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Southern California Fires

Aired October 24, 2007 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on this Wednesday, October 24th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Hoping for a break in the California wildfires. Firefighters look for a shift of wind. Evacuees look for a shift of scenery. But will they have homes to go back to?

HARRIS: Federal response. President Bush teleconferencing today before heading to California tomorrow.

COLLINS: And big jam on I-5. Smoke from a controlled back burn shut down part of a busy highway. Back open now.

The story in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Once again, want to show you these amazing pictures. Santiago Canyon, California, KTLA, with the aerial view here.

Boy, help me here. This was a little more ominous maybe just a couple of moments ago, but still amazing pictures of just how close the wildfire is to that set of homes there in the canyon. Just unbelievable.

We keep talking about getting an indication that the winds are dying down a bit, that we might get an onshore flow that will raise the humidity and certainly help firefighters as they battle the 15 to 17 fires burning right now, but it is still -- this reminds us, this picture right here certainly reminds us that it is still a very dangerous situation for a number of homeowners. Their homes very much in danger here from these wildfires.

And you can see very vividly from this picture here, all it takes is just a little shift in wind direction. And we're talking about homes here that would be under siege from these wildfires.

Just dramatic pictures from our affiliate KTLA in southern California.

The story now, hope may be a bit, well, on the horizon, but for thousands, the next several hours will mean absolutely everything. More than a dozen wildfires sweeping across the landscape before Mother Nature can deliver some much-needed relief maybe later today.

Almost 1,500 homes have already burned to the ground. Close to a million people are on the run, trying to stay one step ahead of the flames. Many have lost everything. Some will suffer that same fate in the coming hours. Exhausted residents and battle-weary firefighters slog into a fourth day of a growing crisis.

CNN correspondents are fanned out across the region focusing on the fires, the evacuees, the firefighters, and the volunteers.

COLLINS: Across southern California, more than 900,000 people have left their homes, almost a million people. Many of them are hunkered down at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium.

Our Kiran Chetry is there and has been talking to some of those people.

You know, it seems like, Kiran, they're really trying to make the best of a terrible situation there.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN COLLINS: Yes, they are, and they're getting the help of thousands of volunteers, simply people that happen to live in the area who said today, "I wanted to be able to do something and help out others in need of my community." And so here they came.

We have seen them filing in since about 3:00 in the morning local time here. And about two hours after that the paper came in, the "Los Angeles Times," and everyone has been grabbing their copy, because as you mentioned the headline, 1,155 homes and counting. And this is a picture of one of the neighborhoods in Rancho Bernardo, of course the neighborhood of San Diego that had to be evacuated.

Many people here are from Rancho Bernardo, and they take a look at this, and we've heard them walking around asking each other, "Is this -- do you think this is our neighborhood?" And the other thing is, as you can see, all of these homes burned, and then one here on the side and one here on the side still standing. Just so arbitrary as to whether or not people have something to go back to or whether or not they're going back to ash and rubble.

What they're trying to do here at Qualcomm Stadium is to soften that blow any way they can by making sure people are -- number one, have their basic needs tended to, cots to sleep in, warm breakfast, hot meals, hot coffee, things like that. And also, the other thing that people need, of course, is information.

Not knowing is sometimes the hardest part, and so there's been quite an effort in place to make sure that people are getting that type of information. Access to Internet e-mail, as well as a Web community that's popped up, SanDiegoFire.info, where people can find out, neighborhood to neighborhood, whether or not their houses are still standing.

Some people who are joining me now got the good news this morning -- Reggie Velasquez, along with Raymond (ph), his 9-year-old son and Kylie (ph), his 6-year-old daughter.

You guys were also evacuated from the Rancho Bernardo community on Monday. What did you learn today about your home?

REGGIE VELASQUEZ, EVACUEE: Well, we kind of learned -- actually yesterday afternoon one of the newsman happens to be our neighbor. And he went by his house and his house was fine. He said all my neighbors' homes are fine.

