EDIE: YOU ARE LOOKING AT A GRASP
FIRE BURNING RIGHT NOW IN
STOCKTON.
THIS IS RIGHT OFF OF I-5, SOUTH
OF EIGHT MILE ROAD.
THE FIRE IS WEST OF I-5 AND
MOTORISTS MAY HAVE SLOW
MOVING
AS THEY DRIVE ON INTERSTATE
FIVE.
GULSTAN: THE FIRE IS BURNING
THROUGH THIS FRESHLY MOWED GRASS
AREA.
A BIG PIECE OF ACREAGE.
THE FIRE IS ADVANCING TO A
NEIGHBORHOOD.
THERE IS A BREAK HEAD.
LET'S GO TO TODAY ALAN RIGHT NOW
IN LIVECOPTER3.
DAVE:
THE FLAMES ARE APPROACHING
WHAT LOOKS LIKE A NATURAL BREAK.
WHAT YOU CANNOT QUITE SEE IT
THAT IS A LEVY RIGHT THERE.
IT SHOULD HAVE A HARD TIME
JUMPING THAT BEFORE IT GETS TO
THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
AS FAR AS I-5 IS CONCERNED, IT
IS NOT UNDER ANY SMOKE AT ALL
RIGHT NOW.
THE SMOKE GOES UP AND OVER THE
FREEWAY.
PEOPLE ARE LOCKED
IN WESTERN STOCKTON
WILL SMELT THIS SMOKE.
GULSTAN: YOU CAN SEE THOSE WATER
TANKS.
THAT
IS THE KEY AS TO WHERE THIS
IS.
TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA WHERE THE
FIRE IS BURNING.
EDIE: YOU CAN SEE THOSE FLAMES
ARE GETTING PRETTY CLOSE NOW TO
THAT SUBDIVISION.
WE HAVE SEEN A RESPONSE FROM
FIRE CREWS.
THEY ARE ON IT.
STRUCTURE PROTECTION IS ALWAYS,
ALONG WITH PROTECTING HUMAN
LIFE, THERE FIRST CONCERN.
LET'S BRING IN OUR
METEOROLOGIST.
MARK: THERE IS A PRETTY GOOD
DELTA BREEZE.
IT IS STARTING THE SMOKE --
STIRRING
THE SMOKE.
YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE FIRE IS
BURNING.
WE CAN SHOW YOU THE DIRECTION OF
THE WIND.
THAT IS CARRYING THE SMOKE
ACROSS I-5 BUT IT IS GOING UP
AND OVER LIKE DAVE SAID.
THE KEY OF THE FIRE
IS RIGHT
THERE AT THE FRONT, WHERE THE
LEVY IS.
AS LONG AS THEY CAN HOLD IT TO
THAT LEVY, DAVE IS ZOOMING IN ON
IT FOR YOU, AS LONG AS IT DOES
NOT HOP THAT LEVY
, IT IS ONLY
100 YARDS OR SO TO THE BACKYARDS
OF THOSE HOUSES.
AS LONG AS THEY MAKE IT STAY
HERE, I THINK THOSE HOUSES WILL
BE ALL RIGHT.
EDIE: LOOKING AT WHAT IS
BURNING, THIS IS THE KIND OF
AREA WHERE IT SHOULD BE EASY TO
STOP.
IT WAS FRESHLY MOAN.
EVERYTHING IS LOW -- FRESHLY
MOWED.
GULSTAN: IF YOU ARE
LIVING IN
THOSE CELLS, YOU ARE TAKING ON A
LOT OF SMOKE RIGHT NOW.
YOU CAN SEE -- IF YOU ARE LIVING
IN THOSE HOMES, YOU ARE TAKING
ON A LOT OF SMOKE.
WHAT YOU SEE FROM LIVECOPTER3 IN
THE WAY OF FIRE EQUIPMENT?
DAVE: AIR IS QUITE A PERIMETER
HERE ON EVERY KEY CORNER.
THERE IS A LINE OF FIRE
OFF OF
THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HELICOPTER.
THEY HAVE PUT SOME EQUIPMENT AT
THE FOUR CORNERS OF THIS AREA
.
IT HAS A NATURAL LINE ALL AROUND
IT BUT THEY WANT TO GIVE IT AN
EXTRA AREA.
MIKE, I WILL HAVE YOU KILLED
RIGHT DOWN THERE.
I WILL TOSS BACK TO YOU.
I NEED TO TALK TO STOCKTON
TOWERED.
GULSTAN: WE WILL CONTINUE TO
WATCH THAT.
THEY
MAY TRY TO ALLOW THIS TO
BURN ITSELF OUT.
EDIE: BECAUSE THIS HAS CLEARLY
BEEN CARED FOR AND TO SOME
DEGREE MANICURED, THE FIRE IS
BURNING IN A VERY EXACTING
PATTERN.
