Out. Also a contractor working who lost his life on the fire lines. And i the fires are still burning tonight eight days after it all started. Thanks for joining us. And i ashley. At least 42 people have died statewide including a volunteer firefighter who died after his truck rolled over in napa. Also a man who had an asthma attack due to the smoke from the fires in santa rosa. Containment has grown tonight on most of the fires thanks to improving weather conditions. And heres a closer look. The red wood fire is 50 contained. The sulfur fire, 85 contained. Cal fire reports increased containment. Tubz fire is at 75 mefr . And the nuns fire at 53 . The pocket fire is at 45 containment. We do have more wind in the forecast. Really with the potential to cause more concern with firefighters. Upping those containment numbers, which has been fantastic news. Right now winds speed on the calm side. Live doppler 7 along with satellite the Bigger Picture showing theres a cold front off to our north and west. And what this will do first, increase our winds a bit thursday and bring us some rain thursday night into friday morning. As we fast forward into thursday afternoon, by 2 00, you can see in the north bay or winds start to increase generally from 13 to 18 miles an hour thursday afternoon. And as we go loser to the evening and over night period, by 9 00, those winds gusting over 30 miles an hour at times. And then tracking some rain movig into the picture thursday especially we have a very good chance seeing some showers working through much of the bay area. We rank our storms from 1 to 5 to give you a better idea of what to expect. And the one coming on thursday evening is a 1, light showers. And the north bay has a much higher chance of rainfall. Very good. Thanks very much. The news from the front lines has been even more encouraging today. But even so there are still many people directed in the line of fire. More now from oakville where flames still rage tonight. Reporter an army of fire crews waited for their marching orders. Theyre sometimes send us up to scout to find dead trees or things they know will be a problem. Well be sharpening chains, so well be ready when they need us. Reporter along this stretch of highway 29 through the heart of napa valley, six choppers simultaneously zip back and forth between reservoirs and the Burning Ridge line, dumping water. You feel happy theyre here . You call them angels of the sky nestled up naught the hills of napa valley just below the fire line, they are vigilant and have hired their own private crew to protect their home and theyre 70acre property. Three water trucks and people spraying around the perimeters. A bulldozer above our winery. Weve had people staying here all week, but i dont think people feel safe, but they stay here. Reporter they think the fire is creeping closer. Its hard to gauge, but weve had someone posted down the road watching and reporting in what they see just so we know so the fire isnt going to creep over the hill before we realize it. Reporter the wineries here on highway 29 are still safe. There are no vacations, although everyone is still on edge. Im leslie brinkly, abc 7 news. Now, thats the same area where a contract worker on the fire lines died today when his water tinder crashed. Tweeted this picture a short time ago showing members saluting the man as his body was driven away. Abc 7 reporter Laura Anthony complains what happened to him. Our hearts go out to the family and friends that are impacted by this. Reporter the death of a water contractor marks the first fatality of a crews working on the front lines. The driver of this crew killed earlier this morning after his rig overturned. Well be look at things for evidence such as things in the road, gouge marblings, wheel stamping which is inmdicative of a vehicle rolling onto it its side. And were going to take a look how are it rolled down the hill. Reporter the empty water tank became detached and was sitting near the truck. By midday a coroners van arrived to remove the driver described only as a male. These water tinders have been a key tart for the napa valley for the past week and embedded with the firefighters right up along the front lines. Its a critical piecef the component of the fire fight operation. We rely on these types of equipment to be able to have water up in these remote yaes for firefighters to fill their engines. Reporter the drivers are all trained in wildlife fire safety before theyre called upon. It traveled from red block to help with the napa valley fire fights. Near oakville, laura han thain, abc 7 news. The painful journey home has begun for some fire victims who are returning to find charred debris and ash. Showing flames that roared in kenwood yesterday. And while the threat there is done today. Reporter the Fire Fighting one of many battles raging today. Heres another. The counter intuitive battle to return home to the scene of a nightmare, to sift through the remains and waiting a week to do it. Been here every day trying to get through. Reporter Lois Dickerson just wanted to get down route 12. Vacations have been lifted but utilities still arent up. Reporter debris in the roadway had a lot to do with it. Lots left to clear, too dangerous. But some people did get through. Were trying to do as much for