So there was definitely some jubilation there. We're not going to feel great until they say we can go home and we can walk in our door and we can see it for ourselves, that it's all there, basically.

CHETRY: In the meantime, this has sort of been home. Qualcomm Stadium usually a place where you go to cheer on the Chargers. And instead, it's been your home for a couple of days. How's it been?

VELASQUEZ: Well, we have 50 yard line seats, but there's no football game going on. You know, it's been as good as it can be. Great.

We have probably eaten more here than we ate all last week. Shouldn't have bought groceries this weekend.

There's been activities for the kids, volunteers. My older son ended up -- he's not here right now -- but he ended up volunteering and helping. And, you know, there's blankets, there's cots, there's activities. There's been music.

And it's almost like we didn't go camping this year, but this is about as close as it got. So...

CHETRY: You know, and you have such a great attitude about it. A lot of people that are here share that same attitude. So, as you said, you guys are here because you had to evacuate, and your son ends up volunteering.

VELASQUEZ: Right.

CHETRY: It seems like the community spirit here really is what's helping people get through this.

VELASQUEZ: We think so. My son ended up -- he was asking me when he was evacuating. He was in tears asking me, "Dad, is this a dream?" I go, "No, son, I need you to be strong." So he ended up really working hard. And him and another older brother, they loaded everything up, and they got here and they go, we need to do something. So they ended up helping out where they could, unloading trucks and those kinds of things too.

CHETRY: All in all, would you say that the response locally and within the San Diego community has been on target? VELASQUEZ: I think it's been incredible. And I think other people that are viewing it from other places are pretty much amazed, too. So that's what I hear.

CHETRY: Certainly amazing to be here and to see the organization.

We're glad you guys are OK. We're glad you got good news about your house. And thanks for talking to us.

VELASQUEZ: We appreciate it. Thank you.

CHETRY: And you guys, hang in there. Thanks for coming on TV with us.

VELASQUEZ: Say bye.

CHETRY: So, again, you know, the situation as we've been talking about here has lightened considerably. A little bit of optimism as there is this feeling that they have sort of rounded the corner, that hopefully the cooler temperatures and the calmer winds will mean that firefighters are going to get a handle on this thing and that more people will get the good news that indeed they have a home to go back to.

That's the latest here at Qualcomm Stadium.

I'm Kiran Chetry.

COLLINS: All right. Kiran, thanks so much for that. It was good to hear from people who are really staying strong and coming together in all of this because, as we keep on saying, the pictures tell a very different story, a very frightening story as we continue to watch those very active wild, wild flames there. These coming in once again from our affiliate KTLA, Santiago Canyon, California.

Also want to let you know -- we mentioned a little bit earlier that President Bush did participate in a video teleconference with several administration officials on these wildfires. It happened this morning in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. We want to go ahead and show you just a little bit of that right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to thank the members of my cabinet for being here today.

We discussed a lot of issues. I started off the meeting by summarizing a series of conversations that I've had regarding the fires in southern California.

I had a conversation with Governor Schwarzenegger. My question to him was, "Are you getting what you need? Are the people there in California getting the help they need from federal agencies to help the good folks in California deal with these devastating fires?"

His answer was yes. I assured him that if he needs anything and we're able to provide it, we'll do so.

I also had an opportunity to thank him, as well as California officials, for working hard to save houses, save lives. I appreciated very much the fact that they're willing to work in a collaborative fashion with the federal government.

In the meeting with my cabinet secretaries that are responsible for helping the state and local authorities fight these fires, I will report to you that I am -- I believe the effort is well-coordinated. I know we're getting the manpower and assets on the ground that had been requested by the state and local authorities.

I wish we can control the wind, because one of the things that's hampering our joint capability of fighting these fires is strong westerly winds. I'm told the winds may be dying down soon, in which case it will make this equipment that we've got in place a lot more effective at helping fight the fires.

I initially declared an emergency declaration which will -- which will enable us to send federal equipment and manpower to the scene, including Department of Defense help. Today I've signed a major disaster declaration which will then enable federal funds to start heading toward the families who have been effected by these fires.

