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Morning News

Colorado Wildfires Expected to Feed Off High Winds and Low Humidity

Aired June 15, 2000 - 10:19 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Firefighters in Colorado are facing hot, dry conditions today as they continue their battle against two wildfires. All told, the Bobcat and the High Meadow fires have burned more than 13,000 acres in the Rocky Mountain foothills, northeast and southwest of Denver. Some 36 homes have been destroyed, and hundreds of residents have been evacuated.

Jennifer Miller (ph) of our affiliate KCNC has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See this is my beautiful house. It's only three months old, it was.

JENNIFER MILLER, KCNC REPORTER (voice-over): Kathy Black (ph) is one of dozen of homeowners who lost their home in the High Meadow fire. Now there are pictures of it on the Internet, before the fire licked at its porch and after the fire devoured it whole.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know what? I don't have anything, I mean, I don't have anything. I don't have any shoes. I know it's really weird, you know, but it's like, the most, number one thing is that I don't have my baby pictures and I only have one baby. I'm sorry.

MILLER: But Kathy is getting some help from the Red Cross. Counselors at the new service center at the Conifer High School (ph) shelter are handing out vouchers. Families can use them to buy clothes, food, whatever they need.

But the vouchers can't buy back everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My entire life's work is gone, which is really important to me. You know, I'm a writer, I have books. I'm a little upset with myself that I didn't think of, you know, grabbing all the papers and all the people I've helped. I'm a counselor and I just -- I just -- you know what? In two minutes you can't think, you just can't think.

MILLER: But Black is moving on, with help from the Red Cross and everything she can fit in a plastic bag, black is beginning to rebuild.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It's hard to appreciate the tough times those folks are going through.

For more now on the fires burning in the west, here's our Rusty Dornin, she's joining us from Park County, Colorado -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, the weary warriors at -- near the High Meadows fire, the fire camp here, have gone off to battle. They're hoping it's going to be an aggressive, you know, offensive today. Because they're very worried about the winds. The winds are expected to be wicked this afternoon, gusts up to 40, 50, even 60 miles per hour.

Earlier this morning hundreds of firefighters were briefed about the dangerous conditions, prepping them, really, for what has been maybe the worst conditions so far this week. The problem is that they say there is a 100 percent ignition possibilities, that means that if there is spotting, if the fire is carried to other areas, there's 100 percent chance that it will start a new fire.

Also they talk about extreme fire behavior, that's when the fire crowns through the trees and spreads to other areas. Also, the high winds make it very difficult for them to get any kind of aircraft in with fire retardant or carrying water, to try get some containment.

Now this fire is only 10 percent contained at this point. They were hoping to keep it at that. It's going to be very difficult with the high winds. Also hand crews, the crews themselves on the ground have a tough time getting close to the fire when the winds are like this because the safety is the number one priority here. So they are warned that if the winds pick up, they are to back off against the fire.

Good news is: hundreds of firefighters are arriving on the scene for this fire today. It should be about 1,000 firefighters by the end of the day and they're hoping that they will continue through the night.

Also the weather conditions are changing. The winds will be very high today but there's a cold front that's going to be coming in overnight and that is going to be -- to bring rain. So they're hoping that the rain will bring containment to this fire. But they're just worried that the winds today could push it to other areas.

Rusty Dornin, reporting live near Bailey, Colorado.

KAGAN: Rusty, thank you very much.

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