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California Burning; Interview With I-Reporter Stuck in Middle of Fires

Aired October 24, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Our breaking news coverage of the California wildfires continues this hour. Almost a million people have now been forced out of their homes, many with little or no warning. Now they can only sit and worry, will their home survive, or will they join a growing number of suddenly homeless?

Our Kyra Phillips has returned to her hometown of San Diego to get the personal side of the story.

Hello, Kyra.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Don.

And I've got to tell you, flying in last night and just looking out the window and seeing basically my city on fire, looking at places where I grew up, where I hung out with my friends, day trips that I would take with my family, I was watching the flames. I could smell the smoke. And now here I am at Qualcomm Stadium.

When I grew up, this was Jack Murphy Stadium. This is where I came to see the Padres play, the Chargers play. I saw my first concert here at this stadium. Now it's filled with thousands of people that had to evacuate because either they've lost their homes or they don't know what has happened to their homes.

I've been able to finally walk around this stadium and see what is here. Everything from translators for the community, the deaf community. There are -- my father is here with members of our church translating for the Hispanic community. He's a professor in Spanish.

So, there's that segment of the population that's desperately been trying to find out what's been going on to their homes. And it's hard because of the communication barrier.

You've got an amazing medical team. The military is here with local doctors, even doctors that have flown in from other parts of the country to help the elderly who are on oxygen and individuals with respiratory problems that were out in the country.

And then, just the supplies, the clothes that have been donated, the food, the water, everything you can imagine, all these kids that are around me. They have areas where they can go paint and draw and try and be creative, to just get through this time. So I'm going to try and give you a real personal touch to how this is not only affecting me, my family, my friends here in this area, but you are going to see how it's affecting thousands of people, other people that I'm yet to meet and how they are getting help here at Qualcomm Stadium.

LEMON: And Kyra, we look forward to that. And we see the kids -- if you look over your left shoulder -- well, they were there. They were playing right behind you.

PHILLIPS: Were they here next to me?

LEMON: They were. I think they moved to your right, yes. So they are excited about being on television.

PHILLIPS: They actually have water and lollipops. They're very happy right now -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. And you know what? It's good, Kyra, that they can be kids in the midst of all this. Don't you agree?

PHILLIPS: And there is a sweet innocence about that. They even say, a number of the kids have said to me, oh, we don't know what's happened to our home, but hey, we're having a great time here. We have activities, we have other kids to hang out with. So they're all keeping a positive attitude, that's for sure.

LEMON: All right. We could not have had a better person on this story, a native San Diegan.

Is that correct? Did I say that properly?

Kyra Phillips, we look forward to those personal stories and we'll see you in just a little bit.

We want to give our viewers the latest, Kyra, on this.

Here's the latest. Here's what we know this hour.

As we look at these live pictures from Santiago Canyon, KABC -- that's our affiliate there -- President Bush has signed a broader, longer-term disaster declaration freeing up federal money for wildfire victims. And they'll need it. The damage and the destruction in San Diego County alone will likely top, get this, $1 billion.

But tamer Santa Ana winds and higher humidity are in the forecast for today. Winds also have shifted direction in San Diego County, allowing some evacuated neighborhoods to reopen.

To date, 19 active fires have burned more than 412,000 acres across southern California and forced more than 900,000 people out of their homes. Almost 1,500 homes are destroyed. That's a lot of homes. And one person -- one person is dead and 70 are injured. Almost half of them are firefighters.

An army of firefighters at the war against this powerful enemy. Let's go straight to one that's at the staging grounds now, Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles.

CNN's John Zarrella is there with the very latest on that -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don.

Well, we are, of course, in Los Angeles County, north of where those horrific fires are burning down in San Diego. But I can tell you there's really some very, very positive developments here.

They had no less than three, four fires burning here that at one point they were concerned might merge into one super fire. That never happened. And what I can tell you now is the latest from fire officials here, the Magic Fire we heard so much about, 100 percent contained. The Buckweed fire, 94 percent contained. The other fires they're working about 45 percent contained.

So within the next 24, 48 hours, they really hope that they're going to begin mop-up operations here. And, of course, look around me. There's no wind blowing. That's the good news and that's really what's helping to energize the firefighters and get them out there to get the final push on to these stubborn wildfires.