Looking forward to going out to California tomorrow. I will continue to make sure that our efforts are coordinated, that we are responsive to the needs of people. But most importantly, I want the people in southern California to know that Americans all across this land care deeply about then.

We're concerned about their safety. We're concerned about their property. And we offer our prayers and hopes that all will turn out fine in the end.

In the meantime, they can rest assured that the federal government will do everything we can to help put out these fires.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Some thoughts from President Bush there coming to us after a video teleconference that he had with several administration officials out in the southern California area.

Most importantly, mentioning that emergency declaration in effect now for seven counties. So of course, that will mean some good things for the people there by way of federal aid as they move forward in the aftermath and rebuilding period that could take, who knows, quite a bit of time given all of the damage that we have seen in these past four days.

HARRIS: Let's take you north and east of San Diego right now. CNN's Sean Callebs is in Spring Valley.

Sean, the firefighters a short time ago were trying to get a little bit of shuteye ahead of what promises to be another difficult and long day of work.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, without question.

If you look, here is just some firefighters across the way from an area of Steele Canyon, where they have really been working over the last 48 hours or so. In fact, these trucks were here because last night the fire was right up on top of the mountain, and there were concerns that it would jump across Highway 94 and over to this area.

The big concern, if we look over this way to our left, you can see this is a school, and this was actually the first evacuation center that was set up about four days ago. So the big concern yesterday, could the flames leap over here?

But pan up and look at the sky. For the first time in days people can see blue skies. So that certainly is promising. But boy, just to the right of the sign, that is where it gets pretty grim, and there are a lot of people here, there are scores of people here.

Among them, Cecelia Rada.

Cecelia, you have been here now for four days. What has it been like and how worried are you because you have no idea about your home?

CECELIA RADA, EVACUEE: Very much so, and nobody can tell us nothing yet.

CALLEBS: How has it been here so far for you?

RADA: Well, these people is pretty good. Everybody is real good and give us everything we need right now.

CALLEBS: Now, your husband recently had bypass surgery. And we know that doctors have been trying to reach him.

How is your husband? Is he getting any kind of medical care?

RADA: Well, not right now until -- I don't know, they are looking for a place to put him carefully in the hospital.

CALLEBS: Now, why do you spend so much time out here in your car? Do you feel more comfortable, warm out here?

RADA: No, it's because of my dogs.

CALLEBS: We should point out this is Chatita (ph), this is the mom. And right here, Tony, look at this. Not only do we have an evacuee, a husband who has bypass surgery, a dog and puppies.

This one -- this one Cecelia says she's going to keep. Look at the little white paws. This has become her favorite.

And this is the big guy here. He's only going to a wonderful family, she says. She has had inquiries about people who want these puppies, but she said, no, no, still a couple of months. If Chatita (ph) has her way, no one is getting their hands on these pups. HARRIS: That is terrific. That is terrific.

All right. Sean, I know it's -- I know there's a lot of work still to be done out there. But tell us, how close are you to the Mexican border?

CALLEBS: You're right. And that is a big issue.

We are about 20 miles, and Highway 94 runs parallel with the border of Mexico. And to give you an idea, they had 25 injuries in the mountains to the east behind me yesterday. Virtually all of those, authorities tell us, border patrol tells us, were illegal immigrants trying to get into this country.

Now, last year, firefighters rescued 152 people in these mountains the whole year. This past four days since the fire, they have had 200 arrests. So basically people just giving up because they're so concerned about their safety.

HARRIS: CNN's Sean Callebs for us in Spring Valley, California.

Sean, good to see you. Thanks.

COLLINS: On the front lines of the firestorm, there are currently about 7,000 firefighters battling these separate fires. So far, 34 of them have been injured on the job.

Specialized teams from northern California are also helping out. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has made some National Guard troops available to help fight the fires. The U.S. military has also deployed personnel to assist the firefighting efforts. Some 60 firefighters also came across the border, we were just talking about, from Mexico to help fight fires near San Diego.

