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American Morning

California Temporarily Closes I-80

Aired June 18, 2001 - 11:03   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: California's fire season is heating up. Right now, in the northern part of the state, firefighters have their hands full. They are battling a big forest fire, and the flames are threatening homes east of Truckee. Authorities have shut down Interstate 80 and a major rail line going through that area.

Joining us now on the phone is Gene Welch. He is with the Truckee Fire Protection District. Let's get some information from him. Mr. Welch, what is the current state of I-80 and that major rail line?

GENE WELCH, TRUCKEE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: My understanding is Interstate 80 is open. There are -- the rail line, I don't have any current information on. They were allowing traffic through both directions.

HARRIS: All right, have the firefighters there been able to get an upper hand on this fire?

WELCH: That's been very difficult. It's very steep terrain, and there's heavy timber involved. There's a lot of resources on the scene, and they're working diligently at this time.

HARRIS: Any idea of the number of homes that may be in the way of this fire is?

WELCH: The fire did sweep by over 40 homes already. There was one mobile home destroyed, a travel trailer, three vehicles and some outbuildings, and it's -- the fire headed east towards Montrose (ph).

HARRIS: At this point, any casualties or injuries to report?

WELCH: There was one firefighter that suffered heat stroke or excuse me -- heat exhaustion yesterday and that's the only update I have on that.

HARRIS: How about the winds right now? Are they helping you or hurting you?

WELCH: Currently, the winds are mild, but they're expected to pick up, which will increase the fire load.

HARRIS: And that means that your workload is going to get even heavier today. WELCH: That's right.

HARRIS: Gene Welch from the Truckee Fire Protection District, we wish you luck. Good luck out there.

WELCH: Thank you.

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