[Kate Snow, Cnn Anchor:] After tireless days on the front lines, firefighters waging a major battle in the West are getting some much- needed relief. Army soldiers are switching uniforms, joining efforts against dozens of wildfires burning across eight states now. One of the major hot spots is in Oregon. That's where we find CNN's Gina London.
[Gina London, Cnn Correspondent:] Combating fatigue as much as fire, the battle goes on today through much of the west. Reinforcement's are on the way for some exhausted firefighters. Military battalions from North Carolina and Washington state of at least 800 soldiers on alert to be sent in within a week.
[Gov. John Kitzhaber, Oregon:] But this front that's coming through, although it's going to be cooler, is going to bring wind with it. Then we expect more dry lightning strikes this weekend. So at this point we're OK. But it could get out of control.
[London:] Of the eight states now waging wildfire wars, Oregon is hardest hit. 11 major fires there have scorched nearly 300,000 acres, hot winds blowing at least one to within just a few miles of a city limit. National Guard members from around the state have been trained, hundreds join the fight in earnest today.
[Dave Larson, Firefighter:] ... excellent thing to do to help out the people who are in strife and to help the brave souls who have been out there for 3 12 months already fighting the fires to maybe get a chance to get out there and give them some relief.
[London:] And across the rest of the fire-torn states, crews struggle to continue their grueling pace. Work goes around the clock, many on 14 to 16 hour shifts, in efforts to contain each raging blaze.
[Unidentified Male:] Fatigue on the fireline is one of our No. 1 concerns, and especially when we're getting into this phase of the fire, the crews are going to the fatigue is going to be a major factor.
[London:] But reinforcements are on the way here. We have word from the officials that there are going to more than 300 National Guard members coming in, in shifts over the course of this day to help assist in the fighting of this fire. Gina London, CNN,
[Snow:] To the north now and another state hit hard, at least seven wildfires are burning in Washington state. One of the hot spots, the Wenatchee National Forest. Reporter Chris Daniels now from our affiliate out there, KCPQ, joins us from the command post in Leavenworth. Chris, start by setting the scene for us. Where are you? What kinds of fires are burning around you?
[Chris Daniels, Kcpq Reporter:] Kate, well, bad news right now as the wind has indeed picked up over the last 12 hours or so. We are talking right now about The Icicle Complex Fire, which is directly over my shoulder. Now, 3,800 acres, and you can see the brown and orange glow in the hills there. This fire now growing at an immediate rate just outside Leavenworth, Washington. Now, this is a town known to several throughout the Northwest. It is a tourist town with a Bavarian theme, known for its Christmas lights. Plenty of tourists are there this weekend. We're told many of the hotels are sold out. This is just 3 miles away: the city chamber of commerce telling us they aren't worried about what's going on up in the hills high above Leavenworth. But there is some concern. Already, 18 homes have been evacuated in the Icicle Creek area. Another 100 homes have been told they could evacuate, a voluntary evacuation. It is a very tenuous situation at best Kate.
[Snow:] Chris, so could those tourists be in any danger? Are they talking at all about needing to evacuate the tourists, or is it far enough away?
[Daniels:] Well, Kate, it's 3 miles away right now, but it all depends on the wind. Right now, there's a zero-percent containment. Firefighters cannot get in to combat this fire. They can only build trenches at this point. So right now, they are saying Leavenworth is not in danger.
[Snow:] I understand that in '94, 1994, there was another fire in that area. How are people comparing this fire to that that big fire back then?
[Daniels:] I can actually show that to you, Kate, right over my shoulder. The 4th of July fire is what it's called back in 1994. The folks around here say that was the worst fire until this one. And you can see where the fire hopped over this hill, burned away a bunch of trees and where it stopped. That is directly to the east of our current fire, if you pan over, Steve, which is raging right now. The folks say that was the worst until the one you see right now Kate.
[Snow:] It looks really mountainous there, Chris. Is that is that an area where a lot of people live, over your shoulder, or is that more where people go hiking, camping, that sort of thing?
[Daniels:] Well, there actually were some hikers in over the last few days. They rescued another five from this situation, another eight yesterday. And there are some homes. Like I said, there's 18 homes that have been evacuated, and we're told that some people are still staying in those homes until the situation gets worse.
[Snow:] Chris Daniels, with our affiliate KCPQ, appreciate you joining us tonight. Thanks, Chris. Washington Governor Gary Locke is in Seattle right now, where he is awaiting a flight to Leavenworth, where we just were, to survey the fire damage. He joins us now by phone. Governor, thanks for being with us.
[Gov. Gary Locke , Washington:] Well, my pleasure.
[Snow:] Tell us, you're going down to Leavenworth now. What do you expect to see? Are things under control?
[Locke:] Well, obviously, we'd like to have these fires contained, and we're getting more lightning strikes, even more fires being created throughout eastern Washington. This is part of the problems of our drought that has plagued the entire Pacific Northwest. We're in a very, very severe drought, and conditions in the forest, on range and pasture lands are extremely critical, very, very dry. And here on the wet side of the mountains, while we may have some clouds and maybe a little bit of precipitation, on the eastern side of the mountains, it translates into lightning, which has triggered all of these fires. I've called up the National Guard. They're going to be responding with several hundred people to help put out these fires. We also are bringing in as many inmates as we can, who have already been trained in fighting forest fires, to help out. And we're getting help from other states and even other countries.
[Snow:] Governor, our reporter talked about some 18 homes near the Leavenworth area being evacuated. Is your biggest concern homes and people, or is it the environmental damage these fires could do?
[Locke:] Our first priority, obviously, is to people, making sure that they're safe, protecting personal property, homes and other structures, and of course, we also care about the environment. There's not much that we can to do but to try to contain the fires to keep them from spreading. This is a very beautiful part of our state of Washington: a lot of recreation, a lot of hiking, camping, and in the wintertime, a lot of snow skiing. But we also have people who live up there. We need to make sure that they're protected. That's our first order of business.
[Snow:] You declared a state of emergency two days ago in four counties, I understand. Do you have the resources now that you need to fight all of these seven fires?
[Locke:] Well, we actually have more than seven fires throughout the state of Washington, and these seven are the major ones. But every day, every night we're getting more lightning strikes and more fires starting up. They're having a huge problem in Oregon and some of the other Western states. We're bringing in everybody that we can, other agencies. We're bringing in people from federal government agencies, military people, people from other countries, firefighters from other countries. We're throwing anybody and everybody that we can at this at these fires.
[Snow:] One last question, Governor. Just a while ago, you endorsed and the president endorsed a new plan, talking about thinning back forests, getting rid of some of the old growth, some of the brush to try to avoid situations like this. Do you think that that could help in the future and is that the problem, that you didn't do more of that in the past?
[Locke:] Well, that's not really the problem here. First of all, these fires were caused by lightning and because we have tinder-dry conditions in the forest. Whether they have been thinned out or not and a lot of the underbrush removed, we still would have had this horrific situation. We are in the midst of a major drought, and we do have lightning storms, and they occur any place, at any time. And the these are very, very hilly, mountainous areas. But let me just say that I very much applaud the commitment by the administration of working with the governors to develop a long- term strategy and plan to thin out our forest, remove vegetation that could exacerbate fires. This was actually a commitment made by the Clinton administration a year ago and the Congress has begun to provide money. We need to make sure that the policies are carried out and developed with the governors of the Western states.
[Snow:] Governor Gary Locke of Washington state, we wish you the very best. Good luck to you.
[Locke:] Thank you.
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