Well, are you moved by what you see or what you have seen over the last four days? You can take action. You can help the victims of the California wildfires through our Impact Your World initiative. Just go to CNN.com/impact to see how exactly you can help.

HARRIS: Blue skies turn orange and gray with fire and smoke. CNN I-Reporters capturing the burn.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm John Zarrella in Los Angeles County.

Finally a break. Firefighters here getting their arms around stubborn wildfires. I'll have that story ahead in the NEWSROOM.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.

The winds may be better, but that doesn't mean they're good. And also, 645 square miles have burned. Just how big is that? We'll have a comparison that might shock you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Back now on this fourth day covering the southern California wildfires. Continuing to get in more and more pictures. You're looking at Santiago Canyon, California.

We want to go north of it to Los Angeles County, where CNN's John Zarrella is standing by in Santa Clarita.

And John, I know that you've had a chance to see how authorities are fighting these flames from the sky with some great video to look at. Tell me what that was like for you, because you just get incredible perspective from up above, don't you?

ZARRELLA: Yes, you really do. It's amazing when you're up at 6,000, 7,000 feet and you're looking over the wide expanse and all the total devastation below. But I can tell you that we've got some really positive news for a change in the last few days here.

COLLINS: OK.

ZARRELLA: And the positive news, of course, is that we just talked to fire officials, and they're telling us that we've got about three or four fires burning around this command post here, the Santa Clarita area. One of those, the Magic Fire that we heard so much about, 100 percent contained now. The Buckweed Fire, 93 percent contained now.

They hope to be getting into some mop-up duty. And as you can see, take a look back there.

All of that was just thick with smoke yesterday. Now you can barely see a thin layer of haze and smoke in the distance. And it is beyond those mountains, over those hillsides, that we flew yesterday to take a look and get that perspective on those fires.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: Only from up here flying at 6,500 feet above the fires can you begin and just begin to get a sense of their breath and their magnitude. Below us, the Piru Fire. That's what this one is called. And they seem to be everywhere. Columns of wind-driven super-charged files driving downhill sides and across valleys, consuming everything in their path.

Give us an idea, a sense of what we're looking at right now. I know I can see some flames in the distance.

AARON FITZGERALD, HELICOPTER PILOT: Well, what you're seeing in front of us here to the left is the Piru fire. The one north of us is the Ranch Fire. And we just flew over the Magic Fire. And then off behind us is the Buckweed Fire.

Any one of the four would be a challenge for these -- for these local crews. And you can see with so many of them burning at one time, the amount of smoke in the air, just the general scope of how far of an area they're fighting these fires in, is really stretching everything thin. ZARRELLA: And you can see for miles and miles everything that's been burned out below us. It's just incredible.

The -- you know, what do you think when you're up here and you see this and you fly this? What's going through your mind?

FITZGERALD: Well, the first thing you're thinking about is the safety of the aircraft and staying out of the smoke and things like that, obviously. But as you look down, you can see the fire moving toward these homes and you know that there are thousands of people being evacuated right now from their homes, and a lot of these are agriculture properties, so you have livestock of different sorts. People are trying to move animals and grab their possessions.

So, while it can be beautiful and eerie from the air, it's just terrifying on the ground, and you know that when you're looking down. And you can also see the scope of the damage, the amount of burned-out vegetation for miles and miles.

ZARRELLA: You can see the smoke rising from those columns of flames, those pillars of smoke going up as the flames move through and consume acre upon acre of land. In so many other natural disasters, whether they're hurricanes or earthquakes or tornadoes, you know that the victims usually have something they can go back to, something that's left behind.

Not in these fires. They appear to be all-consuming. Whatever they touch, they burn up, and they burn up completely. There is very little left.

It makes you wonder, what's going to stop them? Is there any way that they can be stopped? Are we just going to have to watch until they burn themselves out?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: And really these fires are now finally starting to stop, and in some degree on their own. You can see here, look at this, there's no wind blowing at all, and that's the great news.