Now, you know, take a look here behind me. You can see, there's not even a bit of smoke. You can see nothing in the air back there.

Even earlier this morning, you could see more smoke and flames, but compare that to the pictures we shot from a helicopter yesterday afternoon. You can see the sun setting over the mountains, over in the Los Angeles -- right around where we are, this Los Angeles area. You can see that thick layer of smoke, the sun setting through that. So, it was a tremendous difference.

What they say, Don, what a difference a day makes. And now this is going to give the firefighters here an opportunity to get a little bit of a breather and to get back in the system so that they can be in place for fighting other fires.

But we took this aerial tour yesterday and saw those tremendous fires burning below us. You can see a fire here, another fire there, a line of fire coming down a canyon wall down in the valleys, and see large acre after acre of burned-out area. It's an unbelievable sight from the air flying at 7,000 feet.

But again, fire officials telling us this is really going to give them an opportunity to wind this down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. HENRY RODRIGUEZ, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: We're going to keep firefighters on the line. We never know, you can get some flare-ups, but we want to always keep guys there and make sure that in the event that we do get a flare-up, we will be able to respond, hit it, put it out, and keep it from damaging any more property.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: So that's what they're going to do now. They have got to keep people here to watch on these fires. But, Don, at least in the midst of all this, you know, what a difference a day makes. And finally, a little bit of something positive to report from here in southern California -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, some news that we all can use, especially the folks there.

CNN's John Zarrella.

Thank you, John.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Let's talk now about the Harris fire. Unlike all the others, it's a killer. Burning in San Diego County, it's blamed for the single death reported so far in southern California.

Let's go straight to CNN's Sean Callebs. He's in Spring Valley -- Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good day to you, Don.

If you look behind me, you can see some firefighters here. They have actually been down here since yesterday. And the reason they are down here where we are in Steele Canyon, last night there was a real concern this fire was going to come up over the ridge, leap across Highway 94 and then touch this area, this first evacuation center. We are at the first evacuation center that was set up here in the San Diego area, and there are scores of people who have been down here getting assistance over the past number of days.

The good news is the wind has died down. It's also kind of a double-edged sword. You can see how the haze has simply set into this area.

And want to focus up on that hill, because Jacqui was talking about the controlled burns. You see some of the smoke coming up from that area. Well, Don, there's a lot of houses up there. And yesterday, firefighters went up there and did controlled burns to get rid of that dry vegetation around the homes.

We would call it dry vegetation. They use the name "fuel" trying to get rid of it.

I want to bring in a gentleman now, Antonio Martinez. He's somebody...

Mr. Martinez, how long ago did you evacuate?

ANTONIO MARTINEZ, EVACUEE: Well, we're here since Sunday about 1:00. We are from Barrett (ph Road. It's around where the fire started out there, near Podrero (ph).

CALLEBS: What has been the most frustrating aspect for you?

MARTINEZ: Well, not knowing what's going on over there in our community because it's about 92 families in here. And we live in a trailer park, and most of the trailer park is gone. It's about 92 homes, and half of them are gone that we know of.

CALLEBS: So the frustrating thing, you could go home and have no neighborhood, have no home, have really nothing to return to.

MARTINEZ: Well, we won't be able to return, because even if we go and then pick up the pieces, it is kind of bad because we don't have living quarters. We won't have electricity, water, no supplies of anything.

CALLEBS: What about the volunteers here? Are you getting what you need? Do you need any medical treatment? Have you received enough food, water?

MARTINEZ: We couldn't be in a better spot. We've been treated very nice. We have all kinds of food, all kinds of blankets, everything. Everything we asked for is right there -- plenty of water, plenty of everything.

The uncertain thing is how can we get back or how could we know? Because every time they come in, the fire department, they just tell us everything is fine. Some are burned, I understand, and they cannot tell me, "Your house is burned." I appreciate that, too, very much.

CALLEBS: When does -- are you concerned that when -- there are so many people who have been evacuated, a million. Are you concerned that everybody has been doing so well, could this develop into a more frustrating situation if it goes on and on and on, people demanding to know how things are?

