Transcripts For KRON KRON 4 Evening News 20171011

All right. As sundown approaches and those worry. It certainly does. When you look on the hillside, i can zoom in right underneath. You can see one of the houses that is very, very close to that smoke. That is the closest home to this big black smoke there is a hope that that breeze dies down and does not turn into an all out wind like we saw a couple of nights ago. We will be in touch with you. In the Oakmont Community. We will be back with you shortly. Utter devastation. That is that many evacuees are returning to find. Some homes are reduced to rubble, as we have been showing you. Live in santa rosa again in one of those neighborhoods. Justine . Reporter right now we are in pham Fountain Grove. Another hot spot just popped up. This fire crew just rolled in a second ago. We are right off Fountain Grove parkway on hadley hill. This home is still standing. Firefighters just saw flames coming up from the garden. They pulled out their hoses, their rakes, and they are now working to try to stop that fire from getting any bigger. That has been a scene i have continued to see here in Fountain Grove. There are some homes that are still standing, like this one here on hadley hill. Because of the effort from these firefighters, and i believe from looking at the side of their truck, they are not from santa rosa. Let me swing around and see where they came from. This truck is here from crockett. You can tell that there are fire crews from all over the state of california and the bay area trying to put out the hotspots that are continuing. I do want to show you, while this home is standing across the street, just pan over this way and there are homes that are not standing. That were not lucky enough to make it through the fire that ripped through this area on sunday night. I actually met the son of the family who lived in this home. This is jim and glenda rochas home. They started from nothing and scratched their way up to be able to afford to live here. They made it out with just the clothes on their back. They have nothing left. What the mother is the most upset about is losing her sons baby pictures and all the photographs of her mother. This was before anything was digital, before there was any cloud to save anything on. She had paper photographs and they all burned in this fire. Driving around in Fountain Grove, yes this is a community of multimilliondollar homes and some of the people i talked to admitted they will be able to rebuild. They have the resources and finances to continue. But it does not make it any different. They have still lost their possessions, their sense of wellbeing and sense of security. But they did leave with their lives and that is something they are grateful for. This is a scene they continue to see here. Even as we look here at the home, there is still smoke coming out from a hotspot in the yard. It is devastating to drive around this community. Ive been here all day and will continue to bring you pictures and video from this area, including talking to the people who were able to come back in and take pictures of their homes to start that insurance process as they try to move forward. It looks like the fire crews hear from crockett have moved into the front yard. They are using their hoses to try and save this house. They are doing incredible reporting out there. As you go around Fountain Grove, that is this round barn that is completely gone. We have an image going around. Can you describe other parts of the Fountain Grove area . Are there some places that have survived at all . Reporter there are places on hadley hill where there are homes standing. But there are places where the entire circle in culdesac is gone. Not a house standing. I was on blue sage, not a home standing. Went down a little bit further to vintage circle, did not see a house that was standing there. Everything has been reduced to six inches of ash on the ground. All you will see left are the burnt shells of cars and stone chimneys that are still standing. I did talk to a woman who lives on baldwin and she said that they were lucky. Their entire block was okay. While there is a lot of devastation, there are some places that are still standing. From talking to people who admit they now have survivors guilt, they are not sure what they will be coming back to. What is next for Fountain Grove. It is not the community that it was just a few days ago. Justine, we see the crockett fire crews trying to knock down those hotspots. Are you noticing the wind pick up in the area where you are . Jr said it was picking up in the area where he was located. Reporter its okay. The thing that i did just notice as the sun came out for the first time today. Even since i was here yesterday. The sun is peeking out from the clouds. It is a sign that the smoke in this area is starting to move out a little bit. It is still hard to breathe. Eyes are a little scratchy. There arent leaves on the trees to be able to tell if the wind is blowing, but i do not feel big gusts. Thanks so much, justine. A great composition of storytelling right there. This still is a very active firefight. Trying to subdue the flames with 15 different fires in the north bay right now. Our coverage of the devastating fire will continue right after the break. We will have an update on the weather conditions in the area of the fires. We want outside right now. Look at that hayes as we look out of the area. This is our camera where you could see, on a clear area, alcatraz. The hayes, it is amazing what that is doing. Lets check in with our chief meteorologist, britney, to see what is happening with the wind. Specifically for santa rosa and most parts of the north bay, it is as unhealthy as can be. You still have to take precautions. Specifically dealing with the fire danger, a red flag warning goes back into effect wednesday night into thursday. We are still expecting to see another round, with dryer air moving back in. 15 to 30 Miles Per Hour with a possibility of gusting up to 45 Miles Per Hour again. Again, this is wednesday night into thursday afternoon. Our humidity levels will drop anywhere between 10 to 20 . Wind speeds have picked up a little bit and santa rosa, but they are still fairly light. The wind direction is not the really dry. When speeds are moving currently. Our overnight hours, specifically after midnight. We will see back up to about 27 Miles Per Hour right over santa rosa and staying strong as we go through most of the day on wednesday. Breezy conditions thursday morning with another round of stronger wind speeds expected wednesday afternoon into the evening. We are going to be watching this closely. The next thing we want to see as another round of strong wind speeds. That is in the forecast. Our humidity tonight will recover, so that is good news. It will not be as dry. As the day tomorrow, you will see that going down. Back to below. It will recover as we had through the day. Towards the afternoon, once again, we will see i work our humidity dropping. It is a bit cooler today, down 7 degrees and parts of napa. A big drop in temperatures for San Francisco, down 15 degrees. The wind has shifted. And onshore flow. As we head into tomorrow, we are still tracking temperatures in the 70s for santa rosa and for napa. We will talk a little bit more about the airquality issues and a little bit about today, what is in store for your workweek. Thank you. Residence and santa rosa are facing a harsh reality today. So many neighborhoods have been wiped out because of the fire that is still burning out of control at this hour. Reporter has spent much of the day in some of the hardest hit areas. Teresa, we have seen you everywhere. What are you seeing right now . Reporter right now, i am just off of old woodward highway. It is near mark west road. Take a look behind me. This is what is left of your salon street. If you look back to the next street, those homes are gone. It just keeps going. That ferocious fire just raced in here and destroyed everything. Practically the only homes once stood. I have