It's calm here, and that's what's allowing firefighters, Heidi, to really get a handle on this, these fires, and get their arms around them, finish building those backfires, finish building those fire lines around these for containment. They're telling us that the real hope now is they can start to wind down here, get a lot of the firefighters back into the system so that they can then be repositioned in other places where they're going to be needed more than they are here -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow. Definitely worth repeating, isn't it, John? You said the Magic Fire about 100 percent -- well, about 100 percent contained. Buckweed, close to 100 percent, at about 97. And the Ranch Fire also doing very well.

ZARRELLA: The Ranch Fire pretty much out as well, right.

COLLINS: OK. Very good. Thanks for being the bright spot there.

Thanks so much.

John Zarrella, appreciate it.

HARRIS: Across much of southern California, virtual ghost towns lie covered in smoke. One such place, Spring Valley. It is northeast of San Diego, and our Kara Finnstrom is there.

Kara, good morning to you.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.

Well, firefighters here are beginning to report some small victories, and that's actually very encouraging to hear, because for the last couple of days we have been talking about how awesome this fire is.

We're coming to you from the parking lot of an evacuation shelter. And yesterday, the Harris Fire was actually racing down the hillside in back of us. Now, as you can see, it's completely clear back there.

Firefighters were able to beat it back. There were 500 people inside of this evacuation shelter who were at threat of being evacuated once again, but they were able to beat this fire back. And today those evacuees are in there safely.

These are the type of victories they hope to see more of. This change in the weather they say is good news, but they also stress that their fierce battle has only begun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told you to get out! You need to get out now!

FINNSTROM (voice over): Many residents in southern California are being forced to abandon their homes. More than 1,000 homes have already been destroyed, and at least 2,000 more are in jeopardy.

The president declared a state of emergency in seven counties, opening the door to federal aid and assistance. Fifteen hundred members of the California National Guard have been moved from guarding the border, to helping the firefighting effort, adding to the more than 500 marines from Camp Pendleton now pressed into service. President Bush himself will head to California on Thursday. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is already on the ground.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We have put our full-court press forward on the part of the federal government, having the military, having our civilian agencies like the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture.

FINNSTROM: And now Qualcomm Stadium, home to the National Football League's San Diego Chargers, is also home to thousands of local residents driven from their home by wildfires.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, me and my fiance, he was getting sick, I was getting sick, and my baby was getting sick. And it just didn't seem like it was the right place to be, and we didn't have anywhere else to go.

FINNSTROM: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been touring the blazing areas, witnessing the devastation for himself.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: This is a tragedy what is happening to California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FINNSTROM: And, Tony, as these fires continue to burn across southern California, the number that really strikes me and is very sobering is that there are now an estimated one million people who have been evacuated.

HARRIS: Boy. CNN's -- one million people, just think about that for a second.

Kara Finnstrom for us this morning.

Kara, thank you.

COLLINS: Want to give you the latest facts and figures to emerge from all of this smoke.

More than 412,000 acres are burned. That adds up to 645 square miles. About 1,500 homes destroyed, and as we've just been mentioned, more than 900,000 people evacuated.

Nineteen separate fires burning. And at last report, three of those are pretty much now 100 percent contained, so at least a little bit of very good news there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And still to come this morning in the CNN NEWSROOM, helping fire victims who've been forced out of their homes. The Salvation Army in action. We will talk to the man leading that effort.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Day four of the Southern California firefight. More than a dozen wildfires continue to devour dry brush and anything else in the way. A major freeway in California, Interstate 5, reopened this hour near Camp Pendleton. So that helps a bit. Almost a million people, though, have been evacuated.

The numbers are astounding -- 645 square miles burned. As you just learned from Jacqui Jeras, that's the size of New York City twice. Almost 1,500 homes gone. The damage believed to be at least $1 billion already, and it's so early on in that damage assessment. One person has been killed, scores of others injured.