MARTINEZ: Well, the worst frustration that I had myself and a bad experience, I had my mother-in-law in a car sitting out there. She is on dialysis and she cannot be in a crowd because she has some valves on her chest. And we don't want infection. And she cannot be in the smoke.

So, here we are, you know.

CALLEBS: Antonio Martinez, con mucho gusto.

You take care of yourself.

MARTINEZ: Yes, sir.

CALLEBS: OK. Thank you, my friend.

Well, Don, you hear these stories, people holding up so well. It's really hard to look at these people day in and day out and wonder how they are able to simply take another step forward, begin a new day, and wonder when they're going to find out if they're going to have anything to return to -- Don.

LEMON: And it's good to have so much support, as that gentleman put it.

Sean Callebs, appreciate that report. Thank you, sir.

If you would like to watch continuing coverage of the California fires from your laptop, just check out our online network, CNN.com live. You can also send us an I-Report or see others. That's at CNN.com.

All keyed up and no place to go. One of our California I- Reporters stranded for hours by closed roads. We will hear from him. That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

Plus, scores of people are losing their shirts and their furniture and their houses in these fires. How much will insurance help in all of this? Do you have enough coverage?

Personal finance editor Gerri Willis will join us for that.

And evacuating man and beast, the challenges of keeping family pets safe and secure in a disaster.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Live pictures now. We have been telling you about these super scoopers that are dipping into lakes and rivers there and dousing those flames, taking water and also fire-retardant materials and putting it on the flames. That's one right there.

This is Santiago Canyon. These pictures courtesy of our affiliate KABC.

You can see this chopper has quite a ways to go there, carrying all of this water. This has been happening 24 hours a day in the southern California area. There are tons of these choppers, but so many fires. And finding a hard time getting to them.

There's a person who was stuck in these fires -- actually stuck in the middle of a number of fires. You have two minutes to get out, right? We're going to talk about that. What do you take?

But first we want to go on the telephone to Jose Huerta.

If' I'm correct, Mr. Huerta, you were stuck at a gas station as the fires were approaching you? Is that correct?

JOSE HUERTA, I-REPORTER: Yes, sir.

LEMON: Tell us about your experience there.

HUERTA: Well, before we actually ended up -- before I actually ended up there, I was actually trying to go around, taking different freeways. So I was going around, trying to go the back end, taking 215, I tried different streets, too. But every single street was actually shut down.

LEMON: Every street you went to was shut down?

HUERTA: Yes, sir.

LEMON: So you guys were camped out. Here's the weird thing. I mean, you were -- the only place of shelter was a gas station. That would be a bit concerning to me if I saw a fire approaching from a number of sides and the only place I could go was a gas station parking lot.

HUERTA: Exactly. Actually, both locations, even the 215, that was also a gas station, too.

LEMON: How many people were there with you?

HUERTA: I would have to say approximately over 250, possibly more.

LEMON: What were they -- what were they saying?

HUERTA: What were they saying? They were wishing they were at home.

LEMON: And obviously not stuck at a gas station.

I wonder the level of fear there. I was wondering if anyone was fearful. Was it calm, or were you just standing around saying, you know what, they're going to get to us?

What was the situation there?

HUERTA: Actually, everyone there was pretty calm. I mean, they -- they'd bring it up, but then we'd talk about other things, too, to try to get our minds off of it.

There wasn't just one gas station, though, in that particular location. There were three.

LEMON: Wow.

HUERTA: And every single one of them was pretty much packed, including the Jack in the Box that was next to the Arco.

LEMON: Right.

HUERTA: That location, too, was pretty much jammed up with cars.

LEMON: Amazing stuff.

I understand this morning the 5, the freeway there, was shut down near Camp Pendleton. You experienced some of that as well?

HUERTA: It was actually the 5 Freeaway. I'm not too familiar with that area. I wasn't around it. I actually live...

LEMON: Yes. You live near the 15, right?

HUERTA: Affirmative.

LEMON: Yes. And was that shut down for you?

HUERTA: This morning, no, it wasn't.

LEMON: But when you were stuck there, explain to us what the traffic was like in that area and what it's like now, trying to get around there.

HUERTA: Well, now it's actually a breeze going down the 15.

