Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

California Wildfires: State in Flames

Aired October 29, 2003 - 07:04   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The director of California's Department of Forestry is calling these fires an extraordinary 100- year event -- at least 13 wildfires now burning. In some areas the flames are feeding on millions of dead trees which were killed by drought and insect infestation.
The number of homes destroyed now is just under 2,000. More than 600,000 acres have burned. Sixteen people now have been killed. Officials are actually predicting that that number could rise if more bodies are discovered in burned-out homes.

We've got two reports for you this morning. Daryn Kagan is live for us at Stevenson Ranch, north of Los Angeles. Jeff Flock is life in Alpine, which is just east of San Diego.

Daryn -- let's begin with you.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, when you look at the scene behind me, incredible, but fire officials tell me this fire is doing exactly what they want it to do at this hour. It might be hard to believe if this is your home.

Let's give you a perspective shot right now and show you how close this is actually burning to homes. We're right, as you said, in the Stevenson Ranch area. But what fire officials were explaining to me, this fire is burning slowly, it's coming down the hill and it seems to be somewhat controlled. Also, we're in an area of new construction. You can see the roofs there, red tile roofs.

Still, there were evacuations in this neighborhood beginning at about 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Many of those people have come back. We'll have a chance to talk with them later this morning about why they're here and if they're concerned for their homes.

As we look forward to today, what they're actually hoping for, believe it or not, these fire officials tell me, a slight Santa Ana wind would be nice. Because what's that going to do? It's going to push this fire back up into the canyon, back into another canyon where I actually was yesterday, where they burned it out and they'll be able to control it.

If they get normal wind conditions, about 5 to 10 miles an hour southwest, it's going to head that direction. That's Santa Clarita, hundreds of homes over that ridge.

So, once again, as the sun will be coming up here in a couple of hours, they'll be looking to Mother Nature to see how they attack it and which way the luck and the wind will go.

Soledad -- back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right, Daryn, thanks. We're going to, of course, continue to check in with you throughout the morning to see exactly what progress is being made or, in some cases, not made. Daryn, thanks.

Jeff Flock, as we mentioned, is live for us in Alpine, California.

Jeff -- good morning.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.

Just to the east of Alpine, actually along Interstate 8, this is a major throughway that's been shut down. Perhaps you see part of the reason why up there. They're still pouring water on what was a spot fire that sprung up right underneath Interstate 8, almost making it impassable at one point.

The fight is back on today, because we've got winds again, and it is lighting up this entire canyon. There is 18 miles worth of fire line that runs from here on up towards Julian. Maybe you see some of the glow and some of the flames here breaking out now. This kind of tells you what happens when you start to get the wind. The last two days the winds were abating, and it really gave firefighters a break. But now, with the wind blowing, it really starts to kick up these embers, a lot of very dry timber out here and a lot of fire.

We tried to make it in up to the town of Julian. And maybe, Spike (ph), if you continue on to the right, you see some fresh flames out there. I don't know if you can it with your naked eye. Maybe you can get into it. This is on towards Julian. There is another 18, maybe 20 miles to go before you hit there. We tried to get up there, but a telephone pole had burned down, bringing power line sand some phone lines down across the road. We're going to try to get in up there later.

But at this point, here is where we are, again along Interstate 8, which at this point, Soledad, is shut down to traffic.

Back to you.

O'BRIEN: Well, Jeff, it certainly looks like the fight moves to Julian today, and certainly there are lots of historic buildings I know that they're trying to save. So, hopefully some firefighters will have some good efforts there. Jeff Flock for us just outside of Alpine, California, this morning. Jeff, thanks, and, of course, we will check in with you throughout the morning.

Earlier this morning, I spoke with the director of the Emergency Services for the governor of California. His name is Dallas Jones, and I asked him to give us a sense of the accomplishments overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DALLAS JONES, DIR., GOV.'S OFFICE EMERGENCY SERVICES: Well, we've got all of our aircraft are fueled and ready to go for another very aggressive day of aerial firefighting.

O'BRIEN: Any of the fires anywhere near contained? The reports that we read and from what we can see it looks like many of them or most of them are just burning out of control at this point.

JONES: Well, we've gained containment on one of the fires, which was one of the smaller ones down by the Mexican border. It's fully contained. We have gained some containment on some of the other fires, but the figures aren't to any percentage that gives you any comfort -- probably as high as maybe 20-25 percent. But we're aggressively working on getting lines around some of these other fires, so that we can divert those resources to the priority fires that are wreaking havoc.

O'BRIEN: Where is the worst damage at this hour?

JONES: Currently, the worst damage is in San Diego County, the Cedar Fire, and additionally in the fire in San Bernardino County that’s threatening the community of Arrowhead.