others as we can. Reporter thats melissa and her husband filling buckets of water for neighborhood pets and animals that survived the interno. And if youre wondering, yes, their home looks just like this. Whos helping you . My husband. Reporter and whos helping your husband . Me. Reporter and whos helping the two of you . God. Reporter person after person, story after story, they just keep coming. This is the second time a home shes lived in has burned. The first one at age 5. So ive had 80 good years glr and that, dear friends, is optimism. Abc 7 news. And were hearing for the first time from the hospital from the first out break of the fires have not only treated injured feem but also delivered 36 babies, three times as many as usual. Were so glad to have been here for this time for our families and members of the community. We are heartbroken to witness and experience firsthand the devastation level on our community. Santa rosa memorials Emergency Department typically see 700 patients per week. It treated 1,200 since the fires broke out. Southers santa rosa regional hospital, which is in the fire zone posted this showing the flames approaching. The some tried to contin the fire, others started evacuating patients. 77 in all were moved to other bay area facilities. The hospital also bake a source of water thanks to its under ground water tanks that hold a half million gallons of water. Check it out. This is video from sky map 7 on sky 7 showing the devastation in santa rosa. This feature gio locates streets and highways along with local landmarks. And abc 7 reporter Jonathan Bloom has halook at how it works. Reporter were here to take a closer look at what survived. This is feature many of you have asked us to use more of as it happens provide answers to some of those more difficult questions of what to do now that the fire has ripped through this community. These are images from sky 7 with map data over laid on top of them. You can see u. S. 101 and beneath it you can see some restaurants that have been destroyed. We can actually over nay place names of those restaurants so you can see what they were. You can see an applebees, mcdonalds totally destroyed. And we can see a chevrolet station. In neighborhoods like coffey park over here, this was a neighborhood completely decimated by the flames. We can show you what this neighborhood used to look like using google earth over lay. A little over a week ago this neighborhood was trees and houlss and sidewalks. And as we take that over layaway, you can see whats left behind. This was technology initially only available to member oz of the Law Enforcement community. We here at abc 7 news are tone f the first stations to use it. Especially in some of the areas that remain evacuated even days after the flames rip through them. So we will continue touse this technology to bring you information of what is happening in the wake of these fires so these communities can begin to rebuild. Great technology we think will really be valuable. Next residents who lost their homes last week are sifting through whats left and thinking about what comes next. Also air quality continues to be unhealthy because of the fires. Just head, why it could still be a problem for a while. And meteorologist drew tuma is back. For many evacueesites been a week since theyve been allowed back to their homes. Today police opened up many roadblocks. Reporter from a distance you can see the Bigger Picture. Then as a you look closer details start to emerge. But its only when you set foot on the ashes that you uncover the real stories. Its my dad. His ashes over there. Thats the only thing we wanted. Reporter the ash has buried a lot of stories in santa rosa. We just bought this place a year ago. Reporter at the corner theres four stories. My favorite part was the brick. Reporter charred boards and melted metal thats all thats left of this 1960s style condo. Our first home. Reporter some have lived here all their lives. Others just moved in. Theres nothing left to show for it. Reporter the fire that decimated much of santa rosa is big story. And you can look at it from many different angles. Yeah, we found them. This is a medallion we put on grandpa hoover. Reporter new stories emerge. The grieving and mourning has already passed. Now were just moving forward. Reporter this is not an ending to a story. Cleanup is underway and neighbors are moving forward. Abc 7 news. As fire continues to burn, we continue to see smoke all around the bay area. The bay area air Quality Management district issued another smoke advisory today. This is what it looked like this afternoon. Issued a warning for the north bay and east bay andaid that air quality was from moderate to unhealthy. So it persists. And im sure a lot of people out there are praying for rain. And its about that time of year we think its going to happen. Yeah and especially towards the end of october, thats when we really start to see our rain chances increase. And thats exactly whats going to happen in the week ahead. Live doppler 7 along with satellite tonight, it is a clear picture. Right now the clouds are slowly clearing out. Showing you its a calm picture. The lights of the bay bridge reflecting off the calm bay waters. Visibility is good, and we do expect this picture come thursday evening especially well have some rain on the lens. With the storm impact scale on thursday its a 1. A light system headed our way. Some light showers. The north bay has the best chance of heaviest rainfall. Not a lot of rain but certainly needed rainfall in the north bay. Elsewhere were talking about a trace to about. 