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American Morning
State in Flames
Aired October 29, 2003 - 09:04 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Fast moving fire in the northwest of Los Angeles has been threatening homes in Stevenson Ranch. But this morning there are signs that the fire could be cooperating a little bit.
Joining us this morning from there is battalion chief Terry Dejournett at the Los Angeles County Fire department.
Chief Dejournett, good morning. Thanks for joining us. I certainly appreciate your time.
TERRY DEJOURNETT, L.A. CO. FIRE DEPT.: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Give me a look at the weather this morning. The pictures that we have seen and that we're seeing now really terrible. And yet at the same time we're hearing that this is in some ways, this is hopeful sign, because the weather's cooperating a little bit. The fire's going the right direction. Is that right?
DEJOURNETT: Yes. We've had quite a change in the weather. We're starting to get our onshore flow back. The moisture, the humidity is rising back, and it's giving us an opportunity to make some headway on the fire.
O'BRIEN: And how about choppers and aircraft? When will they get a chance to go back into the air and drop some water from above?
DEJOURNETT: They'll be up at first light. As you can see, we're already transitioning right now. They'll probably start at about 7:00 or 8:00 and start making drops on the fire.
O'BRIEN: So the fire that's behind you, give me a sense of how big that is and how hopeful you're feeling about the progress overall in this fair?
DEJOURNETT: This is the Simi Valley Fire. I don't know the exact acreage. But it's transitioned through the Pico Canyon here, and it's burning around the homes in the Stevenson Ranch.
And it's actually doing exactly what we want. It's moving very slowly. It's backing down to the homes. The homes have really good brush clearance. They're new homes, the type of construction that doesn't allow for the fire to easily attack the homes. And it's just moving very slowly. And this gives us an opportunity to establish permanent control lines, dozer lines, and it will bring the fire back to the 118 Freeway. O'BRIEN: So is your posture basically a defensive posture, protect the homes as much as you can? Or are you having opportunities to sort of chase the fire, go after it a little bit at this point?
DEJOURNETT: At this point, we have 17 strike teams of engines here. They're protecting the homes. But it also gives us the opportunity to be a little more aggressive, establish that perimeter line, keep the fire within our box.
O'BRIEN: How are your firefighters holding up today?
DEJOURNETT: They've been on the line for on this fire for about five days now, and they're doing pretty good. They're getting a little rest. They are getting tired. But they're here for the endrun.
O'BRIEN: Battalion Chief Terry DeJournett is joining us from the location of the Stevenson Ranch Fire this morning.
Thank you for your time. We certainly appreciate it. We know how busy you are. Thanks -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that's the latest on the fires around Los Angeles. Now let's get the latest on what's going on near San Diego, where nearly 2,000 homes already have been destroyed. Hundreds more are threatened.
Jeff Flock is near Alpine, California.
And, Jeff, I was watching you as you were getting ready for this live shot. It's very cold there, and that probably is good news, right?
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the cold is good news, although there's a breeze here, which is, as you know, is not the greatest of news.
You see a very smoky fire out on the ridge here, and I've got Bob Monsen of the California Department of Forestry here who we talked to come down from Julian to give us the latest, because it's difficult to get up there.
What is the situation in Julian, this mountain town under siege right now, Bob?
BOB MONSEN, CALIF. DEPT. OF FORESTRY: There's homes threatened at this point. That particular fire up there is burning in bug kill timber. That timber or tall pine frees, and they're burning just like grass up there. The crews have been fighting fires all night long. It has not laid down like it should at night. It's burning rapidly at night.
FLOCK: We sensed this when we came out this morning. Typically we see in the morning a fire is down. But this, morning it didn't look like that. What's the reason for that, and what are you looking at for weather today? MONSEN: That's the dry timber that's out there, the bug kill timber that's been out there. And for weather today, we should get an onshore flow, which the winds should blow back toward the desert, off the ocean. Actually that may cause us a few more problems, because it's going to push it more toward Julian and Laguna Mountain area.
FLOCK: And before we get away here, this is Route 8 here. You don't usually shut down an interstate, and we shut down the eastbound lanes here. Any indication when you might get this back open?
MONSEN: I'm not too sure. I haven't talked to the incident commander on when this is going to be open. We did open eastbound. The westbound are still closed, because of the fire equipment and the fire.
FLOCK: Where we're looking right now, you had a fire underneath Interstate 8 for awhile. This road to Julian, tough road.
MONSEN: Yes, we tried to make it up there last night, both your truck and I, as I tried to up there, and there's no way you go up that highway.
FLOCK: OK. Bob, I appreciate the time. Thanks for coming down. You made a heroic trip down to Julian. Our eyes and ears, Miles, up in Julian, this mountain town, a picturesque town, and they are holding, according to Bob, they are holding it right now, but a lot of timber up there still to burn -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, CNN's Jeff Flock, Alpine, California.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 29, 2003 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Fast moving fire in the northwest of Los Angeles has been threatening homes in Stevenson Ranch. But this morning there are signs that the fire could be cooperating a little bit.
