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CNN Live At Daybreak
California Wildfires: Frustration Mounts
Aired October 30, 2003 - 06:31 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: There is a fascinating quote in today's "Los Angeles Times" about fighting those fires. It's from a spokesperson from the U.S. Forest Service, who says I can't decide if I'm on the Titanic or whether everything is going well and I'm overreacting.
We want to go live to Keith Oppenheim to talk more about the frustration in fighting this fire.
Good morning -- Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: How are the winds this morning?
OPPENHEIM: They are pretty intense. The weather is a mixed bag. We tried to get this location and actually get a little bit closer to some of the homes that were burned, but we ran into such intense fog, couldn't see where we were going. But that fog that made it difficult for us to see is actually moisture in the air, and along with the cooler temperatures, that helped.
But the wind is the culprit, and it's continuing to blow the fire into areas where the firefighters have been trying to stop the fire -- specifically a neighborhood not far from here called Cedar Glen, where there are many mountain resort community homes, and a lot of them had been consumed by the fire during the night.
COSTELLO: Yes, you're actually in Lake Arrowhead. The interesting thing, you know, you talk about the wind. Firefighters, you know, prepare their lines to fight the fire in accordance to which way the wind is blowing, and then the wind suddenly changes direction and those fire lines don't matter anymore.
OPPENHEIM: Well, they try to prepare for that, Carol. They had a number of backfires that they set along the mountainside. If you remember a couple of days ago when we had this sort of dramatic background as I was speaking to you that was near the rim of the World High School. And it was down the mountainside that they tried to set these backfires to prevent the upward assault.
But instead of the Santa Ana winds blowing the fire downward, you had onshore winds blowing the wind -- rather, the fire upward. And fire moves very quickly uphill, so those backfires essentially didn't do the job.
COSTELLO: And the firefighters have got to be exhausted by now. They're working around the clock. We saw pictures earlier of firefighters just collapsed in fields sleeping.
OPPENHEIM: And keep in mind the number of firefighters in the state of California is more than 13,000. That's a very impressive figure. But Governor Davis, Gray Davis, is asking for reinforcements from other parts of the country, because these folks need a break.
COSTELLO: Yes, and I would imagine that other firefighters would be eager to go to help. Keith Oppenheim reporting live from Lake Arrowhead, California, this morning.
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 30, 2003 - 06:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There is a fascinating quote in today's "Los Angeles Times" about fighting those fires. It's from a spokesperson from the U.S. Forest Service, who says I can't decide if I'm on the Titanic or whether everything is going well and I'm overreacting.
We want to go live to Keith Oppenheim to talk more about the frustration in fighting this fire.
Good morning -- Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.
COSTELLO: How are the winds this morning?
OPPENHEIM: They are pretty intense. The weather is a mixed bag. We tried to get this location and actually get a little bit closer to some of the homes that were burned, but we ran into such intense fog, couldn't see where we were going. But that fog that made it difficult for us to see is actually moisture in the air, and along with the cooler temperatures, that helped.
But the wind is the culprit, and it's continuing to blow the fire into areas where the firefighters have been trying to stop the fire -- specifically a neighborhood not far from here called Cedar Glen, where there are many mountain resort community homes, and a lot of them had been consumed by the fire during the night.
COSTELLO: Yes, you're actually in Lake Arrowhead. The interesting thing, you know, you talk about the wind. Firefighters, you know, prepare their lines to fight the fire in accordance to which way the wind is blowing, and then the wind suddenly changes direction and those fire lines don't matter anymore.
OPPENHEIM: Well, they try to prepare for that, Carol. They had a number of backfires that they set along the mountainside. If you remember a couple of days ago when we had this sort of dramatic background as I was speaking to you that was near the rim of the World High School. And it was down the mountainside that they tried to set these backfires to prevent the upward assault.
But instead of the Santa Ana winds blowing the fire downward, you had onshore winds blowing the wind -- rather, the fire upward. And fire moves very quickly uphill, so those backfires essentially didn't do the job.
COSTELLO: And the firefighters have got to be exhausted by now. They're working around the clock. We saw pictures earlier of firefighters just collapsed in fields sleeping.
OPPENHEIM: And keep in mind the number of firefighters in the state of California is more than 13,000. That's a very impressive figure. But Governor Davis, Gray Davis, is asking for reinforcements from other parts of the country, because these folks need a break.
COSTELLO: Yes, and I would imagine that other firefighters would be eager to go to help. Keith Oppenheim reporting live from Lake Arrowhead, California, this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
