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Interview With Kyra's Dad

Aired October 27, 2003 - 14:31   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, where all that smoke is from, the wildfires are literally choking the city of San Diego. The mayor has ordered people to stay home. Just for their very own safety.
On the phone was now, a resident of San Diego. I guess someone you could say I know pretty well, my pop, Ben Christensen. Pop, you've now been promoted to San Diego bureau chief. Are you willing to take that on?

BEN CHRISTENSEN, KYRA'S DAD: Yes, I am. Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: All right, now, in all seriousness, of course I called you because I was concerned about you and Mom. And you told me how this is really affecting the city proper, not just the mountainous areas there where the wildfires are. Give us a feel whole what it's like specifically near San Diego State. That's been closed down, right?

CHRISTENSEN: Absolutely. All of the schools in the area have been closed down. There's a thick pile of smoke covering the whole area, generally all of San Diego County. Yesterday we could see a beautiful red sun. You could look at it because it was amassed by the cloud of smoke.

Today it's a little lighter but because the winds are popping up again, we could see flare-ups and new fuel, vegetation burning and perhaps more thick smoke coming over the San Diego city area.

PHILLIPS: Now describe the house. You were telling me that there are ashes all over the patio and out on the...

CHRISTENSEN: That's right. That's right. Ashes just that keep falling down. Our patio is pretty thick with ashes. The swimming pool is filming up the ashes. I think that's certainly the situation all over San Diego.

PHILLIPS: And you've been trying to make a number of calls but you told me the phone lines have been jammed. What's the word on that?

CHRISTENSEN: Well, a lot of the lines have to be kept open for emergency service people who need to call amongst themselves. So sometimes it's been very difficult to call out because the lines have been busy.

PHILLIPS: What about the fire department? There's the one there around the corner from our house. Does it seem like they're all pretty strapped right now?

CHRISTENSEN: They are really stretched thin. Before our fire broke out, late Saturday night, early Sunday morning, our units, the firefighting units were summoned up to San Bernardino area in Los Angeles. And then ours broke out and we could not get them back.

Now they are racing back as we speak, from the San Bernardino area, which is about two or three hours north of San Diego.

PHILLIPS: What about the zoo? I mean, the San Diego Zoo is so famous and also the Wild Animal Park.

CHRISTENSEN: Well, the zoo is pretty much away from the fire. That's closer to downtown San Diego. So the animals have not been affected except perhaps breathing the thick smoke.

And the Wild Animal Park up in Escondido, as far as I know, has not been touched. And I think the animals are pretty much safe up there.

As you know, San Diego has a lot of rural area. And in the rural areas people have horses and lots of livestock. And those horses are pretty much under the control of their owners. And most of them, I think, have been taken to protected areas.

PHILLIPS: Now, Pop, we're members of a pretty big church there in San Diego. You told me about an emergency meeting last night. What are the churches in the area trying to help folks are affected?

CHRISTENSEN: Oh it is amazing the volunteerism that's going on in San Diego, neighbors, churches, schools. The churches are organizing themselves to take emergency clothing and blankets and services like that to Qualcomm Stadium, the big football stadium in Mission Valley.

And they have about 4,000 people there right now and they're taking things that are needed to Balboa Park where the Red Cross has setting up it's staging area.

And there are evacuation points all over San Diego county where churches are taking help, clothing and toiletries, underwear, things like that that people don't have now because they -- those things were all burned up.

PHILLIPS: So pretty much, it's like a ghost town, I guess, except for emergency-type of operations. Are all businesses closed down?

CHRISTENSEN: No. I don't know how many businesses are up and running. I suppose businesses themselves downtown San Diego are pretty much up and running.

But schools and some other public services like that, I think have closed down. The mayor asked people to stay home. And they asked businesses if they could, to ask their employees to stay home. Because of the heavy smoke, it presents a bad health situation with respiration, emphysema people, things like that. They need to say inside and not breathe particulars that are floating around in the air.

PHILLIPS: I never thought I would get to do this, but, Dad, you're grounded.

(LAUGHTER)

CHRISTENSEN: Thank you. Well, I am indoors. I'm watching the clouds go by and it's getting thicker. As we speak, I think there are smoke clods coming in from east county blowing westward because of the Santa Ana condition.

PHILLIPS: All right, I'll continue to check in. Be careful, OK?

