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California Communities Start Cleanup
Aired October 31, 2003 - 15:00 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: Recent presidents have learned that, when a natural disaster strikes, it is wise to see the damage firsthand. Well, the White House announced a short while ago that President Bush will tour the Southern California wildfires on Tuesday. Firefighters are rushing to make headway against the flames, helped by cooler temperatures and dense fog, before the warmer and windier conditions expected next week.
Let's get a live update on the situation in Scripps Ranch, California, from CNN's Bob Franken.
Bob, what's the latest there?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, you can see the sky behind me. You can see it's overcast. That, of course, is a good thing, because that brings with it the promise of the rain that could continue to dampen these fires. And officials hope they become dampened enough that they are actually able to continue their offensive against the fires, as opposed to the very dangerous inferno defense that they had to play.
Of course, you can also see in back of me the rubble. Scripps Ranch is a development where many of the homes are multimillion-dollar homes. Now that's multimillion-dollar debris. As you can see, this is one of unlucky ones in the neighborhood. It was absolutely wiped up by the flames that raged up the hillside in this very pretty area, with its very heavily wooded terrain, which, of course, was something that was intentional for those who could afford it.
This is one of the homes where the owners will now have to sift through. And you can see just how dangerous it is. You can look at this plank, for instance, and see all nails sticking out, with their potential for danger for anybody who doesn't know what he's doing. And you can see down the block that there's so many other homes that were taken out.
But you can also see right across the street from them homes that were absolutely untouched, for one reason or another, the quirks of nature, which left some people very lucky and many others who were unlucky. And we've heard all the sad statistics. So way over a quarter of a million acres that have been burned in the Cedar Fire, which has ravaged the area around San Diego, nearly a million acres around the state of California that has been burned thus far.
And the fire, of course, has been indiscriminate, striking rich and poor, sometimes striking neighbors, as we pointed out, and not striking the person who is next door. There has been the loss of lives throughout the state, a whole lot of things. And now comes the rebuilding process. And the contractors are putting out a book saying what you should know about your contractor. And earlier in the book is a chapter entitled "Caveat Emptor," "Let the Buyer Beware" -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Bob, what is the view? Are people out there just saying this is Mother Nature, there is nothing we can do about it? Or are they starting to point a finger of blame at either the firefighting agencies, or the government, that more should be done? What is the attitude of most people?
FRANKEN: Well, there's a variety of attitudes. Many people are now trying to find their inner strength to pick up their lives again and to rebuild their homes.
But others are saying that a lot of mistakes have been made. A lot of the complaint is about the use of helicopters. And, in San Diego County, there has been a controversy over quite some time about whether helicopters should be part of the firefighting units. But they have not been, because the people here decided, the politicians decided, they didn't want to pay for them. And, as a matter of fact, there's more controversy about the number of firefighters in this region, which they say doesn't meet the average that it does in other areas.
Of course, right now, everyone is still in shock. But there is no question that, after this debris settles down a little bit and the shock wears off, people are going to be having a lot of very, very difficult questions.
WOODRUFF: All right, Bob Franken, thank you very much, from obviously what is a devastated scene. Thanks.
About two hours from now, California's incoming and outgoing governors will again display the cooperation that they've forged in the heat of these fires, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis scheduled to appear at the opening of a relief center for fire victims. Schwarzenegger had his first tour of the fire zone yesterday. He again praised Davis and most of all the firefighters putting their lives on the line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR-ELECT: I have tremendous respect and admiration for the firefighters that are working here day and night on this fire. I, in my movies, played heroes, but these firefighters are true heroes.
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: These have been the worst fires, the most expensive, the most severe, the largest casualties, the most loss of property, and the longest in duration. In San Diego, for example, on the very first day, on Sunday, the fires were burning two acres a second, two acres a second. That's how rapid this fire was spreading.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WOODRUFF: So far, Davis estimates that the wildfires have caused $2 billion in damage and have displaced more than 100,000 Californians.
Well, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency today is defending FEMA's decision to reject Governor Davis' appeal for help earlier this year. A Davis spokesman says That the governor requested millions of dollars back in April to help get rid of dead trees that threatened to fuel a -- quote -- "catastrophic fire" in Southern California. FEMA Chief Mike Brown says that Davis was turned down because federal money was already coming to the state to fight the infestation that was killing the trees.
