Tonight is urging people to be on high alert. Thats following a string of fires in the downtown area, including one early this morning. Investigators believe most of the fires were deliberately set. Nbc bay areas Kimberly Tere joins us from the scene of one of the fires with more on the investigation and a sketch of the possible suspect. Reporter diane, this is actually the sketch released by investigators today of a person of interest. It is based on witness descriptions, and also on images taken from Surveillance Video cameras in the areas where the fires were started. The most recent fire actually started this morning, just before 4 30 a. M. San jose firefighters say it was a jogger who alerted them to the fire, by banging on the door of their station, which is actually very close to the home which was on fire near the intersection of east st. John and 17th street. A couple in their 70s were inside the home. But firefighters say neighbors were able to alert them and they were able to get out safely. This is the latest of several fires in the area since wednesday, and firefighters say they believe the same person may be responsible. According to investigators, the fires have all been set within a small geographic area, during the earlymorning hours, and are similar in nature. They have all been set on the exteriors of the buildings. We have experienced a rash of very dangerous fires that as our Fire Department officials will inform you have been intentionally set. These fires har targeted the residents in the darkest of the night when they are most vulnerable. Weve been very fortunate these fires have not resulted in serious injury or death to our residents. Should these fires continue, i fear that this good fortune may run out. Reporter a 10,000 reward is now being offered for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. The person of interest is described as a white or hispanic man, 25 to 40 year0 years old 62, weighing approximately 160 to 180 pounds with dark medium length hair, wearing distinctive large frame glasses. Firefighters say they are working very closely with San Jose Police to put an end to the rash of suspected arsons, and want to hear from you if you think you may know the partnership responsible or seen anything suspicious related to these fires. Live in san jose, Kimberly Tere, nbc bay area news. We have new information tonight on a house fire in walnut creek that left one person dead. Firefighters identified the victim trapped inside that home. Hes identified as 62yearold charles mcdonald. Last night firefighters found his body on the second floor of the home, near the regional open safe. Heavy flames and smoke made it difficult to get to the victim. An autopsy is scheduled for monday. As the number of flu related deaths in the bay area continues to rise, theres word of a temporary shortage in some locations of the flu vaccine. Both cvs and walgreens said some pharmacies have run out of flu shots and are trying to restock their supplies. Monty . Reporter good evening. At the start of the day, this walgreens behind me had about 30 doses of the flu vaccine, and this afternoon they ran out. Now theyll have to wait until monday to get more. As far as we can tell, this is not a widespread shortage, but walgreens and cvs have both acknowledged that some of their pharmacies are running low or have run out of in you shots because of high demand and it would take 48 hours to replenish the supply. Health officials are urging the people to get the flu vaccine, and seven bay area counties, plus santa cruz county, reported collectively more than a dozen deaths so far this flu season. The most recent victim was a 23yearold man from Sonoma County with no Underlying Health problems. In fact, all of the victims so far have been under the age of 65. But many people say they still arent planning on getting vaccinated. I know that there are people that have died recently, but i consider if its my time to go, then its my time to go. But i dont try to worry about getting illnesses or being really concerned about that. Actually, ive never had one. I dont like shots. But i havent really gotten the flu. I dont know, havent been something im concerned about. Reporter you might remember four years ago, 600 californians died in the swine flu pandemic. So far Health Officials are not predicting anything like that. But they say this flu season appears to be worse than previous years. We did checking around and there are some other nearby pharmacies that have the vaccine. So if you want the vaccine, you should be able to find it. Monty francis, nbc bay area news. Thank you for the update, monty. A deadly stabbing in san jose. Officers found a man op the sidewalk, on willow glen way around 1 40 this morning. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The coroner is not releasing the victims name until theyre able to notify family members. Authorities on the peninsula are asking for the publics help tonight in finding an Armed Robbery suspect. This is a picture of the suspect from a bank Surveillance Video. He went into the chase bank yesterday afternoon and demanded money. Hes described as being about 56 with a thin build. Authorities say no one was hurt in that incident. Across the bay in oakland, police are looking for a man involved in an Armed Robbery on tuesday. The robbery happened on walker avenue near the grand lake theater. Police released this picture of the suspect. They say hes in his 30s, 57, and weighs about 170 pounds. He has a silver grill in his mouth. Hes believed to be in this truck there as well. Police have not released any Additional Information about the robbery but asks anyone who recognize the picture to call the Oakland Police department. Counting down to the next big game. Ive got this voice thing going again. Lets go right to the sound of niner fans. I really plan on wearing mir large hat. And then eat a lot. Were going to go to a pub right across from the stadium and watch the game there. Which we think would be fun. Remember, the game is early in the morning. This should be a fun time getting up early to go to an old Stomping Ground for the niners. Kickoff for the niners and panthers is 10 00 tomorrow. 