Need to attack this fire on the ground and in the air. We have a significant air attack. Right now, flying this fire are air tankers, even some of the very large air tankers, lobbing retardant ahead of the fire trying to slow down the fire. The winds are not as strong as what we saw overnight and yesterday. That is welcome news for sure but experiencing dry conditions and the fire does continue to grow. Its good to hear we have a little bit of relief at least, those high winds still burning at Higher Elevations. Our weather guy in just a couple of minutes. When it comes to the overall scope of things, earlier, we heard from the governor who said there are 27 wildfires right now. Give us an idea of where the glass incident ranks among all of those fires as we speak. With 27 major wildfires across california, the glass fire itself actually has the most amount of evacuations, more than any other fire. In fact, today, in all 27 fires, there are 66,000 people under evacuation orders. 53,000 of those are connected to the glass fire, in napa and sonoma counties. A significant amount of evacuations. Overall in size, the glass fire is not the largest fire burning. There are fires that are burning hundreds of thousands of acres. However, this fire is the one thats burning closest right now to communities, including santa rosa and other communities that have been evacuated throughout the north bay. And so thats where it continues to be a high concern and a top priority for us. And something that has been so heartbreaking is we have seen images of what appears to be just infernos in a number of wineries, various structures who burned to the ground. Tell me about the resources committed to the fire, on the ground and the air, you touched upon that briefly earlier. We have over a thousand firefighters on the front lines of the glass right now. As i mentioned, the aircraft, air tankers, helicopters working from the air as well. Now, going into this weekend, we knew that conditions were going to be ripe for wildfires. We added Additional Resources across northern california. This is above and beyond the nearly 17,000 firefighters at the time that were committed to major wildfire. So by having additional equipment available, we were able to hit this fire hard, but unfortunately, it was the strong winds combined with the drying conditions that made this a very difficult fire fight. It was all the firefighters could do just to get people evacuated out of harms way but a significant attack right now on this fire, and we are continuing to bring in additional to help us with this fire. We do want to take a moment not to only remind everyone that abc7s facebook page, please do ask any of your questions to our panel of experts and take a look at your screen because this is the Vantage Point from sky 7, where, to be quite honest with you, the snomoke is so heavy an dark right now, its hard to see anything, but you can see it coming over those ridge tops and again, the Higher Elevations where the wind is most significant. Real quickly, daniel, can you give us an update on the damage that we have seen so far . Any numbers or is it too early to tell . Its too early at this moment. We know there has been damage in a number of areas, including just outside of santa rosa. En route, theyll be working to reset and to collect information on the homes and the buildings and the other infrastructure that was destroyed in this fire. And while getting that information is critical, right now, fighting the fire is our priority. Getting air resources, to really try to keep this fire out of the community. In fact, right now, theres 8500 structures that are still threats. Even though this has been able to destroy a number of buildings, our focus is still to do structure defense and try to hold this fire out of those communities that is threatening. Appropriately enough, we saw another dc 10 cross across the screen dropping that retardant, bright and red, into the sky on to the ground. Now, we do have some questions coming in from instagram and id like to ask these of our viewers, one asking, do you see a chance of containment today . The very latest numbers, correct me if im wrong, 0 , is that still the case . Yeah, our firefighters are working diligently right now to build the containment line. That means using bulldozers to cut vegetation around the edge of the fire itself, but as it continues to grow, obviously, any progress we make becomes more and more of a challenge. Its too early to tell yet, you know, whether well have a containment figure by the end of today but we are definitely working aggressively to get some level of containment. I know so much of your focus, obviously, is in the north bay, but people in other parts of the bay area, including the east bay, if two should prepare for a similar situation in the near future. What insight can you shed for them . The answer is yes. Whether theyll be evacuated from this fire, but highway 12 corridor, napa and sonoma counties, should be on high alert. Should be paying attention, should be packing up valuable items in different documents. However, these are just one after another, reminders to all of us that we have to be prepared for fires. That preparation includes ensuring knowing what items youd take if you were evacuated and leaving early. Early evacuation is critical, not only for your safety but also so that our firefighters, when they respond, can work to extinguish the fire, to go direct to battle the fire in situations, especially in these fastmoving fires. Were concentrating on just trying to help people evacuate. Get them out of harms way but earlier evacuation helps us do our job to fight the fire. Certainly, we remind our viewers of this time and time again. Many are still hesitant, thinking maybe they can risk the conditions, but we cannot hammer that message home enough. Another question coming in right now from instagram is, do we have any idea what started the fire yet . The fire is still under investigation. We