CHRISTENSEN: All right. Good talking to you. Bye-bye.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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 October 27, 2003 - 14:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, where all that smoke is from, the wildfires are literally choking the city of San Diego. The mayor has ordered people to stay home. Just for their very own safety.
On the phone was now, a resident of San Diego. I guess someone you could say I know pretty well, my pop, Ben Christensen. Pop, you've now been promoted to San Diego bureau chief. Are you willing to take that on?

BEN CHRISTENSEN, KYRA'S DAD: Yes, I am. Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: All right, now, in all seriousness, of course I called you because I was concerned about you and Mom. And you told me how this is really affecting the city proper, not just the mountainous areas there where the wildfires are. Give us a feel whole what it's like specifically near San Diego State. That's been closed down, right?

CHRISTENSEN: Absolutely. All of the schools in the area have been closed down. There's a thick pile of smoke covering the whole area, generally all of San Diego County. Yesterday we could see a beautiful red sun. You could look at it because it was amassed by the cloud of smoke.

Today it's a little lighter but because the winds are popping up again, we could see flare-ups and new fuel, vegetation burning and perhaps more thick smoke coming over the San Diego city area.

PHILLIPS: Now describe the house. You were telling me that there are ashes all over the patio and out on the...

CHRISTENSEN: That's right. That's right. Ashes just that keep falling down. Our patio is pretty thick with ashes. The swimming pool is filming up the ashes. I think that's certainly the situation all over San Diego.

PHILLIPS: And you've been trying to make a number of calls but you told me the phone lines have been jammed. What's the word on that?

CHRISTENSEN: Well, a lot of the lines have to be kept open for emergency service people who need to call amongst themselves. So sometimes it's been very difficult to call out because the lines have been busy.

PHILLIPS: What about the fire department? There's the one there around the corner from our house. Does it seem like they're all pretty strapped right now?

CHRISTENSEN: They are really stretched thin. Before our fire broke out, late Saturday night, early Sunday morning, our units, the firefighting units were summoned up to San Bernardino area in Los Angeles. And then ours broke out and we could not get them back.

Now they are racing back as we speak, from the San Bernardino area, which is about two or three hours north of San Diego.

PHILLIPS: What about the zoo? I mean, the San Diego Zoo is so famous and also the Wild Animal Park.

CHRISTENSEN: Well, the zoo is pretty much away from the fire. That's closer to downtown San Diego. So the animals have not been affected except perhaps breathing the thick smoke.

And the Wild Animal Park up in Escondido, as far as I know, has not been touched. And I think the animals are pretty much safe up there.

As you know, San Diego has a lot of rural area. And in the rural areas people have horses and lots of livestock. And those horses are pretty much under the control of their owners. And most of them, I think, have been taken to protected areas.

PHILLIPS: Now, Pop, we're members of a pretty big church there in San Diego. You told me about an emergency meeting last night. What are the churches in the area trying to help folks are affected?

CHRISTENSEN: Oh it is amazing the volunteerism that's going on in San Diego, neighbors, churches, schools. The churches are organizing themselves to take emergency clothing and blankets and services like that to Qualcomm Stadium, the big football stadium in Mission Valley.

And they have about 4,000 people there right now and they're taking things that are needed to Balboa Park where the Red Cross has setting up it's staging area.

And there are evacuation points all over San Diego county where churches are taking help, clothing and toiletries, underwear, things like that that people don't have now because they -- those things were all burned up.

PHILLIPS: So pretty much, it's like a ghost town, I guess, except for emergency-type of operations. Are all businesses closed down?

CHRISTENSEN: No. I don't know how many businesses are up and running. I suppose businesses themselves downtown San Diego are pretty much up and running.

But schools and some other public services like that, I think have closed down. The mayor asked people to stay home. And they asked businesses if they could, to ask their employees to stay home. Because of the heavy smoke, it presents a bad health situation with respiration, emphysema people, things like that. They need to say inside and not breathe particulars that are floating around in the air.

PHILLIPS: I never thought I would get to do this, but, Dad, you're grounded.

(LAUGHTER)

CHRISTENSEN: Thank you. Well, I am indoors. I'm watching the clouds go by and it's getting thicker. As we speak, I think there are smoke clods coming in from east county blowing westward because of the Santa Ana condition.

PHILLIPS: All right, I'll continue to check in. Be careful, OK?

CHRISTENSEN: All right. Good talking to you. Bye-bye.

PHILLIPS: All right.

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