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CNN Live Saturday
Firefighters Gain Ground Against Fires In Oregon
Aired August 23, 2003 - 18:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Firefighters are gaining ground against a pair of blazes that have threatened resort communities high in the Cascade mountains of Oregon. Cool and humid weather has helped stall the so-called D&D (ph) complex fires, but only they charred nearly 25,000 acres. Fire information center officer Tom Lavignino is on the phone with us from Sisters, Oregon.
Mr. Lavignino, what are the latest developments in the fire?
TOM LAVIGNINO, FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: Well, they're all good news to report, luckily. Yesterday, we had about a tenth of an inch of rain. That mitigated the fire behavior, so today the crews have been aggressively taking advantage of that, and constructing fire line around communities of Camp Sherman (ph) and some resort areas around some mountain lakes. They've conducted some backfire operations and have successfully protected the western edge of the fire and part of the eastern edge of the fire.
KOPPEL: So did that mean that you think you'll have it out in the near future?
LAVIGNINO: No, let's not be too optimistic yet. We're still facing hot and dry conditions. It rained for two hours yesterday, but the wind is starting to pick up and the sun is starting to dry out the fine fuel, so in a day or two, we'll be back where we were, when it grew to about 24,000 acres.
KOPPEL: What has some - you've mentioned the wind picking up and whatnot, what other challenges have firefighters been facing with this fire in particular?
LAVIGNINO: Well, some of the urban interface issues of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), structures being and resorts not up against the dense vegetation, so we're trying to get the crews in there ahead of time to clear that out, so when the fire does pass through there, it's less intense and we can protect some of the structures with fire engines.
KOPPEL: And what about communities that are nearby? Are they still at risk?
LAVIGNINO: Well, they're a lot less than they were yesterday. So they're resting easier, but there are some local communities outside of this town of Sisters, Oregon, Black Bute (ph) ranch, and some resort areas up there, by the summit of the Cascades, and they're (UNINTELLIGIBLE) first couple of days, now they're resting easy after a few public meetings, and we explained to them the fire progress. We have about 1,200 firefighters on staff right now, and six helicopters, so those resources are being applied and residents are resting a lot easier than they were yesterday.
KOPPEL: Well, I'm sure they are. You know what surprised me in just reading up on these stories is that a century of fire suppression has allowed a huge accumulation of fuel that has created unnaturally explosive forest fires. Is that one of the factors that led to this fire?
LAVIGNINO: Certainly. There has a lot of fire explosion over the last 100 years that led to overly dense stands of timber, brush, and that creates a ladder of fuels that can reach up into the canopy trees, and that will be a catastrophic event when that occurs. And that's usually what happens, like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) last year in Oregon, that's a very classic example. Fortunately, with this D&D (ph) fire, it's mild slopes, and high on the cascades, so it's not as steep and rugged, and there are some roads that make it accessible.
KOPPEL: Well, listen, good luck fighting these fires and we certainly hope that you'll get them under control in very, very short order. Tom Lavignino joining us there on the phone.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 23, 2003 - 18:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: Firefighters are gaining ground against a pair of blazes that have threatened resort communities high in the Cascade mountains of Oregon. Cool and humid weather has helped stall the so-called D&D (ph) complex fires, but only they charred nearly 25,000 acres. Fire information center officer Tom Lavignino is on the phone with us from Sisters, Oregon.
Mr. Lavignino, what are the latest developments in the fire?
TOM LAVIGNINO, FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: Well, they're all good news to report, luckily. Yesterday, we had about a tenth of an inch of rain. That mitigated the fire behavior, so today the crews have been aggressively taking advantage of that, and constructing fire line around communities of Camp Sherman (ph) and some resort areas around some mountain lakes. They've conducted some backfire operations and have successfully protected the western edge of the fire and part of the eastern edge of the fire.
KOPPEL: So did that mean that you think you'll have it out in the near future?
LAVIGNINO: No, let's not be too optimistic yet. We're still facing hot and dry conditions. It rained for two hours yesterday, but the wind is starting to pick up and the sun is starting to dry out the fine fuel, so in a day or two, we'll be back where we were, when it grew to about 24,000 acres.
KOPPEL: What has some - you've mentioned the wind picking up and whatnot, what other challenges have firefighters been facing with this fire in particular?
LAVIGNINO: Well, some of the urban interface issues of (UNINTELLIGIBLE), structures being and resorts not up against the dense vegetation, so we're trying to get the crews in there ahead of time to clear that out, so when the fire does pass through there, it's less intense and we can protect some of the structures with fire engines.
KOPPEL: And what about communities that are nearby? Are they still at risk?
LAVIGNINO: Well, they're a lot less than they were yesterday. So they're resting easier, but there are some local communities outside of this town of Sisters, Oregon, Black Bute (ph) ranch, and some resort areas up there, by the summit of the Cascades, and they're (UNINTELLIGIBLE) first couple of days, now they're resting easy after a few public meetings, and we explained to them the fire progress. We have about 1,200 firefighters on staff right now, and six helicopters, so those resources are being applied and residents are resting a lot easier than they were yesterday.
KOPPEL: Well, I'm sure they are. You know what surprised me in just reading up on these stories is that a century of fire suppression has allowed a huge accumulation of fuel that has created unnaturally explosive forest fires. Is that one of the factors that led to this fire?
LAVIGNINO: Certainly. There has a lot of fire explosion over the last 100 years that led to overly dense stands of timber, brush, and that creates a ladder of fuels that can reach up into the canopy trees, and that will be a catastrophic event when that occurs. And that's usually what happens, like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) last year in Oregon, that's a very classic example. Fortunately, with this D&D (ph) fire, it's mild slopes, and high on the cascades, so it's not as steep and rugged, and there are some roads that make it accessible.
KOPPEL: Well, listen, good luck fighting these fires and we certainly hope that you'll get them under control in very, very short order. Tom Lavignino joining us there on the phone.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