have an investigator whos been at the scene and now the Investigation Team looking to determine the exact cause of not just the glass fire but as you mentioned at the top, there were two other fires that started overnight. They had since all merged into the glass fire itself. And so well be working to determine how those three fires started. We investigate all of our fires. We want to determine exactly how it started, so we can learn from it, and if we need to, hold those accountable, but at this point, too early to tell exactly how this fire started, but under these incredibly dry conditions, with these gusty winds, obviously, it didnt take much. A simple spark, an open flame to allow this fire to grow. Oftentimes, it is something as simple as that, a single spark to make something explode into what were experiencing now. Also, from facebook, getting a question in particular about the city of calistoga. Last night, our crews here until 2 30 in the morning. Really showing some of the damage on the ground and in calistoga, we saw a winery just go up in flames along with a number of homes and buildings. Can you give us any specifics about that city in particular . Dont have any exact numbers yet. We are working to assess the damage done. This was able to burn between st. Helena and calistoga, and so the fire burned right in the path between those two communities. Obviously, homes along the edges. This fire by winds coming out of the northeast, pushing this fire, really in a southwesterly direction. Thats what has pushed this fire from napa county to sonoma counties. But our concern is that as the fire continues to grow into sonoma, if the winds shift or Mother Nature itself changes, there could still be flareups in the opposite direction. So while the fire is burning really away from calistoga at this moment, that could change and thats why, again, making sure everybody is on high alert and evacuated throughout that region and so forth. Real quickly, i do want to get tho this. I have a question about santa rosa evacuating. Absolutely be on alert and yes, do be prepared but when it comes to the route, there was a lot of talk about highway 12 that was at a standstill, in one direction, many people were being told, go east. What is the situation with that main thoroughfare right now for evacuation . Obviously, they usually are think about two escape routes and not just go the most common way. Depending on where you live, it will obviously depend on the way you evacuate. Even though traffic is heavy, the Sheriffs Department, police department, diligently safely getting people evacuated from the areas. Make sure people are moved out. Moving large amount of people. Forecast the spread of the fire. So the Sheriffs Department can provide evacuations. All great reminders. Daniel berlant. We want to remind everyone that we have the latest information scrolling at the bottom of your screen. Also, we encourage you not only to download the abc7 news app but head to abc7news. Com. Lets kick it now over to our weath weather, the winds are dying down a little bit but still are very significant. Has increased fire danger, made the air drier. All the surface winds are relatively light but look in the Higher Elevations, most of the fires are burning right now. We could see, its still a big gust. 22 miles per hour. Those gusts can vary. They can get suddenly stronger for a few seconds and suddenly weaker. The high fire danger in effect. Higher elevations until 9 00 tonight but the wind so far is continuing to diminish as we have forecast. The one positive thing about that, the offshore,,, hours. That will push some of the smoke out but away from the coast and back into the inland areas and back into the areas where the fires are burning and that of course is not a good thing. Lets talk about the heat when it comes to average. More heat waves in a typical year. Its part of the pattern, the last five to ten years, the direction of the heat waves are longer. The intensity is greater. This kind of heat for the duration is unusual but not unusual to get heat spikes into october. Unfortunately sounds like what were going to have to get used to Going Forward this fire season and beyond. Remind everyone on the lefthand side of your screen, we were looking at the Vantage Point after sky 7 where truly, it is just a smokey mess up in the north bay. The mayor of santa rosa will join us live. During the break on the abc7 facebook page, well keep this conversation going with Spencer Christian. Thank you so much for staying with us for our 3 00 show about getting answers. We are talking about a fire that has now merged into something called the glass incident. The shady fire in particular that we want to focus on now because this started burning towards santa rosa last night. We are starting to see the damage its causing, along with the evacuations, which are scrolling at the bottom of your screen. So very appropriately enough, lets get to our mayor of santa rosa, tom, thank you for taking the time. Tom, this almost feels like deja vu all over again because i remember very vividly being on the front lines of the tubs fire in 2017 in coffee park, which is your community being just totally bewildered by the number of people who had not yet evacuated. You can speak to this at great length of the importance of evacuate and doing this early. Absolutely. And we have learned a lot since 2017 because when i evacuated, i lived in coffee park. The fire was just a couple blocks away, so weve learned from that, sent out these evacuation orders and warnings much earlier to get everyone out safely as possible. Thats what i really want to thank, our Santa Rosa Community because most, the vast majority of people heeded our advice even though it was gridlock leaving oakland eastbound and westbound, everyone got out safely. Coming from a human standpoint standpoint, its like a nightmare recurring. You went through this in coffee park park. Typically, one of the persons in staff im in