Exhausted firefighters return to battle after presidential praise

In this story: 'Looks like a bomb going off' 'Dirty work' 'Can't expect them to do the impossible' New threat on heels of flames Worst fire season in half a century? RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

PAYETTE NATIONAL FOREST, Idaho -- Overworked and overwhelmed firefighters -- some with blistered feet, smoke-blackened faces and soot-reddened eyes -- went back to work on Western fire lines Tuesday after President Clinton pledged $150 million in emergency funds to fight dozens of wildfires.

While California fire officials were optimistic about containing most of that state's fires by the end of the week, nine new fires were reported Tuesday in Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

Large wildfires also were burning in Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Washington.

VIDEO CNN Correspondent Charles Zewe visits a national park in Colorado where wildfires have brought an unexpected benefit Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Correspondent Kiet Do goes with a Navajo ground crew fighting the fires. Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN's Natalie Pawelski reports on the re-growth of forests long lost to fire Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) CNN Medical Correspondent Holly Firfer reports on the health dangers from exposure to smoke from wildfires Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)     AUDIO Listen to fire information officer Pat McKelvey discuss fire damage to Bitterroot National Forest in Montana 415K/38 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne discusses the severity of this year's fire season in his state 328K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     GALLERY Click here for images of the wildfires Click here for an interactive map of the wildfires     RESOURCES Click here to view the National Interagency Fire Center's map of large wildland fires Click here to view a satellite image of the Pachenga fire burning in California     MESSAGE BOARD Nature's wrath

Clinton's visit to the Payette National Forest in west-central Idaho came almost a month after a fire broke out there, scorching 25,000 acres -- so far -- of rugged, steep forestland.

It is one of 66 blazes burning in 11 states, according to the federal government's National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

During his helicopter ride Tuesday over some of the charred Idaho forest land, Clinton noted a large plume of smoke climbing into the sky and said, "It's really eerie ... It looks like a bomb going off."

An estimated 20,000 civilian firefighters, plus more than 2,000 Army, Marine and Air Force reserve troops, are working to contain the Western blazes, many sparked by lightning strikes in unusually dry forests.

"Air Force Reserve and Guard C-130s have flown more than 525 hours, made 490 sorties and dropped more than 11.4 million pounds of fire retardant chemicals," Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said Tuesday.

The federal government has been spending $10 million to $15 million a day to fight the blazes.

Federal firefighters work for the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Fish and Wildlife Service. There also are federal contract workers.

Crews from Canada are helping in Montana, and one crew from Mexico crossed the border into New Mexico to offer assistance. Officials at NIFC said fire officials from New Zealand and Australia are visiting the NIFC headquarters in Boise to assess the situation and determine whether to send crews from their countries.

Working 12-hour shifts, fire crews dig up ground to create fire lines.

"You use tools to scrape away anything that might burn so that what you have left on your trail -- about 3 feet wide -- is bare soil, which shouldn't burn," said Alexis Collins, a spokeswoman for the Forest Service. "It creates a fire break."

Digging fire lines is dirty work, she said, but not as dirty as the job known as "mopping up."

"These people are digging in the ash, trying to disperse any coals that are there," she said. "That's real dirty work because you're right in the ash. You come back black."

Clinton spoke to troops from an Army battalion from Fort Hood, Texas, who have been assisting with suppression efforts in the Burgdorf Junction Fire in Idaho's Payette Forest.

He said he traveled there to thank the soldiers for the good work they were doing for their country and for fellow Americans.

"It matters that people don't die, it matters that property is saved, it matters that precious and irreplaceable things are saved, and you're doing that," the president said.

But some of the Western fires were not being actively fought for lack of fire crews and managers.

In the Bitterroot Valley, which stretches about 80 miles from Missoula, Montana, south to the Idaho state line, fires have destroyed at least 73 buildings, including 51 homes and cabins.

Judy Greene drove out of the fire zone and past pine trees burning like torches, past blackened sticks of trees, past the rubble of neighbors' burned houses. The Goldstein house, gone. The Davis house, gone. The Zikan house, gone.

Greene's husband and son remained at their southwestern Montana house, in harm's way. Authorities have said many people have defied evacuation orders to try to save their property.

Greene's home remained in peril as the scenic Bitterroot Valley blazed with wildfires, the three largest scorching 124,500 acres on Tuesday and defying all efforts to subdue them. Ravalli County Sheriff Perry Johnson estimated 500 to 800 homes have been evacuated.

Greene said she knew there weren't enough firefighters to protect her family's property.

"I'm sure they're doing the best they can, but their resources are stretched to the limit. You can't expect them to do the impossible," Greene said.

Montana Gov. Marc Racicot said the damage is tragic. "It makes you heartsick to see these national assets, and of course, people's property and their homes, being placed at risk," he told CNN.

"I've talked to all of the fire managers -- some of them have 35 years of experience -- and they have virtually nothing to compare this to," he said.

The Bitterroot National Forest was the site of some of the state's largest fires, including the 67,000-acre Valley Complex and the 30,000-acre Sula Complex, both of which were zero percent contained Tuesday.

Both posed a threat to the remote communities of Lost Trail and Hot Springs, said Willette Squire of the U.S. Forest Service.

She said the Sula fire had forced the closure of a 20-mile stretch of Highway 93, a main road between Idaho and Montana.

Rising humidity and decreasing winds were helping firefighting efforts at Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park, home to the world's best known and best preserved Pueblo cliff dwellings.

Firefighters said Tuesday they were making progress holding the Mesa Verde fire to 5,000 acres, and believed they would have it 40 to 50 percent contained by the end of the day.

"The progress looks pretty good," said Incident Commander Mike Lohrey. "I wouldn't say we're out of danger, but we may turn the corner on this fire."

The flames moved past the cliff dwellings Monday and headed toward a research center full of priceless artifacts used by ancestral Pueblo Indians.

Archaeologists are excited about dozens of previously unknown American Indian sites in the park that were uncovered by the fire. But they worry that fire-bared mountains will send mud sliding down to bury or wash away some of the sites.

Repairing forests and rangeland begins before major fires are controlled. Already, fertilizer to encourage seedlings has been added to the water, and fire retardant chemical mixtures are being dropped on fires.

Without vegetation, burned mountainsides cannot hold back or absorb water. Experts say that can lead to entire hillsides virtually turning to liquid, rushing down to wipe out anything in its path.

Methods to prevent such disasters include raking burned, water-resistant soil, trenching to slow and redirect water, planting trees and placing hay bales in gullies.

The White House said President Clinton has directed the secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture departments to recommend ways to rehabilitate burned land and reduce fire risk to rural communities.

More than 4 million acres (6,250 square miles) have burned in the United States this year, far more than at the same time in 1988, when parts of Yellowstone National Park went up in smoke.

If this year's pace keeps up, it could make 2000 one of the worst fire seasons since the 1950s.

The early 1950s were horrendous for fires. Some 14 million acres burned in 1952 and more than 17 million acres were scorched in 1950.

CNN Correspondents Charles Zewe and Brian Nelson, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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National Interagency Fire Center
  • Presidential Visit: Wildland Fire Season 2000
National Association of State Foresters
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Firehouse.Com
National Fire News
  • Large Wildland Fires
  • Idaho
Access Idaho - The Official Website of the State of Idaho
State of Montana
  • Fire Information
Bitterroot Valley of Montana
U.S. Forest Service
  • Mesa Verde National Park
Camp Pendleton

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