Weather on Firefighters' Side in California; New Orleans Residents Begin to Return
DOBBS: Tonight a massive wildfire to the northwest of Los Angeles has spread to more than 20,000 acres. Hundreds of people have abandoned their homes. Peter Viles reports now from Simi Valley, California.</s>PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For this army of firefighters 3,000 strong received some good news this morning in the form of the weather forecast. Those hot and dry Santa Ana winds which have fueled this fire from the outset are not blowing today in the Los Angeles area. In addition, the temperature is a little cooler. So a much better condition to fight this fire. And for that reason, earlier today, fire officials were quite optimistic about their chances against this blaze today.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Humidities have been coming up. They came up last night, which helped us out a lot, helped the firefighters out a lot. The winds quit blowing. Right now we're kind of in transition. It's very still out there because we have this east influence and this west influence and we're basically still here.</s>VILES: Now, the main concern yesterday had been that this fire might move south, far enough and fast enough to jump the 101 Freeway and enter into the heavily residential communities of Thousand Oaks and Calabasas. Today that is not a serious concern. In fact, some people in those neighborhoods are allowed back in their homes today. The bigger concern is here where we are in Simi Valley at the northern reaches of this fire, where a flare-up is making a run at a ridge behind me and is gaining ground on a residential community, maybe three quarters of a mile away where we are. Just in the past few minutes firefighters here have changed tactics and started to lay down some fire to create a fire break to stop this flare-up from marching across that ridge and threatening the homes of Simi Valley. So this fire 20 percent contained this morning. No update since then. Still a very serious fire. And firefighters treating it with a great deal of respect. Peter Viles reporting from Simi Valley, California.</s>DOBBS: And of course, CNN will continue to cover those wildfires. In fact, in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank tonight, firefighters are trying to contain another serious wildfire. This fire brought under control, it was thought, yesterday. But it flared again today; 500 acres in burr bank's wildwood and stow canyon areas are now engulfed in flame. Voluntary evacuations are under way. This fire, we're told, poses no immediate threat to any homes or buildings in Burbank at this hour. People who fled their homes in parts of New Orleans started to return today. That despite the fact that many places still don't have electricity, clean drinking water, nor adequate sewage systems. Still, Mayor Ray Nagin has demanded that areas like the French Quarter and the Garden District be reopened for residents and business. Dan Lothian reports.</s>DIANA CROSS, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Getting ready to put it on the market.</s>DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For uptown resident Diana Cross, there's no place like home.</s>CROSS: Feels good to be home.</s>LOTHIAN: Her boyfriend's house across town was destroyed. But her homecoming was sweet.</s>CROSS: I am so lucky. Yes, I'm beyond words lucky. There doesn't seem to be any major damage. Just some trees down, and my fence is gone on one side. Otherwise it looks great.</s>LOTHIAN: But it didn't smell great, at least not around the refrigerator.</s>CROSS: Oy. Oh, God. Oh, my God. OK.</s>LOTHIAN: The New Orleans lawyer spent her morning cleaning up, unpacking, and flushing faucets. She had spent the last month living in multiple hotel rooms and relying on the kindness of friends, all the while worried about what she had left behind.</s>CROSS: I was tremendously nervous. I was worried about looting; I was worried about fires. I didn't know if, when the electricity came on, if something would happen and the house would catch on fire.</s>LOTHIAN: But it didn't. Now Cross will stay in the house that she had planned to put on the market the day Katrina hit. A few blocks away, past the power crews making repairs, the tree crews clearing debris, and a giant vacuum cleaning drains, we found Dorothy Parker Gray, worried that the neighborhood she had fled from before Katrina hit had lost its soul.</s>DOROTHY PARKER GRAY, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Looked like a ghost town in here. Didn't see my neighbors like I'm used to seeing them.</s>LOTHIAN: She didn't have to wait long.</s>GRAY: Yes, neighbor, we made it!</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We survived!</s>GRAY: Yes, we did.</s>LOTHIAN: She had survived and so had the home she was born in 76 years ago.</s>GRAY: I've been on edge, because I didn't know if the house had blown away or whatever.</s>LOTHIAN: Only a ceiling in one room collapsed. She won't return for good just yet.</s>GRAY: It's got to be aired out, it's got to be cleaned out.</s>LOTHIAN: But considering the scope of this disaster, Gray says the word "fortunate" doesn't quite describe her situation.</s>GRAY: I'm blessed. Not fortunate, I am truly blessed. See, I'm 76 years old. And I wouldn't be ready to think about building again.</s>LOTHIAN: Health and safety issues remain at the top of the list, the mayor saying that people should enter at their own risk. Now, those health concerns in particular have to do with a lot of mold and also questions about what may be in the environment. And as you mentioned earlier, as well, Lou, the water, you can't drink the water and it won't be able to be cleaned up for at least quite some time. So those remain a concern. And also the structures themselves. Some have been tagged with notices that the roof is either not stable and the foundation might have shifted as well, so residents have to make sure and make repairs before they are allowed to move in. And one other note, late this afternoon the mayor at a press conference said that he was forming a Bring Back New Orleans Commission made up of 17 people, including jazz musician Wynton Marsalis. These are people who would advise the mayor and the city on ways to rebuild this city. He hopes to have a final study from them by the end of the year -- Lou.</s>DOBBS: Well, I know jazz is very important in New Orleans. But rebuilding New Orleans is going to require a little more expertise and a lot more brought from a number of quarters in the country, as well as within Louisiana. Looking behind you there, Dan, it's clear that there is a great deal of clean-up to do. As you say, not even drinking water available. Is the city taking special -- making special efforts to bring in drinking water for the citizens who do choose to risk everything and return?</s>LOTHIAN: Well, what the mayor said to those who were returning back to their homes is that you should bring your own drinking water, bring in your own food. Because as you know, the infrastructure is still not completely in place. And so he said in order to be on the safe side, you need to bring in all your own supplies.</s>DOBBS: Dan Lothian from New Orleans, thank you. When we continue, "Broken Borders." One group's multi billion dollar proposal to protect the country along our southern border. We'll have that story. And health officials back away from an alarming prediction of bird flu deaths. I'll be talking about the threat of a global bird flu pandemic with the leading official from the National Institutes of Health, next. Stay with us.