Jim Hill: High winds keep firefighters from attacking wildfires

Jim Hill

CNN Correspondent Jim Hill is reporting from Alpine, California, where firefighters are trying to fight a wildfire fueled by dry desert winds.

Q: This isn't the normal wildfire season, is it?

HILL: No, it's somewhat unusual to have a fire this time of year. The season normally ends in the fall but conditions have remained very dry this winter -- the moisture content of the chaparral, pine trees, manzanita, scrub oak is around 10 percent (it's normally well above 50 percent, depending on the plant).

Q: What caused the fire to spread so quickly?

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HILL: There's a 1-2-3 punch: You've got tinder-dry vegetation, low humidity and dry winds blowing off the desert. Any little spark with those winds and the fire is really going to take off.

Q: What's the firefighters' strategy?

HILL: Until the winds die down and the fire "lays down," the firefighters can't attack the fire. Right now, they are trying to evacuate people ahead of the fire and protect structures. Because many of the homes are located on windy dirt roads -- "four-wheel" roads -- it's difficult to get the word to everybody.

They're also trying to stay ahead of the fire and getting set up with equipment and men as the fire reaches structures. And the wind is blowing the embers where the fire is skipping ahead of the firefighters -- they set up at one home and the fire jumps ahead of them.

Q: What about the terrain? What kind of difficulty does it present?

HILL: It's 2,000 to 4,000 feet. There are small mountains, some of them very steep, it's very rocky in spots, and there are small, tight canyons. There are some spots where they are having to claw through some dense vegetation that is 8- to 10-feet thick. There are some spots that people say haven't had a fire in 100 years, where the vegetation has not been naturally thinned out.

Q: Residents in California are required to landscape their homes to resist fire -- does that help?

HILL: A "defensible space" -- most people do that and it helps. They are well aware of the risk of fire that comes with living here. With a fire like this, it's good or bad luck. If the wind blows an ember up under the eaves, there are no guarantees during precarious conditions like these. People have lost their homes from a blowing ember when the fire didn't come near their home.

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