California wildfires scorch homes, triggering massive evacuation

Channel: CBS News

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] But we begin with this morning's top

[0:02] story. Thousands of people under

[0:03] evacuation orders in Southern California

[0:06] as firefighters work to contain a

[0:08] fastmoving wildfire.

[0:16] Look at that. The Norte fire started

[0:18] burning in the coastal city of San

[0:20] Clemente on Friday morning. That's about

[0:22] halfway between Los Angeles and San

[0:24] Diego. By last night, powerful Santana

[0:27] winds pushed the fire eastward into San

[0:29] Juan Capistrano. At least six homes have

[0:32] been destroyed, and this morning, the

[0:34] fire has grown to nearly 500 acres,

[0:37] prompting mandatory evacuations,

[0:39] affecting 16,000 people in hillside

[0:42] communities. More than 400 firefighters

[0:44] are fighting the fire, which is 0%

[0:46] contained.

[0:48] Crews will continue to work through the

[0:50] night on the fire line and while

[0:52] containment is at 0% contained, our

[0:56] current objective is keeping the fire

[0:58] within its current footprint. Our

[1:01] firefighters have had no issues getting

[1:03] water to fight this fire.

[1:05] >> Two firefighters were hurt while

[1:07] fighting the Norte fire. Meanwhile,

[1:09] north of Los Angeles in Malibu,

[1:12] firefighters have gotten a handle on the

[1:14] Bryson fire which started on Thursday.

[1:16] that prompted 12,000 evacuation orders

[1:19] and warnings. For more on this, we are

[1:21] joined by John Elliot, meteorologist for

[1:25] our New York station. You've got more on

[1:26] the fires and the overall weekend for

[1:28] forecast. John, good morning.

[1:29] >> It's a real study in contrast, Adriana.

[1:31] You've got fire and then ice for much of

[1:33] the nation. So, these fire weather

[1:35] warnings and high wind warnings stretch

[1:36] from north of Santa Clarita all the way

[1:38] down to the border. Some of these areas

[1:40] densely populated and you've got the

[1:42] topography to deal with. Highs in the

[1:44] 90s, gusts over 50, and relative

[1:46] humidities, we are just so dry. Some

[1:49] moisture on the move from the south, too

[1:51] little, too late. Please remember to be

[1:53] fire safe. And then the other side of

[1:56] this story is wet weather in the east.

[1:59] And this is the leading edge of some

[2:00] very cold air. We're going to clear out

[2:02] the heavy rain for parts of the

[2:04] Mid-Atlantic. And then I know, did you

[2:06] see that? There were some snowflakes

[2:07] there. Watch these numbers. Overnight

[2:09] lows in the 20s, 30s, and 40s. And

[2:14] freeze warnings stretch from Connecticut

[2:17] all the way to Texas. Some of the

[2:20] coldest air of the season. And there's

[2:23] more. Coastal low is going to develop.

[2:25] So, this is going to be a weather maker

[2:27] during the course of the week. You could

[2:29] see some wave energy and some moisture

[2:32] flirt with part of the Mid-Atlantic. So,

[2:35] we are still dealing with heat in the

[2:36] southwest. You've got cool air on the

[2:38] move. That's definitely going to be a

[2:40] story. So, we started with fires. I want

[2:42] to wrap up with fires. This is some of

[2:44] the coldest air so far. Please, I say

[2:46] this all the time, heat your home and

[2:48] apartment safely and never use candles

[2:51] for heat. And if you're using space

[2:52] heaters, which I do, just make sure

[2:54] there's nothing that can start a fire

[2:56] around them. So, we're local news. The

[3:00] worst thing you want to see is

[3:01] firefighters in the cold fighting a fire

[3:04] cuz all the water ice is up. So stay

[3:06] warm and be safe.

[3:07] >> Good advice, John.

[3:08] >> Yes.