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CNN Live Today

Interview with Jim Paxon

Aired July 24, 2002 - 12:35   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: An out of control wildfire is burning within two miles of some of the biggest and oldest trees in the world, the giant sequoias. Here is a look at the map. Those on the front line say the fire is growing by thousands of acres everyday, and they have no idea which direction it will burn next.

Joining us now by phone from the Sequoia National Forest, Jim Paxon. He is with the Fire Interagency Team -- hi, Jim.

JIM PAXON, FIRE INTERAGENCY TEAM: Good morning, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. So what's the latest right now with this fire and the area that it is affecting, Jim?

PAXON: We had an infrared flight last night that gives us the exact acreage. It is at 50,123. The fire is growing, we have an inversion over us right now that kind of holds the fire in, it is a heavy smoke cloud cover over us. When it lifts, the fire will burn aggressively like it has the past several days, and we do expect a kind of a different wind today, it will be from the southeast, which will push the fire towards the sequoia groves. We worked hard last night with some line building and some burn-out operations to keep fire away from the closest grove, the Pack Saddle (ph) Grove.

PHILLIPS: All right. We are going to talk about the sequoias in just a minute. But I first want to ask you if there have been any type of evacuations from homes.

PAXON: Oh, yes. There has been a number of evacuations from Johnsondale and R Ranch (ph) all the way up to Ponderosa. In fact, there were over 400 Boy Scouts evacuated from the Whitsett Boy Scout camp.

PHILLIPS: Wow. And where are these people -- are they being taken care of through the Red Cross?

PAXON: Yes, they are, and a lot of them are scattered across the state visiting friends and relatives.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about these sequoias, Jim. Why are they so important to us? Let's just talk about why everyone is so familiar and why these trees are so famous.

PAXON: Well, they are some of the largest and oldest trees in the entire world, and of course, there is a national monument that President Clinton proclaimed, and set aside, and there is special management. Fire is a part of their ecosystem. They actually regenerate with fire, but we don't want climax fire where we get into the top of the trees and actually kill them. We are trying to avoid that. If you can think about a tree that is nearly 300 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet across, they are just -- they are awesome. They are unique, and they are very splendid.

PHILLIPS: How do you avoid killing them?

PAXON: Well, we are trying to cut the fire advance off in the areas of the groves, to keep fire out of them completely. They have done some fuels treatment work that even includes prescribed burning, but it has been in very cool, very wet conditions so that you don't get a lot of hot fire against those trees. They do require management, and a management plan is being drafted, and has to be finalized by April of next year.

PHILLIPS: How many firefighters are out there now, and what type of equipment are you using?

PAXON: Well, we have got over a thousand firefighters. We have over 100 engines, we have got almost 20 bulldozers. We have 11 helicopters. And right now, we have seven air tankers. Because of the smoke, the air tankers can't really fly and deliver retardant, but if the smoke lifts and the fire gets aggressive, then we will be using them too, but all of the other resources are working.

PHILLIPS: So Jim, what's your gut feeling? Will this be contained soon?

PAXON: No, no. We are still at zero containment, and this fire is definitely in control. We are working hard, and we think that in the next day or two, we will start to see some containment, but we are working extremely -- all our resources are concentrated on the west side, where the groves of sequoias are.

PHILLIPS: Jim Paxon of the Fire Interagency Team. Jim, thank you.

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