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CNN Live At Daybreak

Fast Moving California Fire Explodes Overnight

Aired September 07, 2001 - 07:27   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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We have a fast moving fire in California very early this morning there that has doubled in size in a matter of hours. We've just learned that eight homes have been destroyed, three people have been hurt as this forest fire is literally exploding overnight. Firefighters are calling it the Poe (ph) fire. It is near Oroville and so far a total of 3,000 acres and perhaps as many as 100 or more homes evacuated.

We are going to go right to the source right now, Captain Ted Crawford from the Oroville, California Fire Department on the phone with us right now. Good morning, Captain.

What is the situation as you see it right now? How bad is it?

CAPT. TED CRAWFORD, CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF FORESTRY: Well, it's not very good right now. We have the fire moving in all different directions and it has jumped our main line that we thought we would be able to stop it at and it jumped that line just a few minutes ago.

LIN: And so what does that mean? How many homes are in the way?

CRAWFORD: Well, once it's jumped the road where it jumped it, there aren't any structures in its path now. It'll probably burn all the way to Lake Oroville in that direction.

LIN: So is this...

CRAWFORD: But we do have a lot of homes that are still being threatened on the western flank of the fire right now.

LIN: So are we right in saying more than 100 homes or even more than that?

CRAWFORD: Probably more than that right now being threatened, and most of them have been evacuated and we're just trying to save as many as we can.

LIN: All right, well, there was some criticism in another California wildfire just earlier this week where Forestry Service people did not act on it quickly enough. The contention was that some of these fires need to burn themselves out. What's the policy on this fire? How quickly did you jump on this one?

CRAWFORD: We have jumped on this one very fast. This one started yesterday morning at about 8:30 and right now we have over 61 engines, 12 dozers, 13 hand crews and a lot of aircraft during the day total in approximately 117 people in overhead. So our first line is to protect the personnel and property, in that order. So that's our main criteria.

LIN: Captain, it's only 4:30 in the morning out there. What, why is it that these winds are kicking up so early in the morning? It should still be pretty cool out there.

CRAWFORD: Yes, but it just has not cooled down at all. It's still in the 70s and the winds are blowing out of an unusual condition because of a front that passed through here yesterday. We're getting north and northeast winds that we don't normally get and they're 15 to 20 mile an hour winds blowing the fire rapidly in a direction where it shouldn't be.

LIN: So when you have winds blowing at 15 to 20 miles an hour, how fast can the fire move? How much ground can it cover in a short amount of time?

CRAWFORD: Well, that's hard to predict based on the type of topography that it's burning in and the type of fuels. It has doubled in the last, probably in the last six or eight hours. The fire has doubled in size.

LIN: But in southern California, coverage wildfires there, I saw fires moving as quickly as one to two miles in a matter of seconds because of the winds.

CRAWFORD: Well, that's true, and they don't have a lot of brush or a lot of trees to slow it down. We have a -- the area we're talking about is 1,100 to 1,800 foot elevation and we have changes from grass to brush to large pine tree areas. So it all depends on where the fire is burning, in which direction, and the valleys and the drainages that it has to burn through.

LIN: Captain Ted Crawford, you've got a big job ahead of you today. Good luck. And we wish that all those firefighters stay real safe. It's been a very deadly year, 10 firefighters killed this fire season alone.

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