Oct. 23, 2007
SoCal Firefighters: "We Can't Stop It"
Officials Say If 100-MPH Gusts Continue, "The Beast" Won't Stop Until It Reaches The Pacific
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OC Firefighters Retreat
Hard-pressed fire crews in Orange County have been forced to choose which fires to fight and which to let go. The OC fire chief blamed a shortage of resources. John Blackstone reports.
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Steep Battle In California
Dry, windy conditions are making it nearly impossible to contain the fires that are raging across Southern California and have consumed nearly 400 square miles. Katie Couric reports.
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Evacuees In Qualcomm Stadium
After fires forced them from their homes, thousands of evacuees have taken shelter at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. Katie Couric reports it has been nothing like the Superdome post-Katrina.
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A California Department of Forestry helicopter moves in close to wildfire flames to make a water drop over the Del Dios neighborhood of Escondido, Calif. Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)
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Kristina Ford, right, hugs friend and neighbor, Fran Meyers, as they watch efforts to save Ford's home in the High valley area of Poway, Calif., where at least a dozen homes were destroyed Tuesday, October 23, 2007. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
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A photo provided by the European Space Agency ESA on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007 shows the Envisat's MERIS image, acquired on Oct. 22, 2007, of desert winds blowing smoke from wildfires in Southern California. Sand is visible being blown from Mexicos Baja California Peninsula over the Gulf of California to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. (AP Photo/ESA)
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Erica Bishop, 10, is consoled by her mother Marilee in a makeshift shelter in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart in San Bernardino, Calif., Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007. The Bishops are residents of the the mountain town of Running Springs, which is being ravaged by a wildfire. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
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Ferocious SoCal Fires
Blazes bedevil firefighters, force thousands to flee and leave rubble and ash in their wake.
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Interactive
Wildfires
Photo essays, the worst U.S. fires, facts on fire science and health issues.
Stories:
- Seven Days Of Fury
- Arson Investigation Continues
- Bush Tours Fire Zone
- Memories In The Rubble
- From Katrina To Fires
- Protect Your Lungs Near Wildfires
- Don't Get Burned By Insurers
- Environmental Impact Of Fires
- Opinion: Katrina And The Beast
- Calif. Fire Drives Victims Online
- Was California Unprepared?
- Climate Change And Mega-Fires
Multimedia:
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And right now "the beast" is winning, reports CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric.
Faced with unrelenting winds whipping wildfires into a frenzy across Southern California, firefighters all but conceded defeat Tuesday to an unstoppable force that has chased more than 500,000 people from their homes.
Unless the shrieking Santa Ana winds subside, and that's not expected for at least another day, fire crews say they can do little more than try to wait it out and react -- tamping out spot fires and chasing ribbons of airborne embers to keep new fires from flaring.
“If it's this big and blowing with as much wind as it's got, it'll go all the way to the ocean before it stops,” said San Diego Fire Capt. Kirk Humphries. “We can save some stuff but we can't stop it.”
Smaller fires are merging to form giant infernos, creating pillars of smoke that can be seen from space, reports Couric.
Tentacles of unpredictable, shifting flame have burned across nearly 600 square miles, killing two people, destroying more than 1,600 homes and prompting the biggest evacuation in California history, from north of Los Angeles, through San Diego to the Mexican border.
Triple digit heat is pushing the 6,000 firefighters to their limits. Some of these men and women have been at it now for 36 hours straight, as modified airliners skim the hilltops to drop mile-long lines of flame-retardant chemicals, reports Couric.
“When they drop retardant, when they drop water, it’s literally turning to mist,” because the winds are so strong it dissipates, said Matt Streck of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The 70-mile-per-hour Santa Ana winds make it nearly impossible to predict where the fire will go next. Just as crews prepare to make a stand, they get outflanked by embers that hop the lines and explode into new fires.
“You won’t see a Santa Ana fire come down on you until it’s too late,” said Streck.
President Bush, whose administration was criticized for its handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, declared a federal emergency for seven counties, a move that will speed disaster-relief efforts. He also planned a visit to the region Thursday, and the Pentagon said it has sent troops and equipment.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the flames were threatening 68,000 more homes.