49er fans come in all sizes and ages. Here is, were going to show you 2yearold makenna. These are fan pictures as well. Makenna wordel was just 2 years old when she became a niner fan. Im not sure what these pictures are. Were asking people to send in 49er pictures and well post them on our website so you can see everybody celebrating 49er faithful. Still to come, we may be months away from the first Space Tourism flight. The flight from the Mojave Desert. The debate over an only pg e facility in the east bay. The residents who were trying to stop a corporation and its crude oil plan. Were starting to see light rain moving away from san jose right now. Its clearing skies returning to the bay area. As we look at the rain, and see the smoe move on. We could see 60s and 70s coming back to your forecast. A look at that when we come right back. Gathering in bits purg voicing opposition to prong to put a crude Oil Storage Facility in their backyard. The protesters are rallying against a plan to modernize and re activate an old pg e Oil Storage Facility near the downtown area. Protesters say the project will expose residents to the potential of a crude oil leak or explosion and air quality issues. They say they have Huge Community support and are optimistic they can keep the plan from becoming a reality. Were in a david and goliath battle. Were going to win. Were going to win. Were going to win, because they will not tolerate this in their backyard. They said the new facility will use the most uptodate technology and be monitored for safety 24 hours a day. It will be discussed at the next Pittsburg City Council meeting. Ariel sharon died eight years after a stroke that left him in a coma from which he never woke up. The former statesman is expected to be buried next to his wife at the sharon family farm in southern israel. Sharon was a lifelong Freedom Fighter for the state of israel. He helped form the conservative party and considered a hardliner as prime minister. Coming up next, getting ready for the ride of a lifetime. Its a rocket ride that may launch by the end of this year. Next, the flight that plans on taking paying customers into space. Blasting tourists into space is no longer the stuff of science fiction. A spaceship launched its test flight on friday. That means more than 650 people will soon be headed to the stars. Tom costello has more. Reporter sunrise in the Mojave Desert as Virgin Galactic space ship 2 attached to its mother ship soared into the sky for a critical test flight. 50 minutes later, at 46,000 feet three, two, one. Reporter space ship 2 dropped from white knight 2. Then fired the rocket that pushed it to its highest altitude yesterday, 71,000 feet. By the end of the year, paying customers will take the same ride even higher. 325,000 feet, and into space. Former nasa shuttle flight director mike moses is now in charge of Virgin Galactics mission control. Unbuckle your seat belt and just float up and out for about four minutes. Reporter four minutes of weightlessness. The blackness of space. And the curvature of the earth. It isnt cheap. Each round trip ticket costing 250,000. But already, 675 passengers have paid a deposit. Including ashton kutcher, leonardo dicaprio, justin bieber, katy perry. In a few years bransons tourist flights into space will bring the price tag down to roughly the cost of an expensive suv. After todays successful flight, it means were getting closer and closer to going into space this summer. I think well be giving our astronauts in waiting the ride of a lifetime. Reporter this was the critical test of the ship that will make it all happen. Including the foldup wings that will help slow the spaceship on reentry. Theres nothing like this that you can pay the money for, and get this sort of ride. Again, that was tom costello reporting. They have to go through three days of preparation not to mention a lot of cash. Skiers and snowboarders enjoyed fresh snow in the sierra today. Very nice. Look closely and you can see snow is falling on that mountain. The forecast calls for an inch or two of new snow at lake level. That is welcome news to skiers as well as to meteorologists like rob mayeda who wants to see water and snow pack and all that. We need to see a lot more of that. We did get a little bit of light rain around the bay area. But most of it in the north bay. Youre starting to see clearing taking place in San Francisco. Youve got the clearing skies, partly cloudy. Still that sea breeze out there this evening, making things feel quite cool. A little more gloomy in san jose, as you look at the hills down to campbell, around mt. Hamilton. Thats areas were still seeing light rain. As you mentioned in the sierra, finally we can talk about snowfall. These pictures sent in by northstar. A lot of happy folks in the sierra. Heres good news. We will continue to see some snow at times for our friends up at squaw valley and alpine meadows. Well keep some snow flurries into tonight, maybe early tomorrow morning. Temperatures climbing as we head into sunday and monday. Needless to say, probably some of the best skiing conditions weve had so far in quite some time, with some of that fresh powder coming down. Overnight, i think well manage another two to three inches of snow above 6,000 feet. Back to the bay area, mostly cloudy skies in the south bay, as the rain pushes on off. Well take a closer look at whats going on here. From san jose off to the east, weve got a little bit of light rain. Well emphasize the little bit as we take a closer look here, east of san jose. We do have some showers around mt. Hamilton. What weve got is a lot of cloud cover being forced to rise up over the mountains. Providing just enough lift to get us just some light rain at times. Youre seeing some of that around morgan hill as the pattern, at least to start the weekend, starts like this. A little dip in the jet stream. Weve had a little bit of rain, but most of it has been really in the north bay. So not a lot of rain