Transcripts For KTVU The Ten OClock News On KTVU Fox 2 20240

KTVU The Ten OClock News On KTVU Fox 2 July 13, 2024

The fire has now burned more than 54,000 acres, a steep increase from this morning when firefighters said the fire was 30,000 acres. Containment has fallen from 10 to just 5 . 94 structures have been destroyed and Officials Say another 80,000 structures are still threatened tonight. Also today authorities evacuated another 90,000 people from Sonoma County bringing the total number of people evacuated to 180,000. Heres a look at the evacuation zone. You can see the evacuations stretch from healdsburg down to santa rosa and then all the way to the coast. We begin our Live Team Coverage tonight with ktvus jana katsuyama. Reporter we just got an update. The wind gusts have been pretty intense here. I understand from one of the officials here that the fire has already jumped font road. Up the hill we saw about 15 minutes ago a number of vehicles coming out of shiloh ridge and dashing south down font road because in the past 10 minutes there has been an Emergency Alert imminent fire threat to the area of wikieyup south of shiloh, a very intense situation here as this fire continues to stay on the move. In the dark cal fire crews shifted trucks and firefighters with the shifting winds that pushed the kincade fire farther south towards shiloh. Orange flames glowed in the distance from pleasant avenue where crews were staged to keep the fire from crossing. Other crews headed up chalk hill road toward the chalk hill winery where firefighters were trying to protect structures there. There were also roadblock aids at fought road and east chilo road where the fire jumped the pavement about a half mile down. All day the firefighters tried to keep the fire east of highway 101, but wind gusts pushed flames towards evacuated areas. About 11 30 the fire broke out in the northeast part of windsor through foothill Regional Park. Weve had the northeastern part of our town covered in fire. So thank god we had all the resources from around the state. We had hundreds of firefighters come in at once. So they literally went from door to door and defended every single house. Reporter the mayor of windsor did meet with governor gavin newsom who came to the area late this afternoon and visited a shelter in petaluma at the Sonoma County fairgrounds. He met with some of the evacuees and declared a state of emergency he said so cal fire could pull in more resources from outside the state and free up more funding to help the firefighting efforts. He says that some of the resources from investments in new Fire Equipment are already being deployed. New blackhawk helicopters, were getting 12 of those. The first one came into the state last week and its been retrofitted so we have evening nighttime suppression capacity. 70 c130s and new radar and satellite and new Drone Technology and new Machine Learning and new unprecedented modeling on weather. Reporter back here live we saw a short while ago a number of cal fire and fire officials converging here to consult what to do next. Again, an Emergency Alert went out just in the past 10 or 15 minutes for the wikiyup area that says imminent fire danger. That area they say evacuate. They hope everybody is out of the area already. Right now that appears to be one of the places where this kincade fire is spreading. Weve learned today 94 structures have been destroyed. In the area where you are have you seen many destroyed homes . Reporter we have not, julie. Weve been kind of staying on this side of the area because you get down some of these streets, theyre so narrow that its really difficult even for some of the fire vehicles to get in and out, but certainly they are concerned about these winds that continue to gust because it is starting to push the fire away from the foothill Regional Park and more into that interface with some of these residential areas. So we will get an update shortly to find out what the status is and try to bring that to you later. You talked about that imminent threat, where they are all going right now. Are there a lot of homes in that area . Reporter we have not been able to go down there, frank, but ill certainly be asking about that. I think that is one of the reasons why they issued that Evacuation Order and that imagine alert. All of our phones started buzzing with that because it sounds like that is an area where there might be some structures. Jana katsuyama where firefighters are making a strong stand tonight to protect the communities of shiloh and windsor, thank you. All Public Schools in Sonoma County and most in marin county will be closed tomorrow. Officials say Sonoma County closed all campuses due to the fire and power outages. Marin county schools are also expected to be closed except for bayside mlk academy. Schools in calistoga will be closed tomorrow, also. Parents and caregivers are urged to check their district sites for updated information. We also have a list of School Closures on our website www. Ktvu. Com. Uc berkeley canceled daytime classes scheduled for tomorrow. University administrators say pg e shut off power to the campus last night and they dont expect to have the power back on until later in the day tomorrow. An update will be sent before noon regarding evening classes and events. Students and professors are told to have plans in place in case the campus remains closed through tomorrow night. Fire officials have talked all day about the fires erratic speed. For more on that and the wind conditions lets go over to bill. Which way are the winds pushing the flames tonight up in the north bay . Generally still pushing the flames southwest. Wikieup is a community, some of the flames moving in that connection, but theres been some swirling of the winds and some change in direction. As the wind patterns begin