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American Morning
Husband and Wife Team Up for Firefighting Reality TV
Aired September 05, 2001 - 09:50 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: For weeks now we've been telling you about those huge wildfires out in the West; 17 major fires are burning, more than 160 thousand acres in eight states.
Montana has the most of them, but today the weather forecast there is offering some hope of relief. The biggest fire is a 58 thousand blaze in Glacier National Park.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: And we've been seeing the images, firefighters risking their lives to save homes and other lives as well, but now one firefighting husband and wife team is going a step further.
Amy and Lou Angeli take viewers beyond the yellow tape to allow an up close and personal view from the vantage point of the firefighter of what it takes to battle a blaze. Their reality TV has earned industry awards. Fellow firefighters have dubbed them the "Fire Flirts," and that name has kind of stuck for them.
Lou Angeli and Amy Steelman-Angeli, the Fire Flirts, join us now from Wilmington, Delaware.
Thank you both for being here.
LOU ANGELI, TV FIREFIGHTER: Thanks.
AMY STEELMAN-ANGELI, TV FIREFIGHTER: Thank you.
MCEDWARDS: Lou, why do you do this?
ANGELI: I don't know.
MCEDWARDS: You've got to have a reason?
ANGELI: I'm lucky enough to be able to combine both my avocation as a firefighter and my love of filmmaking. And it's what -- I just love to do it. And I think that we also offer the public a different perspective on what firefighting life is, because firefighting is a lifestyle, it's the nation's largest private club.
MCEDWARDS: Started out as a training video exercise, though, didn't it?
STEELMAN-ANGELI: It started out that way originally. Lou showed up at my fire station in Indiana and asked me to be an on-camera host for a training series, and it just took off from there. And what we didn't realize -- we had the -- the very first episode of "Real TV" was our footage, so we were on the edge of if reality TV thing before we knew it was reality TV.
MCEDWARDS: Yes, that's sort of the interesting thing about your story, Amy. And I was noticing in your biography you were -- you list yourself as an actor, model, and even a firefighter, as you've just said. That's quite a list of things that you've done. I mean, how do you get from all of that to doing this kind of work, making television programs about it, award winning television programs?
STEELMAN-ANGELI: I think it's just a constant drive to do something that's exciting, that's challenging, that's different. It's always been -- anybody that puts forth a challenge to me where they say, you cannot do that...
MCEDWARDS: Right.
STEELMAN-ANGELI: ... I do it.
MCEDWARDS: Lou, I've heard firefighters talk about fires almost if they have a personality, almost as if they're human. Is that part of it too? I mean, it's fascinating.
ANGELI: I think that firefighters attribute some sort of personality to fires simply because you need to in order to stay safe. We have to think of it as an animate object, not inanimate. And you'll find around the country that we have different names for it; some departments call it "The Beast," "The Dragon," whatever. I call it "The Beast." And...
STEELMAN-ANGELI: I call it "The Mistress Of The Dark."
MCEDWARDS: So what it, Amy, that moves you about it?
STEELMAN-ANGELI: The unpredictability. Depending on what the fire load is at any given situation the fire behavior changes and you have to be ready to adapt and act quickly and think quickly.
MCEDWARDS: So Amy, I mean, you've seen some incredible things, also, but you've seen some tragic things as well. And I'm wondering, you know, as you're making videos of this, and things that you're going to sell, do you ever just feel badly?
STEELMAN-ANGELI: Of course. At the time I think we're so involved in what we're shooting and it just -- it takes on a life of its own, whether it's the flood or it's a fire or whatever it is, it takes on a life of its own. And it's not until you actually review the footage that it hits home as far as what you've seen, and that's when you react to it -- or I react on an emotional level.
MCEDWARDS: Right.
All right, we've got to leave it there. Lou, Amy, thanks very much for your stories this morning. We appreciate it. ANGELI: You're welcome.
STEELMAN-ANGELI: Thank you.
MCEDWARDS: See you later.
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