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CNN Live At Daybreak
Wildfires in Montana are Threatening Homes
Aired September 03, 2001 - 07:32 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.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: And the wildfires that are threatening homes in Montana. The 43,000 acre fire is burning on Glacier National Park's west side and Larry Humphrey has been on the fire lines. He joins us there. He is an infantry commander and he's with us from Columbia Falls. And good morning to you, Larry.
LARRY HUMPHREY, INCIDENT COMMANDER: Good morning. How are you?
CELLINI: Good, thank you.
Where do we stand right now? And it's actually upwards of 50,000 acres in estimates. Is that about right?
HUMPHREY: We, it's pretty close. We had 48,000 yesterday that's continued to burn through the night. So 50,000 is probably getting pretty close.
CELLINI: The weather cooperated a little bit over the weekend. Do you expect that'll happen again on this Labor Day and if so, what takes place procedurally?
HUMPHREY: No, today we're expecting high winds and no precipitation. So we're looking for another rather wild day, it looks like, today.
CELLINI: Well, you could have used some of that precipitation across the country. How many firefighters have been deployed and are more on the way? Do you need any reserve help?
HUMPHREY: We have about 1,100 firefighters on this fire. That's about the size that we need to be right now with what we can do, with the way the winds and topography are hampering our efforts. So we're setting about where we want to be in terms of firefighting personnel.
CELLINI: Larry, I imagine you've battled fires like this before. You know, how does this stack up? Is this relatively routine, although fire is never routine?
HUMPHREY: Well, every one is different. I was on a fire here in 1988 just north of this fire. But the tough thing about this country is the extremely rough terrain, the heavy fuel loading and then you've got houses mixed in the way. So it's extremely tough and these small fronts that are coming through with the high winds and no precipitation are making it really difficult for us. CELLINI: Larry, I understand that many of the firefighters were helping people who had homes near Lake McDonald try to fireproof or fireproof those homes and buildings. What exactly takes place when you're trying to do that?
HUMPHREY: Well, we remove all the flammable materials away from the edge of the house, any wood piles, get the litter out of the way, any pine needles that are down on the ground. We limb up the trees so that fire traveling along the ground can't go up into the trees and into the house. So there's a number of things that we do to try to make it a lot safer.
CELLINI: We understand that much of the park is operational. Tourists are there. In fact, they're taking in the fire as part of their vacation. Where can tourists enter the park?
HUMPHREY: I'm sorry, I couldn't understand you. Say it again.
CELLINI: I say where can tourists enter the park now?
HUMPHREY: They can still go into West Glacier. We just have a few of the outlying roads are all that are closed. So the park is open. People are there having a good time and enjoying the fire experience.
CELLINI: What would you tell those people, Larry, as they enjoy their vacation and some of them try to get -- they can actually smell some of the smoke in the air -- is there a sense that while you're there you have a false sense of security or should it just be a heightened awareness?
HUMPHREY: Well, they have to have a heightened awareness and Park Service officials are really on the ball there to make sure that no tourists get back in harm's way. It's fine for them to come and enjoy the park and look at the smoke and flames. You know, the parks don't burn all the time so it's kind of an added attraction. I don't know how long this will go on, but it's going to go on for probably several weeks until we get precipitation and snow. So they do have a chance to see something that you don't see every day.
CELLINI: All right, Larry Humphrey, thank you so much and best of luck to you in your efforts, you and your men.
HUMPHREY: Thank you very much.
CELLINI: Thank you for joining us.
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