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CNN Live At Daybreak
Nearly a Dozen Wildfires Burning in Southern California
Aired October 27, 2003 - 05:30 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a disastrous past few days for thousands of people. Nearly a dozen wildfires are burning through large parts of southern California. As people retreated, the flames moved in to claim hundreds of homes. Governor Gray Davis has now expanded the disaster area to include four counties, including Los Angeles and San Diego. More than 7,000 firefighters have been called in to battle the blazes.
The fires spread quickly through many neighborhoods, leaving homeowners with as little as 15 minutes to get away.
Our Frank Buckley was in one of those communities and he files this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fires ravaged hundreds of thousands of acres across four different counties in southern California -- Ventura County to the north, San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties and south to San Diego County. More than 550 homes were lost, many of the homes looking like this one. This is what people came home to here in this community of Claremont, where they returned to find complete devastation.
The people here, fortunately, survived. But as you can see, their home did not. Many of these people evacuated with very little notice, took what they could and came back to losses that can only be described as priceless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our letters and our annuals and pictures when we were babies. And it's not about the value of a washer or a Mustang, it's just about things meaning something because they are part of your life.
BUCKLEY: In San Diego County, four separate fires burned this weekend and there, Mayor Dick Murphy asked the NFL to please either postpone or move the Monday night football game that was scheduled for San Diego tonight. And, in fact, the NFL has responded. It is moving the Monday night football game scheduled for tonight in San Diego, moving it to Phoenix, Arizona. So the game between San Diego and the Miami Dolphins will be held tonight in Arizona.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Claremont, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The California wildfires have messed up air travel, as well. In the San Diego area, a fire on the Marine Corps Miramar Air Station forced evacuation of the FAA's southern California radar terminal. Planes scheduled to fly to Los Angeles and other regional airports were grounded for several hours. And that set off a domino effect of flight delays all across the country.
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 27, 2003 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a disastrous past few days for thousands of people. Nearly a dozen wildfires are burning through large parts of southern California. As people retreated, the flames moved in to claim hundreds of homes. Governor Gray Davis has now expanded the disaster area to include four counties, including Los Angeles and San Diego. More than 7,000 firefighters have been called in to battle the blazes.
The fires spread quickly through many neighborhoods, leaving homeowners with as little as 15 minutes to get away.
Our Frank Buckley was in one of those communities and he files this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fires ravaged hundreds of thousands of acres across four different counties in southern California -- Ventura County to the north, San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties and south to San Diego County. More than 550 homes were lost, many of the homes looking like this one. This is what people came home to here in this community of Claremont, where they returned to find complete devastation.
The people here, fortunately, survived. But as you can see, their home did not. Many of these people evacuated with very little notice, took what they could and came back to losses that can only be described as priceless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our letters and our annuals and pictures when we were babies. And it's not about the value of a washer or a Mustang, it's just about things meaning something because they are part of your life.
BUCKLEY: In San Diego County, four separate fires burned this weekend and there, Mayor Dick Murphy asked the NFL to please either postpone or move the Monday night football game that was scheduled for San Diego tonight. And, in fact, the NFL has responded. It is moving the Monday night football game scheduled for tonight in San Diego, moving it to Phoenix, Arizona. So the game between San Diego and the Miami Dolphins will be held tonight in Arizona.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Claremont, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The California wildfires have messed up air travel, as well. In the San Diego area, a fire on the Marine Corps Miramar Air Station forced evacuation of the FAA's southern California radar terminal. Planes scheduled to fly to Los Angeles and other regional airports were grounded for several hours. And that set off a domino effect of flight delays all across the country.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