10 of an inch of rain. Tomorrow once again you do notice its poor in the nrorth bay, moderate every else. Well do it again wednesday. And later in the week thursday and then into friday with the rain moving through it kind of cleanses the atmosphere and the air quality goes to good across the entire region. We have a couple of mild spots. Look at San Francisco. 74, well above our high this time of year. About 69 in San Francisco. And right now santa rosa checking in with a temperature of 63 degrees. Winds are calm pretty much everywhere. The only exception you can see hayward. Clover dale dropping to about 37 degrees. Elsewhere we have hazy skies in the north bay around our active fires. Well see 53 over night in San Francisco. 52 in san jose and conquered dropping to 49 degrees under mainly clear skies. Then well start to see an onshore breeze kick up. Elsewhere 70 in San Francisco. 78 in napa, and 82, one of the more mild locations for ant yauk. Its going to kick up our wind a bit. By 9 00 thursday evening you can see those winds gusting about 20 miles an hour ahead of that. The rain is slowly going to move in from a north to south fashion. So late thursday night into early friday morning future weather showing you that is when we have the best chance of some showers while many of us are sleeping. And then its going to quickly move out of here. Future tracker rainfall amounts showing you the highest total will be in the north bay likely a tenth to say a quarter inch of rain elsewhere. Accuweather forecast will show you a light wind tomorrow. Tomorrow its cooler. And well track that late night rain thursday into friday morn. It gets out of here with and our atmosphere cleaner with good air quality. And that sets the stage for clear skies saturday and sunday. Coming up next the pg e worker who is on a mission to save lost cats in the aftermath of the fire. Michael finny will be at north bay Vacation Centers to help people affected by the wildfires. You can join us tomorrow at the Veterans Building in santa rosa. For a list a couple in santa rosa had five minutes to escape their burning home. And when they returned they realized theyd lost about just everything except for one prized possession. A lot of halfdollars. There was a roll of susan b. Anthony uncirculated, the silver ones when they first came out. He described his cherished coin collection interest for an abc news crew today. He discovered the pot in some other rubble inside the familys home. Its sad because theres a lot of things we wont get back, but were thankful we have a lot of friends and family, especially family that has a lot of pictures all all those special molts. Well, theyre tough. Chris and kim plan to rebuild exactly where their home of 27 years burned to the ground. There have been dozens of fire rescues both human and animal. An abc 7 news iewer sent us this picture of her neighbor and while out repairing the lines, coleen has been finding and rescuing cats. If its yours, keep in mind your neighbor is taking care of it. Stay with us. We have some new updates on the fire. Coming up next, the very latest on mandatory vacations still in place. Aso their inclination is they want to help. They dont know any other way. Helping out no matter what. The new normal for crews who the new normal for crews who keep there we were downtown yesterday and i was telling all the girls in the pta that i was going all by myself and brittney was so excited that we have him here and that hes so big and so incredible and. Oh, my. I had no idea this house was so enormous ahhhh. Mr. Van dahl finds it most suitable for his needs. Oh, im sure he does. So, i really must ask. Ive always heard this house was haunted. Any spooky happenings since youve been here . Mice. Aouer live where you live this is abc 7 news. We start this halfhour with some new updates from the fire lines. More vacations have been lifted in just the last few hours. The latest are in napa county on Wooden Valley road and on mont sello road in the allan dale heights neighborhood in sapta rosa. Vacations also lifted today in mendocino. Some are still in the dark pause of the fires and damaged equipment. Others have lost gas service. Customers should not relight their own pilot lights. Wait for for a pg e repative to come to your door. While some schools are closed indefinitely, 17 School Districts plan to reopen tomorrow. Four u. S. Post offices in Sonoma County that were closed because of the fires will be back open in fullservice tomorrow. Three still remain closed. Sonoma county says 80 people still remain missing. The number of fatalities statewide are up to 42 including the one in napa and the crash in santa rosa. First responders lost houses in the north bay fire storm. And while they stayed on the job, theyre now how they helped others and are now in need themselves. Reporter this scene is typical of the fire ravaged neighborhoods. Hes one of about 40 First Responders who lost their homes. And the reality is sinking in for the first time in his 