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CNN Live Today

Interview with Ed Gilliland

Aired September 02, 2002 - 13:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A wildfire that sent thousands of holiday campers running for their lives has grown to 10,000 acres now, burning out of control at Angeles National Forest near Azusa, California about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. And another fire, this one in the city's northwest suburb shut down part of Interstate 5 today.
We have Ed Gilliland from the Forest Service on the phone with us for an update. Ed, what can you tell us? What is the status of the fires now?

ED GILLILAND, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Well, Kyra, we've got two fires burning on the forest, both have no estimate of containment. We have a very hot, windy day that we are looking at today, and both of these fires are causing us problems.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm reading reports of 100-foot flame lengths. Can you explain us to how aggressive that is?

GILLILAND: Very aggressive. Yesterday afternoon, we had the fire in San Gabriel Canyon that grew in a matter of six to eight hours to 10,000 acres. That is a very aggressive fire.

PHILLIPS: Any indication of how this all got started?

GILLILAND: Not at this time. We are still investigating that. There was a lot of lightning in the area, but we don't have a cause as of yet.

PHILLIPS: This has been definitely a difficult year for firefighters and resources. How are conditions in these areas affecting resources, and man and woman power?

GILLILAND: It is very dry. We are looking at a busy season. We have started to relieve some folks from other states. So right now, we are able to get sufficient resources to these fires.

PHILLIPS: What about evacuations, Ed? Can you tell me exactly where, and are homes, a number of homes and trailers in addition to camp sites being evacuated? Who needs to be worried right now, Ed?

GILLILAND: The San Gabriel Canyon has many recreation cabins in the canyon. Those are the home owners that are very concerned about their cabins. We know at least one of them has been lost. We haven't got a good assessment, but that's the area of concern.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Gilliland, U.S. Forest Service. Thank you, sir.

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