“We have had an unfortunate situation that we've had three things come together: very dry areas, very hot weather and then a lot of wind,” Schwarzenegger said. “And so this makes the perfect storm for a fire.”
The fires also affected some of California's celebrity residents, threatening the oceanfront town of Malibu where many stars like Mel Gibson, Cher, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Aniston, Mel Brooks, Ryan O'Neal and others have homes.
In Rancho Santa Fe, a suburb north of San Diego, houses burned just yards from where fire crews fought to contain flames engulfing other properties. In the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead, cabins and vacation homes went up in flames with no fire crews in sight.
More than a dozen wildfires blowing across Southern California since Sunday have also injured more than 45 people, including 21 firefighters.
Los Angeles County's Santa Clarita residents fought all night to save their homes, reports CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker.
“It was my home for 40 years and now it’s gone,” said one resident.
When they drop retardant, when they drop water, it’s literally turning to mist.
Matt Streck, California Department of Forestry and Fire ProtectionBesides Varshock, the San Diego medical examiner's officer listed four deaths as connected to the wildfires. Three were people in their 90s who died from natural causes; the fourth was a woman who died after falling at a restaurant.
All are considered fire-connected deaths because they occurred during or after evacuations.
A dozen firefighters battling blazes in Orange County had to deploy emergency shelters, a last resort when they are surrounded by flames.
Orange County's fire chief angrily declared it didn't have to happen, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.
“It’s an absolute fact that had we more air resources we would have been able to control this fire,” said Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.




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See all 241 CommentsShould the federal government really be involved here? What''s with the inconsistency of the right wing. Milton Friedman, their prized neo con economist said government should only be in the business of providing defense security. Bombs won''t fight this fire. The lord Jesus might or Church groups can help along with state and local governments but federal government should not be interfering anymore than it should interfere with child healthcare. Oh, wait, this is an emergent situation. Well, get those private contractors in there. Haliburton can do an efficient job with using the tax payers money.
Man thinks he can do anything, go anywhere..... There are limits to where we belong.
Example- New Orleans -I still haven''t met anyone with gils. How STUPID
Like building in flood zones, it is no surprise that lots of homes are endangered when homes are built is such areas.
Our government at work.
Posted by MIpapaof4 at 10:16 AM
You are so full of bovine fecal material that your eyes must surely be brown! Do you truly believe that California is the only place that has what you consider ''problems''? I''m sure you think MI is just fine! What a total load of above mentioned matter you are!
The water being used to put out the fires is even worse for the environment than CO2:
"The major greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36-70% of the greenhouse effect on Earth (not including clouds); carbon dioxide, which causes 9-26%; methane, which causes 4-9%, and ozone, which causes 3-7%." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas
Who knows how much global warming has been caused by man putting fires out in the last century, instead of letting them burn themselves out like it used to be.
The climate here in So Cal is called "mediterranean". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediterranean_climate
The desert adjoining the coastal area is mostly Mojave, not Sonoran (with the exception being the southern Arizona portion).
Driving along the I-15 today I saw houses built right along the freeway burnt - that is, not in scrub areas but in standard tracts of of suburban homes. So yes I was "surprised" when homes burn in such areas.
And BTW, "our government" did an exceptional job fighting these fires. From the police who drove the neighborhoods warning of the coming fire to the firefighters who fought them to the county officials who stayed up all night coordinating the efforts "our government" performed brilliantly. With 100,000 acres and +700 houses burned there have so far been only 1 reported fatality.
I doubt you could have done better.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070402/news_1n2fire.html
Check out this article from last april.
It is time to start impeachmant proceedings. Even if we cannot kick him out of office until his last day, it will still humiliate and humble the arrogant son of a bitc.h. Prison time would be nice to but I am not holding my breath.
I doubt you could have done better.
Posted by jumkey at 11:58 AM : Oct 23, 2007
Absolutely! I am very very proud of how our government, under the leadership of Arnie, has responded to this disaster on all levels. He proves that you don''t have to be an incompetent idiot to be a republican. He is also only the 2nd republican I have ever voted for in my 50 years (Jerry Ford the other) because he has shown that if you actually practice what the republican party preaches and mix in real caring for what the people want and need, you can be a good leader of all of the people you work for.
