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American Morning

California Burning: Arson Investigation; After the Flames: Family Returns to Wreckage

Aired October 25, 2007 - 07:59   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Kiran with us from Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

I'm John Roberts in Rancho Bernardo, California, where we're getting another up-close look at the devastation here.

President Bush is also going to get one. He's now on his way to the disaster zone in Southern California as reality sets in for families here in not only Rancho Bernardo, but other neighborhoods across the region.

This area was absolutely was just absolutely devastated by the Witch Fire. It was the biggest of more than a dozen wildfires still burning. And it's neighborhoods like this one that President Bush is going to be touring. He'll also speak with the governor and get up close and personal with some of the men and women on the fire lines.

Sixteen hundred homes from Malibu, all the way down to the Mexico border, are already gone. People are starting to come home to find out the fate of their houses. Many homes and homeowners have got nothing left, while right next door, others were untouched. It really speaks to the capricious nature of these wildfires.

The hot and dry Santa Ana winds though are finally easing, which is tremendous news. Police are looking for a suspected arsonist in connection with at least one fire, the massive Santiago Fire which is burning now in Orange County. A $70,000 reward out for information on that person.

Now back to Kiran at Qualcomm Stadium, about 20 miles southwest of where I am this morning.

Good morning to you, Kiran.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and that news about the search for that arsonist just infuriating for many here. I mean, to think that someone would deliberately to try to inflict the type of destruction and heartache on a community that they live in is really unthinkable. And as you said, a $70,000 reward for information.

Just to let you know what is going on here at Qualcomm, this has been the temporary home for those who were forced out from the fires. A lot quieter here though today than what we've seen in the past few days, and that's because at least in San Diego County, many neighborhoods have been given the all-clear and people have been told they can return to their homes. So it has thinned out here.

This is still a vital place though for people who don't have a home to return to or are still uncertain about whether or not they do to get information and to get linked up with a more permanent situation for temporary housing in the meantime. Because this is not going to exist probably after the next few days. We're going to start to see this volunteer effort sort of wane a little bit as more and more people are taken care of.

Meantime, President Bush is on his way to California to get a firsthand look at the situation here in Southern California. He boarded Air Force One just a short time ago. We showed you him speaking a little bit. He said help is on the way for the people of California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will assure the people of California that the federal government will be deploying resources, assets and manpower necessary to help -- help fight these fires as well. As well, I will assure them that there is -- because of the declaration I signed yesterday, there will be help for the people of California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And although they have made significant progress, they are reporting containment, full containment in some of these fires, they say it could take weeks before all of the fires are actually out. Crews estimate that the fires have also caused at least $1 billion of damage, and that is just here in San Diego County alone.

Again, there is a full-scale criminal investigation that's going on right now into the cause of at least one of these devastating wildfires. Police are saying that arson is suspected in the Santiago Fire. That one in Orange County, and that fire is one that's burned more than 19,000 acres.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim is live in Orange County this morning with the latest on the investigation.

Good morning, Keith.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kiran.

And that's right, agents are confirming that this was an arson fire, a very big fire. The FBI and the Orange County sheriff and the ATF are now working together, and they have gone to a couple of locations, three. And in two of them, they have confirmed that they believe that the fire was set at those locations.

They are looking for suspects. No one has been arrested at this point, but keep in mind, this is a very large fire.

It's actually grown to 22,000 acres at this point, with 22 buildings that have gone down, 14 of which are homes. And there are more than 1,000 firefighters on the line that are trying to protect 3,000 homes and they're trying to keep the flames away from those houses.

There is a $70,000 reward that you've been mentioning, but I was just talking to a spokesman out here. And he says that authorities are trying to increase that reward for anyone who can get information that would lead to an arrest in this case.

Kiran, back to you.

CHETRY: Keith Oppenheim reporting for us on that situation there in Orange County.

Thank you.

We're going to head back to John now. He's in Rancho Bernardo.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran.

Firefighters and hundreds of Marines at Camp Pendleton are fighting two major fires on the Marine Corps base there. Sixty thousand Navy, Marines and family members are stationed at Pendleton. The Marines have told all personnel to be prepared to take their families and get out. Families say there is no power, they've lost freezers full of food, and it's hard to breathe because there's still so much smoke in the air.

