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American Morning
Oregon Loses 100,000 Acres to Wildfires
Aired August 16, 2001 - 10:01 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: We begin this hour in the Western U.S. Weary fire crews may soon make the call for military troops to join this battle. Some 43 different fires are moving across 10 states, stretching resources as thin and as far from Oklahoma to Texas. Twenty thousand firefighters are on the job and there are plans now to place a call to the military, if needed, to bolster the ranks.
More than 100,000 acres have burned in Nevada alone. That is nearly a third of the total acreage lost in the 10 states. All of Nevada's fires have been at least partially contained. But the town of Midas is awaiting word on a possible evacuation. Oregon has lost more than 100,000 acres to the flames. Fire crews have reigned in a half dozen fires. Three more continue to grow.
For the latest on Oregon's Monument fire, we get this report now from Mark Glyzewski of our CNN Portland affiliate KPDX.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK GLYZEWSKI, KPDX REPORTER (voice-over): The growing army of fire crews battling the Monument fire complex more than doubled within just one day, now totaling 500 plus.
UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: Make sure we get a line up.
UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: Yes, right here first, you guys.
GLYZEWSKI: They're focusing their efforts on three wildfires that span nearly 40 miles north to south.
UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: This is the first day out here for me so they're pretty good right now. There ain't no, that many hot spots or nothing today out of hand yet. So hopefully we can get it contained today.
GLYZEWSKI: The severe dry conditions pose a hidden problem where crews need to dig up underbrush and pine cones in search for hidden embers. Firefighters used one inch diameter hoses to help saturate the hot spots.
UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: It's in our favor right now but it's going back towards us, the fire.
GLYZEWSKI: Weather presents another challenge. UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: The weather changes instantly up here. It can change the fire conditions within seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: Get several up here.
GLYZEWSKI: Fire crews get weather updates every half hour.
UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: And it lets the fire crews know what kind of conditions they're going to have to put up with. Fire can break out just with a little change of humidity.
GLYZEWSKI: Then there's the daunting terrain.
UNIDENTIFIED FIREFIGHTER: As you can see through this trail here, they had to use a cat to actually carve this road up here to get to the top of the ridge where the fire is actually located.
GLYZEWSKI: Seven homes south of Monument remain evacuated because of the lingering wildfire threat.
(on camera): You can see how the fire line came within about 300 yards of the home behind me here and firefighters here along the Timber Basin fire are actually using a three pronged attack to battle the flames.
(voice-over): Six helicopters ran nonstop and dumped a steady shower of water on the leading edge of the wildfires. Also, reddish orange flame retardant marks where other aircraft flew over to keep the stubborn flames at bay. Fire crews plan to stay on top of the wildfires around the clock.
In Monument, Mark Glyzewski Fox 49 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Now, we're going to get more information on the fires in the West, especially in Oregon. Let's bring in David Widmark. He is with the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center and he is on the phone with us from Portland, Oregon. David, good morning.
DAVID WIDMARK, INCIDENT INFORMATION OFFICER: Good morning.
KAGAN: Give us an update on the situation in your area please.
WIDMARK: This morning it's, as we say, hot and burning in paradise. It's absolutely just incredible. We have 12 major fires that are still burning in Oregon. We only have one fire that is in 75 percent containment. It is, continues to be very hot, very dry, very low humidity. They're anticipating that we may get a little cooling trend for a couple of days and then it's right back at it for another 10 days.
In talking with our meteorologist this morning, he indicates that it's actually -- we're sitting in the same situation weather wise that Montana was a year ago. So things do not look real good.
KAGAN: Let's talk about resources. We're hearing in possibly calls to bring in the military.
WIDMARK: That is correct. Actually, we're also, we'll be bringing in, more than likely, Canadian firefighters here in the next couple of days.
KAGAN: I'm sorry, Canadian FIREFIGHTERS?
WIDMARK: That's correct. Because we do have reciprocal agreements with the government of Canada for when we end up in a situation like we are right now where we have stretched our 550 trained firefighting crews nationally. We are literally pushing the limit on that right now.
KAGAN: And you mentioned the large number of fires just in Oregon alone. Which one is the most out of control right now? Which are you most concerned about?
WIDMARK: Well, we're real concerned about the Lake View Complex. This fire has been burning now for over a week. We had a blow up on it yesterday that consumed over 100,000 acres and we are watching that one extremely close. It's five different fires that are burning and one particular fire on that one is called Juniper. We had a blowout yesterday and as an earlier report indicated, this weather changes so rapidly. The wind can come up, the humidity can drop to almost zero and it just literally becomes an inferno.
KAGAN: David Widmark, we wish you well. We send you our best wishes as you try to get those fires under control in Oregon. Thank you.
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