LEMON: Because so many people are gone, right?

HUERTA: Yes. That night -- well, actually, that night, morning, too, I mean, it was really backed up. But they were redirecting everybody down on Sierra (ph). They wouldn't let anyone go through at all.

LEMON: Are you back in your home?

HUERTA: I'm back at home now. Currently I'm at work.

LEMON: Yes?

HUERTA: But I didn't show up the next day. I didn't go to sleep at all.

LEMON: Yes, I would imagine. When you got back to your home -- and how's it doing? Damaged, or is it fine?

HUERTA: No, it's fine. It's -- the location of the fire is actually -- I saw it on Sunday.

I mean, you can see the smoke everywhere. Ashes, you know, I mean, just ashes everywhere. I mean, it's not a lot. It was just -- like right now where I'm at right now, you can actually see ashes flying around.

LEMON: Really? Wow.

Hey, well, listen, we are glad your home is OK. We are glad that you are OK. And that must have been a pretty frightful experience, being stuck at a gas station, around a number of gas stations while fires are going around.

Hey, take care of yourself, OK?

HUERTA: Yes, sir. You have a good day.

LEMON: All right. Thank you. You, too.

If you have snapped great pictures or video of these fires or their aftermath, make sure you send us an I-Report. It's at CNN.com. While you are there, you can also post a message to let family and friends know that you are OK as well.

Well, it's not a war zone, but for thousands of displaced Californians, it might as well be. Now some Iraq veterans are turning out to help.

Our Kyra Phillips speaks to one of them live at Qualcomm Stadium. That's straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And also this: what about the pets? Creatures great and small finding refuge from the fire. That's also ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Live pictures now from our affiliate KABC. It's of Santiago Canyon in California.

You can see two of those super scoopers there on their way either to a water source to pick up some water, or to drop that water off on many of the sadly burning homes in the southern California area.

You know, lots of our affiliates have been covering this 24 hours a day. One of our affiliates, KTLA, is actually covering that same area right now.

Let's take a listen in to their coverage.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You k now, if I owned a house I wouldn't be worried, because I'm telling you, I don't know if you can see some of the firefighters here, but they're on it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, and...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're here. And if I lived there, and I didn't see all these folks in their yellow suits, I would be a little nervous. But because it's getting so much attention, I'm -- I would be less nervous than not if I were that person, if I were that property owner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that they are able to set backfires speaks volumes. That means that they feel confident enough in the weather conditions that they can actually set fires to beat the fire down? So that's the thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And no exaggeration. Look at the smoke, straight up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, straight up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the fact that those weather conditions are permitting even them to get in there and get those air drops in and the air attacks to take place is fantastic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is good news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, Gail (ph). We're going to leave you to it. Give us another update if you can a little while. OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. No problem. We are here for a while.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Thanks, Gail (ph).

Firefighters, meanwhile, are taking proactive steps to battle two blazes that are still raging...

LEMON: That's our affiliate KTLA in Los Angeles, covering the Santiago Canyon Fire. And just before we took that live, we heard them say that this fire in Santiago Canyon, according to the reporter and the anchors there, was an arson fire and that four firefighters have been hurt in this fire.

We are going to check on that to try to confirm that information for you and see exactly what's going on. But again, this is in Santiago Canyon, courtesy of our affiliate KABC. And you saw just moments ago our other affiliate there, KTLA, covering this story for you live, as they all have been 24 hours a day.

Firefighters and rescue workers are out in full force in southern California, and so are insurance agents.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: And as we look at live pictures now, southern California needs a big break from the weather. This is Santiago Canyon there. Look at that -- fire, smoke, just raging there.

Ahead in the NEWSROOM, we'll head to the CNN weather center for a check of the Santa Ana winds with our very own Jacqui Jeras. She's checking it all for you.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live in the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Our breaking news coverage of the California wildfires continues this hour. Look at the live pictures there from Santiago Canyon, California. Fire raging.

My colleague Kyra Phillips standing by at Qualcomm Center in San Diego. San Diego is her hometown.

Kyra, I'm sorry, I didn't get to ask you, how is everyone, family and friends, doing OK?