seen them my whole life since i went to high school here. It is stunning that they are gone. They are all burned out. I am just amazed. I am amazed how it can be that powerful and destructive. The school lost classrooms, a library, and in office. Rutherford says he feels fortunate. Many buildings remain on the large campus. But that is not true of the neighborhood surrounding the school. This was a scene down the street. Wheelchairs abandoned on the front lawn. Once well tended landscaping is blackened. This wine bar is in shambles. It is now reduced to charred rubble. This is all that is left of the apartment homes. The owner called it quaint and quiet with a park like setting. Now families that lived here cars abandoned and consumed by flames sit nearly unrecognizable from what we once were. Crews showed up on tuesday to try and begin the arduous work of removing cable lines that litter the street. My brother is a firefighter and he said fire is an amazing thing. Residents really want to come back here and start to sift through what remains of their homes. Law enforcement is not allowing anyone to come back into this area just yet we have all of the downed power lines and there are still some areas that are not safe yet for residents to come back. Law enforcement Officials Say it will be days before they are allowed back in here. Reporting live, teresa. Kron4 news. Eager to get everyone home, but get them home safe. Our coverage continues of the fires. We will be right back after this. Whats new from light and fit . Greek nonfat yogurt with zero artificial sweeteners. Real fruit and 90 calories. Youll be wowed try new light fit with zero artificial sweeteners. I am here now with an expert from the bay area air Quality Management. There is so much concern about what is going on with our already in light of those wildfires. In the immediate San Francisco bay area and then in the fire zone itself. You can see the hayes. This is just right here in San Francisco. If it is this thick here, we can imagine what it is like for people in the fire zone. What measurements can you reference that we would understand . We have seen unprecedented levels of pollution due to these fires. The highest reading we have ever observed close to the fire. In and around santa rosa, in the north bay in general, we have unhealthy air quality near the fires. This morning, here in San Francisco, we woke up to unhealthy levels of air quality. We are starting to get some fog and sea breeze moving in, so that means improving air quality in and around San Francisco and the central bay. With those fires still burning, we will have the chance to have worsening air quality. You are saying this is the worst youve ever seen. Had fires before, this surpasses that. We have airquality monitors that are testing every hour on the hour. We have measured the highest readings in those zones. Close to the fire, that is where we are seeing the exceptionally high readings. Talk about the danger involved with this bad air quality. It is unhealthy for us to breathe. Anyone that is breathing and that unhealthy air, especially if you are older or a child or have respiratory issues like copd, you should really limit your exposure to that kind of pollution. We dont want to see people finding themselves uncomfortable. If you are feeling like you are having difficulty breathing, you should try to stay indoors. Stay where there is filtered air and if you find your conditions worsening, please contact a Health Official like your doctor. Had a short term. Are there longterm Health Implications . Shortterm longterm, limit your exposure by staying indoors. If you are starting to fill your help worsening, you are your best health advocate. Take your situation into your own hands by staying indoors, limiting exposure, thing in a filtered airspace. Like a library or you might have to leave the area if you find your condition worsening. Or contact your doctor for other tips. It is difficult for so many people to leave. First of all, the First Responders are working like crazy. We have our reporters, emergency staff, and people in evacuation shelters who may be do not have anywhere else to go. Do the masks really help . The masks can help if they are affixed properly. But the problem is they are not perfect. Air gets in on the sides of them. You really just have to make sure you are monitoring your own health condition. If you feel that you are having difficulty breathing, please monitor that and try and put yourself in a situation where you are having filtered air. Setting your air conditioning to recirculate in your car or home, that should help. Getting air filters on your air conditioner should help, but ultimately you are going to want to monitor your own Health Situation and contact your doctor if you find yourself in a situation that is uncomfortable. What are the potential ramifications of this . They vary depending on the intensity of the smoke. We are seeing that vary across the bay area. If you are breathing that in and finding yourself weak of breath, you might want to take precautions and get out of the area. Find an area with cleaner air. We post airquality readings on our website and people can go to find out by typing in their zip code what the readings are in their area. Is there anything better than the masks . Ultimately most of us are healthy and will be okay staying indoors. But for those who have respiratory conditions, you really want to take extra precautions to stay indoors and make sure they have filtered air available to them. Offer medications for a respirator. If your doctor recommends those, we want to make sure you have those on hand. I know it is hard to anticipate how long this bad airquality will last, but what are the predictions that you guys are looking at right now for the rest of this week and further down the road weston mark we are watching weather conditions. We are seeing an improvement of air quality because of the breeze, but that is forecasted to stop later this week. We have high winds that are expected to pick up that could potentially worsen the fires. It is an ever changing situation so we want people to really focus and on their own health and make sure they are monitoring it closely and make sure they have the things that they need and the things that their dock recommends. An asthma inhaler, or leave the area if necessary. Most of us will be okay staying indoors and avoiding exposure, but for those who are sensitive need to take precautions. Thank you. Lets go back now to steve. Stomach good advice all around. Back to santa rosa were several businesses have either been destroyed or are heavily damaged. Reporter matt mendez shows us exactly what buildings have been lost and what Business Owners plan to do next. Never going to get into it. Reporter dan tried playing into his locked safe. I just cant believe it. I just cant believe it. It destroyed more than 100 guns. The store was as lively home and plan for retirement. Buildings are scorched. This one is not touched. The building 22 feet away is not even scorched. It is unbelievable. Reporter the fire hopscotch to an Industrial Area near centennial. Ferocious flames destroyed an arbys and applebees. They also took down Puerto Vallarta mexican restaurant. Birthday celebrations, anniversaries, all kinds of things in there. Now it is just a memory. Reporter the flames even reached trader joes, and a homeless shelter. They are looking for people to take food so it feeds bellies. People are in need right now. Stomach as you look at the continuing devastation in the north county, we will continue to cover the storm. We will be right back after this. Yaaay the complete balanced nutrition of ensure with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. Ensure. Always be you. 15 fires across eight counties and they are all still active. That neighborhood is composed of about 8000 people. Above 55yearold community. Many people are being asked to leave immediately. This is a map giving you a better idea. The oakmont neighborhood in santa rosa is just off of