Joining us this morning from there is battalion chief Terry Dejournett at the Los Angeles County Fire department.
Chief Dejournett, good morning. Thanks for joining us. I certainly appreciate your time.
TERRY DEJOURNETT, L.A. CO. FIRE DEPT.: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Give me a look at the weather this morning. The pictures that we have seen and that we're seeing now really terrible. And yet at the same time we're hearing that this is in some ways, this is hopeful sign, because the weather's cooperating a little bit. The fire's going the right direction. Is that right?
DEJOURNETT: Yes. We've had quite a change in the weather. We're starting to get our onshore flow back. The moisture, the humidity is rising back, and it's giving us an opportunity to make some headway on the fire.
O'BRIEN: And how about choppers and aircraft? When will they get a chance to go back into the air and drop some water from above?
DEJOURNETT: They'll be up at first light. As you can see, we're already transitioning right now. They'll probably start at about 7:00 or 8:00 and start making drops on the fire.
O'BRIEN: So the fire that's behind you, give me a sense of how big that is and how hopeful you're feeling about the progress overall in this fair?
DEJOURNETT: This is the Simi Valley Fire. I don't know the exact acreage. But it's transitioned through the Pico Canyon here, and it's burning around the homes in the Stevenson Ranch.
And it's actually doing exactly what we want. It's moving very slowly. It's backing down to the homes. The homes have really good brush clearance. They're new homes, the type of construction that doesn't allow for the fire to easily attack the homes. And it's just moving very slowly. And this gives us an opportunity to establish permanent control lines, dozer lines, and it will bring the fire back to the 118 Freeway. O'BRIEN: So is your posture basically a defensive posture, protect the homes as much as you can? Or are you having opportunities to sort of chase the fire, go after it a little bit at this point?
DEJOURNETT: At this point, we have 17 strike teams of engines here. They're protecting the homes. But it also gives us the opportunity to be a little more aggressive, establish that perimeter line, keep the fire within our box.
O'BRIEN: How are your firefighters holding up today?
DEJOURNETT: They've been on the line for on this fire for about five days now, and they're doing pretty good. They're getting a little rest. They are getting tired. But they're here for the endrun.
O'BRIEN: Battalion Chief Terry DeJournett is joining us from the location of the Stevenson Ranch Fire this morning.
Thank you for your time. We certainly appreciate it. We know how busy you are. Thanks -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, that's the latest on the fires around Los Angeles. Now let's get the latest on what's going on near San Diego, where nearly 2,000 homes already have been destroyed. Hundreds more are threatened.
Jeff Flock is near Alpine, California.
And, Jeff, I was watching you as you were getting ready for this live shot. It's very cold there, and that probably is good news, right?
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the cold is good news, although there's a breeze here, which is, as you know, is not the greatest of news.
You see a very smoky fire out on the ridge here, and I've got Bob Monsen of the California Department of Forestry here who we talked to come down from Julian to give us the latest, because it's difficult to get up there.
What is the situation in Julian, this mountain town under siege right now, Bob?
BOB MONSEN, CALIF. DEPT. OF FORESTRY: There's homes threatened at this point. That particular fire up there is burning in bug kill timber. That timber or tall pine frees, and they're burning just like grass up there. The crews have been fighting fires all night long. It has not laid down like it should at night. It's burning rapidly at night.
FLOCK: We sensed this when we came out this morning. Typically we see in the morning a fire is down. But this, morning it didn't look like that. What's the reason for that, and what are you looking at for weather today? MONSEN: That's the dry timber that's out there, the bug kill timber that's been out there. And for weather today, we should get an onshore flow, which the winds should blow back toward the desert, off the ocean. Actually that may cause us a few more problems, because it's going to push it more toward Julian and Laguna Mountain area.
FLOCK: And before we get away here, this is Route 8 here. You don't usually shut down an interstate, and we shut down the eastbound lanes here. Any indication when you might get this back open?
MONSEN: I'm not too sure. I haven't talked to the incident commander on when this is going to be open. We did open eastbound. The westbound are still closed, because of the fire equipment and the fire.
FLOCK: Where we're looking right now, you had a fire underneath Interstate 8 for awhile. This road to Julian, tough road.
MONSEN: Yes, we tried to make it up there last night, both your truck and I, as I tried to up there, and there's no way you go up that highway.
FLOCK: OK. Bob, I appreciate the time. Thanks for coming down. You made a heroic trip down to Julian. Our eyes and ears, Miles, up in Julian, this mountain town, a picturesque town, and they are holding, according to Bob, they are holding it right now, but a lot of timber up there still to burn -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, CNN's Jeff Flock, Alpine, California.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