And with no help from Mother Nature, crews are trying to make their own rain. Choppers are scooping up water and then dropping it as crews on the ground set backfires to stop the relentless Santiago Canyon fire. It's just about a 40-mile drive from downtown Los Angeles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Let's go back to Qualcomm Stadium and Kiran.

Good morning.

CHETRY: Hey, John.

You know, they are talking about how bad the air quality is here in San Diego as well. The University of California San Diego says that soot levels are four times higher than usual, carbon monoxide levels at some point and in some places 13 times higher. Doctors in San Diego are saying that millions of people could be exposed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KIM CRAVER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: In the city, we're seeing a lot of things besides just burning wood. We're seeing the effects of burning cars and materials and buildings, such as asbestos and other type of pollutants that are getting up in the air in addition. So it's a pretty complicated mix given where the fires are occurring. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Dozens of people have been hospitalized with respiratory problems.

And you know, John, as we were hearing from our own Sanjay Gupta, he was saying this isn't just a day-long problem or a couple of days problem, that people could come back up two weeks down the road even after these flames are out and still report that type of irritation that they are feeling. Our lungs are filters as well, and so they are trying to deal with everything that's being inhaled.

And I'm sure you've seen it at your scene, and I saw it yesterday in Ramona. You can't imagine when you look at someone's house and there is just the shell of a burned out oven or, in one case, an entire car reduced to just ash and soot and pieces of metal, and literally liquefied metal that had been, you know, solidified again streaming out from where the car was. All of that and all of those byproducts into the air as well.

ROBERTS: Oh, yes. And just being in the proximity to these burned-out houses make you start to choke just a little bit.

You know, up and down the streets and all across towns, similar stories of sadness we're seeing today in Southern California. Each person coping in his or own way.

I went around looking for folks who were trying to make their first trip home since the flames came. Here is what I found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS (voice over): Sunrise in Rancho Bernardo, and with it the devastation comes into sharp focus. Smoldering ruins. Soot and ash. It's a story repeated a dozen times on this street alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But there is no guarantees that we have. No further information.

ROBERTS: Up the road, anxious residents try to negotiate their way past National Guard and police checkpoints. Frustrations mount. No one is quite sure what they'll find when they get back in.

SUSAN JOHNSON, RANCHO BERNARDO RESIDENT: Well, it's pretty devastated. They call it an apocalypse.

ROBERTS: But some had a glimpse of what might await them.

STEVE COKER, RANCHO BERNARDO RESIDENT: When we evacuated Monday morning, we already -- there was already burning leaves falling in our yard. There was -- the trees next door were already on fire. We had to evacuate really quickly. We had to leave our two cats behind.

ERIN ARNOLD, RANCHO BERNARDO, RESIDENT: Oh, my -- this doesn't even look -- this doesn't even look -- this doesn't even look like Highland Valley Road. ROBERTS: Erin Arnold knows what lies at the end of this ride. Her husband Brian (ph) showed her the pictures. But this is the first time she and her three kids have seen it in person.

ARNOLD: This is the craziest thing I think I've ever seen in my life.

ROBERTS: A lifetime of memories and possessions gone forever. Yet, through the help of family and church, Erin is remarkably strong.

ARNOLD: My mom is crying, and I'm like, "Don't cry. It's not coming back. We're starting over. It's all right."

It feels -- fire -- you know they say fire is a cleansing. I feel kind of cleansed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, the Orca made it.

ROBERTS: They vow to rebuild and even find humor where there should be nothing but heartache.

ARNOLD: I really hated my floor. And I wanted wood floors so bad, the thick, planked distressed wood floors. And I knew I was never going to get them, but I think I can get them now.

ROBERTS: It is a way, perhaps of coping. Out of the ashes, a new dream of better days ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Well, several hundred more residents like the Arnolds waited in line for hours yesterday as police escorted their neighbors into the wreckage one family at a time. Most could only stay for a few minutes to just take a look at their house, not even see what they could gather from it.

We heard a lot of talk about a million people being evacuated, but a few people refused to leave, sticking it out at home. We're talking to two brothers who did just that and caught some of their adventure on tape and, in part, paid for it, as well.

That's ahead on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's safe, you know? And this is just stuff. We can recover that. But, you know, we made it out. And the kids and everybody are safe. So that's the main thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Live pictures this morning from KTLA out of Los Angeles. This is Orange County. This is the Santiago Fire. We were talking with battalion commander Chris Conception (ph) a little while ago. It's believed that this fire was started by arson. A $70,000 reward out for information leading to the arrest of whoever was responsible for setting this fire.

