open so keep that in mind. on the outer loop from bel air to providence, no delays there. here we are on the beltway at providence road, no problem. we have breaking news this morning. crews are battling a fire that broke out after a massive explosion out in northern california. this explosion happened south of san francisco late last night. it has left one person dead, damaged and destroyed more than 170 homes. wait till you see the video here from abc 2 news. don is in san bruno with more. >> reporter: a massive fire roared through san bruno, california throughout the night. fire officials confirmed a 24 inch gas main explosion was responsible for the blaze, which reduced dozens of homes to ash within an hour. >> the fireball was, you know, 100 feet or more in the air. i'm a firefighter so right away i knew it was a major, major thing. it just would not stop because we knew it was a gas main. it just kept going. >> reporter: shocked residents didn't know what it was. >> the area became white and i heard the noise. i think it's an earthquake. >> reporter: people began rushing to get belongings out of their burning homes. >> my heart was beating so fast because the fire was so close to area houses and other neighbors. i just can't imagine what could happen. >> reporter: crews from surrounding areas battled the planes from the ground but planes dropped fire retardant. >> i would anyone who sees the broadcast tonight to say a special prayer for those people. it will be a long haul for our city and residents for a number of weeks to come. >> reporter: two dozen people were injured by the blast and fires that followed. they have been take ton local hospitals and burn centers for treatment. >> we'll be following this story online and on air. look at the top right-hand side of the home page and get the latest sent right to your inbox. there are concerns in colorado this morning that a huge wildfire could move from the rocky mountain foothills right into the city of boulder. already flames have destroyed 170 homes and more are threatened. some people living there are now being warned to get ready to evacuate. the fire is now being pushed by strong winds. strong winds created a huge mess in baltimore fueling flames that destroyed a dozen row homes earlier in the week. abc 2 news linda so tells us how it's drawing attention to the dangers that lurk all over the city. >> reporter: vacant homes, there are a lot of them in the city. after what happened earlier this week in west baltimore with the fires, people believe it could happen in their block as well. they are calling on the city to do more to keep them safe. there have already been several fires in vacant homes there. years ago when eleanor was using drugs, she lived with several people in an abandoned home. drug use, lighting candles for heat and light all pose a serious risk for fire. >> when the buildings get on fire, it do travel and spread onto the old houses because they're real old, you know? i think about it every day. >> reporter: housing officials say they look for ways to rehabilitate the properties but when the safety threat outweighs the benefit, they often demolish them. linda so. today, the mayor and governor will begin demolishing the so-called highway to nowhere. remember in the 1970s, it was built as a plan to connect interstate 70 and 83 but the community put brakes on the idea. the section will allow for the expansion of the west baltimore marc station. in our democracy 2010 coverage, it is one of the hottest local races heading into primary day. two long-time baltimore county council members are slugging it out. we've seen the ads that come for county executive. both joe bartonfelleder and his opponent are accusing each other of not telling the truth. >> those who know both of us endorsed me, and it's not a reflection necessarily on him, but it's who do we think will be the best ceo of this $2.5 billion corporation that we have here in baltimore county? >> i don't run against people, i run for an office. i'm running for baltimore county executive and the people in this county will be the ones who will decide if they want me working for them. that's what i'll do. >> he touts his public safety record and so quite a few marylanders have taken advantage of early voting. you can still cast your ballot on the primary coming up tuesday september 14th. a florida pastor gives mixed signals about his plans to burn the koran. that story's coming up. and breaking news in california, a massive explosion sends flames throughout a neighborhood. and the mta is out there now. >> reporter: good morning. you'll find metro subway operating with a five to ten- minute delay. if your ride is on the buses, look for the 5, 19, 27, and 91 to be diverted at fayette and utah for construction and 10 and 30 buss with a dry version at light and pratt. for the mta transit team, i'm mark jones. ♪ ♪ ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o ♪ j-e-l-l-o [ child giggles ] time for football on verizon fios. the nfl in 100% fiber-optic hd quality. that's a good start. but what's this? i can check my fantasy stats without changing the channel. and get an alert any time my team enters the red zone. and then watch every red zone play on nfl redzone. watch out couch, you've got competition as daddy's favorite. it's time for fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v visit verizon.com/getfios. good morning, everyone. it is friday. we've made it to the weekend. it was a good week in terms of the weather. we had it all. we had the hot weather, the cool weather and still dealing with the cool weather today. we also had the dry weather, which we didn't like because it was sparking up fire as cross the area. as we look at maryland's most powerful radar as of now, the things are dry and things will be different as we head into the weekend. as of now, though, we're talking temperatures currently at 59 degrees at chesapeake beach. that is exactly where we should be this time of year for a low. the sustained winds are on the light side out of the west. check out the gusts. once again that will be the scenario throughout the day. other places right now into perry hall. temperature's at 60 and the winds not so bad with a gust at 8 miles per hour out of the northwest. in bel air it's out of the west with a temperature at 58. in centreville, the temperature coming at about 63. so things will be picking up as we go throughout the day, but it won't be as breezy as yesterday. let's head to kim brown with traffic. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are working one major crash so far on northbound 795. all lanes are blocked except for the far right lane because of a crash at owings mills boulevard. you still will see emergency crews at the scene of the crash. caton avenue will start closing those exits to get onto northbound and southbound 95. the closures for northbound 95 will start saturday at 11:00. those will continue for six to eight weeks. the southbound 95 closures start tonight at 9:00 and will be in effect through 8:00 tomorrow night. as we look at our drive times, no problems on the jfx. traffic is flowing freely. as we check our cameras, traffic look goods on 95 and 395. megan and jamie, back to you. fighting a disease that affects so many of us. >> how you and people around the country can stand up to cancer. it's purple friday. it's that time again. i'm sherrie johnson. coming up, hear what ray lewis has to say about the upcoming games. it is 5:15. we cannot wait for monday night. all of you who feel the ravens have been snubbed by the national media are should be happy that many experts are picking the team to make it to the super bowl. then yesterday, ray lewis in his pregame speech against rex and the jets. abc 2 news sherrie johnson live on this purple friday. good morning, sherrie. >> reporter: good morning, jamie. are you ready for some football? many fans certainly are all across the area fans are geared up. this morning at 7:30 right here at miss shirley's, this is the kickoff for the purple friday caravan. you can join the caravan all around the baltimore area, specific, and you can enter to win autographed ravens prizes. the ravens will give away autographed items at each location. all of the festivities are leading up to the jets at the meadowlands. they have team leader ray lewis fired up yesterday afternoon. >> we're talking about the jets like we're talking about the saints. that's the defending super bowl champs. until they play tonight that's the only people that can be deflowned, not the jets. all of this hollering we're the miami heat of the football, if y'all the miami heat, we got to be the lakers. >> reporter: wow, some fighting words. the purple friday caravan kicks off right here at 7:30 at miss shirley's. reporting live in rowland park, sherrie johnson, abc 2 news. >> the ravens kick off the season monday night in new jersey against the jets. game time will be at 7:00. good morning, everyone. happy friday to you. it's going to be a nice friday, if you like the milder temperatures. speaking of mild temperatures, look at what we had yesterday that came in at 79 degrees. 68 in altoona and into pittsburgh. roanoke into 3. norfolk came in at 83 and 74 into philly. check out new york, 73 degrees there. when we check out what's going on as of now, 58 degrees in baltimore, altoona 54 and pittsburgh 51. more of the same into charleston. 54 roanoke and 60 into philly. we're at 64 degrees into new york as of now. so yes, as you head out and about headed to school, grab the jacket because you will need it this morning. the moisture content once again is on the dry side so we'll factor that in with the winds so there could be a little fire danger. just not as bad as yesterday. the risk is still there. still the high dew points are down to the south where you are dealing with the sultry air. the winds are about 5 mile-per- hour sustained winds. hagerstown coming at 6:00 and d.c. is at 10:00. into york, we're about 5:00. then we could have gusts up to 20 miles per hour as we go throughout the day. the satellite and radar picking up on that canadian high. and we're getting that northwestly flow. the high will start to slade off towards the east as we -- slide off towards the east as we go into tomorrow. with that, we'll have a chance for a cold front to work in here. i'm forecasting a partly cloudy day tomorrow. we'll stay mainly dry throughout the day and then a possibility of a shower later in the evening into sunday. sunday will really be the day we'll see rain in the forecast, and it's much-needed rain. you can see it sunday at 8:00, this model pushes it back a little later. during the day on sunday, we could see rainfall. as you head out and about, maybe you are headed to church services. make sure you grab that umbrella. for today, we're going to stay dry and see plenty of sunshine in the forecast. the temperature is coming in around 76 degrees. a mild day on tap that will be on the breezy side. as we go through the evening, another cool evening, 54 degrees, mostly clear. then by tomorrow, it is going to be 78 degrees, partly cloudy with late showers possible in the forecast. so once again, don't head out without your rain gear because you could need it if you are going to a party or whoop it up into saturday. kim brown, make sure you have plans and if you do, grab the umbrella because you will need it. >> reporter: fortunately that rain will not affect us today for the friday morning commute. we have a