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Brush Fire Engulfs Salt Marsh in Mentor, Ohio

Aired April 28, 2003 - 15:53   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Want to take you back to a story we've been following over the past hour or so. This is Mentor, Ohio. You see a huge brush fire here actually in a salt marsh. Not sure how this thing started, but we have been watching it, because it is growing with momentum. And there is a very nearby residential area. We want to find out more about this.
So we are going to talk with Mike Scott, who is on the phone with the "Plain Dealer" which is a Cleveland, Ohio, Newspaper, going to tell us more about things there.

Mike, can what can you tell us?

MIKE SCOTT, "CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER": I can tell you the 860- acre Mentor Marsh is on fire along Lakeshore Boulevard. Lakeshore is a road that runs along lake Erie, and it's a salt marsh, about 860 acres. There have been fires here in the past, the last 15, 20 years that have burned up as much as half of the acreage of the marsh. This is not as significant, yet, but you do have neighbors -- right now I'm watching George Hopper (ph), fighting it with a garden hose in his back yard or actually a neighbor's back yard right now.

COLLINS: What's so impressive is obviously the black smoke we're seeing and how quickly it's growing. I am understanding there's an oily hydrocarbon that is in the weeds and in that salt marsh. That may be why we're seeing what we're seeing.

Let me ask you, Mike, what are the weather conditions there now?

Is it incredibly windy?

Is that going to play a role?

SCOTT: It's not incredibly windy, but it's gusty, and that's a part of the problem that I believe that firefighters are having. There's a road that's cuts through the marsh. They've tried to keep the fire from jumping that road, Corduroy Road (ph). From what I hear on the police scanner, they've been successful.

However there's a nearby elementary school they haven't let the kids out yet because they can't get the school buses out. There's no danger to the school, they just can't get the school buses done the smoky road to get there. But for the most part you do have neighbors in the backyard with, like I said, leaf blowers, trying to get the leaves off the yard and water hoses, trying to keep the fire from coming up the hill to where they live.

COLLINS: Doing everything they can, I'm sure. Let me ask you about evacuations, any areas been evacuated at this point.

SCOTT: They've evacuated a couple of side streets off of Lakeshore Boulevard, I am standing on one now, it's called Sarah Court. All of the street has been evacuated. I just talked to a woman who ran out and had to run back in for her medicine she said. For the most part, people have left and there are signs on their doors saying we have been notified. None of the structures seem to be in peril right now, but they're concerned about the fire -- if the winds change rather and the fire comes up closer. The marsh is mostly made up of Fragmites, which is a tall, dry weed. And it's this time of the year is the worst because it hasn't greened up yet. Once it greens up these fires really aren't a problem.

COLLINS: Wow. How long ago did this thing start? We were thinking about an hour and a half, is that is that right?

Any idea, any talk at all about how it may have started?

SCOTT: I would say an hour and a half is about right, although I'm not sure of the time. We heard it on the scanner around that time. It would only be speculation at this time about how it started. There were a fires -- two fires in the last week and a half, two weeks, where they did arrest some juveniles who were playing with fire crackers, and they charged them with arson. Now, there's no -- I have not heard anything yet from local police or fire, of course, I'm with neighbors right now, not with command central. But I have not heard any cause. The firefighters have told me, the chief in Mentor told me in the past, it could be a cigarette thrown out a window off nearby Route 44 and it cause a marsh fire. The wind's picking up now to about, I guess, 15, 20 mile per hour gusts right now. You might be able to hear it.

COLLINS: Yes, a little bit. Now, I know you have a neighbor with you, someone who lives in this area.

What are they telling you about this situation, as far as being in their home, out of their home?

Are they gathering their things together to get away from this thing?

SCOTT: Most of them have gathered their things. I talked to one woman a professional photographer, she was gathering photos out of her house and throwing them in a pickup truck, because she wanted to get her clients' photos out before her own personal photos. She's has since left. I'm here with George Hopper, who is basically just shooting a water hose on to a spot pot hot spot, and trying to put it out.

COLLINS: What about the rest of fire crews?

Is there a large contingent, I would imagine so, coming in from all the different area's there to try to knock this thing down. SCOTT: Your in Lake Country right now -- or We're I should say, which is Ohio's smallest county by land size, but all -- I don't know about all, but many of the departments from all over, we're in the city of Mentor right now, but they've called in departments from all over. I don't know exactly how many, but you're seeing firefighters from all sorts of areas working together with fire extinguishers, anything they can. Because you have got to remember some of these places don't have hydrants so they're just using water trucks.

COLLINS: Let me ask you about -- seems like you've been there for a while. As you say, there have been other fires in this particular area, in this marsh.

What do they usually do?

Do they just use these sort of tactics as far as water goes?

Would there be an opportunity for slurry or any of the slurry bombers I've seen in other fires?

SCOTT: I'm not sure of that. I wondered that myself. I see a lot of choppers in the air, but those are mostly us, mostly media. So, I don't believe they do any kind of drops like that, although I was not working in this area of the state when they had the previous fires, which, like I said, I think by acreage were worse than this, although this fire is up against a number of homes on a side street.

COLLINS: Mike Scott from the "Cleveland Plain Dealer," we certainly do appreciate your perspective this. Once again, you're looking at Mentor, Ohio, northeast of Cleveland, this is an 860-acre salt marsh that is on fire.

