Posted on 06/25/2002 6:10:39 PM PDT by kattracks
EAGAR, Arizona (Reuters) - President George W. Bush saw firsthand on Tuesday the path of the biggest blaze in Arizona's history, touring the devastation by plane and promising federal aid to families who lost their homes.
"I know this is a tough moment," Bush told families and rescue workers at a high school-turned-shelter for evacuees in Eagar, a town some 105 km southeast of the fire line. "Hang in there," he told the group of about 300.
En route to a meeting of world leaders in Canada, Bush made the brief Arizona stop to personally thank fire-fighters and to assure families that federal help is on its way.
"We're all in this together," Bush told evacuees, some of whom fled nearby Show Low on Saturday as the flames approached. "These fires wreak havoc on everybody who stands in their way. They don't pick and choose."
From the seat of his Gulf Stream jet, Bush surveyed the wildfire, which has already charred more than 144,000 hectares, burned some 345 homes, and forced an estimated 30,000 people to evacuate.
Bush could see from the plane charred land and plumes of smoke, which blended with the clouds along the fire's 288-km perimeter. Fire-fighters say walls of flame, fuelled by bone-dry underbrush and strong winds, can shoot 50 metres in the air.
During the visit, federal officials gave Bush an update on their uphill battle against the fast-moving blaze.
Before arriving, Bush declared parts of Arizona hardest-hit by the fires a disaster area, making federal recovery aid available.
About 3,000 people have been fighting the blaze with the aid of about a dozen helicopters and 15 air tankers used to drop flame retardant. The number of fire-fighters could soon hit 5,000. The Federal Emergency Management Agency plans to make $20 million immediately available to the state to help pay the cost of the huge operation.
BUSH DECLARES MAJOR DISASTER
In Springerville, Bush met with soot-and-ash covered fire-fighters who have been fighting the fire in the eastern Arizona high country about 240 km northeast of Phoenix.
"You can look in their eyes and see the exhaustion," Bush said of the fire-fighters he met. "But I can assure you, having talked to them ... they're not quitting until this thing is whipped."
But Larry Humphrey, a commander from the Bureau of Land Management, told Bush the situation was grave.
"There's not a whole lot we can do with the drought we have," Humphrey said. "We're trying to cut it off. We're doing the best we can."
One fire-fighter thanked Bush for coming. "I'm doing my job," the president said in response.
Fire officials said the battle against the fire was helped on Monday by favourable weather conditions, with little wind and moderate temperatures. Fire-fighters hoped to begin containing the fire sometime on Tuesday.
But humidity remained extremely low -- exacerbating tinder dry conditions in a region gripped by drought like much of the American West.
Show Low has seen only about a quarter of its normal rainfall since September, and fire officials say a shift in the winds could put the town in imminent danger again.
Me so happy these fires are on GW's watch... I'm dancin' now..., Me so happy!, ...Me so happy! Now I have something to showboat about!! Me so happy! Me so happy! Now those pesky Arizonian peon bastards will have to love me for the monies I will get for them....... Me so happy! Me so happy! Me so happy! Me so happy!
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