On the more local level our fire and police services have done their usual fantastic job. They may be much maligned to some outsiders, but those of us who live here know the vast majority of them are good, honest and hardworking men and women.
Can you believe it!?
The same thing that happens every year at the same time and the same place is happening again!
No one could have predicted it!
What does the republican party preach except cutting taxes for the rich, spying on Americans, to hate abortion and kicking gay*s.
If Arnie talks like a Democrat and Arnie walks like a Democrat he must be a Democrat in Republican clothing. I don''t think we will see any help from Bush in San Diego.
San Diego doesn''t have old growth forests. We don''t have old growth anything. And this fire is burning right on the same track as one 4 years ago. Yeesh! Some people act like they''re deathly allergic to facts!
These people in California live in the DESERT! If it wasn''t for the California developers piping all the water in from the Colorado River, they wouldn''t be there! This isn''t the environmentalists fault, it''s nature.
Posted by screen_ident at 01:48 PM : Oct 23, 2007"
We pesky Libs and Environmentalists invented fire and caused all the high Santa Ana winds. Shame on us.
These people in California live in the DESERT! If it wasn''t for the California developers piping all the water in from the Colorado River, they wouldn''t be there! This isn''t the environmentalists fault, it''s nature.
You''re right to a point. A lot of today''s "superfires" are the result of restrictions on the clearing of brush in our forested areas, and the suppression of natural fires, which tend to keep brush from accumulating in such huge quantities as exist today. However, most of the homes being burned now are not a result of this mismanagement. Most of the homes being burned right now are burning because their owners were too *** lazy to get out and clear the brush from around their property. There are no laws preventing them from doing so, only a lack of inclination. I suppose they could blame it on the NFL, because a lot of them could have been out cutting weeds instead of watching the big games last weekend. But, in this case, they''re paying for their own laziness, and not the sins of other people.
ROTFLMFAO!!!!! What a tool!
It''''s time to wake up AMERICA! When we try to remove God from everything and we decide to fellowship with darkness(wickedness)then we can rest assured, these things (fires, floods, earthquakes and the like) will continue. Check your Bibles those of you who have one, 2 Chronicles 7:14 states, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
What else does the Bible say: Matthew 24:7-8 there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
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Posted by godlyfear at 02:36 PM : Oct 23, 2007
+ report abuse
I.e The world is comming to a end like it has been for the last 10 thousand years. Awsome lets incite world wide panic and have millions killed in last day alive scheems.
I hardly think these are the results of our disobedience to your "holy book". A lot of the current events are also explained - in fact explained much better - by scientific reality. Religious fiction only serves to whip you into shape so you''ll obey your priestly masters. You might want to creep up next to one of those burning fires and drop your "holy book" into it. If it''s truly "holy", maybe it will put out the fire. If it isn''t, you''ll be spared from a lot of wasted time reading it in the future.
It think it was probably Santa Claus'' fault. I heard he was practicing his touch and goes Sunday afternoon, and a spark from his sleigh lit off all of this mess...
I just want to say thank you for posting your opinion and your thoughts. I also think it was very wise of you to prepare yourself for negative comments. With all due respect to every poster here, it just seems as though whenever somoene shares something in their holy book....Bible, Koran, Talmud, whatever, we jump on them and jam science down their throats. Pretty much the same way you think they are diong to us. Maybe we''re all right, maybe we''re all wrong.
And I can just imagine the rude posts I will get in response to this cautious, polite one.
Posted by taotxzen at 02:56 PM : Oct 23, 2007
Amen!
Posted by godlyfear at 03:19 PM : Oct 23, 2007
Yeah, but only when asked to by a really cute girl.......
I''ve said it before, he proves that you don''t have to be an incompetent idiot to be a republican politician.
Posted by j-whitman at 03:23 PM : Oct 23, 2007
And their own country. I say let ''em have Texas!
+ report abuse
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I heard Al Franken is running for office..as a liberal democrat.
+ report abuse
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mother nature did what the liberals been trying to do for decades..CLOSE THE BASE DOWN.
when you see a liberal..say semper fi for me will ya
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