And more amazing shots coming in from the fire line today as well. Winds of furious flames swallowed a home in Escondido. The town was devastated by the massive Witch Fire. Thirty-six homes were lost there. Still, some parts of the town that are not safe for evacuees to go back to. The destruction, by the way, in Rancho Bernardo, where we are now, is also part of that Witch Fire.

Marines under attack by nature. Chinook helicopters (INAUDIBLE) water drops at Camp Pendleton, where they are fighting two major fires on the Marine Corps base. The Marines have told also 60,000 personnel and families to be prepared to get their families out. But the evacuation from that base at this point is voluntary.

Now back to Kiran at Qualcomm Stadium -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Hey, John. We changed locations so you guys could get a look at another part of this huge operation here at Qualcomm.

Where I'm standing right now is where a lot of these supplies are being dropped off. Central receiving right back there, and then this is sort of a staging area where not only people here at Qualcomm can get these things distributed out here, but also to other places, evacuation centers around the county.

So you see the reams of bottled water, all of them here stacked up in boxes here. Behind me, a ton of diapers. And we talked about this as well, people who had to leave their homes with small children really needing those types of supplies. Snacks, lawn chairs, and this is just a small amount right here of all that has been distributed to make sure that the evacuees are taken care of here at Qualcomm.

Joining me now, two people who are volunteering their time because they want to help out. We have Zach Negin with us, as well as Chris Prewett.

Thanks to both of you for being with us.

CHRIS PREWETT, QUALCOMM STADIUM VOLUNTEER: Thank you.

CHETRY: Let me start with you, Chris. Tell us how this situation has changed here since Monday when it opened up, because we see that there are fewer people than we've seen over the course of the past couple of days.

PREWETT: Right. Well, there has just been a progression of organization with the city and FEMA getting involved. So at first it was more just volunteers and it was tough to get things done, but more organization. It's been a lot easier to really get stuff done and really get stuff to the evacuees, to the victims.

CHETRY: Well, Zach, we've also seen more people being allowed to go back to their homes, so people have left. Also, as I understand it, yesterday they started to discover that perhaps there were more people here that were not necessarily evacuees but were taking advantage of this volunteer effort. So they were trying to weed those people out.

What is the scene like today?

ZACH NEGIN, QUALCOMM STADIUM VOLUNTEER: It seems like things are really well organized. Just, they've been doing it for three or four days now, so they have their systems down in place. Yes, I know the regulations, everything was kind of looser when they started, and it was just trying to help everybody that was there. So...

CHETRY: And they said you got yellow arm bands for the volunteers?

NEGIN: Now.

CHETRY: Boy, you have a bunch of arm bands.

NEGIN: Yes. I kept them from the last couple of days.

CHETRY: OK.

So that's to let people know that you're a volunteer. If you're an evacuee, you're actually getting a purple band. And they're doing that again because there were some people taking advantage.

Also, we heard there was a little bit of looting that took place. Some people arrested for trying to steal some stuff.

PREWETT: That's correct. And the San Diego Police department and the lead security have been very effective in preventing that, especially since yesterday. And I would imagine today there's going to be very little of that.

CHETRY: Also, the situation outside is that there are people who either brought their recreational vehicles or perhaps bigger vans and SUVs, and they're choosing to stay out there. But they are also taking advantage of these supplies and resources.

What are some of the things that people need the most and are utilizing the most here at Qualcomm?

NEGIN: The things that I've seen mostly are tents and cots and blankets and things for sleeping and basically just to be comfortable, because obviously the biggest factor is, you know, your comfortable level has definitely changed from your home to a stadium. So that has been the biggest thing.

Obviously, food, but there seems to be plenty of food and water going around. That hasn't been an issue. But one thing that has run out at times have been tents and cots and pillows and stuff like that, which we continually get more in, but, you know, that was the biggest issue, I think. CHETRY: Also, of course, Qualcomm is not going to be the permanent, temporary home, if you will. They are trying to make moves to get people put into either discounted hotels or some other form of housing.

How are those resources here? Are people figuring out where they need to go?

PREWETT: I think so. I know that Red Cross is showing up, and I know that some hotels down here are putting them up from various national and international locations. And they're going to really help people get people into shelters and get some hotel vouchers out to them so that they can stay in the hotels for free so they have a shelter and a place to stay.