communication with is the city manager. Communities in oregon and one the things, neighbors helping neighbo neighbors, so much coffee park has been rebuilt. The difference is the pandemic. The Neighborhood Park coming, Wonderful Community input. Were trying to be people helping people here but i tell you, its tough. Just this low or whatever you want to call the at rigmosphereh all the smoke, its a challenging time for all of us. The sense of community is truly remarkable. I remember being in the north bay and speaking to Community Members there. There were signs, reminding neighbors they are strong and they are tight knit and they are here to help one another. Lets also take a moment to speak about the fire response because for those not so aware, when you look at the tremendous taxing job, hours are exceptionally long. This started in napa. The four or five different strike teams to assist in the regional approach and due to some of the embers cast, saw over the horizon, whoa, we see something glowing in santa rosa and this is about 8 00 last night. Once we got son scene there the initial thought was five acres. The 75 acres, the chief immediately started deploying resources, did what is called the all county resources. Also communicated with napa. Dont like to do that. Firefighters usually work 24 on and at least 24 off. When theyre doing the double shift but no other options now. With the police department. Which resulted in 125 or 30 sworn officers coming out to assist with evacuations and traffic control, another additional 15 to 25 civilians to assist with that. Our police chief implemented the ab shift which is 12 hours on, 12 hours off. 2019. Somewhat getting used to this. But it is a challenge and we do worry about the health and safety of our employees during these challenging times. Certainly a experience plays a role in fighting this fire. Such a swift response. We appreciate you taking the time. Mayor of santa rosa, tom. We are taking a qui we made usaa insurance for this season. And the veterans that never quit on their team. When being a fan gets tough, and stretching your budget gets even tougher. Our agents put in the time and legwork for you,. So saving on Auto Insurance is easy. Because saving a little extra goes a long way. Usaa. What youre made of, were made for. This ones for you. You inspired us to make your humira experience even better. With humira citratefree. It has the same effectiveness you know and trust, but we removed the citrate buffers, theres less liquid, and a thinner needle. With less pain immediately following injection. Ask your doctor about humira citratefree. And you can use your copay card to pay as little as 5 a month. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections,. 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We know the census only takes a few minutes to respond, but tell me why there are these fears among people taking it and participating, particularly in minority groups. Yeah, so thank you for asking that question. I think thats something weve been very concerned about. So the Census Bureau, i mean, the Asian American community and in general are considered hard to count populations. As designated by the Census Bureau and folks that do advocacy around or Community Education around participation. So one of the Major Barriers is around language access. A lot of folks that might not be reached by the Community Education programs that the Census Bureau put in place, so i think a lot of that is lack of awareness and a lot of these efforts to target immigrants and exclude immigrants from the census has done, has had a negative impact on our city. So what we have are issues of concerns around confidentiality, so the Census Bureau actually conducted a focus group and it released the results of that in early 2019. They found that actually 41 of Asian Americans were concerned about the Census Bureau not maintaining confidentiality of their responses, which would also have a barrier to participate. I think theres a lot of issues that are going on around us since covid but also prior to that, a lot of overcrowded Household Conditions that are prevalent in our communities. So people are either living in makeshift homes or living in illegally converted units or basically overcrowded conditions theyre concerned theyll have an impact on their ability to stay in their communities. Theyre afraid that landlords might find out how many people are living in their apartments or afraid the section 8 housing might get taken away. Theres a lot of concerns around confidentiality but thats where advocates need to step up and make sure folks know there are all these provisions put in place to protect peoples responses. I dont mean to interrupt you, but we do need to take a quick commercial break. Once again, thank you so much for joining us on this interactive getting answers show. You got the latest updates from cal fire on the glass incident and then Spencer Christian about what were seeing and what we can expect with the weather. We will be here every weekday at 3 00 on air and online at abc7s facebook page. We leave tonight, the fallout. The bomb shell report about President Trumps taxes. The New York Times reporting the year President Trump won the white house, he paid just 750 in federal income taxes. The same the year after. And in 11 out of 18 years they studied, he reportedly paid no federal income taxes at all. Tonight, the times reporting that the president appears to be hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. Tonight, who does he owe that money to . How President Trump is now responding, and the biden camp responding tonight, too. Showing how much the average American Worker pays in taxes every year. All of this with the first president ial debate showdown 24 hours away. President trump and joe biden face to face. In this pandemic, there will be no hand shake, no opening statements. Biden in debate prep tonight. And what he says he expects from the president tomorrow night