IT IS NOT A CHAOTIC SITUATION.
IT IS MARCHING ALONG THROUGH THE
FIELD.
GULSTAN: THE BREEZE IS PUSHING
THE FLAMES TO THE BREAK.
THE SMOKE IS PUTTING DOWN TO THE
SOUTH AND EAST.
MARK: IT IS EASY TO SEE WHERE IT
STARTED.
THAT IS WHY DAVE WAS MENTIONING
THE LEVY THERE.
YOU CAN SEE THE ROAD AROUND IT.
THE TELEVISION PICTURE TENDS TO
FLATTEN EVERYTHING BUT THERE IS
A LEVY THERE, A DEPRESSED AREA,
THE FIRE STARTED THEIR IN THE
WIND HAS PUSHED IT DOWNWIND.
IT IS AN AREA THAT HAS BEEN
MOWED.
WHILE IT MAY PUT UP A LOT OF
SMOKE, IT IS VERY FINE ASH.
THERE SHOULD NOT BE A LOT OF
REALLY HOT EMBERS THAT WOULD BE
HAZARDS DOWNWIND.
A RELATIVELY MANAGEABLE GRASS
FIRE.
EDIE: ONE THING WE ARE NOT
SEEING, THIS IS AN ACCESSIBLE
FIRE.
THE FIRE CREWS WANTED TO TAKE A
BRING IN WATER AND SPRAY IT
DOWN.
THE EQUIPMENT AROUND THAT
PERIMETER IS STRUCTURAL
PROTECTION TYPE OF EQUIPMENT.
IT LOOKS LIKE THAT IS PART OF
THEIR STRATEGY.
THEY KNOW THEY HAVE CONTAINMENT
LINES THAT ARE NATURALLY THERE
AROUND THIS FIELD AND THEY ARE
JUST KEEPING TRACK OF IT.
GULSTAN: IN THE MEANTIME, IT
WILL BE A SMOKY AFTERNOON IN
THAT COMMUNITY.
YOU CAN BARELY SEE THE HOUSES
THROUGH THE SMOKE.
THIS GRASS FIRE IS BURNING UP TO
WHAT APPEARS TO BE A BREAK THAT
HAS BEEN BUILT INTO THE LEVY.
EDIE: WE HAVE
ANOTHER VIEW FOR
YOU FROM ONE OF OUR SKY CAMERAS
WHICH GIVES YOU
MORE DISTANCE
AND MORE PERSPECTIVE ON THIS
FIRE.
FROM THAT ANGLE, YOU CAN REALLY
SEE HOW MUCH OF SMOKE THIS FIRE
IS PUTTING UP.
PEOPLE FOR MILES AROUND WILL SEE
THIS FIRE AND WONDER WHAT IS
GOING ON.
GULSTAN: LET'S GO BACK OUT TO
LIVECOPTER3 AND DAVE.
WHAT ELSE DO YOU HAVE FOR US
RIGHT NOW?
DATE: AS
I
-- DAVE: THERE
APPEARS TO BE ANOTHER GRASS FIRE
BURNING IN STOCKTON.
NOWHERE NEAR AS LARGE AS THIS
ONE.
I WANT TO MAJOR THAT WE CAUTION
EVERYONE FOR THIS WEEKEND.
GULSTAN:
BEST I WANT TO MAKE
SURE THAT WE CAUTION EVERYONE
FOR THIS WEEKEND.
--I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE
CAUTION EVERYONE FOR THIS
WEEKEND.
GULSTAN:
THERE COULD BE STARKS.
MONA: THERE IS A GOOD
READS OUT
HERE AND YOU CAN SEE THE SMOKE
RIGHT BEHIND ME.
WE ARE
LIVE HERE AT THIS
COMMUNITY.
PEOPLE ARE OUTDOORS AND
CONCERNED ABOUT THIS FIRE.
MY SISTER CALLED ME AND
WONDERED HOW CLOSE THE FIRE WAS
TO US.
AND I WONDERED WHAT FIRE.
I CAME OUT AND SOLVE.
SHE IS IN THE COMMUNITY BEHIND
US, TWIN LAKES.
MONA: THE FIRE LOOKS CLOSE TO
TWIN LAKES COMMUNITY IN
STOCKTON.
WE DON'T HAVE MUCH INFORMATION
RIGHT NOW BUT WE DO HAVE SOME
RESIDENTS HERE RIGHT NOW
WHO ARE
CONCERNED ABOUT THE FIRE COMING
CLOSER TO THEIR HOMES.
WE ARE OFF OF EIGHT MILE ROAD.
EDIE:
WE ARE GETTING DIFFERENT
VIEWS OF WHAT PEOPLE ARE SEEING.
THIS IS WEST OF I-5, A GRASS
FIRE THAT IS BURNING NEAR
SPANOS WEST.