O'BRIEN: And where -- and tell me how the weather is helping or hurting you, as the case may be. I know that yesterday we had a little bit of good news in the weather. What's it look like for today and really the next couple of days?

JONES: Well, you're correct. Actually, starting yesterday, the offshore breezes have diminished, and now we've had onshore breezes. The good news with that is it brings a lowering of the humidity and a lowering of the temperatures. And, of course, that helps our firefighters, but it also helps our aircraft pilots. Their air drops are more accurate and their turnaround times get improved.

O'BRIEN: What's the strategy, when you're fighting so many fires and they're so big and so little percentage is contained so far, is it just a defensive posture, protect as many homes and structures as possible? What's the plan?

JONES: Yes, by and large that's the case -- to protect structures. The priorities are life, property, and then certainly putting out the fires as we can. The aggressive firefighting that we do here in California with wind-driven fires calls for a flanking strategy. If you get out in front of those wind-driven fires, you very likely will not survive. When the wind diminishes, then we can start making stands at ridges, roads and those sorts of things, where we have a chance of stopping some of the advance of these flames. And that's been actively engaged in for at least the last 36 hours.

O'BRIEN: At the same time, you've got firefighters who are literally working around the clock in these terrible conditions. How are they holding up across the board?

JONES: You know, these young men and women that are on these fire lines, it's amazing. We traveled these fires with Governor Davis yesterday and with the FEMA Director Brown, and their spirits are high. They grab a couple of hours' nap, and they're ready to go again.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the number of acres that are on fire. And is that more than there has been in the past? What numbers are we looking at?

JONES: Well, we unfortunately this evening exceeded 600,000 acres cumulative total on these fires that we've been working on.

O'BRIEN: Well, 600,000 acres, some people said that's, what, about the size of the state of Rhode Island at this point? Some of the fires, we've been told, are believed to have been arson. How many of the fires do you think that you're fighting are arson fires?

JONES: We have a number of the fires that are considered suspicious in origin. That will take a little bit further investigation on some of them. We know one was caused by a hunter, who shot up a flare after he became lost. We are relatively certain that least two of them are arson fires, and law enforcement is aggressively pursuing those individuals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Dallas Jones talking to us from the Office of Emergency Services this morning. Obviously just a huge road ahead of the firefighters who are really working like mad to try to get a handle on the situation out there.

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 29, 2003 - 07:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The director of California's Department of Forestry is calling these fires an extraordinary 100- year event -- at least 13 wildfires now burning. In some areas the flames are feeding on millions of dead trees which were killed by drought and insect infestation.
The number of homes destroyed now is just under 2,000. More than 600,000 acres have burned. Sixteen people now have been killed. Officials are actually predicting that that number could rise if more bodies are discovered in burned-out homes.

We've got two reports for you this morning. Daryn Kagan is live for us at Stevenson Ranch, north of Los Angeles. Jeff Flock is life in Alpine, which is just east of San Diego.

Daryn -- let's begin with you.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, when you look at the scene behind me, incredible, but fire officials tell me this fire is doing exactly what they want it to do at this hour. It might be hard to believe if this is your home.

Let's give you a perspective shot right now and show you how close this is actually burning to homes. We're right, as you said, in the Stevenson Ranch area. But what fire officials were explaining to me, this fire is burning slowly, it's coming down the hill and it seems to be somewhat controlled. Also, we're in an area of new construction. You can see the roofs there, red tile roofs.

Still, there were evacuations in this neighborhood beginning at about 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon. Many of those people have come back. We'll have a chance to talk with them later this morning about why they're here and if they're concerned for their homes.

As we look forward to today, what they're actually hoping for, believe it or not, these fire officials tell me, a slight Santa Ana wind would be nice. Because what's that going to do? It's going to push this fire back up into the canyon, back into another canyon where I actually was yesterday, where they burned it out and they'll be able to control it.

If they get normal wind conditions, about 5 to 10 miles an hour southwest, it's going to head that direction. That's Santa Clarita, hundreds of homes over that ridge.

So, once again, as the sun will be coming up here in a couple of hours, they'll be looking to Mother Nature to see how they attack it and which way the luck and the wind will go.

Soledad -- back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right, Daryn, thanks. We're going to, of course, continue to check in with you throughout the morning to see exactly what progress is being made or, in some cases, not made. Daryn, thanks.

Jeff Flock, as we mentioned, is live for us in Alpine, California.

Jeff -- good morning.

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.

Just to the east of Alpine, actually along Interstate 8, this is a major throughway that's been shut down. Perhaps you see part of the reason why up there. They're still pouring water on what was a spot fire that sprung up right underneath Interstate 8, almost making it impassable at one point.