CHETRY: Well, you guys are doing a great thing, volunteering your time and helping out in your own community. So hats off to you. Thanks for talking to us this morning.

PREWETT: Thank you.

CHETRY: Zach, as well as Chris this morning.

So, again, a much quieter situation here this morning, as more people are able to leave and more resources are being handed out the way that they're needed to be. And we haven't gotten any word for sure as to whether or not this command center will eventually start to peter out, but there has been word that the San Diego Chargers really want to, for a symbolic gesture, be able to be back here and play a home game.

That is still up in the air. They were due to play Sunday. There was a little bit of buzz around here, nothing confirmed, that perhaps the game would possibly move to Monday so that they could be back here. Of course, if all goes well on the fire lines -- John.

ROBERTS: Yes, of course. What is going on in the fire lines and the aftermath, our top story of the morning. But lots going on elsewhere around the world and across the country.

Alina Cho now in New York with some of the day's other headlines.

Good morning to you, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John.

New this morning, within the hour, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will announce tough new sanctions against Iran. Those sanctions will block financial accounts and assets Iran's military has in the U.S. The State Department will designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction.

$2.4 trillion over 10 years, that's what a new government report says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will likely cost. The nonpartisan report by the Congressional Budget Office is the most comprehensive study yet on the price of the wars. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the report is stunning, while the White House calls the figure speculation.

House Democrats will try again today to pass an expansion of a children's health program. Democratic leaders believe they've made changes to the bill that will attract enough Republican support to make it veto-proof. President Bush vetoed the original bill because of its costs, but Democrats are not backing down on their plan to add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

The nation's second largest bank is handing out pink slips. Bank of America says it will cut 3,000 jobs, most of them from the investment banking area. The announcement came less than a week after B of A reported a huge drop in earnings for the third quarter. However, the bank's charitable foundation says it will donate $1 million for relief efforts in the California fires.

Gunshots during a middle school football game in Michigan. Police say four people were hit, two adults and two teens, including a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the neck. The three others were treated and released.

Police say they're questioning someone they call a person of interest. The shootings took place near South Middle School in Saginaw. Police say the victims are not students there.

The Mob once talked about whacking Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. That thought was revealed during the trial of an ex-FBI agent.

According to the testimony, in 1986, the bosses of all five New York crime families voted 3-2 against the hit on Giuliani, who was then a federal prosecutor. That same year, Giuliani indicted the Dons in the so-called "Commission Trial". He said it was because he wanted to wipe out the Mob.

In space right now, we're just minutes away from space shuttle Discovery's scheduled docking with the International Space Station. It will be dropping off and picking up a crew member. NASA says inspection showed no launch damage to the shuttle, but the three- member crew will be taking pictures of the shuttle just to be sure.

And World Series game one goes to the Boston Red Sox. They overpowered the Colorado Rockies last night at Fenway Park 13-1. The Red Sox set a record for runs scored and margin of victory in a World Series opener. Game two is tonight in Boston.

That's a look at the headlines at this hour.

I'm going to send it back to you, John.

ROBERTS: Alina, thanks very much.

The nation's largest firefighting plane taking on one of the largest wildfires in California history, but can it even make a dent?

Our Chris Lawrence went up in it. He'll take you inside for a ride inside coming up on AMERICAN MORNING. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel kind of bad because I'm hoping that I don't lose my home, but then I feel bad because I know a lot of people have lost their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: And welcome back to our continuing coverage right now of the Southern California wildfires.

We are going to head back to New York. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" for us this morning.

And, you know, as bad as it may seem to some people, the situation when it comes to housing, the worse could be yet to come.

Hey, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran.

Well, that's exactly part of why I think the story is of so much interest to everyone, because people getting out of their homes, the thing that's most dear to you. And, of course, this is a problem that we've been following on a different level with the mortgage crisis across the country.

In less than two hours, we're going to get the numbers for September for housing. I'm sorry, for October, for new homes and their sales. But yesterday, we got the numbers for existing homes, which is most of the market, and we saw those numbers the lowest they've been since 1988. I'm sorry, 1998.

We're expecting the new home sales numbers to be not all that different. Prices are already down about six percent this year, and economists are predicting they will go lower and that this slump will now continue into 2009.

We've heard those numbers before, but that is what people are suspecting, that it will go all the way into 2009. So that is not going to be hopeful for those people around the country. By the way, many of whom were in California, who have seen their home prices drop so much in the last year.

