reporter: so, peanut butter and jelly was really popular? yeah. reporter: these guys appreciate it. absolutely. those thompson sisters bringing a little ray of hope this afternoon. a much needed ray of hope. you did hear the fire chief talking about the santa ana winds and he said, in the absence of rain, this could actually last through christmas, he said, potentially. i want to bring in meteorologist rob marciano. rob, what is the immediate forecast tell you? reporter: well, unfortunately, this long duration, very strong santa ana wind event is going to continue for the next couple of days, david. really, the next 12 hours, we ve got extreme fire danger with the winds being gusty. look at the humidity level. single digit across southern california. that s alarming. i have never seen that. and the winds through tomorrow, 40 to 60-mile-an-hour potential gusts. abating some what on saturday, but really remaining dangerous right through the weekend. david? all right, rob ma
last. and his answer was alarming. what s your concern going into tonight? really, it s the winds right now. mother nature really decides when we re going to be able to actually put the fire out, so, right now what we re doing is just trying to stay ahead of it. make sure we evacuate and protect structures. reporter: what are they telling you to expect in the coming hours, as far as the winds are concerned? we ve got gusts of 40 to 60 miles per hour coming hard out of the east, so, that pushes the fire really hard in a westerly direction. reporter: we re talking about homes, apartment buildings? homes, barns, apartment buildings. and we expect that number is going to go up significantly. reporter: there was a hospital involved, too? there was. hospital, large apartments, homes, people s livings, yes, destroyed. reporter: tonight, at least 150 structures here in ventura county are destroyed. but the fire chief telling me that number will go far higher, because assessment
the verdict is in. the former police officer charged with shooting an unarmed black man in the back. as he ran away following a traffic stop. the judge s decision tonight. and the day of rage. our correspondent witnessing the violent protests, less than 24 hours after president trump s announcement on jerusalem. and good evening tonight from ventura, california, as we come on the air live here in the west tonight. and we are here where the thomas fire is raging tonight, here in ventura county. just one of the multiple fires, in, a new kun eruone erupting i diego late today. all of these fire s fueled by te santa ana winds. gusts reaching more than 80 miles per hour. destroying homes. and as you take a look behind me, this is what you can see. nothing but the chill knees
in southern california and we re watching homes burn down as a result. nice couple. stay inside. carbon monoxide kills one man but other lives were saved. live at deadline to enroll is approaching fast. really frightening, lot of homes here. devastating. sorry. fear in the face of fire. that s what thousands of californians are dealing with right now. i m dan ashley. i m kristen sze. two new fires sparked today in southern california, making a total of six fires that have forced people to leave their homes. newest is liberty fire, started this afternoon in riverside county and already burned 300 acres. you can see the trees blowing in
pick up. yeah, just stunning images coming in right now from you, j.t. and i want to stick with those images and you mentioned the embers, because the fire chief here in ventura county told me late today that s his concern with the wind gumss overnight. they saw gusts up to 80 miles per hour or more. not sustained winds, but those gusts are enough to carry those embers multiple miles and ignite new fires. reporter: and that s absolutely right, david. you can see those embers on the hillside. those get embedded in the smoke and carry down range. they can be extremely dangerous. that s exactly what s happened with the fires. you see the fire burning on the hillside and the hillside, about a mile or two away will just start catching on fire and the fire continues as it crowns from one mountain top to another. j.t., our thanks to you and the team at kabc tonight, as well. i did speak with the fire chief here in ventura county, as i mentioned, moments ago. mark lorenzen. i asked him w