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CNN Live Sunday
California Residents Fight for Better Fire Protection
Aired July 29, 2001 - 17:35 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.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Firefighting efforts in the Western United states -- thousands of firefighters are battling blazes out West, but that official effort isn't the only one residents rely on. For some Californians, a more hands-on and personal operation is underway.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Topanga Canyon, California.
ALAN EMERSON, FRIENDS OF THE ARSON WATCH: You see the flowers, you see the trees.
GUTIERREZ: Eleven thousand people live here. You'd never know it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a gorgeous community.
GUTIERREZ: Their homes are tucked away under a canopy of trees.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like a little bit like being in the south of France.
GUTIERREZ: The south of France, they say, right in Los Angeles County.
(on camera): The same kind of vegetation that makes Topanga Canyon a retreat away from the city for residents also makes it a potential disaster when all of this dries up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These natural grasses are just kindling wood. It just explodes, and any houses that are in its path go up with it.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): They know; they went through it in 1985; and 1993. Three people died, and dozens more lost their homes. Then there was 1996. Arlette Parker (ph) remembers it well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We could see all the ashes falling all over us.
EMERSON: The fire was coming toward the house, so I evacuated because that's the only thing I could do.
GUTIERREZ: They are determined not to let a firestorm ravage their community again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Topanga five-zero-one-one, copy.
GUTIERREZ: During high danger days, Dave Litchen (ph) drives up and down the winding roads, armed only with a pair of binoculars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look around for any signs of smoke, any smell.
GUTIERREZ: Dave's a volunteer for Arson Watch. He says canyons like Topanga don't stand a chance against a raging fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you seen what happens?
GUTIERREZ: At the Mimosa Cafe, where the locals meet, townsfolk are preparing to wage war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a beautiful plain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sure is.
GUTIERREZ: A high-tech war against what they say could be the most dangerous fire season yet. The residents want to persuade the state of California to buy a multi-million dollar Canadian-made SuperScooper, an aircraft that can siphon 1,600 gallons of lake or seawater in 12 seconds to unload on a fire. Currently it's leased only three months out of the year.
TONY MORRIS, TOPANGA RESIDENT: It would be wise, in terms of prevention and protection that we had these planes year-round; that we do not have to wait for the fires season to end in Quebec to get them here.
GUTIERREZ: The group, which calls itself Citizens for Aerial Fire Protection, is even working on a documentary to appeal to the state's legislators.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too many of us have rebuilt.
GUTIERREZ: They already have some support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hoping that when they see these pictures, they'll put on their agenda a discussion about these SuperScoopers.
GUTIERREZ: But the California Department of Forestry says the SuperScooper may be the latest in technology, but it simply isn't cost effective. The CDF gets firefighting aircraft from the federal government, and while they can only drop 200 gallons instead of 1,600 gallons at a time, they are free.
The residents say they will continue their fight; that it isn't just for Topanga, but for all Californians who live where nature and urban sprawl intersect.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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