And thousands of firefighters, Marines, the National Guard, even prison inmates are on the front lines. Thanks to them this morning residents in two San Diego neighborhoods are going back to see what's left.

HARRIS: You know, one of the few homes still standing in one San Diego suburb belongs to this man. His name is Marc Seward, and he fought back flames just yards -- really, Marc? -- just yards from his home. He joins us live from Qualcomm Stadium.

Marc, good to see you. What the heck were you thinking? Why did you decide to stay and fight? Why didn't you just leave?

MARC SEWARD, SAVED HOME FROM FIRE: Well, actually my home was hit by the Cedar Fire that swept through San Diego in 2003, and I was not prepared to fight the fire at that time. So we left the house. This time I was prepared with my own fire hoses and pool pumps and a bunch of great friends that came over, and we decided to try to save the house, and this time we were successful.

HARRIS: You're talking about fighting a fire like you're a trained firefighter. You're not a trained firefighter. You did this at some considerable risk to yourself. Come on, admit it.

SEWARD: Yes, there's significant risk, but unfortunately, you know, the fire department, I mean, they're spread very, very thin when these Santa Anas hit, and it's very difficult to rely on getting engines and so forth up to your home, and so I think anything we can do as citizens to help protect ourselves and our houses does help them, and I've got a lot of great feedback from the local fire department that eventually did show up and help us fight the fire.

HARRIS: Hey, what did you learn from the Cedar Fire, and how did you prepare to take this one on?

SEWARD: The biggest difference was I cleared the brush around my house. I went about 250 feet plus down around my entire property to make sure that there wasn't any fuel up by my home. That's the No. 1 thing to do, and then the other thing is to have the fire pumps, the hoses and so forth so you can actually fight the fire and try and keep it back. Hose your home down. Hose down your plants, your landscaping, and so forth and try and save it.

HARRIS: How close did it get to your house?

SEWARD: This time probably about 100 yards.

HARRIS: Whoa! 100 yards?

SEWARD: Yes.

HARRIS: So at some point here you have to calculate, wait a minute, 100 yards, that's way too close. I'm at the point here where I can't really outrun this thing. You really did take a risk here, didn't you? SEWARD: Yes. We took a risk, but the thing is I live on top of a hill, like I was saying earlier, and down my hill there's a large road, (INAUDIBLE) Road, and the agreement my friends and I had, was as soon as the fire would cross that road, we'd bail out. We actually had the car in the driveway turned on, running, and we had a scout looking, and if the flames had crossed the road, we would have left immediately.

HARRIS: Any other homes in the community destroyed?

SEWARD: Yes, unfortunately, as I stand on my hill and look down, there's a few areas where I mean there's dozens of homes that there are just chimneys standing. It's really sad.

HARRIS: Boy, so I know you feel for those families. But, boy, good work. I'm not sure it's to be recommended, but sounds like you prepared and you did a great job. You saved your home.

Marc, good to talk to you, and thanks for your time this morning.

SEWARD: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: Sure thing.

CNN.com, just another reminder, has the best online coverage anywhere of the California wildfires, from i-Reports to interactive maps of the fire, some amazing videos, and resources to volunteer or to find loved ones. Just check out CNN.com. Special coverage of the California wildfires.

COLLINS: Helping fire victims who have been forced out of their homes. The Salvation Army in action again. We're going to be talking to the man leading the effort, after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The Salvation Army in action at Qualcomm Stadium helping thousands of people, the fire evacuees that have gone there. Joining us live to discuss that effort a little bit, Lieutenant Colonel Doug O'Brien. He is the Salvation Army divisional commander. He's in charge of the San Diego County. Lieutenant Colonel, that is a very big job, as we speak with you this morning. Some good news if you can tell me a little more about this. We're understanding there are originally about 11,000 people that had gathered at the largest point at Qualcomm. Now that number down to about 7,500. Is that correct?

LT. COL. DOUG O'BRIEN, SALVATION ARMY: Yes, I think that's accurate, but there continue to be a lot of people milling around, lots of volunteers here, and many people offering a variety of services to help the people as they've been evacuated.