couple of incidents to let you know about, one in average at washington street and williams street. we're dealing with a pretty bad accident at owings mills boulevard that has only the right lane getting by now. this is 83, very light volume, no problems all the way down as you head towards the beltway. as you check our drive times, no delays at this time. outer loop running smoothly five minutes from 795 to 70. the 95 corridor only a three- minute drive on the beltway and the harbor tunnel throughway, six-minute southbound. megan, back to you. it is september 10th, 5:21. time to say happy birthday to all of you celebrating a birthday like the man behind the picture. that is michael arthur taylor, jr. from the baltimore area celebrating a birthday. happy birthday, michael. tomorrow keyon grayson from windsor mill is turning 24. so happy birthday, guys and anybody else out there celebrating, happy birthday as well. >> if you are celebrating a birthday, tell bus your life and date of birth and send it in right now to morning show@wmar.com. we are counting down the days until komen maryland's race for the cure. it's set for sunday october 3rd in hunt valley. abc 2 news will be live on the air to broadcast the event on sunday from 7:00 in the morning until 9:00 in the morning. if you'd like to register for the big race, head to abc2news.com, click on the lifestyle tab. when you get there, scroll down and click on think pink. last-minute rehearsals are taking place for stand up to cancer. this is a telethon that airs tonight on all four major networks. more than 70 stars will be participating. >> i've lost some important people to cancer, and it's a personal thing with me. it's just not some abstract idea. >> stand up to cancer begins at 8:00 right here on abc 2. by the way, the first stand up to cancer program back in 2008 raised over $100 million. 5:22 right now. celebrities competing in this season's "dancing with the stars" are gearing up for a long road ahead of them, including michael bolton who's currently on tour. he he says it's hard to fit the six to eight hours of rehearsals in a day, but he's up to the challenge. >> i want to keep practicing. i don't want it to end. i'd like to do -- if it were up to me it would be like i was in the studio and i would go until 4:00 in the morning. >> i'll bet he does. >> you might, too. the new season of "dancing with the stars" kicks off september 20th right here on abc. >> you look an awful lot like the desperate housewife -- remember that star? amazing video in california. crews are battling a massive fire in san francisco. one person is dead, dozens of homes have been destroyed in the fire. we have the latest coming up. [ male announcer ] this is america. and this is our cheese. kraft singles. american cheese. only one nation could create it. and that nation is...america. a nation of dreamers, try-harders, doers. try doing this with roquefort. it's made with milk, never oil like some other slices. it is the culmination of the american dream. all wrapped up in individual slices. kraft singles. the american cheese. but you wouldn't want an antique computer. or an antique tv. ♪ or an antique remote control. so why are you still using an antique cable network created in 1948 for your 2010 tv? it's time to hook your tv up to a 100% fiber optic network. it's time for fios. visit verizon.com/getfios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. my commute home to the eastern shore every night only takes an hour but that's more time than congress spends reading massive spending bills, it's crazy. that's why i wrote a law that requires 72 hours to read every bill. i read the big bills and i said no. no to the $3 trillion budget, no to the bank bailout, and no to the health care bill. at home you would never pay a bill without reading it neither should congress. i'm frank kratovil and i approve this message because i'm proud to be ranked one of the most independent members of congress. . good morning, everyone. we are at the weekend. we made it. we could have a sigh of relief. today, we have the temperature coming around 76 degrees. it will be on the breezy side. as we head into saturday, abc 2 news shreds it for you. i think we'll stay dry into the day. as we go into the evening time frame, we can't rule out a chance for a shower or thunderstorm as you go into your sunday. there's a better chance for showers in the forecast. all in all, a good looking forecast as we head into monday and tuesday. we definitely need the rain over the weekend. we cool back down as another front rolls through as we head into the end of the week wednesday and thursday. let's head now to tech bytes. >> reporter: facebook inches past google. americans spent more than 41 million minutes on facebook in august compared to just under 40 million minutes on google sites including youtube. apple started selling its new line of ipods this week including a revamped touch with front and rear cameras, face time video and hd video recording. apple's ceo steve jobs calls it an iphone without a contract. ed baig says it comes close. >> reporter: i don't think it is a 24/7 cell phone replacement to have with you but can you make calls in a pinch, face time video and also regular phone calls using skype and line 2 as long as you have a decent wi-fi connection, the quality is certainly not bad. >> reporter: you can read ed's full review on usatoday.com. those are your tomorrow bytes. i'm rob nelson. you know, you think of california, you think of the beautiful beaches and perfect weather. not this morning. there is a much different picture to show you as look at this. san bruno is on fire. also this morning, he wants to burn the koran, won't burn the koran, now he's not so sure. when is this