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CNN Sunday Morning
Four Major Fires Burn in Southern California
Aired October 26, 2003 - 09:07 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the West Coast and the fire siege in southern California. At least four major fires are burning, including the latest that sparked up near San Diego. Several homes were destroyed. Residents have been evacuated.
But the biggest blazes are raging east of Los Angeles. Overnight, the Grand Prix and Waterman Canyon fires destroyed more than 200 homes and several communities, while churning through thousands of acres. Two older people died as a result of stress from the fire.
Governor Gray Davis has declared a state of emergency in two California counties, and more firefighters and equipment have been ordered to the area. For an update on one of the hot spots, we head out to our Miguel Marquez, who is stationed in Claremont, California.
Boy Miguel, I know you have been out there for the long haul. And overnight, it seemed like yesterday at this time we had one home that was burned, now we have got 200. What are your thoughts on this, as far as what you've seen?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we have more than that here. In Claremont, I just talked to a public information officer. He says 50 homes here in Claremont were destroyed by flames overnight.
You know, when I was here eight hours ago, I was in Rancho Cucamonga, about 10 miles east of here. The fire has now crossed into the Angeles National Forest from San Bernadino, and it has crossed into Los Angeles County. So it's essentially one or two suburbs closer to Los Angeles.
Behind me there is one of those houses that was destroyed here in Claremont, California. And I understand we have some pictures from one of our affiliates, KABC out here, that may show a similar scene in another part of Claremont with yet another house going up here.
Fifty homes here; so far no reports of injuries here in Claremont. But a lot of damage and a lot of people in the streets. People in the thousands were gotten out of their beds overnight and they are now on the streets south of the freeway here. And they can only look on to their neighborhood and wonder if anything will be here when they get back.
You mentioned the Waterman Canyon fire, that thing took off two days ago. And yesterday it blew out because of the Santa Ana winds taking out parts of San Bernadino, destroying some 200 homes, uprooting thousands of people. Just causing massive, massive problems for whole communities down here.
Northwest of here, about 100 miles northwest of here in the Simi Valley, it's the home of Ronald Reagan's library, there was also a huge blaze up there. We have no reports of injuries or structures destroyed up there right now. It is a whole lot to keep up with. As you did mention, there are two deaths reported, fire-related deaths out of the Waterman Canyon area, near San Bernadino. It doesn't appear that fire got to them, but it was elderly individuals who had health problems.
I can tell you that firefighters told me a short time ago that they had winds between 30 and 50 miles an hour here last night. And they are expecting those same Santa Ana conditions to continue today. And we are starting to feel a little bit of it right now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, Miguel. And what we have been reading is that one of the people who died had actually watched his home burn. The stress from that is what really was obviously very, very painful for him.
Have you had a chance, Miguel, to talk to any of the folks? I'm not sure -- I would imagine there are several shelters set up for them. How is everybody handling this?
MARQUEZ: Yes, we haven't had a whole lot of chances to talk to folk, but it's the frustration. It's not what you know, it's what you don't know. And what people are very frustrated about is that they left their homes in the middle of the night, they're sitting along curbs for the most part just south of the freeway here, sitting in their cars, some of them in shelters. And what they don't know is what's going on with their house, their pets, their life.
I mean, some of them were on vacation, some of them are at work. They left for a normal day, and now they can't get back to their homes. So it's all that stress and frustration about what is not known in their lives that is really bugging them right now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, I can only imagine. And we are looking at some live pictures coming in to us from KABC of just one of the fire helicopters that's being used to try to help douse the flames and get an idea of how large and how quickly these flames are spreading.
Miguel Marquez, thanks so much, live from Claremont, California this morning. Appreciate it.
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 26, 2003 - 09:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the West Coast and the fire siege in southern California. At least four major fires are burning, including the latest that sparked up near San Diego. Several homes were destroyed. Residents have been evacuated.
But the biggest blazes are raging east of Los Angeles. Overnight, the Grand Prix and Waterman Canyon fires destroyed more than 200 homes and several communities, while churning through thousands of acres. Two older people died as a result of stress from the fire.
Governor Gray Davis has declared a state of emergency in two California counties, and more firefighters and equipment have been ordered to the area. For an update on one of the hot spots, we head out to our Miguel Marquez, who is stationed in Claremont, California.
Boy Miguel, I know you have been out there for the long haul. And overnight, it seemed like yesterday at this time we had one home that was burned, now we have got 200. What are your thoughts on this, as far as what you've seen?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we have more than that here. In Claremont, I just talked to a public information officer. He says 50 homes here in Claremont were destroyed by flames overnight.
You know, when I was here eight hours ago, I was in Rancho Cucamonga, about 10 miles east of here. The fire has now crossed into the Angeles National Forest from San Bernadino, and it has crossed into Los Angeles County. So it's essentially one or two suburbs closer to Los Angeles.
Behind me there is one of those houses that was destroyed here in Claremont, California. And I understand we have some pictures from one of our affiliates, KABC out here, that may show a similar scene in another part of Claremont with yet another house going up here.
Fifty homes here; so far no reports of injuries here in Claremont. But a lot of damage and a lot of people in the streets. People in the thousands were gotten out of their beds overnight and they are now on the streets south of the freeway here. And they can only look on to their neighborhood and wonder if anything will be here when they get back.
You mentioned the Waterman Canyon fire, that thing took off two days ago. And yesterday it blew out because of the Santa Ana winds taking out parts of San Bernadino, destroying some 200 homes, uprooting thousands of people. Just causing massive, massive problems for whole communities down here.
Northwest of here, about 100 miles northwest of here in the Simi Valley, it's the home of Ronald Reagan's library, there was also a huge blaze up there. We have no reports of injuries or structures destroyed up there right now. It is a whole lot to keep up with. As you did mention, there are two deaths reported, fire-related deaths out of the Waterman Canyon area, near San Bernadino. It doesn't appear that fire got to them, but it was elderly individuals who had health problems.
I can tell you that firefighters told me a short time ago that they had winds between 30 and 50 miles an hour here last night. And they are expecting those same Santa Ana conditions to continue today. And we are starting to feel a little bit of it right now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, Miguel. And what we have been reading is that one of the people who died had actually watched his home burn. The stress from that is what really was obviously very, very painful for him.
Have you had a chance, Miguel, to talk to any of the folks? I'm not sure -- I would imagine there are several shelters set up for them. How is everybody handling this?
MARQUEZ: Yes, we haven't had a whole lot of chances to talk to folk, but it's the frustration. It's not what you know, it's what you don't know. And what people are very frustrated about is that they left their homes in the middle of the night, they're sitting along curbs for the most part just south of the freeway here, sitting in their cars, some of them in shelters. And what they don't know is what's going on with their house, their pets, their life.
I mean, some of them were on vacation, some of them are at work. They left for a normal day, and now they can't get back to their homes. So it's all that stress and frustration about what is not known in their lives that is really bugging them right now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, I can only imagine. And we are looking at some live pictures coming in to us from KABC of just one of the fire helicopters that's being used to try to help douse the flames and get an idea of how large and how quickly these flames are spreading.
Miguel Marquez, thanks so much, live from Claremont, California this morning. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