highway five and oakmont drive. He joins us live from the cj are. He has been showing us the ominous fire cloud coming over the community where you are. Give us an update. Reporter i have changed locations. I went a half a mile down the road. Im going to try to talk clearly. I have a mask on my face because that is how close i am to the flames that you see offered here. These are the backyards of peoples homes. They have not had those homes in this oakmont neighborhood yet. You can see them there in the distance. There is a lot of smoke in the area. We were shown two different smoke clouds before in the earlier shots. One with dark smoke clouds and one with white smoke outs. This is coming from the white smoke clouds. We have had windy conditions in the last half an hour. They have pushed some of these flames very close to these homes. People who are watching [ indiscernible audio cutting in and out ] at the end of oakmont drive. This is what we are seeing right here. You can see all of this flames. I apologize if the shot is in and out of it. It is very smoky over here and you can see that fire line. It has come up pretty quick to this area. I want to pan across the street to show you the neighborhood. Very smoky. You can see the neighbors house and you can see all of that smoke in the distance there. I came up here to try to give you a better perspective. We have seen so much of that smoke. It is coming from these flames that you are looking at in the distance. They are keeping a close eye on all of this. There are officials right down the street. There are even fire crews. We have heard what a lot of people refer to as a dozer in the area making its way up these hillsides likely to try and put some of these flames out. Unfortunately in the area youre looking at, you cannot get a dozer back there because there are so many trees and it is hard to get through to those areas. Im going to try to walk out and if i lose the shot, i apologize. Im going to try to give you a wider shot of what it looks like and what the snow looks smoke looks like in this area. Give me one second here as we back out. I will have to change the filter. Jr, why dont you do your work of five people. Im going to remind people at home what is going on right here. Jr stone is bringing you pictures from the front lines and he was speaking with some people who stayed behind in that neighborhood. One thing you will update us on when you are settled is what became of those people. Number two, are there any firefighters fighting this flames immediately . Remind people that in addition to the mask you are wearing for safetys sake, you are also in a position to get out of dodge if you have to. Reporter yes. We are at the end of a culde sac. Let me sit down for a minute and take a break because when you walk through these smoky conditions, and certainly wears you out. That being said, we are very close. We can make a quick exit in this location. You do not see a lot of the firefighters, and that gives you a true perspective. But you do not see a lot of firefighters because they are strategically going to certain locations to try to tackle it. I did see some aircraft up in the air. There was one point today where i saw a helicopter and it was almost hard to see the helicopter because of how smoky it is in the air. That was my next question, whether you are seeing any air drops or not. This clouds and the flames that we can see in the distance of your shot are so ominous as it looks like it is coming across that ridge. But you are not hearing many air drops in the area. Is that what you are saying . Reporter no. I have not seen many at all. I have seen the planes that they used to make air drops occasionally, but i have not seen them making air drops. It is a big deal because often times when i go to fire it is nonstop. The distance the difference is you have a lot of smoke in the air so the visibility is very low. Even when i saw the chopper come pretty low, it was hard to see from the ground. It would be harder to see from the air. That might be one of the reasons why they are not flying through this area. Jr stone is a weekend anchor here at kron4. The pictures you are giving us of the over 4000 people currently have homes that have not been affected by the flame, obviously they are threatened. These images are just ominous. You mentioned that the firefighters are being very strategic in their efforts. You introduced us to a couple that were ready to go. They had their car packed and i am curious what became of them and are there any people that remain there. Is anybody trying to spray some water on their roof or anything . Reporter in this area, people have heated the warnings. If not, they are in their homes. I do not see any cars in this area. Let me change the filter real quickly to show you. I do not see a lot of people. The gentleman you met earlier, he is still at his house. But he is not in the direct path of this. I went down a quarter of a mile or so. He is in his driveway still keeping a close eye on this. This was the smokestack to the left. When i pan to the left. He is closely monitoring this, but has not yet left the area. As far as i know, he is the only person left in this area. Other people have gotten out. It is an eerie feeling to be in this neighborhood and no one elses here. It is good, but you just dont know. At times when i have come down here, i can even show you some of those plants. The wind has picked up but that is a fear, those winds will pick up and blow in this direction even more. Are you able to give us an estimate of your distance from this flames . Reporter i would say somewhere in the neighborhood of a football field. That being said, im going to try to go to my left briefly. To show you, im going to change the filter on this. We will zoom in over the top of the roof and the distance. That is on the hillside. But that is not very far from where i am standing. On the ground, i have not seen those. We have been talking to you and for people joining us here. For the last couple of hours, you have been there. You have been observing things this whole day. We talk about the wind all this time because we know the wind was certainly an accelerant. It began 36 hours ago. It looks a little bit windier now than it did an hour ago when we spoke to you and that worries me a lot. Reporter it is windier now. That being said, we are in a little bit of a different location. We have come down a quarter of a mile or so. As so many firefighters have told me, fires can create their own atmosphere and their own wind. We are seeing what is sort of a swirling wind in this area right here as you look at this flames in the distance. I think it is safe to say that this wind has no doubt picked up within the time that i have been out here in this oakmont area. Just to repeat where i am because i know a lot of people are watching, woodley place off of oakmont drive. I am at the end of the block, and of the culdesac. Those claims have not reached the homes, which is good news at this hour. Certainly these life pictures we are sharing with our audience right now gives a really complete sense of the danger which still exists in this fires on. It has been on edge all day yesterday. The Mass Evacuation order came through today for people to get out of this community. As steve has mentioned, 4000 people, a Retirement Community. As you can see from this, just how easily, if the winds really pick up that is what will happen. Those flames became a major fire. And just the slightest break here for a moment and to speak to people at home, often people will ask why is it that a station like kron4 might possibly put someone in harms way when it comes to fire, hurricane, storms of any kind . It is simply to tell the story and do so safely. That is exactly what jr is doing right now. This now provides a conduit for so many thousands of people who are at home right now who may for the first time be getting a chance to tune into what is going on. Communication and power lines have been down and you can almost feel people at home rooting, lose