We are expecting those numbers to continue to be hard. We've been seeing the effects of that not only in the mortgage sector, in the home sector, in the financial sector, but this is spreading all the way through the economy. So, unfortunately, not great news for anybody across America today.

The housing slump that we're in is continuing -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Ali, thanks a lot. I guess.

Well, now we're heading over to John in Rancho Bernardo.

Hey, John.

ROBERTS: Hey, Kiran.

Sticking it out. Two brothers who refused to evacuate from a fire zone using a garden hose, a rake and a shovel, their fight against the flames and the price they paid, that's ahead on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Live pictures this morning from our affiliate KTLA in Orange County, California. You can see this is the Santiago Fire.

Still huge problems in Orange County. Nine homes have been destroyed there so far. We were speaking with a battalion chief from the Orange County Fire Department. He said that they suspect arson in this and it's going to take a while for them to get this fire under control. Thankfully, the winds are down a little bit, though, so they will be helped out in their efforts.

Thursday, October the 25th. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.

I'm John Roberts from Rancho Bernardo, California.

Good morning, Kiran.

CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry.

Hi there, John. Good to see you. Just about 20 miles south of you at Qualcomm Stadium. It's the shelter for fire evacuees.

You talked about the winds dying down a little bit. Also, you can certainly feel a chill in the air today, a little bit colder than it was yesterday. And hopefully those cooler temperatures will also play into helping the firefighters get a handle on these blaze that they are still trying to contain here in Southern California.

Also, the president is on his way here. He's going to be getting a firsthand look at the situation. He boarded Air Force One a short time ago. The firefighters say it could take weeks before all of the fires are out. But they are moving toward containment this morning. Crews have estimated the fires have caused at least $1 billion in damage in San Diego County alone.

Meanwhile, we're down to fewer than 2,000 evacuees here at Qualcomm. At times this has been a temporary home to as many as 12,000 people but many of the surrounding neighborhoods here have been given the all-clear that people are able to return. In some heartbreaking cases, they're going back to homes that have been burned beyond recognition. Qualcomm is the home to the NFL's San Diego Chargers. They are scheduled to play a home game on Sunday against the Houston Texans. A decision on where the game will be played is here or somewhere else is expected today. I'm sure some of that is going to depend, John, on whether or not the fires are contained here and more people are given the all-clear and they are able to thin out of areas like this p.m. Also the federal response, as well as the American Red Cross trying to get people to a more permanent temporary home than Qualcomm.

ROBERTS: Well, you know, there is progress and hope on the fire lines in the early morning hours here in Southern California. Crews say three major fires in Los Angeles County are now fully contained. Several smaller fires north of San Diego largely under control.

But the desperate battle rages on six large fires in San Diego County. Firefighters say close to 9,000 homes in danger across the region. We just showed you the pictures of the Santiago fire which continues to rage this morning. The winds calmer overnight and some families allowed back home but unfortunately for many, there is not a lot left, their homes reduced to nothing more than piles of black rubble.

And as we have been reporting, President Bush is on his way to get a firsthand look at the destruction today and should be on the ground 1:00 eastern and 10:00 local. So far a total of 1,600 homes have been burned to the ground.

If you want to get a good idea what firefighters are up against, take a look at this. These pictures shot by photographers who were embedded with firefighting units in San Diego. It's about as up close to the front lines you will get, a constant battle from the ground and air to stop the advance of the flames.

The wind is easing but still a problem out there. Take a look at these pictures. They give you an idea of what firefighters were up against. These are the wrong pictures. Sorry about this. We did have pictures of the smoke just flowing across ridge lines like a river here. But this picture illustrates that the heartbreak that many people are facing this morning, going back to their homes to try to salvage whatever they can. The fires burn so intensely that there is not much left for them to go back to.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Absolutely. The other striking thing is when you see that and you go back with a homeowner, their home leveled, nothing but ash and twisted metal. And then not 20, 50 feet away is someone else home that is still standing. Shows you how unpredictable these flames turned out to be as well.

The winds mean more of the fire can be fought from the air. Now they've died down it's safe for helicopters and air tankers to attack the fire from the skies. Among that fleet, the nation's biggest firefighting plane.

AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence rode along as that plane made a run and joins us this morning in Rancho Bernardo. Hi, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Yes, the DC-10 is part of a bigger controversy. Some Orange County officials feel that if they had more air support early on, some of the fires there could have been controlled.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says winds were gusting up to 100 miles per hour the first couple of days of the fire and any planes would have been grounded. So we decided to see this massive air tanker for ourselves from the air. There it goes, 12,000 gallons of fire retardant dropped from a DC-10 blanketing part of the Harris fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 9-10 and 9-0, that looked really good.

LAWRENCE: The plane was deployed to that part of San Diego County after shifting winds moved the fire north and east and prompted new evacuation warnings. An average air tanker can cover a few hundred yards of the Harris fire but the DC-10 can lay down a fire line three-quarters of a mile long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see a northwest wind today.

LAWRENCE: It's 7:30 in the morning; the pilots get their first briefing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That fire is 196,000 acres, 10% containment.

LAWRENCE: The fire retardant is loaded at 8:00 a.m., and 15 minutes later the flight crew is suiting up inside the DC-10. At 8:45, we board what's called the lead plane. It flies the actual route ahead of the DC-10 and tells that pilot where to make his drop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, let me make a run through there. Just watch me.

LAWRENCE: It's 9:45 in the morning when we come in for our first drop, flying right into the heart of the Harris fire at the same altitude as the DC-10. It would take a typical tanker it would take to do all day what the DC-10 does in minutes. When we fly into the fire the turbulence is a little jarring, at least to me. The pilots don't seem fazed by it at all. They hit their target this time but sometimes they miss. It could be a miscommunication between the two planes on where to start the drop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes you just misjudge the winds. And it just goes where you didn't expect it to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Nothing is perfect under these conditions, especially when you consider these drops aren't guided by a computer. This is all seat of the pants visual flying.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Right. Is certainly takes a lot of training and precision and you have to know what you're doing you there. Chris Lawrence, thanks so much. We're heading back to John also in Rancho Bernardo but in a different location in Rancho Bernardo.

ROBERTS: Hey. Good morning to you. We heard so much about the numbers of evacuees, largest evacuation. Not everyone got out as the fires were spreading. Some people decided to stick it out and fight off the flames themselves is exactly what Nick Yphantides and his brother John did, they took home video of the whole episode. They stayed at their Escondido home not only with a shovel and rake and hose but they join me now. Nick here to my immediate right and John to my right. You got the evacuation order. You decided, no, we're not going? You are a doctor. You're supposed to be an intelligent man!

DR. NICK YPHANTIDES, REFUSED TO EVACUATE: Well put. We were overmatched and our homes stand right over a ridge over which the valley through which the fires came and had we not been there to not only notify the authorities, but to help keep things down, I think our whole neighborhood would have been lost.

ROBERTS: You two were close and you live close as well, next door to each other. John, did you try to calling 911 to say the fire is coming up the canyon, help us.

JOHN YPHANTIDES, REFUSED TO EVACUATE: My brother Nick tried several times and told to evacuate but they insisted to stay to be the eyes on the ground to help the fire crews to locate us.

ROBERTS: You asked them to come up?

YPHANTIDES: I did.

ROBERTS: What did they tell you?

YPHANTIDES: 911 kept telling me to evacuate. I kept asking for support. Thankfully it came minutes before it was ultimately need all the way from near San Francisco in Alameda was the crew that ended up saving our home.

ROBERTS: You describe this as like holding off hell with a garden hose. Let's take a quick listen to some of the sound and pictures of what they were facing during the wildfire.

YPHANTIDES: I'm halfway down your yard, John. Hopefully this is what the house is going to look like in about an hour. Oh, god, help me. There it is.

ROBERTS: This was, Nick, as you were on your way to try to save John's house. What was going through your mind at that point?

YPHANTIDES: I was by myself still. The firefighters and my brother hadn't arrived yet. I had a plan on how to get out. I was feeling the heat. I just wanted to do what I could to not only save our homes but our neighborhood.

ROBERTS: You were successful in your attempts to do that, had you not stayed, do you think your homes would still be there?

YPHANTIDES: Absolutely not.

ROBERTS: You did pay a bit of a personal price for it. You burned your cornea and your other burns got burns.

YPHANTIDES: My other brother had second-degree burns on his leg and we were never in ultimate physical danger. I had an escape route plan but we were a part of the local assistance.

ROBERTS: If you had it to do all over again would you stay or would you go?

YPHANTIDES: Under those circumstances, I would of stayed.

ROBERTS: You would of stayed?

