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American Morning

Wyoming Wildfire Threatens Homes

Aired July 26, 2001 - 11:39   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of firefighters and a dozen aircraft are battling a wildfire in northwest Wyoming. Warm weather and gusty winds are fanning the blaze, in the Teton Mountains. Dozens of homes near Jackson, Wyoming, are threatened. Several hundred residents have been evacuated.

On the phone with us now is Jay Hildebrandt. He's with our affiliate KIFI in nearby Idaho Falls, Idaho, with an update on the situation.

Jay, what is the latest on this fire?

JAY HILDEBRANDT, KIFI REPORTER: The latest right now, Daryn, is that it's grown to 1,900 acres. About 150 homes have been evacuated now.

The big problem is that the winds have been kicking up in the afternoon. That happened yesterday, and that's when those evacuations took place. Many people are at work in Jackson Hole, about five miles from where this fire is going on. They tried to go home, but they could not get to their homes. Many of them were in tears because they have planned a evacuation possibility and were going to get their things and leave, but they were not able to do that.

However, the winds have calmed down, and this morning, with a sheriffs' escort, many of those residents are going back, gathering their belongs, and they will be able to get those out of there.

But they do expect the winds to whip up again this afternoon, so it could be trouble again. So far, no homes have been burned by the fire, but the flames have come within about a half mile of some of those homes.

KAGAN: This is newsworthy not just because they are homes, but a lot of celebrities make their second homes or original homes in this area. Do you know of any celebrity homes that are threatened?

HILDEBRANDT: Right now, none of the celebrity homes are threatened. We know that Vice President Cheney has a home in the Jackson Hole area, as well as Harrison Ford and Sandra Bullock. Several other celebrities have homes there because it's such a beautiful area.

At this point, none of those homes are threatened, but about 150 have been evacuated, and about 25 more are threatened at this point.

And these are, as you said, some very nice, upscale homes. Some are just summer homes. Others people live in all year round.

KAGAN: Where are these people going as they are evacuated?

HILDEBRANDT: They have set up an evacuation center at Jackson High School, just a few miles away, but at last word, no one who had taken advantage of that; these are people that have friends or other resources, so that they don't really need to take advantage of that shelter.

KAGAN: I guess if you are of the means to have a $1 million-plus house, you can afford a hotel if your house is in trouble.

Also, I understand conditions have been very dry around there, and that's not helping the situation.

HILDEBRANDT: This has been a drought year. We've had extreme drought conditions in this part of the country, so that has not helped at all. Dry conditions up in the mountain, and that along with the winds are making this a very situation.

KAGAN: Jay Hildebrandt with KIFI, thanks for the latest on that -- appreciate it, Jay.

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