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American Morning
California Wildfires: Coming Home
Aired October 31, 2003 - 07:32 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With favorable weather aiding firefighters in California, Governor Gray Davis is expressing hope fires could be contained in a week. Among the areas now less threatened are parts of San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles, where some residents are actually returning to see what remains of their homes.
Miguel Marquez is live in Running Springs with an update from there.
Hello -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Miles?
Firefighters had a good day yesterday. They may have a great day today. Toda is the first day that they feel they can get in front of the fire, at the head of the fire, and actually build a fire line around it, hoping that at some point they can have a containment date. They still have not -- they do not have a containment date for the Old Fire.
This, as the fire has blown through some communities, like Lake Arrowhead and Cedar Glen, people are starting to return to see if anything's left.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DICK WARD, CEDAR GLEN RESIDENT: I just got off work at midnight and wanted to come up here and see if I could see my cabin.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Dick Ward is a San Diego police officer, but he calls Cedar Glen his home.
WARD: This isn't my house. This is my friend's. Yes, I went to high school with this guy, and his family all lived here. These are all their houses here.
MARQUEZ: Ward has no idea if his cabin survived the fire. Everything along the way says no.
WARD: It doesn't look too good.
MARQUEZ: With a little help from a CNN crew, Ward inched his way toward what he hoped was still his pride and joy.
WARD: I redid the inside, outside. Everybody in the mountains knows this place. This is probably the best known cabin in all the mountains.
MARQUEZ: Finally a glimpse.
WARD: Holy man! Look at this.
MARQUEZ: The best known cabin in the mountains just got known a little better.
WARD: Can you believe this -- that it's still here? I'm happy at hell that this is still here. This means a lot to me. This is -- you know, I'm not a millionaire, and I don't have a house in Malibu on the cliffs, but that's what this is to me.
MARQUEZ: His barbecue and tool shed didn't make it, but when he considers his police officer friends and the homes they may have lost, it doesn't seem so bad.
WARD: To be honest with you, it's those 15 cops. I feel kind of guilty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, just for the record, I want you guys to know that Greg Canes (ph) and Brian Feeney (ph), the photographer and the sound technician with us, actually came across that story. There are so many stories out here to tell, it's impossible for one reporter certainly to tell them all.
One thing we found interesting in Running Springs today, this is the local newspaper here, and the last date it came out, October 23 -- it's obviously Halloween today, the 31st -- the big story then, the water debate raging on. Today, it's about fire obviously. And the big picture on the front page was the homecoming queen and homecoming king.
All of these folks are hoping to get back into their homes soon, and it looks -- it looks as though they may be able to do that relatively soon. Firefighters are feeling like today they may have good wind conditions, high humidity and a really good day of fighting fires.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Miguel Marquez, thanks very much. And you are, in fact, as good a team as you can get out there. Thanks 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.
Aired October 31, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With favorable weather aiding firefighters in California, Governor Gray Davis is expressing hope fires could be contained in a week. Among the areas now less threatened are parts of San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles, where some residents are actually returning to see what remains of their homes.
Miguel Marquez is live in Running Springs with an update from there.
Hello -- Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Miles?
Firefighters had a good day yesterday. They may have a great day today. Toda is the first day that they feel they can get in front of the fire, at the head of the fire, and actually build a fire line around it, hoping that at some point they can have a containment date. They still have not -- they do not have a containment date for the Old Fire.
This, as the fire has blown through some communities, like Lake Arrowhead and Cedar Glen, people are starting to return to see if anything's left.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DICK WARD, CEDAR GLEN RESIDENT: I just got off work at midnight and wanted to come up here and see if I could see my cabin.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): Dick Ward is a San Diego police officer, but he calls Cedar Glen his home.
WARD: This isn't my house. This is my friend's. Yes, I went to high school with this guy, and his family all lived here. These are all their houses here.
MARQUEZ: Ward has no idea if his cabin survived the fire. Everything along the way says no.
WARD: It doesn't look too good.
MARQUEZ: With a little help from a CNN crew, Ward inched his way toward what he hoped was still his pride and joy.
WARD: I redid the inside, outside. Everybody in the mountains knows this place. This is probably the best known cabin in all the mountains.
MARQUEZ: Finally a glimpse.
WARD: Holy man! Look at this.
MARQUEZ: The best known cabin in the mountains just got known a little better.
WARD: Can you believe this -- that it's still here? I'm happy at hell that this is still here. This means a lot to me. This is -- you know, I'm not a millionaire, and I don't have a house in Malibu on the cliffs, but that's what this is to me.
MARQUEZ: His barbecue and tool shed didn't make it, but when he considers his police officer friends and the homes they may have lost, it doesn't seem so bad.
WARD: To be honest with you, it's those 15 cops. I feel kind of guilty.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARQUEZ: Now, just for the record, I want you guys to know that Greg Canes (ph) and Brian Feeney (ph), the photographer and the sound technician with us, actually came across that story. There are so many stories out here to tell, it's impossible for one reporter certainly to tell them all.
One thing we found interesting in Running Springs today, this is the local newspaper here, and the last date it came out, October 23 -- it's obviously Halloween today, the 31st -- the big story then, the water debate raging on. Today, it's about fire obviously. And the big picture on the front page was the homecoming queen and homecoming king.
All of these folks are hoping to get back into their homes soon, and it looks -- it looks as though they may be able to do that relatively soon. Firefighters are feeling like today they may have good wind conditions, high humidity and a really good day of fighting fires.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Miguel Marquez, thanks very much. And you are, in fact, as good a team as you can get out there. Thanks 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.