PHILLIPS: So far, so good. I have had a few friends that have had to evacuate, Don. But they have been able to go stay with other family members or drive to Los Angeles and stay with family members there. They still don't know what exactly has happened to their homes. I've talked to another couple of friends, for example, my journalism teacher from high school, they live in Ramona. They had to move the horses off the farm. They've had to leave their home, don't know the status of that situation right now. So, it's really tough. A lot of people are not quite sure what's going to happen next.

And thousands of people have come here to the stadium, and I was telling you earlier, this is where I grew up seeing concerts, and seeing the Padres play and had the Chargers play, and now it's just turned into this home base for so many people that had to evacuate. I think the most overwhelming thing for me has been seeing the response here and the organization here versus what I saw during Katrina in New Orleans.

I mean, this city was so organized and so prepared, and all the people that have come to this area to provide supplies and support. I mean, Don, there's meditation -- meditation and yoga, AA meetings, acupuncture. And then there's the supplies, the food, the water and people like the U.S. military, Camp Pendleton is not far from here. The U.S. Marines, once a Marine, always a Marine. Travis Segura sure knows that, he spent his time in Iraq, had your tours of duty there.

You came in last night. Tell me why. You have family, obviously, that lives here.

TRAVIS SEGURA, FMR. U.S. MARINE, QUALCOMM SHELTER VOLUNTEER: Yeah, I got family out in San Diego. My sister lives out here. I actually own a condo in Escondido, which I really don't know the status of, but I came out here to check up on the family, and help out with any other families that need help.

PHILLIPS: Now, let me ask you, you were in Iraq. We know what everyone is going through there in Iraq. Your specialty is marksmanship. I know you had to deal with the Iraq people as well. You have come into a situation like this where people are desperate in many ways, trying to get help, trying to survive. Anything in Iraq that you learned that you've been able to parlay into this? Any kind of -- are you having kind of memories of what you had to do there and you're seeing it sort of play out here on home turf?

SEGURA: Well, obviously, Iraq can be a little bit different compared to the help we got here. They didn't have too much help when we were there. But there are similar things, you know. People need help. We want to give and take care of them and make sure they get the needs they need. Food, water, whatever it is that they need to survive. And those are some similar things, yes.

PHILLIPS: How is your family right now? Do you know?

SEGURA: Yeah, I met up with my sister, she's doing well, my aunt and everyone in San Diego are doing well. Like I said, the status of my condo I really don't know, but --

PHILLIPS: You're waiting to hear about that.

SEGURA: Yeah, I don't know. But I'm here helping out the best I can, best of my ability.

PHILLIPS: Why do it? Why come and do this? You are tired, your eyes are bloodshot. You haven't been back home very long since you've been in Iraq.

SEGURA: I just -- I know -- this is what Marines do. I was in the Marine Corps. And this is what a Marine would do. Obviously, this is the way I look at it. You got families that have Marines overseas right now in Iraq. Families that live here that are struggling and going through some tough times. They can't take care of them. So, that's why I'm here. I'm here to take care of those families that the Marines have that they know they can't take care of. You let them know that we're taking care of them, not a problem.

PHILLIPS: There's the message right there. Travis, thank you so much.

Don, all the way from Qualcomm Stadium here in San Diego, California, even a message from here all the way to Iraq. There are men and women serving, men and women that are based out of this area, and their families are here, staying at the stadium. So just imagine being worried about your loved ones fighting a war overseas and now those guys are worried about their families here. But guys like Travis are trying to tend to the needs and let those men and women know overseas that everything is OK and he's doing this part as a Marine.

But just the resources and the organization, truly has been mind- blowing. Evens after seeing what I saw in Katrina.

LEMON: I was going to say, Kyra, we sit up here on the anchor desk every day but this is what we do best when we are out in the field and we talk about these things. You saw Hurricane Katrina, and the civic center. I saw it as well. Just look around. Tell us what's going on around you. I see folks walking. Is that an ice truck behind you? What is that behind you?

PHILLIPS: Yeah, let me tell you the layout. Basically, the whole bottom part of the stadium here has booths and volunteers, people are even camped out. I'm not quite sure how much I can show you through our camera, and if we have a few people who get in the shot and become hecklers, I apologize.