your team lose your steam. Slow down. Jr is giving us a front row seat. Jr, your sense of things right now, the wind beginning to pick up a bit. You do not see people in the area. People have followed the Evacuation Orders. There are fire crews nearby, although you have not seen any in this particular neighborhood where you are at this time. Reporter yeah, i have not seen fire crews specifically on the street. But i can tell you, we are looking at the fire that is on the ground. There is a real fear, as i zoom out i will change the future. We will come back to that shop momentarily. There is a fear that if these trees were to catch on the other hillside or on the fire, there is a fear that that could spread into this neighborhood with some of the embers and whatnot. I have not seen fire crews. I have seen county crews out here closely monitoring it and reporting back to some of those fire crews. I have seen a lot of officers in this area making sure there are not looters in this area. There is trying they are trying to be strategic about it. They are going to hit this where they can put it out on a whole. They will do it the best way they can. Certainly i would say it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 to 60 feet from the homes that you are looking at. Im trying to keep it steady, just zoomed in from a distance. Oakmont backs up to a state park. Those parks provide so much immediate fuel for any fire, as we have been showing you these life pictures. This is in that Oakmont Community which is under the mandatory Evacuation Order right now. We have a map that we can put on the screen to double up what they see ticket people and orientation. It is a community about a community of about 1000 people. An older Retirement Community. They made it through the first stage of the north bay fire, but this map gives you a little perspective of where it is. There are 15 fires that are active. 4400 people on the front lines trying to put them out. Again, we have virtually zero containment. You can see the issues with the air quality and that live picture as well. Just imagine the issues dealing with air quality where jr is. We will get back to jr in a couple of minutes are firestorm coverage continues we will get back to jr in a couple of minutes. Our firestorm coverage continues after this break. Ah, my poor mouth breather. Allergies . Stuffy nose . Cant sleep . Enough. Take that. A breathe right nasal strip of course. Imagine just put one on and pow it instantly opens your nose up to 38 more than allergy medicine alone. So you can breathe, and sleep. Better than a catnap. Shut your mouth and say goodnight, mouthbreathers. Breathe right. steve the storytelling of the north a fire comes from this. Contributions from viewers of kron4. The fire was actually in process, tearing through the coffee park neighborhood in santa rosa making it almost unrecognizable. Clearly this is from yesterday, but you can see just about everywhere. The majority of the homes have been wiped out. We spoke to one man earlier in the day and all that was left is a garage door and a refrigerator. All of these fires are still so active. Smoke just filling the air. Fires in the north bay are affecting air quality all over the bay area. It is just impossible to live. I would think every corner of the bay area has smoky haze. Reporter the bay is filled with smoke tonight. You can feel it, you can smell it. There is ash raining down here. Air quality officials with the bay area air Quality Management district say this air quality throughout the area is unprecedented in some areas. Some of the worst air quality they have ever seen. There was an a qi and aqi over 300 reported. Here in the bay, it is considered unhealthy today. Air quality Officials Say the worst time of day was around 4 am to 9 am. We were out here during those hours and the bay was so stale. The thick smoke you could see. That was the worst time. You could really see it along the bay bridge. Air quality Officials Say the next two days are going to be really bad. This is particulate matter we are seeing. The issue is not with the ozone levels, but that particulate matter. We are discouraging people from outdoor activity. If you do not have to be outside, they are encouraging people not to be. Real quick, for people who may not understand what particulate matter is, could you give an explanation . Reporter sure. There are a couple different kinds of particulate or things that cause airquality issues. The ozone is not a problem, but particulate is what we see from these fires. The ash, the dust. The tiny particles that we often dont see but they create the thick air quality issue with the smoke. Those can really cause problems with your lungs. Anyone that has asthma or a breathing problem, it really sparks set up even worse. Thanks so much for that explanation and helping us all understand what is happening with our airquality in the midst of this firestorm. We have had so many difficult and heartbreaking stories. Nonetheless, a santa rosa man becomes a hero. He took matters into his own hands. Like so many others, reaching out to help a neighbor. In this case, saving a home. Reporter i met a man who is being called a hero on lincoln avenue in santa rosa after what he did to save his neighbors home. It was really sad to see what happened. [ indiscernible ] that man saved my home. He is my hero. Reporter this man here . He is a wonderful neighbor. He saved my home. He worked so hard and i am so proud of him. [ indiscernible mulitple speakers ] you are the greatest. Thank you. Shes nice to me. Reporter what do you you do what did he do . It was burning and so he got leaves, he got hoses, he banged on the hotspots. There was no one to help him. Have you ever done anything like that before . Not here. In mexico a long time ago. I dont know how old i was. My he lost everything. But not here. That was the first time in my life. I cant believe it. Reporter it is that spirit of community that is bonding these neighbors together. They told me that they will rebuild again. In santa rosa, kron4 news. It is stories like that that give us hope. Strangers helping strangers, neighbors helping neighbors. All reaching out during times of disaster to do the best we can to help one another get through it. From a distance, we are all hoping that what we see on our screen right there, live images of the fire. 5000 acres have been gobbled up so far. We will get a live report from jr stone at the top of the hour. 33 years of my life right there. In a pile of ash. Utter devastation for thousands as the deadly firestorm rips through the north bay. As the fire moves toward more homes there is an urgent search for missing. In the face of destruction stories of heroism. Thank you for joining us. We are glad you joined us tonight. Here is what we know tonight. About the north bay firestorm. The death toll has climbed to 14 people. Nine of those people died in Sonoma County. 2000 homes and businesses destroyed in napa and sonoma counties. Those numbers are expected to go up. Right now there are hundreds of reports of people missing including 183 people in Sonoma County. 