25year career as a firefighter, hes a victim. Ive been on the side helping people and trying to get them through bad timemis. And to suddenly be in that position is hard. I dont know how to react to it. Reporter but his Union Brothers and sisters have provided this shelter. These guys are really the fabric of this community, and we want to make sure were keeping them strong so they can keep kind of holding up this community and serving them the way they do on a regular basis. We want to make sure theyre there for them throughout this time. Reporter its humbling to be on the receiving end of help, he says. It helps the psyche and helps heal the mental part of this. Reporter with nothing to salvage of his torched home, there will be a rebuilding process that will unite him with others in the community facing the same challenge. Firefighters are used to disengaging with their victims when their job is done. But because so many of them were victims themselves, theyre not going to forget this disaster for the rest of their lives. In santa rosa, david louie, abc 7 news. And donations are needed. A fundraising web page has been set up. 100 of the money goes to the families of affected firefighters. We have a link to that website at abc7news. Com. Cal fire is pleading with people to leave their drones at home while they fight this fire. Yesterday Petaluma Police arrested one for flying his drone over the airport and very close to helicopters. That is nofly zone for drones. Those helicopters were grounded for about ten minutes. We have 39 helicopters going on this fire, and we cannot have drones in the flight area. If you fly, we cannot. Last week abc 7s drone position got permission to flyover some of the burned areas over santa rosa. Local communities are continuing to ask all drones to stay out of the areas impacted by the fires. The hours are 9 00 a. M. To 7 00 p. M. Today through friday, and then 10 00 a. M. Through 5 00 p. M. On saturday and sunday. In other news tonight the president started the week with an imprompue News Conference outside the white house. After weeks of blistering attacks against Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell there he was suddenly standing with the president. Reporter after repeatedly lashing out at him, President Trump held a hastily held press conference to declare their relationship out standing. Weve been friends for a long time. We are probably now despite what we read, we are probably now at least im concerned closer than we ever were before. Reporter thats a changing tone for the president whos former chief steve bannon has declared war on Mitch Mcconnell. Yeah, mitch, the donors are not happy. Do approve Steve Bannons war on Mitch Mcconnell and the establishment . Steve is a friend of mine and very committed to getting things passed. I have great relationships with many senators, but in particular most republican senators. But were not getting the job done. And im going to blame myself. To be honest, theyre not getting the job done. Reporter the asked the president about the vow to take on every remaining republican up for reelection. I know how he feels. There are some republicans, frankly, that should be ashamed of themselves. I can understand fully how steve bannon feels. Reporter in the rose garden mcconnell fired back at Steve Bannons plans to nominate hard line conservatives. Winners make policies and losers go home. Reporter and standing by mcconnell, the president said hed talked to bannon. Steve thinks hes doing the right thing. Reporter the president took questions for about 40 minutes on a wide range of subjects including puerto rico. We have massive amounts of water, massive amounts of food, but they have to distribute the food, and they have to do this they have to distribute the food to the people of the island. So what weve done is we actually have military distributing food, something that they really shouldnt have oo be doing. Reporter and on the investigation into possible russian meddling and collusion, the president signaled he wont pull the plug on the special prosecutor. Are you considering firing Robert Mueller . No, not at all. Reporter jonathan carl, abc news, the white house. Well, the next one is little bit different. Posting a picture on facebook saying you cant make this stuff up. In an over Night Police Chase someone crashed a pick up truck full of stolen marijuana into their fire station. The crash also damaged the cars of two firefighters out on the fire lines. Firefighters of the station thought that pick up was actually going to come through the bedroom wall. All of this happened in pengrove. The driver is still on the loose. Coming up next, spending shutdown. The impact on tourism in the bay area because of the wildfires. And the San FranciscoFire Department posted this image on twitter today. Saying the friarman say they flag in the fire a little battered but well, obviously the bay area and the wine country are connected in the hearts and finds of many tourists here in the United States and all around the world. Business owners are now looking into the impact the fires are having on the tourism industry, and abc 7 News ReporterCarolyn Tyler has that story. Reporter along tourist heavy fishermans warf, the Business District is planning for its annual festival this weekend, not