The fight is back on today, because we've got winds again, and it is lighting up this entire canyon. There is 18 miles worth of fire line that runs from here on up towards Julian. Maybe you see some of the glow and some of the flames here breaking out now. This kind of tells you what happens when you start to get the wind. The last two days the winds were abating, and it really gave firefighters a break. But now, with the wind blowing, it really starts to kick up these embers, a lot of very dry timber out here and a lot of fire.

We tried to make it in up to the town of Julian. And maybe, Spike (ph), if you continue on to the right, you see some fresh flames out there. I don't know if you can it with your naked eye. Maybe you can get into it. This is on towards Julian. There is another 18, maybe 20 miles to go before you hit there. We tried to get up there, but a telephone pole had burned down, bringing power line sand some phone lines down across the road. We're going to try to get in up there later.

But at this point, here is where we are, again along Interstate 8, which at this point, Soledad, is shut down to traffic.

Back to you.

O'BRIEN: Well, Jeff, it certainly looks like the fight moves to Julian today, and certainly there are lots of historic buildings I know that they're trying to save. So, hopefully some firefighters will have some good efforts there. Jeff Flock for us just outside of Alpine, California, this morning. Jeff, thanks, and, of course, we will check in with you throughout the morning.

Earlier this morning, I spoke with the director of the Emergency Services for the governor of California. His name is Dallas Jones, and I asked him to give us a sense of the accomplishments overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DALLAS JONES, DIR., GOV.'S OFFICE EMERGENCY SERVICES: Well, we've got all of our aircraft are fueled and ready to go for another very aggressive day of aerial firefighting.

O'BRIEN: Any of the fires anywhere near contained? The reports that we read and from what we can see it looks like many of them or most of them are just burning out of control at this point.

JONES: Well, we've gained containment on one of the fires, which was one of the smaller ones down by the Mexican border. It's fully contained. We have gained some containment on some of the other fires, but the figures aren't to any percentage that gives you any comfort -- probably as high as maybe 20-25 percent. But we're aggressively working on getting lines around some of these other fires, so that we can divert those resources to the priority fires that are wreaking havoc.

O'BRIEN: Where is the worst damage at this hour?

JONES: Currently, the worst damage is in San Diego County, the Cedar Fire, and additionally in the fire in San Bernardino County that’s threatening the community of Arrowhead.

O'BRIEN: And where -- and tell me how the weather is helping or hurting you, as the case may be. I know that yesterday we had a little bit of good news in the weather. What's it look like for today and really the next couple of days?

JONES: Well, you're correct. Actually, starting yesterday, the offshore breezes have diminished, and now we've had onshore breezes. The good news with that is it brings a lowering of the humidity and a lowering of the temperatures. And, of course, that helps our firefighters, but it also helps our aircraft pilots. Their air drops are more accurate and their turnaround times get improved.

O'BRIEN: What's the strategy, when you're fighting so many fires and they're so big and so little percentage is contained so far, is it just a defensive posture, protect as many homes and structures as possible? What's the plan?

JONES: Yes, by and large that's the case -- to protect structures. The priorities are life, property, and then certainly putting out the fires as we can. The aggressive firefighting that we do here in California with wind-driven fires calls for a flanking strategy. If you get out in front of those wind-driven fires, you very likely will not survive. When the wind diminishes, then we can start making stands at ridges, roads and those sorts of things, where we have a chance of stopping some of the advance of these flames. And that's been actively engaged in for at least the last 36 hours.

O'BRIEN: At the same time, you've got firefighters who are literally working around the clock in these terrible conditions. How are they holding up across the board?

JONES: You know, these young men and women that are on these fire lines, it's amazing. We traveled these fires with Governor Davis yesterday and with the FEMA Director Brown, and their spirits are high. They grab a couple of hours' nap, and they're ready to go again.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of the number of acres that are on fire. And is that more than there has been in the past? What numbers are we looking at?

JONES: Well, we unfortunately this evening exceeded 600,000 acres cumulative total on these fires that we've been working on.

O'BRIEN: Well, 600,000 acres, some people said that's, what, about the size of the state of Rhode Island at this point? Some of the fires, we've been told, are believed to have been arson. How many of the fires do you think that you're fighting are arson fires?

JONES: We have a number of the fires that are considered suspicious in origin. That will take a little bit further investigation on some of them. We know one was caused by a hunter, who shot up a flare after he became lost. We are relatively certain that least two of them are arson fires, and law enforcement is aggressively pursuing those individuals.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: That was Dallas Jones talking to us from the Office of Emergency Services this morning. Obviously just a huge road ahead of the firefighters who are really working like mad to try to get a handle on the situation out there.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.