COLLINS: Tell me a little about who is standing behind you. Looks like you have some Salvation Army cadets there.

O'BRIEN: We do have cadets here. Salvation Army officers are ordained ministers and trained to provide services that meet the real needs of people. And these folk who have gathered here are part of recovery-team efforts just to try to bring some encouragement, to bring some hope into people's lives. And for those people who are in shock or are uncertain, they're going to just provide the comfort and encouragement that they're going to need.

COLLINS: Is that the No. 1 priority? Is that what people are telling you by conversations that you might be having, that that is what they need at this point, comfort?

O'BRIEN: Well, comfort certainly a big part of that, and we're an organization that spiritual -- spiritually motivated. So we provide that kind of support as well, as material support.

Since the fires began, we've provided about 15,000 people with meals and continue to support many, many locations where people have gathered, including Qualcomm, with basic necessities, food, sanitation kits, lip balm, combs, toothbrushes and toothpaste. We provided them just basic necessities of life, as we are in this sort of immediate crisis phase.

COLLINS: What are you able to tell people? As we continue to look at this video, not only of the fires and the actual flames themselves, but also getting a lot of pictures in of people's faces, people sleeping on the floor, is there anything you can tell them to help them sort of get through all this, as you call it, a major crisis in their lives?

O'BRIEN: Yes. San Diegans have actually had a similar experience. Just four years ago we had massive fires rage through this community, and so there's a residual memory of all that happened, the efforts to evacuate, the discovery of homes that were burned down, the sifting through the ashes of their former homes to find anything that might be left, and so there's a residual memory of that. There's a memory of that in the organization. The Salvation Army was the lead agency in rebuilding homes, and unfortunately, just two months ago we finished the final home-rebuilding project from the last fires, and we'll be engaged in all that kind of recovery work again.

COLLINS: I'm sure people so appreciate all of your support. Do you get them to laugh? How important is it to be laughing at some point through all of this?

O'BRIEN: I didn't hear your comment?

COLLINS: Just wondering if you can help make anybody laugh. We talk so much about trying to get through crises like this, and I imagine they're really trying to find some type of humor, some type of relief from all of it, and just laugh for a moment.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, there's a sense of relief that comes upon people when they find that people are sharing similar circumstances, and people who've come, who've been through these circumstances before, and tell them there's a light at the end of the tunnel. That brings real hope and encouragement to people. Not a lot to laugh about, but there is real room for joy that people are going to band together and actually work their way through this to a happy ending.

COLLINS: A couple of those guys behind you look like they could help make people laugh, at least for a second. That's why I asked. Lieutenant General Doug O'Brien from the Salvation Army, we so appreciate your time.

O'BRIEN: Thanks very much. Thanks very much.

COLLINS: And we thank you on behalf of the people out there for all the hard work that you're doing.

Just want to go ahead and remind you that those images that we have been seeing, pretty dramatic and frightening. Of course CNN i- Reporters are helping to bring in some of the most amazing images that we've seen in photos and video.

Jeanna Lowry actually captured her husband, Bill, watering down their neighbor's burning deck, and she says they managed to save the house. We will show you some of those pictures now. That one right there.

Also, Jose Huerta, he was among countless motorists caught in evacuation traffic jams. He said despite the long wait, people did remain pretty friendly and helpful to one another.

And ominous smoke clouds loom over this neighborhood in Canyon Country, California. i-Reporter Shie Rozow said that the fire raced down the ridge soon after he took this shot. He was forced to evacuate twice before the day was over.

HARRIS: Heidi, why don't we just show folks, again, some of the more amazing pictures that we've had so far, at least this morning here in the NEWSROOM. And this is Santiago Canyon, California. You're in Orange County, California, right now.