YPHANTIDES: Yes.

YPHANTIDES: No doubt.

ROBERTS: You have the homes to prove it and you're still here. We're thankful for that.

YPHANTIDES: Nearly intact.

ROBERTS: Nick and John, thank you for being with us.

YPHANTIDES: Appreciate it.

ROBERTS: Good to hear your story. Nice to hear a story of success.

Why did the massive Southern California wildfires get so hot? Our Rob Marciano takes a look ahead on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Didn't get paid. They don't even get paid. The Majeska Canyon Fire Department, they don't get paid for what they do and they saved my house.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Some of the pictures that best tell the story are coming to us from our I-reporters of the wildfires in Southern California.

Ronnie Revoredo got this bird's-eye view of a passenger plane. It was flying over San Diego. The smoke stretches nearly 40 miles from Barrett Lake to the Pacific Ocean.

These pictures coming to us from Mike Gardner of Malibu. These are water-scooping helicopters and using Pepperdine University's campus as a staging ground. Head to the ocean and fill up and fly back and dump the water on the fires. Incredible pictures of the helicopter there.

This is from Michael Robles of Dana Point, south of Los Angeles. He was on his way down to the San Diego area to get some friends who need a place to stay and he stopped to take this picture. He says that many people are helping others who are affected by the fire. That certainly is something we've seen here at the Qualcomm Center with so many volunteers and so many people wanting to help out that they've actually started turning volunteers away. As the recovery begins we're hoping some of you not personally affected by the fire are still moved to help in the effort, if you want to.

Our Veronica De La Cruz is back in New York. She has some charities that had trying to help the people of Southern California. Because Veronica, even though there is a wonderful support system here, this is going to go on, especially for those who lost their homes. It's a very long and arduous rebuilding process.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: You are right about that, Kiran. Of course, we have heard about the big ones, Red Cross and Salvation Army are out there and helping the people with the affected fires. But something that you might want to think about, we've also linked to a few local charities that need your help.

So logging on to fatherjoesvillages.org. The organization there is working down at Qualcomm. They are providing meals, cots, blankets, water, medical services for people who have been evacuated from their neighborhoods. They are also providing pet food and other items. Kiran, as you mentioned, Qualcomm is a pet friendly evacuation site. Our next organization that could use your help is the San Diego Humane Society and the ASPCA is urging people to head to Qualcomm because they are dispersing pet supplies.

The San Diego Humane Society is working overtime to try to find places for all of the displaced animals in the area. Remember, there are a lot of branches in that area. If you want to check them out, go to sdhumane.org. And San Diego Foundation which manages over a thousand funds to make San Diego a better place. They started a fund on Sunday called the After The Fire Fund that will take care of people immediately and work to rebuild communities in San Diego in the future and that web address is sdfoundation.org. You can find all of these links on our website at CNN.com/impact. All right. Kiran, I'll send it back to you. Lots of good ways to donate.

Back to you, Kiran.

CHETRY: Thank you so much, Veronica. Now we head over to John in Rancho Bernardo.

Hey, John.

ROBERTS: Hey thanks Kiran. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" airs week nights at 10 o'clock Eastern on CNN. Here is Anderson now with a look at what's on his program tonight.

Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John tonight, the latest from the fire lines and President Bush's visit how the federal response this time differs from the one after Hurricane Katrina. Tough questions too from critics who say that years of inadequate federal spending left this region unprepared for all of these fires. We're keeping them honest. 360 tonight, 10 p.m. eastern.

John.

ROBERTS: Anderson, thanks. See you then. The damage from the wildfires continues to climb and some families are returning home for the first time in days. Kiran went home with one. We'll show you what they saw ahead on this special edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Breaking news into us here at CNN. The reward for information leading to the person or persons responsible for that massive Santiago fire burning out of control in Orange County has been up. The Governor Schwarzenegger announced he is adding $50,000. It was 70,000. It's now $120,000. By the way, if you have any information about who might be responsible, here is the arson tip line. 1-800-540-7085.

Let's go back to Kiran at Qualcomm Stadium.

Kiran.

CHETRY: Thanks, John. So many homes have been destroyed by the Southern California wildfires and we first met one family in particular that really a lot of the viewers wanted to know what happened to them, the Schlotte family yesterday on AMERICAN MORNING yesterday. They showed us home video as they took as fire closed in on their home in Ramona. We followed them back to what they used to call home. They really wanted to do this. They wanted to go back they said to see what was left and even though they were told that everything was gone, they said that still in the back of their minds, they were hoping for a miracle.