LEMON: It doesn't matter. Yeah, it doesn't matter.

PHILLIPS: But it's hard to control everybody.

Yes, for example, here to right side you have medical needs. Over here on the left side, you have translators in American Sign Language. So -- for the deaf community they are able to come here and find out what's going on, and updates on their neighborhoods.

As you work your way down, there's a whole play area for children. They can paint, they can play games. They can color. You even see there are pieces of art hanging along the wall.

Then there are areas where you can get food, baby food, you can get clothes, where people have donated clothes. You saw the ice machine in the back. You know what else, you have insurance companies that have set up here, where you can fill out your claims.

LEMON: Wow.

PHILLIPS: You have automobile insurance, if you think that you might have lost your vehicle. AAA is out here. It's incredible.

LEMON: So, basically you've got organization, which you didn't have before. I think they learned from that.

PHILLIPS: Organization, volunteers -- absolutely. Any kind of question you have, any kind of need you have. I have to say when I saw the meditation and yoga, you and I talk a lot about that. We enjoy those things. I was really shocked to see that. That one was a little -- and the acupuncture, but people are taking advantage of these things.

LEMON: And the massages, too, that we talked about yesterday.

But you know what? It may be a little bit over the top, some people may think but certainly comparing it to Katrina and what could have happened, I think that it may be a good thing in that they have definitely learned their lesson.

Kyra, we appreciate the personal stories. You are there for the duration so we will come back and see you. Thanks. I can't wait to meet your dad on television -- or see him. I have met him.

PHILLIPS: That's coming up next. He's been translating, that's right, to the Spanish speaking community. We will talk to him coming next, Don.

LEMON: Talk soon, my friend.

Let's bring in Jacqui Jeras now to talk about those Santa Ana winds. That's really what's fueling all of this. They are supposed to have died down a little bit today, Jacqui. And that's going to help the firefighting efforts there, a lot.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Yeah, it has already died down pretty significantly. The winds are down probably by half today compared to what we saw yesterday. Gradual improvements are expected over the next couple of days.

But, of course, it's just tremendous how much damage has already been done and how much real estate this covers. I wanted to kind of put that in perspective for you. We have been throwing some numbers out, 645 square miles, it sounds like a big number, but what does this mean?

This is a NASA satellite image from yesterday. And take note, you see all these little red dots scattered all over the place. Well, these are all the fires. And those are all the hot spots being detected from space. And that is your 645 square miles. Well, it's scattered about, so kind of hard to tell how big this thing is. Well, imagine driving along I-5 from Seattle all the way to San Francisco, in flames, the whole way. Or for you East Coasters, let's move over to New York City area, if we could, and show you just how much of an area this would cover if it was all together. New York City and its five boroughs, it would be twice as big as that. It would cover this entire area, imagine all of this, all of New York City, plus twice that big being completely burned. So just incredible of how large of an area this thing is.

Let's talk a little bit more specifically about those winds. This is a forecast animation. The yellow area that you see here, 15 to 20 miles-per-hour winds. The orange in here, that's where we're expecting the 20 to 30 miles-per-hour winds. You will see when I put this into motion the red pop up, that's 30-plus miles per hour winds. You can see we are getting some gusts here, especially into the mountains, and into the hills, throughout the afternoon.

But look at how much more widespread this gets late into the evening and the overnight hours for tonight. We see those stronger winds beginning to pick up and then by tomorrow morning, we really watch things begin to die down. We could see some occasional gusts but the big changes are right around the corner, guys.

Let's put this animation in motion and give you a timeline. Monday and Tuesday, when some of the worst of the winds were, high pressure right here over the Great Basin. We have an approaching cold front coming in from the west. Today our high pressure ridge starts to weaken and shift a little bit toward the east, that allows our cold front to get a little closer. By tomorrow, low pressure develops across parts of the south, bringing in winds on shore, so that means the moisture, the humidity from the ocean makes its way over the fire areas and this will greatly improve things.

Not to mention that the winds coming from a different direction, you might hear that and think that sounds bad. Actually, that should blow the fire back toward where it has already burned. We were talking about the back fires, Don. The onshore flow winds are going to kind of do the same thing.

