68 major fires burning tonight. thousands of families, even young campers escaping the fires. children in tears and there are red flag warnings up tonight in at least six states. abc's senior national correspondent, matt gutman, from california. >> reporter: tonight, with those fires ripping across california, the aerial assault. more than 6,000 firefighters deployed. some 8,000 evacuated statewide. the alamo fire north of santa barbara, consuming 45 square miles. the nearby whittier fire engulfing this highway. the blaze so fast it trapped a group of 90 campers and 50 counselors over the weekend. >> they had flames directly in front where they could not access these children. >> reporter: a bulldozer finally breaking through to kids like 9-year-old finnegan mcweeney. >> we drove straight through the fire. there was these trees super high that were exploding. >> reporter: with towels on their heads and tears in their eyes they were bused to safety. >> i'm going to see if my house is still here.