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 April 28, 2003 - 15:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Want to take you back to a story we've been following over the past hour or so. This is Mentor, Ohio. You see a huge brush fire here actually in a salt marsh. Not sure how this thing started, but we have been watching it, because it is growing with momentum. And there is a very nearby residential area. We want to find out more about this.
So we are going to talk with Mike Scott, who is on the phone with the "Plain Dealer" which is a Cleveland, Ohio, Newspaper, going to tell us more about things there.

Mike, can what can you tell us?

MIKE SCOTT, "CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER": I can tell you the 860- acre Mentor Marsh is on fire along Lakeshore Boulevard. Lakeshore is a road that runs along lake Erie, and it's a salt marsh, about 860 acres. There have been fires here in the past, the last 15, 20 years that have burned up as much as half of the acreage of the marsh. This is not as significant, yet, but you do have neighbors -- right now I'm watching George Hopper (ph), fighting it with a garden hose in his back yard or actually a neighbor's back yard right now.

COLLINS: What's so impressive is obviously the black smoke we're seeing and how quickly it's growing. I am understanding there's an oily hydrocarbon that is in the weeds and in that salt marsh. That may be why we're seeing what we're seeing.

Let me ask you, Mike, what are the weather conditions there now?

Is it incredibly windy?

Is that going to play a role?

SCOTT: It's not incredibly windy, but it's gusty, and that's a part of the problem that I believe that firefighters are having. There's a road that's cuts through the marsh. They've tried to keep the fire from jumping that road, Corduroy Road (ph). From what I hear on the police scanner, they've been successful.

However there's a nearby elementary school they haven't let the kids out yet because they can't get the school buses out. There's no danger to the school, they just can't get the school buses done the smoky road to get there. But for the most part you do have neighbors in the backyard with, like I said, leaf blowers, trying to get the leaves off the yard and water hoses, trying to keep the fire from coming up the hill to where they live.

COLLINS: Doing everything they can, I'm sure. Let me ask you about evacuations, any areas been evacuated at this point.

SCOTT: They've evacuated a couple of side streets off of Lakeshore Boulevard, I am standing on one now, it's called Sarah Court. All of the street has been evacuated. I just talked to a woman who ran out and had to run back in for her medicine she said. For the most part, people have left and there are signs on their doors saying we have been notified. None of the structures seem to be in peril right now, but they're concerned about the fire -- if the winds change rather and the fire comes up closer. The marsh is mostly made up of Fragmites, which is a tall, dry weed. And it's this time of the year is the worst because it hasn't greened up yet. Once it greens up these fires really aren't a problem.

COLLINS: Wow. How long ago did this thing start? We were thinking about an hour and a half, is that is that right?

Any idea, any talk at all about how it may have started?

SCOTT: I would say an hour and a half is about right, although I'm not sure of the time. We heard it on the scanner around that time. It would only be speculation at this time about how it started. There were a fires -- two fires in the last week and a half, two weeks, where they did arrest some juveniles who were playing with fire crackers, and they charged them with arson. Now, there's no -- I have not heard anything yet from local police or fire, of course, I'm with neighbors right now, not with command central. But I have not heard any cause. The firefighters have told me, the chief in Mentor told me in the past, it could be a cigarette thrown out a window off nearby Route 44 and it cause a marsh fire. The wind's picking up now to about, I guess, 15, 20 mile per hour gusts right now. You might be able to hear it.

COLLINS: Yes, a little bit. Now, I know you have a neighbor with you, someone who lives in this area.

What are they telling you about this situation, as far as being in their home, out of their home?

Are they gathering their things together to get away from this thing?

SCOTT: Most of them have gathered their things. I talked to one woman a professional photographer, she was gathering photos out of her house and throwing them in a pickup truck, because she wanted to get her clients' photos out before her own personal photos. She's has since left. I'm here with George Hopper, who is basically just shooting a water hose on to a spot pot hot spot, and trying to put it out.

COLLINS: What about the rest of fire crews?

Is there a large contingent, I would imagine so, coming in from all the different area's there to try to knock this thing down. SCOTT: Your in Lake Country right now -- or We're I should say, which is Ohio's smallest county by land size, but all -- I don't know about all, but many of the departments from all over, we're in the city of Mentor right now, but they've called in departments from all over. I don't know exactly how many, but you're seeing firefighters from all sorts of areas working together with fire extinguishers, anything they can. Because you have got to remember some of these places don't have hydrants so they're just using water trucks.

COLLINS: Let me ask you about -- seems like you've been there for a while. As you say, there have been other fires in this particular area, in this marsh.

What do they usually do?

Do they just use these sort of tactics as far as water goes?

Would there be an opportunity for slurry or any of the slurry bombers I've seen in other fires?

SCOTT: I'm not sure of that. I wondered that myself. I see a lot of choppers in the air, but those are mostly us, mostly media. So, I don't believe they do any kind of drops like that, although I was not working in this area of the state when they had the previous fires, which, like I said, I think by acreage were worse than this, although this fire is up against a number of homes on a side street.

COLLINS: Mike Scott from the "Cleveland Plain Dealer," we certainly do appreciate your perspective this. Once again, you're looking at Mentor, Ohio, northeast of Cleveland, this is an 860-acre salt marsh that is on fire.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com