This was the broadcast on Friday Night:
King: First, though, the wildfire burning out of control in Southern California, it has forced the evacuation of more homes. And, then, there's the human toll. Four firefighters are dead, and a fifth is in a hospital, with burns over 90 percent of his body. Doctors say the prognosis is poor.
Nearly 2,000 firefighters are battling this blaze. It now covers at least 24,000 acres between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, and officials say it was not -- it didn't start by accident.
With the latest on this battle, here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A fire truck destroyed by fire, caked in soot. Now a sobering memorial to firefighters who died when fast moving flames overtook them while they were in the truck.
They had just arrived at a home in the path of the fire, hoping to save it. But that home and others in this mountainous area west of Palm Springs were destroyed.
We now have pictures of three of the four men who were killed. Mark Loutzenhiser was the engine captain, 44 years old with 21 years of service. Jess McLean, 27 years old, with five children. Jason McKay was 27 years old, four years as a volunteer firefighter. And Daniel Hoover-Najera, only 20 years old. It was his second season of firefighting. He also died.
Authorities say their deaths could be homicides, because this huge 24,000-acre fire was started by arson. And a $500,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to a capture and a conviction.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: We are searching for the arsonist. We will find them, and we will punish them.
TUCHMAN: A fifth firefighter is in the hospital. Doctors say his prognoses is poor.
DR. DAVID WONG, ARROWHEAD MEDICAL CENTER: His degree of burns is one of the most severe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much of his body?
WONG: Ninety percent.
ALISON STEWART, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Keep your thoughts and prayers for these folks and their families at this time. And also their colleagues on the forest. There's a lot of pain right now. TUCHMAN: The blaze is still only five percent contained. It threatens to get much bigger because of extremely high winds and extremely low humidity.
It has already spread extraordinarily rapidly since it began Thursday morning, climbing up mountain sides and igniting dry brush as the 45 miles per hour gusts help propel it along.
The fire still smolders at this house, one of at least 10 homes that have been destroyed.
Alex McKenzie actually saw his house being burned on the news after he evacuated.
ALEX MCKENZIE, RESIDENT: Paintings, statues, titles for cars, paperwork, everything but my beds and couches was in that storage trailer out there. Now it's all gone. Gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that.
TUCHMAN: Hundreds of more homes are vulnerable. Thousands of people have evacuated. Life is still in danger as loss of life is mourned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Gary Tuchman joins us now from Beaumont, California.
Gary, you mentioned only about five percent contained. How concerned are the authorities about this blaze spreading even more?
TUCHMAN: John, this is a very precarious time. The forecast has no rain in the immediate future. The winds have literally been tropical storm force gusts today at times, up to 40 miles per hour.
And because you only have five percent containment and such a huge jump from a few hundred acres today to 24,000 acres today, there is a lot of concern right now for the safety of the firefighters.
Seventeen hundred fifty firefighters are out there; 171 fire trucks; dozens of helicopters and airplanes. And you just saw in the picture just now -- we showed you a picture. That was a DC-10 jumbo jet, retrofitted to drop flame retardant.
They're bringing out the big guns to try to put out this fire, because they know right now they are dealing with something that could be even more tragic than it's been already.
KING: You mentioned the tragedy. It's an enormous challenge fighting a fire like this under any circumstances, especially when the weather conditions aren't cooperating. These firefighters are not only exhausted; they're dealing with the fact that four of their comrades have died. A fifth is in very poor condition. Their spirits must be -- it must be very difficult to maintain their spirits.
TUCHMAN: That's a real good point, John. You know, we were here in the Palm Springs area about a month ago for a wildfire that started from lightning strikes. And nobody was killed. The firefighters worked hard. They were very happy. There was no loss of life, and relieved that it was an accident or Mother Nature that caused it.
But here they're dealing with people who they believe are criminals who caused this fire. So there is a lot of anger and resentment among the firefighters.
KING: Gary Tuchman tracking this extremely difficult challenge for us in Beaumont, California. Gary, thank you very much.
And as Gary just showed us in his report, fighting fires is a dangerous and a very tough job. When they're deliberately started, proving who set them is almost as difficult. Arson is not easy to prove.
Like the Colorado fire in June of 2002, where the crime scene was a massive 137,000 acres.
CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports on how this mystery began.
From here the program goes off on a tangent.
We should be hearing from investigators as to the 'reason' they believe this was arson and not a spontaneous fire due to drought and possibly lightning. Heat lightning happens. I think it's unfair to have the public believe there is a criminal to carry the responsiblity for this without bringing forward the evidence that leads them to bring such strong charges. The evidence may help the public identify the arsonist. I just don't believe there is one right now.
