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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Melody Lardner
Aired October 26, 2003 - 07:32 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: On the West Coast of the state in Southern California, an ongoing natural disaster. At least two deaths, both related to stress of seeing their homes burn are being blamed on those wildfires.
The fires have destroyed more than 200 homes in Waterman Canyon near the San Bernadino Mountains. Another 12 homes are threatened by those fires.
In all, National Forest Service officials say more than 37,000 acres have burned. It is early right now in California, but these wild fires are keeping a lot of people awake and of course on edge.
We are now going to check in for some of the latest developments. We're joined now by Melody Lardner. She is the fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service out in San Bernadino. She's joining us on the phone from southern California.
Good morning, Melody. I am sure it has been a long night for you out there. Thanks for joining us this morning.
MELODY LARDNER, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Yes, it was a very long day and long night.
CALLEBS: What can you tell us about the situation? I understand that the Santa Ana winds have died down somewhat overnight. Is that still the case? And are firefighters able to use this time, perhaps this lull, to attack these lines?
LARDNER: Well, the winds would not have an effect on our crews being out there. There would still be hand crews out there, taking care of the fires. During the day, the winds have an effect on our air attack.
CALLEBS: And what's the situation now? What has the night been like?
LARDNER: We -- on the old fire, it has still been spreading. And we have additional evacuations in the mountains, but we have no reported structure loss in area.
CALLEBS: And what are people going to wake up to? What is the situation like out there? How many people do you have on the ground? And what are you able to do, to knock back -- I mean as we look as these dramatic pictures, it just looks horribly frightening. And like crews are simply overwhelmed. LARDNER: You know, all of my figures on the crews won't come in 'til a little bit later. But yes, we are worried about the winds again during the day on Sunday. And the fire...
CALLEBS: And what about -- let's talk about the situation with the power lines, things of that nature out there. And also, we saw that one firenado come out of the playground fire. How often does something like that come up?
LARDNER: You know, I don't have information on that. I didn't see the picture you're referring to.
CALLEBS: OK, let's talk about power lines then. What can you tell us about the situation there?
LARDNER: We have had power outages in many of the mountain communities. And we've had power flickering in many other areas.
CALLEBS: OK, Melody Lardner, obviously very tired. I'm sure it's been a very stressful couple of days for you out there. And best of luck with the crews out there.
LARDNER: OK.
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 October 26, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: On the West Coast of the state in Southern California, an ongoing natural disaster. At least two deaths, both related to stress of seeing their homes burn are being blamed on those wildfires.
The fires have destroyed more than 200 homes in Waterman Canyon near the San Bernadino Mountains. Another 12 homes are threatened by those fires.
In all, National Forest Service officials say more than 37,000 acres have burned. It is early right now in California, but these wild fires are keeping a lot of people awake and of course on edge.
We are now going to check in for some of the latest developments. We're joined now by Melody Lardner. She is the fire information officer with the U.S. Forest Service out in San Bernadino. She's joining us on the phone from southern California.
Good morning, Melody. I am sure it has been a long night for you out there. Thanks for joining us this morning.
MELODY LARDNER, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Yes, it was a very long day and long night.
CALLEBS: What can you tell us about the situation? I understand that the Santa Ana winds have died down somewhat overnight. Is that still the case? And are firefighters able to use this time, perhaps this lull, to attack these lines?
LARDNER: Well, the winds would not have an effect on our crews being out there. There would still be hand crews out there, taking care of the fires. During the day, the winds have an effect on our air attack.
CALLEBS: And what's the situation now? What has the night been like?
LARDNER: We -- on the old fire, it has still been spreading. And we have additional evacuations in the mountains, but we have no reported structure loss in area.
CALLEBS: And what are people going to wake up to? What is the situation like out there? How many people do you have on the ground? And what are you able to do, to knock back -- I mean as we look as these dramatic pictures, it just looks horribly frightening. And like crews are simply overwhelmed. LARDNER: You know, all of my figures on the crews won't come in 'til a little bit later. But yes, we are worried about the winds again during the day on Sunday. And the fire...
CALLEBS: And what about -- let's talk about the situation with the power lines, things of that nature out there. And also, we saw that one firenado come out of the playground fire. How often does something like that come up?
LARDNER: You know, I don't have information on that. I didn't see the picture you're referring to.
CALLEBS: OK, let's talk about power lines then. What can you tell us about the situation there?
LARDNER: We have had power outages in many of the mountain communities. And we've had power flickering in many other areas.
CALLEBS: OK, Melody Lardner, obviously very tired. I'm sure it's been a very stressful couple of days for you out there. And best of luck with the crews out there.
LARDNER: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