BILLIE SCHLOTTE, EVACUEE: My heart is pounding. I feel total panic.

CHETRY: This isn't going to be easy because your husband didn't make it through the checkpoint.

SCHLOTTE: Right.

CHETRY: Hopefully he will be joining new a couple of minutes. Are you ready to walk over there?

SCHLOTTE: I'm as ready as I'm going to be.

CHETRY: What upsets you the most about going back and seeing what is left?

SCHLOTTE: Everything. Everything just thinking about all of this for the last three days and, you know, wondering if we still had a house or anything left from our home. Everything. It's really hard.

CHETRY: You're helping out your mom?

BEN SCHLOTTE: Yeah.

SCHLOTTE: He said he would hold my hand the whole way.

CHETRY: And he's doing it.

SCHLOTTE: It burnt everything.

Oh, my god! I don't even know what to say. I'm sorry.

CHETRY: What were you expecting?

SCHLOTTE: This. Uh-huh. This is -- I really didn't know what to expect. This used to be our car.

CHETRY: This was your car? Ben is here.

SCHLOTTE: It's gone. You're not going to believe this.

CHETRY: Are you able to get paper work, photos?

SCHLOTTE: I got my photos. I got some jewelry. I wasn't able to get all of it. I'm glad we got what we got.

CHETRY: Everything is replaceable?

SCHLOTTE: No, no. The memories aren't replaceable.

CHETRY: That was the struggle with Billie. She was the mom. Even they she knew how thankful and she was and how lucky she was that everyone in our family got out, her sons and her husband and we were able to save four cats. She also is just really wrestling with the home they built, put so much love and care into, is gone.

ROBERTS: Yes. Just to lose at all in the blink of an eye like that. The heart goes out to them. You can't even imaginable. Wow. Powerful stuff this morning.

Here is a quick look at what the "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM."

Catching a break in the wildfires. Conditions improve for firefighters.

Going home, if it's still there. Journeys end devastating for some evacuees.

Arson investigation, the FBI part of the search for answers in Southern California.

E-mails from the fire zone. Evacuees tell it like it is.

"NEWSROOM," just minutes away at the top of the hour, on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: The talk this week has been all about the Santa Ana winds fanning the flames over the ridge lines with hurricane force sometimes. You can't have fire if you don't have fuel.

Our Rob Marciano here now with more on that part of the story.

Rob.

MARCIANO: John, we've seen so dramatic pictures both from the ground and the air and even from outer space. The satellite images are amazing but it's really easy to miss what is actually fueling these fires.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: You can see them from space and on the ground. But what is fueling the fires can easily be missed.

SEAN GRIFFIS, FIRE FUELS EXPERT: The grass always burns and it will always burn pretty good.

MARCIANO: Sean Griffis is critical to both firefighting and keeping crews safe. Sean knows what burns.

GRIFFIS: Having that knowledge of the fuels, of how the fuels burn, how the fire is going to burn due to those fuels, how it's going to move is integral in developing that plan.

MARCIANO: Dead and dry brush are obviously fuels and so are houses. Here the native plants act like lighter fluid. The hills around San Diego are full of low-lying oily brush like mount mahogany, sage. The oil in these plants explodes. The general rule of thumb is if you can smell it, it's going to fire up. Extreme drought and record heat have primed the landscape. The ground is easily hotter than the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fuel temperatures down on the surface are going to be probably 10, maybe 20 degrees higher so we're looking at 120 degrees for the grasses and things like that. So an ember lands in there, it's just going to ignite immediately.

GRIFFIS: Any of the brush pieces in Southern California are fire adaptive. They grew up in a fire eco system and burn fast and burn hot. That's what allows our seeds to spread and have the minerals to grow.

MARCIANO: They need to burn?

GRIFFIS: They need to burn. Part of their habitat.

MARCIANO: Fire may be a big problem for people living here but it's all part of nature's grand plan. The more people we have, the more houses we have and the more we're into nature's grand plan and getting in the way here. Such a big problem and your heart goes out for these people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Fire system here people warn clear the brush around your home but when you get winds like that. East of here there is as big a fire break as I've ever seen. Eight-lane highway, interstate 15 and the fire jumped it like that. Rob, good work this week.

That wraps it up here for us on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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