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CNN Live Today
Arizona Fires Threaten City of Show Low
Aired June 25, 2002 - 14:02 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now from Show Low, a town threatened also by these flames, CNN's Charles Molineaux.
A little good news coming from the president there -- Charles.
CHARLES MOLINEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that was very good news. Of course, this is an area that will be in dire need of assistance from the federal government.
Close to 200 homes have been destroyed; 450-odd buildings of various types have burned up. And of course there's been extensive damage on the Apache reservation, where a timber mill, the only large timber mill remaining in the state, has had to close down because so much of the forest is burned up that they don't really have anything to work with anymore.
So the economic impact of this fire is devastating, and right now we're standing by to see what happens here in Show Low. Last we heard, the fire was about a half-a-mile from town. Crews have been out there on the front lines working all day.
Of course, yes, President Bush did come in this morning. He flew into the area, and then did an aerial tour of the area of fire devastation. He came out with Governor Jane Hull of Arizona, as well as the director of FEMA, Joe Alba, and then he went to the Round Valley High School. That is where he was meeting with evacuees, and of course he has been promising to get out there and shake some hands, as you heard a couple of minutes ago.
Some 30,000 people have been evacuated from Show Low as well as a half-a-dozen other surrounding communities, and a lot of them have ended up in four Red Cross shelters setup around the area, including the one at Round Valley High, this as the fight against this huge fire does continue.
Overnight, fire crews were once again trying to cut fire lines in a strategic canyon to the south and west of Show Low, a big concern has been a wall of fire moving on brisk winds coming right into town on some very steep terrain, which the fire likes.
The hope has been that once they get this fire line completely constructed and contained, if they can hold out for the next couple of days, the Forest Service says that that grave danger will pretty much be abated and that Show Low and the towns immediately adjacent to it should be somewhat secure. There are no guarantees that the fire is not going to move into town.
In fact, there's a lot of concern that once it picks up this afternoon, we could see falling embers setting spot fires in town. The local fire department and the police are going to be keeping an eye out for that, as well as the Forest Service, of course.
There are going to be some 2,300 people working this fire over the next couple of days, along with hundreds of trucks and helicopters.
So, Kyra, the fight does go on, and the additional help from the White House is certainly good news.
PHILLIPS: Charles, thank you.
Well, fighting wildfires is nothing new for the native people of Arizona.
Here's CNN's Jason Bellini with their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Apaches, fighting fire is seasonal employment, steady work summer after summer.
In the reservations vast Ponderosa forest, fires are not uncommon events. Apache firefighting teams pride themselves on containing them themselves, no outside help required.
Line boss Corwin Smith (ph) thought the same would be true of the Rodeo fire. He and his crew began battling it within an hour or two of when it started.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought we were going to catch it, because the way it looked -- you know, everybody thought we were going to catch it. And then it just took off and went up and over the ridge top.
BELLINI: Thousands of acres later, Corwin (ph) is just one of 30 or so crew leaders from around the United States, supervised by an elite firefighting team flown in from Alaska.
Still, this monumental fire is primarily an Apache-fought fire on primarily Apache tribal lands.
A new generation of Apache firefighters, some on their first major fire, are aware of the tradition they're following.
(on camera): So do you guys have family who have been doing this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. My grandpa.
BELLINI: Does he tell you how they used to do it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. On horses. They did it on horses back then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it's kind of natural to all of us, it seems like, the things that we do. I think the main thing to me, about it, is that we're so in touch with the land, that's why, you know.
BELLINI (voice-over): Most of the young Apaches I asked why they're fighting the fires...
(on camera): It's hard work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's OK.
BELLINI (voice-over): ... told me it's the tribe's modern problems that compel them, in particular unemployment.
(on camera): So this is what you do all summer?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much, trying to make some money.
BELLINI: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To pay for college and everything.
BELLINI (voice-over): But less immediate concerns are also on the minds of some Apache firefighters.
(on camera): This moonscape earth left behind by the fire is sad for anyone to look at, but it's especially so for the people whose land this is. They're going to have to deal with the consequence of this fire long after it's out and long after all the attention this fire is getting goes away.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It might not seem like nothing to nobody, but, you know, to us, well, it's all we have, really.
BELLINI (voice-over): The financial cost of the fire will be staggering for them, but not the only cost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I -- you know, it's usually not that quiet when you're in the forest. You can always hear something. But now there's, you know, there's nothing.
BELLINI (voice-over): Nothing resembling a forest on this land for at least another generation.
Jason Bellini, CNN, Cibecue, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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