54 have been found. So far the fires in sonoma and napa counties have burned more than 150,000 acres. More mandatory evacuations are on right now. They have been ordered in the oakmont area. You can see it is bordered by park trail drive and summerfield road. In another neighborhood near annandale heights people are being told to get out right now. We are talking about the oakmont neighborhood off highway 12. Oakmont drive. People who may be in the area although a lot got out. If anyone is there they are being ordered to leave immediately. This is a Retirement Community of about 4000. Kron4 has jr stone there. What can you tell us now . Reporter i did not hear the into what you said. I have to apologize for the mask on my face. It is much smoke your out here than it was in the other locations where i was earlier this afternoon. I want to stand behind the camera because i want to show you there are flames over my shoulder and off in the distance. I will resume and. Give me one moment. You see them over the rooftops. I am off of oakmont drive. Specifically on woodley place. There is a culdesac. You can see the flames on the hillside. I can say the wind we have felt in the last half an hour to 45 minutes has been strong but it has been circling for much of that time. At one. It was coming towards me and you felt as though the flames could come for the houses in the distance. But it has since gone to the side. It only looks like the flames are going to the side. Will pin to the opposite directions to show you some of the other flames. I will try to zoom out so you can see how close they are to homes. Right over the rooftop is where you see the flames. A good thing is that right now it does not appear to have touched any of the homes on this specific hillside. There is a feel that it could. When i zoom out, which i will do right now and i will change the filter to show you what the clouds look like. That is what they look like. That is not the only section of fire that we are seeing. There is a fear from a lot of people who are working in this area and people who live in the area that we could see some of the flames if a big wind gust comes up. There is a fear it could come toward the houses. At this point it has not come to the houses in this division right here. I will let you chime in. You have seen me out here for a good amount of time and you have seen the flames. I am listening to your voice and you are beginning to feel the effect of the heavy smoke. A lot of people watching this neighborhood. I have friends with a home there. Even in the relatively short time you have been out, you have noticed a huge difference unfortunately with where the flames are. Reporter i really have. I was located around a quarter of a mile from this location. You can see two different smokestacks up in the air. At one point one of the smokestacks which was more of a white to smoke stack, it look like it was almost fizzling out a bit. That is where i went down the street and i found some of the flames that are within 50 feet of the homes. That being said, it is hard to say what exactly is going on with the other smoke that i saw in this area. But it certainly is a concern. A little while ago there was a city official who came down and got out of the truck and took a photo and got back in. And cruised off. There is a wonder there if they may send a fire crew up on the hillside. Something we have not seen on this hillside. They are being strategic about where they fight these fires. That is a good point. For people just tuning in, it is just past the top of the hour. People are arriving home and joining family for dinner and getting a sense of what the latest is with the north bay firestorm. Here we are in the Oakmont Community. It is a community of about 4000 people. They have all evacuated with the exception of one neighbor. Jr stone has been there for the last three hours. What you are witnessing right now is what firefighters have been struggling with for the last 3640 hours. Since this began on sunday night. Fires in 15 different areas dealing with wind, dry vegetation. Jr is watching as people at home watch. Jr, you had a couple that you ran into. Nick and his wife are hanging around. Did they leave . At last check they are still here. Where they were earlier, there was not as much smoke. They also live on a golf course. They said if we have to get out and we had to go across the golf course we could do that. They would not wanted to come to that. He was keeping a close eye on the hill. Police who drove by were not happy with his decision to stay. Especially when all of the other neighbors had decided they would evacuate. They are over in that area as far as i know. And they are taking photos of what they see. And emailing them to neighbors. They are keeping the cars on because they dont have electricity inside of their homes. They are hopeful that these flames stay on the hillside and do not come near their house. As i talk about this, i see a flame on the other side of the roof. I want to pin the camera so you can see that as well. I will throw it back to you in the studio. It is hard to see because it is smoky. I want to give you a closer look at the neighborhoods where the fires are burning. We are tracking at least four major fires in the north bay area. The tops fire which is one of the most destructive. This is and napa county and includes a winery. Through safari west near Shiloh Ranch Regional Park and that fire began in santa rosa. It is burned roughly 27,000 acres. 550 homes at least destroyed. 21 commercial buildings burned. Everything inside the red line, that is the evacuation area where the fire destroyed homes. We have a closer look at the nuns fire. This is the one we have been talking about. It is surrounding the oakmont area. Also near highway 12. This is about 10 miles east of santa rosa. Also in the area the Sugar Loaf Ridge state park and down to the crane creek regional park. And a winery that is close by. There is also the. The latest information from cal fire shows it is burned at least 1000 acres so far and is threatening 5000 structures. The atlas fire is familiar to many. It is burning and napa and everything inside the red line is where cal fire said the fire has spread. As far north as the robertsons vineyard near the black stallion winery. So far it is burned 25,000 acres and destroyed 125 structures. We have been talking about people who are unaccounted for. Another big concern for police and neighbors. People who are missing. In Sonoma County alone they are currently seeking 183 missing persons. That is down from 200. One of the missing is a mother in santa rosa who someone up in flames and she has not been seen since. Reporter if you look around the journeys and Mobile Home Park you can see there is not much left. 80 or more burned to the ground. The person we are looking for lived right there. People are hoping that linda is with us. She is 69 years old. Many people at the journeys and Mobile Home Park got out alive. We spoke with a couple today. Linda has not been seen since. She picked up the phone and called her daughter and said she could not get out of her mobile home and it was on fire. Since that time her daughter and the daughters boyfriend have been searching all over to no avail. So far they are not able to find her. My house is on fire. I was like get out. I was yelling at her. I was yelling at her. She said i cannot get out. She said my house is on fire. She was not answering me. Reporter she is 69 years old and had recently moved to santa rosa from florida. Her daughter is hoping she is out there somewhere and hoping someone recognizes her. They are hoping someone will pick up the phone and is somewhere or her family cannot find her. They are holding out hope she is around. This is where she lived in the journeys and Mobile Home Park. A lot of people in the same situation. People are reaching out saying they have a friend or Family Member who is missing. Tonight Family Members are looking for a 40yearold. He has a full arm sleeve tattoo. His back and leg is tattooed. He is blonde with blue eyes. We have a photo of a couple. Family members are looking for this man and his wife. Both of them in their 90s. They had to be evacuated from their home in oakmont. Apparently that happened but Family Members have not been able to find them since the fire broke out and they were evacuated. Anybody with information is being asked to please contact police. With mandatory Evacuation Orders underway it is a race to fill up your vehicle. Justin is standing by at it as a gas station in napa. Reporter we are live at silverado trail. We were talking about the air quality. We were at a home earlier today. It was so hard to breathe. My eyes were burning. Here it is different. There was just a big plume of smoke at the top of this silverado trail. One hour later it is gone and what was a busy road this week is quieting down as we talk to people at the gas station. This is the most cause we have seen