indicted yesterday on four federal counts by a federal grand jury, including setting a fire that put firefighters at risk. She's gong to be in court in Denver for what will be a bail hearing and probably an arraignment too. If she is convicted on all the charges, she could actually be sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in jail, all the way up to more than 60 years in jail.

Also, state prosecutors are considering filing state charges against her as well. Her original story that she stumbled upon this fire when she smelled it that didn't wash. She told investigators that she accidentally set the fire lighting a letter on fire. That's not something that investigators are buying either.

The indictment says that she willfully and knowingly set this fire. Not a very good picture, and she could be looking at some very serious jail time if she is convicted on those charges and the state charges are yet to come. She is going to court today, Leon.

HARRIS: Charles Molineaux, thank you very much. Charles reporting from Lake George, Colorado. Thank you very much.

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