Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Western Firefighters Might Get Help From Weather
Aired August 20, 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In the western U.S., hundreds of thousands of acres are still on fire. Good news though, a little bit, cooler weather is bringing some relief today to parts of the region.
Right now, at least 40 big wildfires are burning in the west. As many as 400,000 acres are on fire. Over the weekend, 27,000 firefighters on the front lines had their hands full because of the hot, dry conditions that were fanning the flames.
This brushfire in Utah is causing a lot of problems. It has raced across 8,500 acres, forcing officials to evacuate about 400 campers.
We move to the Pacific Northwest, which is a hot spot this fire season indeed. In Washington state alone, more than 105,000 acres are scorched. Firefighters though, are having a new ally: And that would be the cooler weather, as we can tell from our Lilian Kim, who is bundled up a little bit today. She is in the town of Leavenworth, Washington.
Lilian, first tell us a little bit about conditions, As we mentioned, it doesn't look like very summery, based by the way that you are dressed.
LILIAN KIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's definitely cool here in the Pacific Northwest, and it was very cold overnight. So, that is good news for firefighters here. Smoke continues to hover over Leavenworth, Washington, but crews are gaining progress. There are more than 800 firefighters working on this blaze, and they've come from all over the U.S.
So far, 6900 acres have burned near this Cascade Mountain tourist towns, flames have yet to reach any structure but an evacuation order remains in effect for 68 homes.
With cooler temperatures and higher humidity, firefighters are gaining ground. Crews are busy constructing a containment line and putting out remaining hot spots. This is just one of nine fires burning in Washington state.
While the situation improving here, firefighters know conditions can change at any time. What they are worried about most: Gusty winds that could quickly flare-up a smoldering fire, but there's possibly more good weather news, rain is expected to come as early as tomorrow, as much as a half an inch.
Joining us now is George Custer with the U.S. Forest Service. You are the operations section chief. Thank you for joining us this morning.
Tell us: How much of a help will the rain be if it comes tomorrow?
GEORGE CUSTER, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: The rain will be a tremendous help if it comes tomorrow. With the amount and the duration, we're expecting it would probably really sort of calm this fire down to the point that we can make really good progress on it.
KIM: And, we expect as much as half an inch, correct?
CUSTER: A quarter to a half an inch is the prediction, starting probably tomorrow night and into Wednesday morning.
KIM: What is the status of the fire right now?
CUSTER: Actually, we've done really well the last couple of shifts on the fire, especially yesterday we were able to pull off a major burnout along one of the roads, which will protect most of the homes down canyon from the fire. So, by using some fire to fight fire with, we were able to stop a major side of the fire.
So, that's given us a good anchor point to work off of, and it's kind of like taking one piece of the pie out of the picture, and now we can go to work on the rest of the pie.
KIM: And more than 800 firefighters are here, but more are expected. Correct?
CUSTER: That's correct. We do expect about seven more crews to arrive today, 20-person crews, and some individual overhead. So maybe 140 or 150 more people today. We're probably looking at over 1,000 folks the next few days on this fire.
KIM: This fire has been going on for more than a week now. How are crews holding up? How is morale, how is their energy level?
CUSTER: Crew morale is very good, energy level is up. There's been just a few minor blisters, the kind of things like that. Probably a little fatigue from short night's rest where some crews have been spiked out up in the mountains, so that they stay up on the fire line. So, those are probably the tiredest crews. but we get them off the line, back into base camp where they can get showers and hot meals, and so they're doing really well.
KIM: All right. Well, thank you very much for joining us this morning. Good luck with the fire efforts.
CUSTER: You are welcome.
KIM: That is the latest Leavenworth, Washington, where fire crews are gaining the upper hand. That is the latest. Back to you, Leon.
KAGAN: Actually, it's Daryn. But, Lilian, 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
