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CNN Live At Daybreak

Relief Finally Coming for Fires

Aired October 31, 2003 - 05:05   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 are more than 100,000 fire refugees now. Our Gary Tuchman has the story of one family who had a very close call.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The irony of the name of this street is lost on none of its residents, especially after a wall of flames came perilously close to destroying the houses at Smokewood Way.

MYRON BAKER, SMOKEWOOD WAY RESIDENT: It got pretty hot and scary.

TUCHMAN (on camera): How close was the fire to your house?

BAKER: Well, right across the street here, this whole hill was on fire, and behind there's a little bowl, sort of a little canyon behind. That all went up.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Myron Baker, his wife and three children moved into this house a half-hour north of Los Angeles just two weeks ago.

EILEEN BAKER, SMOKEWOOD WAY RESIDENT: I was quite afraid, after all our years of hard work that it would be gone up in smoke in just a very few minutes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Eileen Baker and two of her children, 13- year-old Christie (ph) and 10-year-old Jenna (ph) evacuated their home even before the flames came close. All three suffer from asthma.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was pretty scary. It was terrifying.

TUCHMAN: Mr. Baker and his 17-year-old son, Kevin, stayed behind to keep an eye on the house, but firefighters recommended they evacuate. They didn't have to pack many of their valuables because they were still in boxes from the move.

M. BAKER: It got hot here, actually. You could actually feel the heat.

TUCHMAN: But then the wind started to shift. The overworked firefighters began to successfully guide the flames away from the homes in Smokewood Way. They were safe, for now.

M. BAKER: We had firemen in the backyards, all along here, and they pretty much saved this area right here.

TUCHMAN: His girls will continue to live at their relatives', miles away from the fire, while there is still a threat. But the Baker men will continue to stay in their new home.

(on camera): Do you feel OK now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Are you still a little scared?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of.

TUCHMAN: Firefighters are offering no guarantees, but with a forecast of rain for Friday, there's a much higher comfort level as people go to bed on Thursday night compared to when they went to bed on Wednesday night.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Stevenson Ranch, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: I know we've been throwing a lot of numbers at you this morning, but they do deserve repeating. 20 deaths. More than 729,000 acres burned. At least 2,600 homes destroyed. More than 14,000 firefighters at work now, and preliminary damage estimate of $2 billion.

Almost to a person, fire victims say the important stuff to save are the family photos and the pets.

Heather Lucas, of CNN affiliate KFNB in San Diego, has one of those stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEATHER LUCAS, KFNB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're shaking, looking lost and confused. You can see it in their eyes. These animals have seen too much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could be walking in their hoofs and in their paws and the only help they have is what we do and we can give them.

LUCAS: That's why Janet Carlson (ph) is here. She stopped by to deliver hay and never left.

While donations pour in, the shelter is trying to house as many displaced and lost pets as possible.

(on camera): Of all the animals coming in to the animal shelter, there are many who've been injured. This little guy had some of his pads burned off on his feet. He came off of Cuyamaca Mountain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had one cat that came in that was severely burned. The owner brought it in and she was crying, and we had to put that animal down. It was very sad.

LUCAS (voice-over): But the Seiffert's (ph) cats are all safe. So are their seven dogs. They've been staying here since Sunday, the day their Lakeside home burned to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, right now I feel fortunate because I'm one of the lucky ones. I mean, I got my animals, and that means so much to me, and we're safe. And we'll rebuild.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because our animals were being taken care of here, we were able to do the steps necessary to get our lives back together and these -- they were invaluable. We don't know what else we would have done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report from Heather Lucas of CNN affiliate KFNB.

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 31, 2003 - 05:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: There are more than 100,000 fire refugees now. Our Gary Tuchman has the story of one family who had a very close call.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The irony of the name of this street is lost on none of its residents, especially after a wall of flames came perilously close to destroying the houses at Smokewood Way.

MYRON BAKER, SMOKEWOOD WAY RESIDENT: It got pretty hot and scary.

TUCHMAN (on camera): How close was the fire to your house?

BAKER: Well, right across the street here, this whole hill was on fire, and behind there's a little bowl, sort of a little canyon behind. That all went up.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Myron Baker, his wife and three children moved into this house a half-hour north of Los Angeles just two weeks ago.

EILEEN BAKER, SMOKEWOOD WAY RESIDENT: I was quite afraid, after all our years of hard work that it would be gone up in smoke in just a very few minutes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Eileen Baker and two of her children, 13- year-old Christie (ph) and 10-year-old Jenna (ph) evacuated their home even before the flames came close. All three suffer from asthma.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was pretty scary. It was terrifying.

TUCHMAN: Mr. Baker and his 17-year-old son, Kevin, stayed behind to keep an eye on the house, but firefighters recommended they evacuate. They didn't have to pack many of their valuables because they were still in boxes from the move.

M. BAKER: It got hot here, actually. You could actually feel the heat.

TUCHMAN: But then the wind started to shift. The overworked firefighters began to successfully guide the flames away from the homes in Smokewood Way. They were safe, for now.

M. BAKER: We had firemen in the backyards, all along here, and they pretty much saved this area right here.

TUCHMAN: His girls will continue to live at their relatives', miles away from the fire, while there is still a threat. But the Baker men will continue to stay in their new home.

(on camera): Do you feel OK now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Are you still a little scared?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of.

TUCHMAN: Firefighters are offering no guarantees, but with a forecast of rain for Friday, there's a much higher comfort level as people go to bed on Thursday night compared to when they went to bed on Wednesday night.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Stevenson Ranch, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: I know we've been throwing a lot of numbers at you this morning, but they do deserve repeating. 20 deaths. More than 729,000 acres burned. At least 2,600 homes destroyed. More than 14,000 firefighters at work now, and preliminary damage estimate of $2 billion.

Almost to a person, fire victims say the important stuff to save are the family photos and the pets.

Heather Lucas, of CNN affiliate KFNB in San Diego, has one of those stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEATHER LUCAS, KFNB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're shaking, looking lost and confused. You can see it in their eyes. These animals have seen too much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could be walking in their hoofs and in their paws and the only help they have is what we do and we can give them.

LUCAS: That's why Janet Carlson (ph) is here. She stopped by to deliver hay and never left.

While donations pour in, the shelter is trying to house as many displaced and lost pets as possible.

(on camera): Of all the animals coming in to the animal shelter, there are many who've been injured. This little guy had some of his pads burned off on his feet. He came off of Cuyamaca Mountain.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had one cat that came in that was severely burned. The owner brought it in and she was crying, and we had to put that animal down. It was very sad.

LUCAS (voice-over): But the Seiffert's (ph) cats are all safe. So are their seven dogs. They've been staying here since Sunday, the day their Lakeside home burned to the ground.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, right now I feel fortunate because I'm one of the lucky ones. I mean, I got my animals, and that means so much to me, and we're safe. And we'll rebuild.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because our animals were being taken care of here, we were able to do the steps necessary to get our lives back together and these -- they were invaluable. We don't know what else we would have done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That report from Heather Lucas of CNN affiliate KFNB.

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