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CNN Live Today

Sequoia Suspect to Be Arraigned

Aired July 25, 2002 - 12:24   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: A woman accused of accidentally starting the fire that threatens a stand of 1,000-year-old giant sequoia trees faces a court hearing today.

James Hattori joins us now live from Kernville, California, with more on this story -- James.

JAMES HATTORI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

We are at the base camp for firefighting operations, where about a two-hour drive north of here in Fresno, California, is where a 45- year-old Bakersfield woman is expected to make an appearance in U.S. Federal Court this morning, in fact, at this hour, to face charges in connection with starting this fire.

According to investigators, she says it was an accident, that somehow a campfire got out of control Sunday afternoon. But it was a campfire for which she did not have a permit.

Now, along the fire lines, there is a bit of encouraging news. Officials are saying that the McNalley fire, as this is now being called, is about 5 percent contained. We were out on the fire lines last night, these pictures along the northern edge of the fire. Still, as you can see, it is burning unchecked for the most part.

About 1,500 firefighters out on the lines, along with water tankers and helicopters. It is very slow going, because the terrain makes this a difficult fire to fight.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are here, and this is what we like to do, so we're doing everything we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It gets hot and smoky every once in a while, and then you do a lot of sitting around waiting for the next showdown basically for us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of times, the winds fires are better, because we know where it's going. And when you've got a plume, we don't know which direction it's heading.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HATTORI: And also the damage, about 10 structures have been destroyed so far, about 1,000 people evacuated from the area.

But as we talked about at the outset, or you did, Kyra, the sequoia trees, ancient, magnificent trees, about a dozen stands of them in this area, are one of the focuses of the firefighters' protection efforts. Some of them are 1,000 or 2,000 years old, in some cases, 100 feet in diameter. They are really considered a national treasure, and the reports we have gotten back is that flames have gotten as close as one or two miles to these groves, but luckily, Kyra, so far, no closer than that -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, an important part of the ecosystem. James Hattori, thank you.

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