today. So far yesterday two times the business, we met cody johnson who is a resident. Thank you for your time. Talk about your job in the construction and how it has been infected by the atlas fire. Because of the smoke and debris that has been going on it has not been safe for us to work on the roof. I was on a job on october 3 and a house burned to the ground. Some of my coworkers will be out of work. It has cleared up a lot but the smoke is here today. Hopefully i will get back to work. As far as yesterday. There is ashes coming down and it is hard to breathe. We had traffic all over. And fire trucks and trailers trying to get up. Reporter you live close by. What is the biggest difference you have seen so far . The biggest difference is the air quality is much better. The roads are a lot better. There is not a big traffic jam. The gas station is available. People are coming through. It has been a lot better. Reporter where you live has not been affected at all . Fortunately we are okay. The silverado Garden Apartments has been okay. We have power and the smoke was bad but it has cleared out. Reporter what is like seeing a place you have grown up seeing so much destruction . It is scary. It made me get water and rations and realize i have to be ready if Something Like this happens. Unfortunately for a lot of people that lost their homes they cannot do much about it but hopefully the Fire Department can get it contained. Reporter your family and friends are okay . That live in napa. A lot of my family is down south but my friends are okay. I have checked with them. As far as the house i was working on with my coworkers, that burned down to the ground. Other than that the people i know are okay. Reporter thank you for your time. Another thing to look forward to, cal fire Officials Say that tomorrow morning the wind should shift from the southwest to the north. They could be a factor in how the fires evolved and whether they go north to rural areas or be a problem for firefighters here. We are live in napa at silverado trail in lincoln. Another neighbor who was hit hard by the devastating fires, the Fountain Grove community. That is where justine is live. She spoke with people who lost their homes. There were people who are having their homes saved the last time i saw you. Reporter the firefighters have moved on to work on another hotspot to try to prevent this fire from getting any bigger. Making this devastation anywheres. There are so many homes in Fountain Grove. We are on hadley hill. This scene plays on over and over throughout this community. Driving around here today i saw a lot of devastation. You will see in the video would it look like in blue sage. This is a community of multi milliondollar homes and a lot of burned down to nothing. The cars that were left in the driveways have now melted. One man was able to bike in. The area is under evacuation and there are not a lot of homes to come back to. He rode his bike in and he knew that his house was gone. His friend had sent him a photo. He cannot believe everything that he had worked for so long was gone until he saw it with his own eyes. It is like a war zone. An apocalypse. What you cannot see is the devastation around you and all the other houses in the neighborhood. That was probably the most shocking thing. If you look around there is nothing but chimneys. All of these are nice homes. Anything brick or stone but Everything Else is a pile on the floor. Reporter what he could say from his home was a mortar, a kitchen knife and a bike part. That was it. That is all that he has left to take from his home. What he thinks was the biggest loss was his sons stuffed animals. I want to come back out live to this home on hadley hill. Something about this pumpkin on the doorstep of this home that is burned to the ground that is covered in ash. I thought this family that lived here will never get to celebrate another holiday here again. That is so sad. I feel for the people in this community of Fountain Grove. Very few people have been able to come back. Most were able to get a few things if their home was still standing. There is no power. One woman who told me that her home on baldwin was still standing, what she thinks was the real key in keeping her home from turning out to look like this one behind me was that on sunday in the middle of the night as the fire was tearing through this community, she was able to get a bucket and go to her nextdoor neighbors hot tub and grab buckets of water and throw it on her home. There is no water pressure. She thinks that effort is what saved her home from looking like this one behind me. Time to take a quick look at whether. We have been talking about how the winds have died down. The humidity earlier today was a little higher. They could be changing. How does it look . As we go into wednesday night and thursday we are going to see another round of stronger windspeed. The other big breaking news is what is happening in oakmont. This is about four miles to the east of santa rosa. We show you what the wind direction is going. The thing about oakmont is it is totally surrounded by three sides with the nuns fire fire. It is surrounding oakmont and we are watching the situation carefully. We also have a red flag warning that is going to go back into effect wednesday night until thursday night. The first expire this morning at 5 00 a. M. And as we push into wednesday night we expect another round of stronger windspeed. This is for the local mountains above 1000 feet northeast winds 1530 Miles Per Hour with wind gusts up to 45 Miles Per Hour. Dry conditions expected as we go through the day on wednesday and thursday. One thing that we continue to see is recovering humidity at night. That will be true for us tonight as well. Everything dries out as we get into the daytime hours. Right now wind speeds in santa rosa are moving at 12 Miles Per Hour. Future wind gusts show overnight tonight into early tomorrow morning we will see another round of stronger windspeeds gusting up to 25 Miles Per Hour. This extends to nevada. Napa will see, conditions. Santa rosa will continue to see the wind gusts closer to 35 or 35 Miles Per Hour as we go through wednesday night and most of thursday. And as we get into thursday afternoon. That will be the new concern and the direction coming in from the north and the northwest that is dry air moving in. We will keep you updated. Red flag warning goes into effect wednesday night and thursday. Breaking coverage continues in napa were many wineries have been devastated by the atlas fire. Nearby homes are destroyed. We are joined live and has a chilling story of a residence narrow escape from the flames. What can you tell us . Reporter when i am on the eastern edge of napa county, you can see several plumes of smoke. The one behind me i think is the kanellis fire. You see this for miles up to the silverado trail. There is substantial damage there. Was look at new images and new video. Firefighters are mopping up hotspots and the damage is widespread. This is video from the silverado area where dozens of homes have been lost. This is some of the destruction along with gate drive near the silverado country club. It is hard to understand how one house can be gone and the next one is spared. I spoke with a man who said he was lucky to get out with shirt on his back. I was sleeping and i got everything packed and we took the truck and started people. We can back over to the house and got the stuff in the truck and until my brother i will see if i can get a better view up on the ridge. I hiked up to miles. I was watching the flames burn up the ridge. I thought maybe it would burn itself out. The wind changed and it was coming back toward us. I said i have to go and i came running down the hill in the background. There are two hills and want to got to the second hill, i called my brother and told him what was going on. There was a huge flash. All of the sparks went by me. I started running. Reporter you came back today. We can back the next morning. I can back at 630. It has been five hours and this is what is happen. It was so incredibly fast. The amount of time it engulfed the hillside was maybe five minutes. Reporter the hard part is not knowing. Another Westgate Drive resident reached out to kron4 this morning. She asked we checked on her home. Sadly we texted her some images and it is among the casualties. She said at least she knows. Live in napa county. A lot of stores like that one. We continue to cover the north bay firestorm. Stay with us. We have more after the break. Are you taking the tissue test . Yep, and my teeth are yellow. Time for whitestrips. Crest glamorous White Whitestrips are the only adaaccepted whitening strips proven to be safe and effective. And they whiten 25x better than a leading whitening toothpaste. Crest. Healthy, beautiful smiles for life. I. Prilosec otc 7 years ago,my doctor recommended. 