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CNN Live Today

Rodeo Fire Threatens to Merge with Smaller Wildfire

Aired June 21, 2002 - 11:04   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: Want to head out West to Colorado, to Lake George, specifically, and check in with Charles Molineaux. He has the latest on that Forest Service worker who was accused of starting the largest fire in Colorado history.

What can you tell us, Charles?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, she has now gone to court. Terry Lynn Barton, of course, is with the Forest Service, and this has been a pretty stunning case for people who have been out fighting this fire, because a lot of them are her friends and co- workers.

Terry Lynn Barton went to court yesterday. She got bail of $600,000. As far as we know, she is not yet out on bail, but that is what it was set, after the prosecutors were hoping to keep her locked up without bail.

This, after she was arraigned on four federal charges for which she was indicted on Wednesday. She has told investigators she accidentally set the Hayman fire when she went to a campfire site and burned an upsetting letter.

Well, yesterday in court, investigators said that there was no such letter and the campfire site was staged to make it look like the fire had spread from there.

The hearing went on for four hours yesterday afternoon as friends of Terry Barton and fellow forestry workers spoke out for her. She has aroused some pretty intense feelings from people who know her, as well as people who were driven out of their homes. They are very angry and blame her for the fire.

But co-workers and friends say that she's a nature lover and really would not have done anything like this, and was a dedicated Forest Service worker.

Now out on the fire lines, the Hayman fire has now expanded to 187,000 acres. Latest word we have now is that 79 homes are known to have been destroyed, although that number could go up as forestry workers and sheriff department officials get a look inside the fire lines. Again, it's still uncertain, because they, in some cases, can't even tell what these buildings were. They know of 400 other buildings that were also destroyed. That can very well be outbuildings and sheds and the like.

Forty-five percent containment on the fire. That's better than we saw yesterday, but not as good as we saw the other day. It was up to 47 percent for a while there. And then the fire made a big break out.

This fire, of course, has been federalized. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been getting involved, as well as the Bush administration, which is working on getting federal disaster assistance here. The Bush administration says it's working on looking at timber policies to keep disastrous burns like this from happening in the future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We feel very strongly, the president feels very strongly about the need to actively manage our forests and to actively treat fuels in the national forest and in the public lands, generally, so that we can reduce the threat of these huge wild fires that are spreading like they are here in Colorado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOLINEAUX: Out on the fire lines the meter is running. There was a very good day yesterday. Temperatures were down and humidity was way up. There has even been a little rain.

The expectations for similar conditions for awhile today, but this is considered a transitional day. The expectation is that winds are going to pick up. Humidity is going to go down. It's going to get warmer, and tomorrow and Sunday are expected to be more hot, dry windy days. The most dangerous days.

Firefighters are trying to make the most of the opportunity they have right now with some favorable conditions, but they know that time is limited and they are scrambling as much as they can with the time they have got -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I understand. Thank you, Charles Molineaux, reporting from Lake George, Colorado.

Want to move on now to Arizona, where a mammoth wildfire has damaged or destroyed more homes and thousands more residents may be forced to evacuate.

CNN's Bill Delaney is live in Show Low, Arizona -- good morning.

BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, to you, Carol.

Yes, we are in Show Low, Arizona, at the command post here for fighting this enormous fire that just consumed some 90,000 acres of Arizona so far. The largest fire in the history of Arizona. It's called the Rodeo fire.

Watching and waiting here. Watching the skies. Now so far the skies here in Show Low mostly hazy. Yesterday we saw enormous billowing clouds of smoke like something after the eruption of an enormous bomb. Today, mostly haze, but fire officials say they expect winds to pick up here, and you may already be able to see breezes stirring in the trees here.

Now that's changed even in the past hour or so, and we are getting some gusts here. Gusts are expected to reach as high as 50 miles an hour here eventually, and that's very bad news for this fire. That will fan the flames of this enormous fire, which is primarily feeding on the heavy timber of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, and threatening everyone and everything that lives anywhere near that forest.

Four thousand people already evacuated, Carol, from a number of towns. One town, Pinedale, the fire burned through it yesterday. This is a rustic retreat for many people from as far away as Phoenix. There are million-dollar homes there. Fire officials haven't been able to get into Pinedale to see how bad the destruction may be, and they fear it may be very bad indeed.

Firefighters blown back yesterday, and expect to be blown back again today by the fierce heat and shifting fire of this enormous conflagration here in Arizona.

Now here in this town where we are here, in Show Low -- sorry -- lost the name there for a second. Here in Show Low, most people have packed up and gassed up their cars because they are on a high alert situation here. They are told they could have to leave in as little as an hour's time if this fire pushes farther east and reaches the billion dollars of real estate here in this town of about 8,000.

Fire officials referring to the Rodeo fire very simply as "a monster."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY HUMPHREY, FIRE COMMANDER: It was a plume-driven fire. It was fed by the fuel. And the plume would rise and then collapse, and when it collapsed, it was just like a thunderstorm that blew out 50 mile-an-hour winds. And so it pulsed about five times.

So it's an extremely dangerous fire because of that. Now it's awfully large. It's extremely heavy fuels, and it's a tough fire to fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DELANEY: There is a nightmare scenario here. There is a smaller fire to the west of us here; only a few thousand acres being consumed there. But if it linked up with the Rodeo fire, fire officials predict that what's already the largest fire in the history of Arizona could become much bigger, consuming as much as 300,000 acres of Arizona. And, by the way, no rain in sight for at least two weeks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh man. Bill Delaney, thanks for that live report from Show Low, Arizona. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com