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Over 600,000 Acres Destroyed by California Wildfires
Aired October 29, 2003 - 15:02 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.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: If you're having trouble picturing the enormity of the Southern California wildfires, consider this. The scorched area, more than 600,000 acres, is roughly the size of the entire state of Rhode Island. At least 16 people have died. More than 1,700 homes have been destroyed.
Let's check in now with CNN's Miguel Marquez. He is at Lake Arrowhead.
Miguel, what is the latest where you are?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is not particularly good there,Judy.
We are in Lake Arrowhead. And the fire has been moving this direction all day long. As you can hear above me, there is an air show, as firefighters call it, these big choppers that fly in and drop up to 2,200 or 2,500 gallons of water each time. They have been moving in, sort of a house-to-house, neighborhood-to-neighborhood sort of battle for these guys.
I talked to a firefighter the other day. He said he feels like he no longer like goes to work. He feels like he goes to war in the morning. And that seems to be what they're fighting right at this moment in Lake Arrowhead. The news here is also not particularly good for Big Bear at the same time, because Big Bear is a place that's east of here and also being threatened by this fire.
I want to bring in Marc Peebles here. He's a task force leader with the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
Tell us, what is going on immediately around us? It seems like it's very close in.
MARC PEEBLES, SAN BERNARDINO FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, what you're seeing, is, you're seeing the helitankers working in the area, along the area of what we refer to as the moonscape. That's an area that is a log staging area, a log staging area down below us.
One of the big concerns in that area right now is, there is a lot of fire down in the canyon below it. And we're fearful that those fires will start on top of the log decks. And once that happens, there's the high possibility for spotting back in toward Lake Arrowhead into the areas that have the structures.
MARQUEZ: This is personal for you, yes?
PEEBLES: Yes. I'm a lake Arrowhead resident.
MARQUEZ: Do you know the status of your home?
PEEBLES: My home is located on the north side of the lake. And so far, it's in pretty good shape.
MARQUEZ: All right. Thank you very much. I know you guys are having a very busy day out there. Very good luck to you. And stay safe.
PEEBLES: Thank you.
MARQUEZ: Judy, firefighter after firefighter has come up here. We're in a hospital region here in Lake Arrowhead, where this is a must-save area here. And firefighters are at least hopeful that they can save some structures. I can tell you, we have heard explosion after explosion of propane tanks going up as the fire approaches -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Miguel Marquez, once again, we're reminded just what heroes these firefighters are. All right, Miguel, thank you very much.
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 29, 2003 - 15:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: If you're having trouble picturing the enormity of the Southern California wildfires, consider this. The scorched area, more than 600,000 acres, is roughly the size of the entire state of Rhode Island. At least 16 people have died. More than 1,700 homes have been destroyed.
Let's check in now with CNN's Miguel Marquez. He is at Lake Arrowhead.
Miguel, what is the latest where you are?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest is not particularly good there,Judy.
We are in Lake Arrowhead. And the fire has been moving this direction all day long. As you can hear above me, there is an air show, as firefighters call it, these big choppers that fly in and drop up to 2,200 or 2,500 gallons of water each time. They have been moving in, sort of a house-to-house, neighborhood-to-neighborhood sort of battle for these guys.
I talked to a firefighter the other day. He said he feels like he no longer like goes to work. He feels like he goes to war in the morning. And that seems to be what they're fighting right at this moment in Lake Arrowhead. The news here is also not particularly good for Big Bear at the same time, because Big Bear is a place that's east of here and also being threatened by this fire.
I want to bring in Marc Peebles here. He's a task force leader with the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
Tell us, what is going on immediately around us? It seems like it's very close in.
MARC PEEBLES, SAN BERNARDINO FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, what you're seeing, is, you're seeing the helitankers working in the area, along the area of what we refer to as the moonscape. That's an area that is a log staging area, a log staging area down below us.
One of the big concerns in that area right now is, there is a lot of fire down in the canyon below it. And we're fearful that those fires will start on top of the log decks. And once that happens, there's the high possibility for spotting back in toward Lake Arrowhead into the areas that have the structures.
MARQUEZ: This is personal for you, yes?
PEEBLES: Yes. I'm a lake Arrowhead resident.
MARQUEZ: Do you know the status of your home?
PEEBLES: My home is located on the north side of the lake. And so far, it's in pretty good shape.
MARQUEZ: All right. Thank you very much. I know you guys are having a very busy day out there. Very good luck to you. And stay safe.
PEEBLES: Thank you.
MARQUEZ: Judy, firefighter after firefighter has come up here. We're in a hospital region here in Lake Arrowhead, where this is a must-save area here. And firefighters are at least hopeful that they can save some structures. I can tell you, we have heard explosion after explosion of propane tanks going up as the fire approaches -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Miguel Marquez, once again, we're reminded just what heroes these firefighters are. All right, Miguel, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