to shift into a better day tomorrow, but in the meantime red flag warning stays in effect through 11 a. M. Monday and the next piece a, the other headline, is another one gets posted tuesday night into wednesday morning, although a much lesser event. These are some of the wind gusts from today, healdsburg93 miles an hour. That is stunning. Weve all said it quite a few times in this newsroom. With that fire in place, the kincade fire 24 hours ago and then this wind event which is a huge wind event, its a huge fire meets a huge wind event. Ive never seen that before. So its amazing that cal fire has done such an amazing job keeping structures safe. I literally went to bed last night thinking healdsburg will be a mess and they have saved so many structures. Cal fire has a heck of a plan theyre working. I have to say that. The resources theyve pulled out, the Assets Available to them, i was present on the lafayette fire today or very close to that watching the air drops. In the old days it would have taken hours to have air tankers in. They had air tankers immediately. So its an unprecedented effort and seems to be really paying off, but theres a ways to go. The red flag warning lasts through tonight. The biggest winds will be in the next few hours and then theyll taper off quickly. The upshot to all this is as we get into monday afternoon, big break for cal fire with a wind is left shift and everything and thats going to give an opportunity to get back into containment before tuesday night when we get back into a red flag warning but a lesser one, not as strong of winds or huge coverage. The winds complicating firefighting efforts today, but tonight firefighters say they are optimistic. We have a report now from santa rosa where cal fire gave an update on the firefight. Greg . Reporter its still windy on that fire line and we are still seeing occasional gusts here in santa rosa tonight. Firefighters and, of course, bill just mentioned in about the next 24 hours those winds will start to die down, but firefighters said this evening the threat of kincade potentially spreading is still strong. Ing. Right now the latest observations as of around 6 p. M. This evening is we still have 40mile an hour wind gusts on the fire lines. Humidity values remain critically low. Weve been down to 9 and are staying in the teens. Reporter with winds still gusting strong tonight fire officials warned the threat of kincade spreading has not subsided, but in 24 hours a Weather Window of opportunity will open to make some progress. When we have the wind shifts that will occur tomorrow afternoon, that will greatly aid the firefighting effort. It will decrease the intensity of the fire, decrease flame lengths and rate of spread and allow us to go after it a little more aggressively. Reporter even though the strong gusts were evident this evening in santa rosa, some in the glenbrook neighborhood, an evacuation zone, remain complacent and are staying put. Im going to stay until i see fire directly across from me or something until i really have to go. Reporter even this Shopping Center also in the mandatory evacuation zone, a few businesses still operating including this carls jr. Where the drivethru remained open for business. If it gets closer, well close. Right now were short of staff. A lot of employees were evacuated. A few lucky ones are here. I appreciate all their work. Were just doing our best. Reporter officials acknowledged sunday night some people have a false sense of comfort that kincade is too far from santa rosa to be a threat, but Authorities Say one flying ember could quickly change that. I think what we saw today in windsor really puts a fine point why we need to listen to evacuation warnings. We had fire right up to the backyards of homes, homes threatened and many people threatened had that area not been evacuated. Reporter the sheriff says if people arent leaving their homes in evacuation zones because they have concerns about looting, they have more than 200 officers patrolling the streets to make sure that doesnt happen. In fact, they say just this morning in an evacuation zone in larchfield they saw a suspicious man wandering around. He was arrested, charged with what they call entering a closed disaster zone. We also heard about a couple injuries. There are 3,400 firefighters battling the kincade fire. What can you tell us about those injuries . Reporter yeah. Unfortunately at this evenings News Conference they did mention that. They said specifically there were two firefighters on the front lines fighting the fire and that one of them was injured. He was able to be treated for his injuries i guess on the scene, but the other firefighter, the injuries were more severe and he was taken to Uc Davis Medical Center to their burn unit. Lets hope that firefighter will be okay. Greg, thank you. The red cross has opened Evacuation Centers in the north bay. Some have reached capacity, but a few remain open. People can head to the Sonoma County fairgrounds in santa rosa, the marin county fairgrounds in san rafael and Napa Valley College and Crosswalk Community church in napa. San Francisco Mayor london breed declared a local emergency so the city can provide Emergency Shelter for people who evacuated from Sonoma County. It the temporary disaster shelter will be at st. Marys cathedral on gough street and will open at 8 00 tomorrow morning. Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for parts of Mendocino County due to a wildfire burning along Potter Valley road and highway20. The fire has burned 350 acres. The fire is 20 contained. Evacuation orders are in effect to the south and east of highway 20. Firefighters in the east bay extremely busy today racing from one spot fire to another. Coming up we speak to the owner of a tennis clubhouse thats now considered a total loss. Plus millions of people are without power in Northern California and now pg e says more shutoffs could happen this week. A fire breaks out in crockett shutting down portions of interstate 80, the progress fire crews were able to make on that fire today. In the east bay several spot fires in lafayette and martinez prompted Evacuation Orders there. Ktvus Azenith Smith is in lafayette where three long time structures burned including a tennis club. Reporter one of the structures that burned, the Lafayette Tennis Club near camino diablo, firefighters monitoring for hotspots and will be here all night keeping a close eye on the wind. See the big power line over here, i guess the huge power lines came down and there was a big boom and then apparently the fire started. Reporter Roger Galloway is describing the moments his staff at the Lafayette Tennis Club heard a loud explosion and heard power lines on the street above the club knocked down. Everyone was evacuated to safety as the clubhouse quickly was engulfed in flames. After 20 years of owning the club its my life. So that was my life that just went up in flames. Reporter galloway says the club was used by more than 100 families, home to the living means gym and the swimming pool. They used the swimming water to put out some of the pool. They couldnt get to the water that was up the hill because they couldnt get through the transformer that fell down. Reporter this near and another one south of the highway broke out around 2 00 sunday afternoon. Crews attacked the fire from the air and the ground. In total five acres burned, the wind making it difficult for firefighters all day. Well, as is going on throughout the bay area, were having a once in a 15 year wind event. So we have been aggressive staffing up all resources. Reporter three neighborhoods had to be evacuated out of fear embers would reignite, julia among the evacuees who packed her dog and got out. Its a little surreal, you know. We have some of our family up in other areas, no power. We think were fine. Reporter fire crews had the lafayette fire under control and raced to put out another spot fire in martinez near alhambra way that burned 50 acres prompting Evacuation Orders there. Are you scared . Im very nervous and stuff. Your mind kind of races what should i do next . Reporter one firefighter was injured. Galloway has insurance and is putting the whole day into perspective. Im just thankful everybody got out safe. Reporter earlier today the Lafayette Police chief told me twothirds of the city had the power shut off, part of the planned power outage. This neighborhood where the tennis club is located had the power on at the time. Earlier tonight we saw pg e crews inspecting the power lines. The cause of this fire is still under investigation. Azenith smith in lafayette tonight, thank you. Tonight fire Evacuation Orders have been lifted in the area of crockett. Those orders went out after a fire broke out near Cal Maritime Academy and then jumped the freeway forcing authorities to shut down the carquinez bridge for a time. The fire started on the other side of i80 about 9 30 this morning. Heavy winds carried it across the carquinez bridge and cal maritime ordered all students and staff to evacuate the campus. Some people in crockett also packed up and left their homes. I came through the freeway and it was already closed. I started crying because i seen all the fires on the side. Oh, my god, the place it done. Weve learned the cal maritime campus canceled classes and the tvs the activities for tuesday. Last check the fire was 80 contained and it burned about 150 acres. Winds toppled a large willow tree this morning injuring nine people, six taken to area hospitals with nonlife threatening injuries. The others were treated at the scene. It happened at 10 15 this morning at the outdoor market on main street. The market quickly shut down and public works crewed came in and removed the fallen tree. A childrens street fair it was canceled. In santa cruz a woman died from a fallen tree around 9 40 this morning. The woman was found dead underneath a tree at a small campsite off the rincon trail. A man at the same campsite was injured. Police say people should stay on the main hiking trails during the high wind advisory. Chief meteorologist bill martin joins us now with more on the changing wind conditions. Yeah. The winds are still blowing. Im finding some gusts in the kincade fire, the big fire. A lot of the small fires around the bay area like lafayette and out by benicia have been put to rest, but this big fire continues to burn and be influenced by the wind and the smoke plume thats traveling hundreds of miles. You can see it wafting out over point reyes. The winds are much less than last night at this time. This is the fire area. You can see which way the winds are blowing and where the fire is. So you know which way the fire is going to go technically. Theres some canyons and drainages that will funnel the fire, but its energy wants to go towards healdsburg and windsor. Last night it was the same thing. Thats what was amazing to me that the firefighters were able to stop it before it got into the highly Populated Areas. The winds tonight much less, 21 miles an hour, 17 miles an hour. The winds are still swirling kind of coming from all directions. The general wind is north northeast, but we are seeing much less wind. Thats really helpful to firefighters. Heres the piece that is the best i think. This is tonight. You see the winds dying down recall in the morning. Look at that wind field back off and what happens here with the wind shift right there. That wind shifts huge. I guarantee you cal fire will be on that all day tomorrow because this is an opportunity to get some containment. Its going to be the best opportunity because we ha

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