Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/calif-wildfires-rage-but-firefighters-make-some-gains Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Firefighters were able to contain more of a wildfire blazing through 190 square miles of Southern California on Tuesday, but a forecast calling for high winds threatened the progress. Ray Suarez reports. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: Huge wildfires burned across more of Southern California today. Together they covered some 200 square miles, with more than 50 homes destroyed. But firefighters voiced some tentative hope.Ray Suarez has our lead story report. RAY SUAREZ: Aerial shots showed a pall of thick smoke and ash hanging over the region again today, as the series of wildfires raged.The largest, the so-called Station fire in Angeles National Forest, grew to more than 121,000 acres, up 16,000 from late Monday. One edge of the giant blaze was just 15 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, being fed by 40- to 50-year-old brush that is tinder-dry.Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a new state of emergency in San Bernardino County, just east of Los Angeles. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, R-Calif.: We have a lot of fires all over the state of California. We have fires from the northern border, all the way south, and from the Pacific to the Sierra Nevada, fires, fires, fires.But we are very fortunate that we have the best and the most aggressive, best trained, and most courageous firefighters in the world. We have right now, like I said, eight major fires. One is almost put out. Then we have only seven left. RAY SUAREZ: But there were more evacuations today, as the Station fire threatened thousands more homes in foothill suburbs.Bulldozers were brought in to clear vegetation and create a 12-mile buffer zone to keep the flames from spreading. And more than 5,700 firefighters labored away, hoping for help from higher humidity and milder winds. LEE SCHIEL: The wind is calm, but you never know, in this Santa Ana condition, when it's going to come up and blow the other way. So, we're guardedly optimistic. But until — until this is knocked down and we're not in such close proximity to the houses, I think it's always a viable worry. RAY SUAREZ: Even as the battle progressed, officials also warned it could take weeks before the flames are fully under control. And the governor acknowledged, the fires are also ravaging California's already weak economy. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: The state, as you know, is struggling financially, because we just have dealt with a $23 billion deficit. And, then, a few months ago, we have dealt with a $42 billion deficit. So, obviously, we are financially struggling, economically struggling. But I always made it clear that, as long as I'm governor, public safety is our number-one priority.