Boy, a short time ago we saw some amazing pictures of fire encroaching on a couple of luxury homes. This is the view right now. All you can really see in that canyon area is just a lot of smoke. The concern there, as you get these smoke columns and they can carry embers from the fires, and who knows where the embers will go. But this is the scene right now. Take a look at it again, Santiago County. This is Orange County you see at the top of the map there. We'll continue to follow those pictures and bring you updates. A number of homes still threatened there in Orange County.

We'll take a break and come back with more of our continuing coverage of the Southern California fires in just a moment.

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COLLINS: One Southern California fire evacuee calls it surreal, seeing her home go up in flames on television.

She talked with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The wildfires here in Southern California have destroyed more than 1,200 homes so far. One of them belonged to Christie Williams. She and her family got out safely, thankfully, yesterday. That is the good news. They then watched their house burn down on television while watching CNN coverage of local stations. That is her house there.

She joins me now. How are you holding up?

CHRISTIE WILLIAMS, EVACUEE: You know what, we're OK. We're a strong family. We can get through this, I think, I hope.

COOPER: You've got three kids and your husband. Did you -- where -- did you see the flames coming?

WILLIAMS: No, no. We -- just from the cedar fires, we know to get out before it gets bad, and we did. We've got three little kids. I can't afford to have them in a house that goes up in flames.

COOPER: And you actually saw it -- I mean, those pictures we've been showing, that's your house burning. You saw it on television.

WILLIAMS: Yes, we did, we sure did.

COOPER: That's got to be horrific, I mean ...

WILLIAMS: It is, it's horrible, because you don't know when you're sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to find out how your house is, and there it, on the news, going down. It was surreal, I think is the right word.

COOPER: We've got pictures, I believe, now that you gave us of what the house looks like now.

WILLIAMS: Right.

COOPER: These are -- what is that?

WILLIAMS: It's a missile that was under the house when we bought it. I don't know why it was there, but it was -- it's empty.

COOPER: And that's ...

WILLIAMS: That's my home. That's the foundation there and the front porch and the living room. And you can see my front patio chair there, and that's my daughter's bike. That's her first bike. It's a -- I guess she won't be riding that any time soon.

COOPER: How were you able to get these pictures?

WILLIAMS: I have a friend who is -- works with the animal, rescuing the animals, and he took them for me.

COOPER: What's that?

WILLIAMS: That's my husband's wood shop. You can see the CNC machine, and we had like a generator in there. We had band saw, all of his tools, all of his wood tools, all of his metal tools. It was part of our barn. We had a big barn there, and he had the bottom story, and my photography and all my photography equipment is in there.

COOPER: Does it feel -- does this feel real at this point?

WILLIAMS: Oh, oh no, no, no, it won't feel real 'til I'm there. I just want to go home. I see those pictures and I just want to go home. I want to take my hands and I just want to put them on what's left, just what's left of my house because that's still my house, you know. It's still mine.

COOPER: Do you think you can rebuild?

WILLIAMS: Oh, we will rebuild.

COOPER: No doubt about it.

WILLIAMS: No doubt about it. It's still our Shangri-La. We still love it.

COOPER: I wish you the best and your family.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, thank you very much.

COOPER: Stay strong.

WILLIAMS: We will.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Forced from their homes, now nearly a million people, think about that for a second, evacuating a city the size of San Antonio. We're talking about nearly a million people seeking shelter throughout Southern California. We will tell you more about the volunteers reaching out.

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COLLINS: Thousands of people volunteering their time, donating their money, and providing food for those people displaced by the fires. Our Barbara Starr reporting from the Pentagon this morning now. Barbara telling us that some of those volunteers include American troops wounded in the war.

Want to let you know how you can help. Check out Californiavolunteers.com for local volunteer and donation information. The Red Cross also has volunteers in the area. You can reach them at redcross.org. You can call the governor's office of emergency services for assistance information. Their number, you see it on your screen, 1-800-750-2858. And as always, check out CNN.com to find out how you can impact your world.

CNN NEWSROOM continues our fire coverage coming up after a very quick break here.

HARRIS: Don Lemon is here in Atlanta, Kyra Phillips at Qualcomm Stadium. We'll be right back.

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