5 years ago, last week. Just 1 pill each morning, 24 hours and zero heartburn. Its been the number 1 doctor recommended brand for 10. Straight years, and its still recommended today. Use as directed. catherine not only homes but many businesses burned to the ground in these fires. Both the Puerto Vallarta not only homes but a lot of businesses we are hearing about burning to the ground. Youre looking at a restaurant. The kmart on cleveland avenue. Both of these places are destroyed. They are off highway 101. About a third of a mile away from each other. Several other businesses in the same area of cleveland avenue have been destroyed or badly damaged. What you see in front of you . Reporter an emotional day. We saw Business Owners coming out and checking out their shops. Burned to the ground. This used to be a gun store. It is a bunch of charred remains. Some of the things are standing. These businesses were peoples dreams. It was their livelihood. They spent years building and now it is piles of ash. I will never get into it. Reporter he tried to get into his lot safe. I cannot believe it. Reporter the tubb frie swallowed his gun store. The store was his livelihood and his plan for retirement. Of the buildings over here are storch. This one is not touched. Building 22 feet away is not scorched. Reporter the fire hopscotch through an Industrial Area near bicentennial. Versus flames destroyed at applebees and took down a mexican restaurant. We are all dumbfounded. Reporter a place used to frequent. Birthday celebrations. Anniversaries and all kinds of things. Now it is just a memory. Reporter the flames reached this trader joes. The store was donating the two a homeless shelter. They are looking for people to give it to so it does not the dumpsters but feeds bellies. They want to help people because so many people are in need right now. Reporter are looking for this Business Owner he has insurance. He does not know how much they are going to cover. Reporting live in santa rosa. We will be back with more on the firestorm in the north bay. Stay with us. More after the break. catherine this is the bay areas news station. Kron4 news starts now with breaking news. As we continue to cover the north bay firestorm you are looking at new video of some of the devastation. This came into the kron4 newsroom from stanley roberts. This is what field, a santa rosa suburb. You can see what used to be homes. Here is what we know. The death toll has risen to 14 people. Nine people died in Sonoma County. Now at least 2000 homes and businesses are considered destroyed. The numbers are expected to rise. Hundreds of people are reporting missing. 183 in Sonoma County. The fires in napa and sonoma counties combined the burn 150,000 acres. Mandatory evacuations are underway right now. They include the areas of elmdale heights. Bordered by park trail drive. Tonight the socalled nun fire rapidly approaching another neighborhood in santa rosa in the oakmont neighborhood. People who may still be in the area are being ordered to leave immediately. Jr stone has been out there for hours. He joins us live from the scene. It sounds like the smoke is getting to you. Neighborhood residents are hoping and praying the fire would not turn back in the direction. What is the latest . Reporter i apologize for having this mess gone. Very smoky outside. The good news is that fire crews are directly behind me. They have shown up within the last 20 minutes or so. They are fighting the flames that we were showing you earlier. I want to jump on the other side of the camera. I was trying to get a closer shot that we dont have a great signal. You can see the fire trucks. They are up on the hillside. You look in the distance and it is smoky. I am trying to play with some filters. I will probably leave it zoomed out. You can see the glow above the roof. That is what they are fighting right now. For a good period of time they were not out here. It is a strategy type thing. As i am speaking about these firefighters, i can hear one of the dozers to my left. I will not pin because you cannot see anything. They have heavy machinery and heavy equipment in the area and it is near the flames. If your home is on the end of woodley place you have to feel better about the situation in comparison to what the situation was only 20 minutes or so ago. As for the wind, it is hard to say. I have not felt the strong winds we felt earlier in the afternoon. That is also good news. We shall see how long it will take the fire crews to get the flames under control. We will be back to you as the situation warrants. Our breaking News Coverage continues with an update on an active mandatory Evacuation Order. Here are some of the areas being told to evacuate in sonoma and napa counties. Monticello park, silverado country club, circle oaks, Wildhorse Valley road, silverado trail, state route 128, the atlas peak fire is forcing a lot of evacuations. For a complete list of all of the evacuation areas and the Evacuation Centers you can log on to kron4. Com. If you are someone you know needs a place to stay there are dozens of Evacuation Centers that have opened in the area. All of the information is on our website kron4. Com. Britney has been busy for the last 48 or more hours. She joins us with a look at the forecast. Lets break it down with the airquality. Santa rosa with the largest fire is burning, it is very unhealthy. It is the worst i have seen it. North bay is unhealthy. East bay, southbay is moderate. San francisco and the peninsula is unhealthy for sensitive groups. If you suffer from asthma or lung disease you want to be careful at night. It is getting a little bit better. But if youre tempted to go for an evening stroll you should maybe rethink it. This is not expected to improve all that much as we get into tomorrow. A little bit of a difference in the far north bay zone for the start of wednesday. Unhealthy levels in the north bay. Moderate for east bay and southbay zones and it will be unhealthy for sensitive groups to San Francisco in the peninsula. We could actually see the air quality decreasing as we go wednesday night into thursday. That is because we have another red flag warning which will go back into effect. What that means is we will see wind speeds gusting backup coming from the north. That will blow a lot of the smoke over parts of San Francisco. We have a smoke advisory in effect until wednesday. Keep your windows closed. Run your airconditioning on recycle. This is true if you are driving closer to parts of the north bay. Make sure you are running your car conditioning on recycle. Limit your outdoor activities. Lets look at the wind speeds. It is been good news for firefighters. We have not seen dramatic wind speeds. Take a look at napa only moving eight Miles Per Hour. This will change overnight into early morning. We will see wind gusts closer to 30 Miles Per Hour by 3 00 or 4 00 in the morning for santa rosa. This will continue throughout the day until wednesday night. And also into the start of thursday and thursday afternoon. That is the next concern. That the wind speed will pick back up. We are seeing humidity increasing at night. The humidity levels are able to recover and will get moisture in the atmosphere. As