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 31, 2003 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Recent presidents have learned that, when a natural disaster strikes, it is wise to see the damage firsthand. Well, the White House announced a short while ago that President Bush will tour the Southern California wildfires on Tuesday. Firefighters are rushing to make headway against the flames, helped by cooler temperatures and dense fog, before the warmer and windier conditions expected next week.
Let's get a live update on the situation in Scripps Ranch, California, from CNN's Bob Franken.
Bob, what's the latest there?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Judy, you can see the sky behind me. You can see it's overcast. That, of course, is a good thing, because that brings with it the promise of the rain that could continue to dampen these fires. And officials hope they become dampened enough that they are actually able to continue their offensive against the fires, as opposed to the very dangerous inferno defense that they had to play.
Of course, you can also see in back of me the rubble. Scripps Ranch is a development where many of the homes are multimillion-dollar homes. Now that's multimillion-dollar debris. As you can see, this is one of unlucky ones in the neighborhood. It was absolutely wiped up by the flames that raged up the hillside in this very pretty area, with its very heavily wooded terrain, which, of course, was something that was intentional for those who could afford it.
This is one of the homes where the owners will now have to sift through. And you can see just how dangerous it is. You can look at this plank, for instance, and see all nails sticking out, with their potential for danger for anybody who doesn't know what he's doing. And you can see down the block that there's so many other homes that were taken out.
But you can also see right across the street from them homes that were absolutely untouched, for one reason or another, the quirks of nature, which left some people very lucky and many others who were unlucky. And we've heard all the sad statistics. So way over a quarter of a million acres that have been burned in the Cedar Fire, which has ravaged the area around San Diego, nearly a million acres around the state of California that has been burned thus far.
And the fire, of course, has been indiscriminate, striking rich and poor, sometimes striking neighbors, as we pointed out, and not striking the person who is next door. There has been the loss of lives throughout the state, a whole lot of things. And now comes the rebuilding process. And the contractors are putting out a book saying what you should know about your contractor. And earlier in the book is a chapter entitled "Caveat Emptor," "Let the Buyer Beware" -- Judy.
WOODRUFF: Bob, what is the view? Are people out there just saying this is Mother Nature, there is nothing we can do about it? Or are they starting to point a finger of blame at either the firefighting agencies, or the government, that more should be done? What is the attitude of most people?
FRANKEN: Well, there's a variety of attitudes. Many people are now trying to find their inner strength to pick up their lives again and to rebuild their homes.
But others are saying that a lot of mistakes have been made. A lot of the complaint is about the use of helicopters. And, in San Diego County, there has been a controversy over quite some time about whether helicopters should be part of the firefighting units. But they have not been, because the people here decided, the politicians decided, they didn't want to pay for them. And, as a matter of fact, there's more controversy about the number of firefighters in this region, which they say doesn't meet the average that it does in other areas.
Of course, right now, everyone is still in shock. But there is no question that, after this debris settles down a little bit and the shock wears off, people are going to be having a lot of very, very difficult questions.
WOODRUFF: All right, Bob Franken, thank you very much, from obviously what is a devastated scene. Thanks.
About two hours from now, California's incoming and outgoing governors will again display the cooperation that they've forged in the heat of these fires, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gray Davis scheduled to appear at the opening of a relief center for fire victims. Schwarzenegger had his first tour of the fire zone yesterday. He again praised Davis and most of all the firefighters putting their lives on the line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR-ELECT: I have tremendous respect and admiration for the firefighters that are working here day and night on this fire. I, in my movies, played heroes, but these firefighters are true heroes.
GOV. GRAY DAVIS (D), CALIFORNIA: These have been the worst fires, the most expensive, the most severe, the largest casualties, the most loss of property, and the longest in duration. In San Diego, for example, on the very first day, on Sunday, the fires were burning two acres a second, two acres a second. That's how rapid this fire was spreading.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WOODRUFF: So far, Davis estimates that the wildfires have caused $2 billion in damage and have displaced more than 100,000 Californians.
Well, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency today is defending FEMA's decision to reject Governor Davis' appeal for help earlier this year. A Davis spokesman says That the governor requested millions of dollars back in April to help get rid of dead trees that threatened to fuel a -- quote -- "catastrophic fire" in Southern California. FEMA Chief Mike Brown says that Davis was turned down because federal money was already coming to the state to fight the infestation that was killing the trees.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