coming down. In fact, the pattern will begin to shift as we go into the beginning of next week. Were not talking about rain anymore, but High Pressure will build in once again. Our winds will start to turn offshore. Temperatures will be climbing into the 60s and 70s come tuesday and wednesday. So as you take a look at the sevenday forecast at the bottom of the screen, those numbers will be coming up once again. Light rain, done this evening. Tomorrow, more sunshine. And those temperatures climbing on up. As soon as we get a little bit of rain and snow, this pattern heading through next week looks mainly dry until next weekend. For tomorrow, for your early playoff tailgating plans around the bay area as you watch that 49ers game in charlotte, north carolina, tomorrow youll see 62 in san jose. Partly cloudy skies for the morning. Sunshine for the afternoon. Upper 50s around the peninsula and San Francisco upper 50s to near 60. Into the north bay well see temperatures tomorrow warming into the mid60s. Oakland near 60 degrees. Trivalley temperatures low 60s. Sunday, probably one of the coolest days well see in the sevenday forecast. Once the winds turn offshore come wednesday, youll see highs getting close to 70 around the bay area. One item to watch as we wrap up the weekend on the coach, beach hazard statement for rough surf on sunday. Temperatures warm up, but watch out for those rough waves, rip currents and maybe some sneaker waves on the coast. Sierra travel better than today, wrapping up in the 40s on sunday. That is nice to hear. Thank you, rob. Counting down to sochi. The United States is close to finalizing its figure skating team with a National Championships in boston tonight. A san jose skater is one step closer to making it on that team. Paulinea is a sophomore at midi high school and trains at san jose ice. Shes also a student at the Dance Theater international. Her dancing friends were thrilled to see how well she did in the short program. It was cool. I wasnt really expecting her to go to the olympics. But shes a really good ice skater. Yes, she is. Tonight shes in the last group for the ladies free skate event. The top three skaters in boston earn a trip to sochi next month. Nd Henry Wofford joins us now. Hello, henry. Im assuming youve got a little basketball action, maybe some 49ers stuff coming up . Absolutely. You know, diane, you know everything thats going on. Im just taking a wild guess. Well, you hit the nail right op the head. Tonight well take you around the wcc with highlights from the college hardwood. Get this, diane, well tell you where you can get a great deal on a 49ers tattoo. Plus, frank gore and the 49ers have carolina on their minds. But in order to emerge victorious, theyll have to sweat the small stuff. Well explain right after the break. Welcome back to nbc bay area. If you take care of the little things, the big things will take care of themselves. I didnt say that, thats advice from former penn state head coach joe paterno. Something jim harbaugh preaches to his troops. And frank gore is definitely buying in. Theres a lot of things we didnt pick up, you know, that what our coach told us we should have picked up. If we did what our coaches said, there would have been big plays. Hes always been a competitive player. I think its one of the things he prides himself on not just running the ball well, but pass protecting game downfield. Will do anything to help the team. Hes shown that his whole career. Were not surprised by it. Like pickup basketball, the guy thats just going to hit the 30foot jump shots isnt necessarily the best player. Sometimes you want the guy whos going to you want the guy whos going to go in and compete. The 49ers continue their quest for six. After tomorrows showdown in carolina, tune in to Comcast Sports net bay area for complete postgame coverage from the team. Thats coverage your team all season long. Meanwhile, reports are coming out of carolina that the Minnesota Vikings are looking to conduct interviews today, just a day before the 49erspanthers game. With Office Coordinator roman and jim for their vacant head coaching position. Well keep you updated on that story. Some people bleed red and gold, some people take that even a step further. Right now, silver needle studios in concord is offering 49eres tattoos at the discount rate of 49. The offer, by the way, is good for the duration of the 49ers playoff run. All right. With the win tomorrow, 49ers play the winner of the seahawkssaints game. Take a look at marshawn lynch. The oakland native takes the handoff right up the gut for a 15yard td. Fourth quarter, 168 hawks. Lynch with the exclamation point, bounces it, and goes left. 31 yards for the td. Seattle wins 2315. And will host the nfc championship game next week. Also, st. Marys hosting usf. Randy bennett coming off a fivegame suspension. First half. 12point lead. An easy layup. Later in the first, brad waldo, wheres waldo up and under. And the foul. Second half, gaels up 15. Holt drives. This to james walker from the corner. St. Marys goes on to win 8873. Im checking my wallet right now, and diane, yes, im correct, ive got 49. I will pay for your 49ers tattoo. How about that. Yeah, that is so not happening. But id be happy to go out and watch you get one, henry. Oh, believe me, i dont need one. Maybe Oakland Raiders one. But i dont know about 49ers. Understood. Thanks a lot, henry. You got it. Well be right back. Nbc nightly news is coming up next. Well have more local news on the nbc bay area news at 6 00. See you then. Have a good night. On this saturday night, the banned. The big penalty for Alex Rodriguez for his alleged use of performanceenhancing drugs. The longest suspension ever in major league baseball. State of emergency, a devastating Chemical Spill in a major American City has left hundreds of thousands with tainted water and no relief in sight. High demand for marijuana thats been legal in colorado since the start of the year. A booming business already causing shortages. And taking flight. Once almost extinct, how these majestic birds are soaring again