LEMON: Hey, Jacqui, just real quick because I have to move on. I don't see on the radar anymore where the radar thought it was rain, all the smoke. That's a good sign?

JERAS: We're still picking that up, I don't have that in my clicker, as we speak, but it's not as bad as what we saw yesterday. A lot of that has to do with the motion of the wind. If the winds are lighter, that allows a plume to develop so the smoke goes straight up instead of blowing over a large area. So you see the bigger signatures when the winds are stronger.

LEMON: Jacqui Jeras, we will be checking back with you. Thank you very much for that.

The president, President Bush, plans to visit the fire zone tomorrow. This morning, he was briefed on the crisis in a videoconference at the White House. And he signed a major disaster declaration for seven California counties.

All right. Think about this. You've got two minutes to get out of your house. What do you grab? For families with pets, well, that's a no-brainer. But the big question then becomes, where do you, and they go? CNN's Elizabeth Cohen found a place in San Diego County that gives new meaning to the term animal shelter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Misty Ice and Zara, have been through a lot these past three days.

FRANCES JUAREZ, EVACUEE: We have our phone number here on the side. If you can see. So, in case they get lost.

COHEN: These horses are evacuees, along with Spotty and Dottie, the geese, Blackie and Goldie , the dogs and Nala and Emily, the dogs, and Mary Violet, the cat, all hustled out of danger, by their owners, the Juarez family.

Thousands of animals rescued from wildlife areas are here at the Del Mar Fairgrounds along the coast, safe for now.

(On camera): You've evacuated these animals twice?

JUAREZ: Yes.

COHEN (voice over): On Sunday, when fires threatened the Juarez's home in Ramona, they put the animals on three trucks and escaped 18 miles northwest to Escondido. But then it wasn't safe there either. So again they fled, 25 miles to Del Mar along the coast.

JUAREZ: People were just madly stuffing horses into horse trailers and getting them out.

COHEN: The Del Mar fairgrounds have taken in thousands of horses, dogs, even a zorse. That's a cross between a horse and a zebra.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have lots of horses, some lamas, goats and zebras.

COHEN (on camera): Horses, lamas, goats, zebras. And you have cats and dogs and birds. You have thousands of animals.

(Voice over): And the owners? They stay right here near their animals. The Juarezes, Francis and her husband, Roberto, and son Mario, are staying right here in a three-walled shelter. Are these all your belongings?

JUAREZ: Yes.

COHEN: Here?

JUAREZ: Yes. This is it. COHEN: The Juarezes could leave, could go stay with friends, and sleep in a real house with four walls and a bed instead of on a concrete floor. But that would mean leaving their animals, and they are not going to do that. As for their home back in Ramona?

(On camera): When are you going to get to go back home and see if you have a home?

JUAREZ: I don't know. I don't know.

COHEN: For now, this place will serve as home. For them, and for their pets. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Del Mar, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A zorse, never heard of a zorse. Learn something new every day.

State of the art treatment for burn victims. Coming up in the NEWSROOM. Our Doctor Sanjay Gupta shows us a nationally known burn center inside the fire zone.

We will continue to share some of your I-Reports. You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. Remember we told you earlier, Tony Harris and Heidi Collins, that the I-5 had closed because of a fire that was approaching Camp Pendleton? We have just learned from one of our affiliates, KGTV, that the I-5 has been re- opened. It was closed earlier. Traffic was backed up for miles.

This are pictures of -- from KUSA, new video coming in of the fire there that was approaching Camp Pendleton.

There you go. Am I correct? Is this I-5 we are looking at? This is I-5, looking at live pictures now from KGTV. You see that I-5 has re-opened. You see on the right side of your screen, shut down to one lane, but at least it's open. Earlier, man, oh, man, cars were not moving, people were backed up, sitting in traffic for hours.

Four years ago, fire devastated San Diego County. Did that change the response this time around? Well, CNN's Joe Johns is keeping them honest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The scene is now all too familiar. Wildfires light up San Diego County; 22 people die, 3,600 homes burned. But these scenes are from 2003, almost exactly four years ago. San Diego Congressman Duncan Hunter, who today is running for president, lost his home back then. And now he says he just got word work had been completed on his new house, but there was a catch. REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R) CALIFORNIA: So, my wife last night told me she had good news and bad news. The good news was that we were going to be able to move in, and the bad news is we had just been evacuated again.

