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CNN Live At Daybreak
Fire in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Aired June 26, 2003 - 06:52 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, all morning long we've been talking about that big fire in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Live on the line right now we have somebody from the Albuquerque Fire Department, Lieutenant Lynn Rule.
Good morning, Lieutenant Rule.
LT. RULE, ALBUQUERQUE FIRE DEPARTMENT: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Tell us about the fire, where it is now exactly, because we understand it has jumped the banks of the Rio Grande.
RULE: Yes, we've been battling this fire for over 37 hours. Initially, we had it pretty well knocked down yesterday afternoon. And then about seven o'clock last night, we had a possible flare up due to the wind. We've had winds gusting up to 35 miles an hour.
COSTELLO: Exactly where is the fire? Is it in the middle of Albuquerque? Is it on the edges?
RULE: Yes, it's pretty unique the way Albuquerque is designed. We have our, the river that goes basically down the middle of town and a large cottonwood forest which we call the Bosque -- it's one of the largest cottonwood forests in the world -- on each side of the river. The fire started down there. We've been extremely dry and the winds have just been rough and they've been, it's been pushing the fire off each bank of the river.
COSTELLO: How close is it to homes and businesses in Albuquerque?
RULE: It's been a real challenge for our firefights. We've had threatened several homes. We had a school where it -- flames were actually licking the walls of the school. Our firefights got in there and protected the building. And we actually haven't lost any buildings today. We did lose one house under construction yesterday.
COSTELLO: How are you keeping this fire under control?
RULE: Well, at nighttime basically what we have to do, we have a wild land firefights. We protect the perimeters and make sure that it doesn't extend past the perimeters. Once the sun comes up, we'll be sending firefights to the interior. They will make their attack. And also we plan on having choppers come in and drop water.
COSTELLO: We'd had reports that this fire was started by kids. RULE: Well, that -- there's no confirmation on that. The fire that we initially started Tuesday afternoon, we are suspecting fireworks on that fire.
COSTELLO: Oh, somebody playing around with fireworks and it just sparked this big massive blaze?
RULE: Well, it's so dry here right now. We are really recommending people here in Albuquerque don't use fireworks and actually for the Fourth of July we hope they go to the public display.
COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say about the Fourth of July? You're going to go on with the fireworks show, did you say?
RULE: Yes, we'll have a big fireworks show here and we're trying to encourage the public to go to the show instead of having their own fireworks at home. It's just so dry and so dangerous right now.
COSTELLO: All right, well, good luck to you.
RULE: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Lieutenant Lynn Rule, joining us live on the line from the Albuquerque Fire Department.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 26, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, all morning long we've been talking about that big fire in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Live on the line right now we have somebody from the Albuquerque Fire Department, Lieutenant Lynn Rule.
Good morning, Lieutenant Rule.
LT. RULE, ALBUQUERQUE FIRE DEPARTMENT: Good morning.
COSTELLO: Tell us about the fire, where it is now exactly, because we understand it has jumped the banks of the Rio Grande.
RULE: Yes, we've been battling this fire for over 37 hours. Initially, we had it pretty well knocked down yesterday afternoon. And then about seven o'clock last night, we had a possible flare up due to the wind. We've had winds gusting up to 35 miles an hour.
COSTELLO: Exactly where is the fire? Is it in the middle of Albuquerque? Is it on the edges?
RULE: Yes, it's pretty unique the way Albuquerque is designed. We have our, the river that goes basically down the middle of town and a large cottonwood forest which we call the Bosque -- it's one of the largest cottonwood forests in the world -- on each side of the river. The fire started down there. We've been extremely dry and the winds have just been rough and they've been, it's been pushing the fire off each bank of the river.
COSTELLO: How close is it to homes and businesses in Albuquerque?
RULE: It's been a real challenge for our firefights. We've had threatened several homes. We had a school where it -- flames were actually licking the walls of the school. Our firefights got in there and protected the building. And we actually haven't lost any buildings today. We did lose one house under construction yesterday.
COSTELLO: How are you keeping this fire under control?
RULE: Well, at nighttime basically what we have to do, we have a wild land firefights. We protect the perimeters and make sure that it doesn't extend past the perimeters. Once the sun comes up, we'll be sending firefights to the interior. They will make their attack. And also we plan on having choppers come in and drop water.
COSTELLO: We'd had reports that this fire was started by kids. RULE: Well, that -- there's no confirmation on that. The fire that we initially started Tuesday afternoon, we are suspecting fireworks on that fire.
COSTELLO: Oh, somebody playing around with fireworks and it just sparked this big massive blaze?
RULE: Well, it's so dry here right now. We are really recommending people here in Albuquerque don't use fireworks and actually for the Fourth of July we hope they go to the public display.
COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say about the Fourth of July? You're going to go on with the fireworks show, did you say?
RULE: Yes, we'll have a big fireworks show here and we're trying to encourage the public to go to the show instead of having their own fireworks at home. It's just so dry and so dangerous right now.
COSTELLO: All right, well, good luck to you.
RULE: Thank you.
COSTELLO: Lieutenant Lynn Rule, joining us live on the line from the Albuquerque Fire Department.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