expecting the wildfires up north to have any impact on the crowd. This is the time of year where were seeing less of the international and outofstate visitor and seeing more of the regional traveller. Reporter but not the case of tower tours. Not a single one since the fires. Were looking at existing bookings that have canceled and potential new bookings that have not yet been made because of whats happened. Reporter theyre in Constant Contact with their partners in napa and sonoma counties hopeful to begin rolling again sometime this week. The San FranciscoHotel Council is also checking in with its wine country counter parts and offering discounted rooms in the city for displaced redsdants and others who had bookings disrupted from the fires. Could be anything from Company Meetings to Company Retreats to weddings or special events that people were planning that now have been dislocated. Reporter the images of the devastation are haunting, but most of the region is untouched. The head of the Sonoma Valley visitors bury expects a quick and strong rebound. When the smoke clears its going to look like the same destination you have been to before or you expected to visit. Reporter Carolyn Tyler, abc 7 jack why am i sitting here at jack this ridiculously long table in the middle of nowhere . Jack to invite all my friends in the industry to try this. Jack fast foods first ever ribeye burger. Jack made with 100 ribeye beef, grilled onions, a red wine glaze and creamy havarti cheese. Jack ahh, here comes the competition now. Jack and of course, since they work for my competitors, ive obscured their identities jack except for this guy. Jack he is so screwed. Jack try my new havarti grilled onion and allamerican ribeye burgers. All right, of course were still very much focussed on the weather on the fire line. Yeah, hoping for some relief, drew tuma standing by. Wind wise well be okay, but as we head towards thursday winds will increase and actually track a chance of showers moving through. Clover dale at 37 degrees, but well see partly to mostly clear skies. On tuesday a few passing clouds from time to time. 73 in San Francisco, oakland, 81, 82 the high in antioch. As we get into thursday night, 10 00, thats where the winds get anywhere from 10 to 20 miles an hour. And it is ahead of a cold front that will bring us some showers. On the storm impact scale, itll be a one. Moving in late thursday evening and early friday morning. And the north bay has the highest chance of rainfall total. Notice that rain early friday morning, thats when we do expect most areas to see some drops falling in their neighborhoods. To the rainfall with this system, not a lot of rain. But it will add up in the north bay. That will be helpful for firefighters. Well track that rain late thursday night into early friday morning. Clears out of ear over the weekend and brings back good air quality for everybody. Maybe a little, but well take it. We first told you about a heart breaking letter to a athletics written by a 9yearold who lost his home in santa rosa over the weekend. Thaw the as planning a special surprise for him. There was my room. Reporter before fire destroyed their home he and his dad would drink milk shakes and play catch. It breaks my heart that hes not going to be back here screaming and yelling home runs that he hit over the fence with the whiffle ball to the neighbors. The as are my favorite team. Reporter he built quite a collection of as memorabilia, but the fire destroyed it all. So he wrote a letter to the team. Cards, my 17 jerseys and my ten hats. Reporter quickly catching our attention on online. Abc 7 news alerted the teams president who vowed to help. A meeting has been set up later this week that were told should include a few surprises. How does that make you feel . Happy. Reporter happy for a fan who knows his favorite players stance and every announcers call. High indeed. And that baby is gone. Reporter no doubt. Back to work. Reporter he and his dad have plenty of games left in him. Because no fire can burn a fire and sons love for the game. Thats life, i guess. Reporter abc 7 news. Thats just the sweetest thing. And we also heard from our producer this story has gone viral and others sports agencies are reaching out to him, too. Absolutely, lot going in onner in sports all around. Lavar ball is switching the color of his uniform. avo if youre burdened by belly pain and constipation, and youve tried any number of laxatives, probiotics, and fiber, it could be wearing on you. Tell your doctor what youve tried and how long youve been at it. Linzess works differently from laxatives. Linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. It can help relieve your belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are easier to pass. Do not give linzess to children less than six, and it should not be given to children six to less than eighteen. It may harm them. Dont take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. Get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. The most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. If its severe stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. Other side effects include gas, stomacharea pain, and swelling. Talk to your doctor about managing your symptoms proactively with linzess. Well, the