we go into tomorrow afternoon, at four clock, humidity drops to 17 . It looks okay in santa rosa and thursday night we will see the humidity levels going up again. By thursday afternoon, you can see 18 . We have seen improvement with the temperatures. They have cold down. Especially in San Francisco. That should help improve the airquality into tomorrow. It will be a while before we reach healthy levels. Coming up we will talk about what is in store for the rest of the work week. You can follow this breaking story on air and online. You can visit kron4. Com for more coverage on the firestorm. You will find a full list of the areas under evacuation. We will show you about the Evacuation Centers and can hear stories from residents and see a gallery of photos of the fire damage. One neighborhood, what they did to safehouses from going up in flames. We will continue with regular updates and endura programs as event warrants. Stay with portola fire news. catherine students at the Cardinal Newman high school in santa rosa will be out of school for the rest of the week. steve the high students at the Cardinal Newman high school in santa rosa will be out of school for the rest of the week at least. The high school is one of many structures that was demolished in the tubb frie. All the remains is the framework of some of the building. Witnesses say the wall of fire that ripped through the school left little behind. The front entrance has been reduced. The library and the classrooms are destroyed. The principal said the staff is meeting outside to devise a plan. Stay with us as we continue to follow the devastating north bay firestorm. More news coming up after the break. Of a firestorm a santa rosa man is becomes a hero catherine in the midst of a disaster. A firestorm creating a disaster area. And a man becomes a hero. Authorities say he took matters into his own hands. He managed to save a neighbors home. Reporter i met a man who is being called a hero. After what he did to save his neighbors home. It was sad to see what happened to your neighbors. That man save my home. He is my hero. He is a wonderful neighbor. He saved my home. He worked so hard. I am so proud of him. You are the greatest. Thank you. It was burning. He got leaves and hoses and he put up hot spots. There is no one to help him. Reporter have you ever done anything like that before . Not here. In mexico a long time ago. I dont know how i was. He lost everything. This is the first time in my life. I still dont believe it. Reporter it is the spirit of community that is bonding these neighbors together. They tell me that they will rebuild again. The apples fire in napa county is out of control tonight burning 25,000 acres and destroying 100 structure so far. Some of the people who evacuated when the firestorm first began returned home today. Justin was there as a families all what was left. It is a neighborhood that is unrecognizable. Reporter behind me you are looking at the scenery of soda canyon road. Smoke is everywhere. For one family this is home. The husband and wife came back searching for the belongings. Prepared that everything to be gone. They are searching for signs that remind them of home in a place they almost didnt recognize. As they want to the property, smoke still lingers in a remember what the atlas fire did sunday night. We dont have anything. Reporter her husband wanted to pack up and leave when the flames approached the home. I thought we needed to go. Reporter they were ready to evacuate but he stayed behind. He said he has to say the home. Reporter he said he stood outside putting flames with a hose for about two hours. Here is what is left of his yard. This was once a storage shed that stood for more than 100 years. Right next to it is a garage. Notice twisted metal, ash and rubble. The rest of the backyard is destroyed. Even the chevy that he put time into restoring. Its paint is melted away. But his effort paid off in another way. He did end up stopping the flames. Somehow his home is here, untouched with no burns and a saved. They say they lived here in soda canyon for 18 years. And will continue to do so. Reporter have you seen anything like this in napa before . Never. Reporter right now they are staying in a mobile home with the rest of their family. They are not sure when they can return but they are grateful their home is still standing. We will continue our coverage of the north bay firestorm. Stay with us. More news coming up after the break. Sort of you have some especially if your health. Be bad for this air can it. Places. Smell and in many these fires. Smoke from can see the bay area. You you look in the every where just about district. Management air quality the bay area flannigan with now is tom joining us ca we have been talking about the smoke which is so pervasive. Joining us is tom flanagan with the bay area air Quality Management district. Some people say if you see it you smell it and it is affecting you. Absolutely. All of the fire that we are seeing up north is going into the atmosphere. It is going into the air we breathe. We definitely want the children, elderly and anyone with a respiratory condition to take precautions and limit their exposure by staying indoors. J. R. Stone was sounding worse and worse. He is a reporter and he has been and heavy smoke. It can have some lasting effects. You dont want to have prolonged exposure to that kind of smoke. I want to let you know we measured the highest amount of pollution ever in napa and sonoma counties because of these fires. We are monitoring the situation. We really hope the firefighters are able to get a handle on this to stop the pollution and stop all the fires. They have particular tools to protect themselves. There are 4000 out there fighting. They are Wearing Masks and they are rated letter and 95 and a filter out 95 of the particulate pollution in the air. But we want to see the fires and. Some people dont have that kind of protection but they have to work outside. Any recommendations for what people can do to protect the Family Members . Most of the Healthy People will be okay as long as they limit the exposure and stay indoors. Prolonged exposure is not advised. We want people to make sure they are staying indoors and limiting any physical exertion outdoors. They are taking in all of the pollution. Prolonged effects are going to hamper their breathing and make them feel uncomfortable. Their eyes will burn. They will start to cough. We want everyone to stay safe. It is not your job to tell us or to guests when this will go away. It is pretty clear we will have days and perhaps weeks of this ahead. It will only get worse as time goes on. We are monitoring the situation closely. Hopefully the fires will be able to be stopped. I dont mean the smoke but the effects in our bodies. It is all about sustained exposure. Hopefully by staying indoors you are able to limit the exposure. We want to stress that everyone should be taking those efforts to stay indoors. Stay in a place where the air is filtered. And say your airconditioners to recirculate zero not bringing in the pollution into your indoor area. On a good day you see people wearing the little baby masks. Other useful . I would not necessarily say they are useful. Something is better than nothing depending on where you are. We are seeing airquality conditions change depending on where you are and how close you are to the fire. It was shocking to hear worst ever. Tom flanagan with bay area air Quality Management. Thank you. We will continue. Kron4 has three hours of news in from Time Starting at 8 00. We will continue the coverage of the north bay firestorm. Good night. Who are these people . The Energy Conscious people among us say small actions can add up to something. Humongous. A little thing here. A little thing there. Starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. Who are all these caretakers, advocates too . Turns out, its californians its me and its you. Dont stop now, its easy to add to the routine. 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