ABC Evening News open - 1977-07-18

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:02] This is the ABC Evening News with Harry

[0:05] Reer and Barbara Walters. And tonight,

[0:08] Frank Reynolds in Washington.

[0:11] Good evening. Our top stories,

[0:13] everything east of the Rockies is hot,

[0:15] humid, and horrible.

[0:17] Also, we'll have reports on forest fires

[0:19] in the mountains of the West and the

[0:21] drought almost every place else.

[0:24] >> Also, the bodies of the three Americans

[0:26] who died in North Korea are on their way

[0:28] home. And President Carter says no

[0:30] special prosecutor is needed in the

[0:32] South Korean influence case. Frank,

[0:35] >> here at the National Weather Center just

[0:37] outside of Washington, the

[0:38] meteorologists and the professional

[0:40] weather watchers are not yet ready to

[0:42] equate this summer's heat with last

[0:44] winter's cold. December, January, and

[0:47] February set new 60-year lows. Still,

[0:50] the summer of 77 is shaping up as a bad

[0:53] one. The worst in 19 years, which of

[0:56] course is not news to farmers, ranchers,

[0:58] and sweltering city dwellers. The heat

[1:01] was a factor in last week's power

[1:02] blackout in New York City. The weather

[1:05] simply because of very extensive high

[1:08] pressure systems, which are just sitting

[1:10] up there, is causing problems almost

[1:12] everywhere in the country. But the most

[1:15] pressing concern tonight may be in the

[1:17] mountain states of the West. Forest

[1:19] fires are raging in Utah, Wyoming, and

[1:22] Montana. Steven Gear has a late report.

[1:26] The fire danger in the West had long

[1:28] been predicted because of the drought.

[1:30] And suddenly, the predictions are coming

[1:32] true. In Utah, two major fires are being

[1:35] battled by more than 400 men. This one,

[1:38] reportedly started by two picnicers

[1:40] roasting hot dogs, is burning over 700

[1:42] acres of brush in central Utah. And in

[1:45] the Ashley National Forest on the Utah

[1:47] Wyoming border, three firemen lost their

[1:50] lives to a 20ft wall of flame. This fire

[1:53] has raged through 1500 acres of pine

[1:55] forest. 500 m to the north, a400 acre

[1:59] fire spurred by high winds is burning

[2:02] through a canyon just southeast of

[2:03] Missoula, Montana. Five homes have been

[2:06] destroyed, but tanker planes have been

[2:08] dropping chemical retardant on the

[2:10] flames, and the fire is now said to be

[2:12] contained. ABC's Tom Shell talked this

[2:15] morning with Dave Peterson, a Missoula

[2:17] fireman whose house burned to the ground

[2:19] while he was fighting the forest fire.

[2:21] My wife and boy were here.

[2:24] They got out. All right.

[2:25] >> Yeah. Yeah, they got out just ahead of

[2:26] it.

[2:28] I guess they didn't get much of your

[2:29] equipment out. No, they got their

[2:31] clothes and a pair of pants for me and

[2:33] that's about it. And probably lucky to

[2:35] get that, I suppose. How long has you

[2:38] lived here?

[2:39] >> 10 months, I think.

[2:42] just bought it the just bought the house

[2:44] at that time.

[2:44] >> Yeah. Well, we build it. So,

[2:48] there's nothing new to rebuild, I guess,

[2:50] where the nails go.

[2:53] California has been fortunate so far,

[2:55] considering tinder dry conditions here.

[2:58] This weekend fire in the heavily

[3:00] populated Hollywood Hills was quickly

[3:02] controlled. It burned along a ridge near

[3:04] the Hollywood Bowl, but winds were

[3:06] favorable and none of the hundreds of

[3:07] nearby homes was affected. The weather

[3:10] has been relatively mild in California

[3:12] and with the worst of summer heat yet to

[3:14] come, the fire threat increases in this

[3:16] state suffering the worst drought in its

[3:18] history. Steven Gear, ABC News. The

[3:22] weather is causing discomfort in much of

[3:24] the country right now. But abnormal

[3:26] conditions as we have at present can

[3:28] have serious consequences long after we

[3:31] all cool off. We have a series of

[3:33] reports tonight on the drought of 1977

[3:36] and what to expect later on. First, here

[3:39] is Ron Miller.

[3:40] >> 35 states are affected by the current

[3:43] drought. The worst areas are shaded dark

[3:44] brown on the map. And each dry area

[3:47] across the country has a different look.

[3:49] California,