warriors tip off the regular season tomorrow at oracle hosting the houston rockets. Were seeing theyre 2017 championship range. So get there early. Doors will open at 5 30. I asked him how distracting it will be getting rings before they face james harden and his you know, ill take this distraction. So im okay with the distraction. You know, it is a little awkward, but im looking forward to it. It should be a fun night. And lets talk about the west. Houston rockets, they picked up chris paul, carmelo anthony. So everys trying to recreae this super team. And i think the west is going to be even tougher this year. It is. And it seems like anybody that as an nba allstar, essentially an mvp candidate is coming west. Its a little scary, but its fun. You know, you live where for competition of things. And i tell you what, i think this year is going to be more competitive than any other year ive been in the league. The toughest thing is a repeat have you guys talked about repeat . The things hes going to push on are the small things, the small things people dont see that can help you get over the hump especially when you do kind of get complacent. Linebacker lavar ball was released by the 49ers last week, and we all knew he wouldnt be out of work long. Today he signed with the raiders. They reached a mutual agreement to go their separate ways last friday. Lavar at this point in his career wanted to go a contender and some would say the presuper bowl contenders obviously hes a veteran guy. Hes played a lot of good ball over the years. And, you know, were excited to have him. You know, were a little green at the linebacker position. So to add somebody with the experience that he has, we think is a nice addition for us. Well get him up to speed and see how quickly we can get him there on the field. Speaking of the youth movement, 49ers will start quarterback bethered on sunday. Performed well. Through for 245 yards including this td pass. At 0 and 6 the 49ers needed to see this week will be different for c. J. Knowing hes going to start all week. O defense, reacting to coverages, reacting to adjustments. Hes going to see a lot of things he hasnt seen before, and thats going change each weak. Really, how does a guy handle that stuff . Ive seen guys come in and struggle early and learn from it. Ive seen guys come in and play really well right away. And things change and they dont adjust that way. I think hell adjust well. It was the erin judge show. Judge on the move. Bam nice catch. Bottom four, yankees already up 50. Judge, see you. Threerun homer. They trail the series now two games to one. Tomorrow afternoon sunny gray gets a start for new york as they try to even this season up. Its kind of interesting when you think about it. Its the only sport that does that where they give you your rings from the Previous Year right before you start the following year. Its kind of emotional to get that and turn around to play a basketball game. And not to mention the jet lag from china. Yeah, itll be an interesting night. Thank you. Coming up tonight on abc 7 news at 11 00, why some residents feel guilty as they return home from their lives from the flames. Plus. They mean so much to me. Youre going to meet the students who risk their lives to save animal from raging flames. They rushed in and did what they had to do to protect those animals. Thanks so much for joining us, everybody. We appreciate your time. Well see you in one hour over on the bay 7. And we leave you now with some dramatic video of this very difficult week. Breaking news in napa county where two wildfires have erupted tonight. Were also tracking another fire right now, this one in calestoga. Woe wee saw the smoke and slowly all the flames over the mountain. Fire is everywhere. It has made a hard push into santa rosa. We have people here in shock and also have people who have snapped into action. Let me get her feet. All parnd me there are Emergency Responders from different agencies. All of a sudden you see start to billow out from under neath the house. They saved my life. These guys are just spectacular. Hundreds and hundreds of homes gone. This is just very, very sad to see. Its Mother Nature at her worst, i guess. This fire is advancing. It is growing right now. Sadly we have found another neighborhood that has been completely wiped out. The sun is setting on a day of utter devastation. That fire came here like a speeding train sunday night. More than a half of it is gone, just reduced to burn charred rubble. Along with grief and fear comes uncertainty. Lot better progress today. Settled down over night, and that gave us a big opportunity to catch up. It looks moshl now, but this is beautiful spot. And itll grow back and our homes will come back, and well remember this day forever. It just breaks your heart. Well be there again. Well make it better. One lady told us with tears streaming down her face, she said its just stuff. Well rebuild. Weve been receiving donations from the moment we opened. Those who drop their own lives and rush in to volunteer, they are true heroes, too. Theres still a lot of work ahead. [announcer] today, the stories of two murder cases. One in morgantown, west virginia, the other in raleigh, north carolina. In our first case, a cheerleader coach scores major points with the football coach