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CNN Live Today

Firefighters Face Blazes on Multiple Fronts

Aired June 27, 2002 - 12:32   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: For days, the focus in Arizona has been on saving the town of Show Low. So far, so good.

Let's go to CNN's Thelma Gutierrez. And she has got the update for us from Show Low -- hi there, Thelma.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka.

You're right. So far, so good. In fact, this morning, a spokesperson for the fire department said that they believe that the town of Show Low is no longer in the danger that it was in just a few days ago. And the mood out here amongst the very tired firefighters has really changed for the better.

After 10 very tense days, the fire crews feel that they are finally making some progress. They've had cooler weather. Yesterday, there were light sprinkles. And a manmade buffer zone has actually helped to push the flames and the fire back. So far, there is 5 percent containment.

But the wild card, of course, right now is the weather. Lightning, some hot weather and wind gusts could flare it all up back again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): It is a race against time and Mother Nature.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once the flame gets up into the crowns of the trees and it continues, you can't fight that. You just can't fight it.

GUTIERREZ: Thirty-eight hundred firefighters a the mercy of flames, flames that jump 200 feet into the air, that have reduced 390 homes and structures to rubble and 409,000 acres of majestic ponderosa pines to this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These fuels are bone dry. They are dryer than the lumber you would buy down in your neighborhood lumber yard. Look how dry it is. You can see, it crumbles. It almost falls into pattern.

GUTIERREZ: Eighty years worth of kindling, a drought, and wind gusts of up to 50 miles an have made Northern Arizona ripe for disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a sleeping giant out here. We're just kind of waiting to -- just day by day, minute by minute, we're at mercy to the weather right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ: Thousands of people have been evacuated out of this town. Fire officials say that, in a few days, they will be allowed back again -- Fredricka, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you, Thelma. Appreciate it.

Well, right now, the Arizona fire may be the largest, but it is not the only one that firefighters are focussing on.

For the bigger picture, CNN's Jeff Flock is at National Interagency Command Center in Boise, Idaho.

Hi there, Jeff. What's going on there?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are fighting on a lot of fronts here. I want to show you. This is a requisition for helicopters. And I think can I find the one for the -- let's see, where is it? -- for the Rodeo fire. There it is right there. That's a requisition for a helicopter going to Show Low. This is the Louisiana fire. That's the one that just broke out yesterday. And Southern California shut down Route 15 for a while, and other fires as well. You can see there are requisitions in.

Now, this is the National International Fire Center. This is where they put all of this stuff together. These people are moving people and resources around. This desk over here is moving people. Other desks are moving engines, other sorts of equipment, putting things in place so you can fight the fires that you have to.

And, Roger Spaulding, over your shoulder is a map which sort of shows the real big ones right now, correct?

ROGER SPAULDING, NATIONAL INTERAGENCY FIRE CENTER: That's right. It gives us a picture of what is happening in this Southwest region at this time.

FLOCK: And you see all sorts of different things. You are keeping an eye on things like lightning, for example. Because it is so dry out there right now, you want to know where you are getting some dry lightning hits, right?

SPAULDING: Right. Lightning is one of our primary causes for wildfires in the West. This map is an interactive map that is showing you the history of lightning in the last 24 hours throughout the U.S.

FLOCK: And in terms of what you're dealing with right now, you are kind of up against it, yes? This big fire here that we just had the live report from in Arizona is the one, but you have got many fronts that you are fighting on. SPAULDING: Well, currently we have large fires in three geographic areas. So we are very active. But we're making a -- we're handling it. We're doing pretty well. We do expect this to continue, though, for another month or two at least.

FLOCK: I was going to say, your resources already taxed, but you've got a lot more time to go.

SPAULDING: We probably do. A typical fire season usually starts about this time and lasts until August. This year, we started a little early.

FLOCK: I'm also fascinated by the images you see up here. I continue to look over your shoulder. This is not this year. This is the Los Alamos fire from last year. But we saw the same kind of smoke. And that's what we are seeing on the satellite image here, the smoke that billowed from that fire, correct?

SPAULDING: That's correct. That photograph is actually a combination of an infrared and a visible photograph. If you see, you can actually see the heat of the fire. But the smoke column, you can see, spreads from New Mexico all the way to Oklahoma.

FLOCK: Wow. Amazing. You're up against it.

Roger, I appreciate the time. Thank you. We are going to let you get back to your work as they coordinate the nation's fight against all of these wildfires, a very dry season and lot more to come.

Fredricka that's the latest from here in Boise, Idaho -- back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Jeff.

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