JOHNS: In fact, it's all happening again. Keeping them honest, we asked, did government officials learn anything from the fires here in 2003? Back then, everyone agrees there were too few firefighters, too few trucks, and now, according to a former San Diego fire chief, they still need 22 more fire stations, and more than 300 new firefighters. But the city wouldn't do it.

A ballot measure to hike taxes for fire protection even failed. Former San Diego Fire Chief Jeff Bowman warned the department needed more resources before that 2003 fire, and when it didn't happen, the chief quit.

JEFF BOWMAN, FMR. SAN DIEGO FIRE CHIEF: Not one client yesterday, the city of San Diego Fire Department had one fire unit, one single unit, with four people on it, protecting the entire city of San Diego.

JOHNS: Even so, virtually everyone we talked to, including Bowman himself, say the extra help and the extra money Bowman was asking for wouldn't have made a difference this time because of the enormous winds.

BOWMAN: You can have a wall of firefighters standing there, didn't matter how many you have. This fire was going to go where the wind pushed it.

JOHNS (on camera): As far as preparation goes, some new, less costly fixes have been put in place, such as a reverse 911 system that calls to warn people that their neighborhoods are being evacuated.

(Voice over): So, it can't be said that folks there did nothing. Nor can it be said they did everything they could to avoid another disaster. But then how much can you do in the middle of a firestorm? Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Updating you on some developing news now.

The I-5, in San Diego, back open now, in the area of Camp Pendleton, closed earlier this morning and overnight because of a fire that was approaching Camp Pendleton. I-5 is one of the most important transportation routes in the greater San Diego area so, I'm sure, they are glad to get that back up and running. Still one lane of traffic in some areas there, but that's better than not moving at all.

Forced from their homes, so many people now living at evacuation centers. Relying on the kindness of strangers to get by. We'll look at the response straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: We have been talking so much about the skies; kind of orange over Southern California, and all the soot and debris that's flying around there. This shot is courtesy of our affiliate KGTV. We certainly thank them for all these pictures.

And, Jacqui, the perfect transition for you, because it speaks to the winds there and what's happening in the skies over Southern California.

JERAS: Yeah, let's go pack back to that shot for a second, if we can. Because they told me it was hazy, we got some good new pictures. But you know what I notice when I look at this? Notice, the vertical lift going on there. See how it's stacked up right into the middle?

LEMON: Right.

JERAS: That means that this smoke is rising up. As opposed to blowing out, necessarily. So, that is a very good indicator that the winds are getting lighter. So that's really good news to see that. If the winds are blowing the smoke horizontally, this is what it looks like on satellite picture. This is the satellite from yesterday. And that just brings it straight across.

When you see that lift like that, that means the winds are light and all of this is starting to rise up and then kind of spread out into the upper atmosphere. So, some good news. And it's not just smoke that people are dealing with, by the way, either. In addition to smoke, you have the ash all over the place, all the pollen is being spread about. This satellite picture is also showing down here into Mexico, offshore, this is sand, this is dust and sand being blown offshore. So all of that is into the atmosphere, too.

Now, the wind advisories are still in effect here today, but notice they have been dropped into the northern tier of the county, and also into the coastal areas, so we are starting to see some of those improvements. Sustained winds have picked up a little bit. Especially down into San Diego County. San Diego County, San Diego, itself, is looking at winds around 25 miles per hour, gusts 45, maybe 50, Don. That's way down compared to the 80s, 90s, 100s we have seen over the last couple of days.

LEMON: Oh, yeah, I'm sure they are waiting and are excited. Maybe the wind gusts will get lower, that will be even better news.

OK, Jacqui Jeras, we will continue to check back with you. Thank you so much for that.

JERAS: Sure.

LEMON: Imagine this, you are living in San Diego, now imagine that you don't speak English and you don't know what to do, or where to go as the fires erupt all around you. Coming up, our Kyra Phillips joins us again live, bridging a language barrier in the midst of a crisis. You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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