have a lane closed here. they think they have another hour of work left to go. so, one lane still closed. five hours after the accident happened. this is what's left of the big rig that burst into flames on northbound 680 at 6:00 this morning. this burned shell and the aftermath in its wake, clogged traffic for the entire morning commute. >> this is awful. we can't even back down the road. so -- or i would get off. >> reporter: the view from sky 7 shows the smoke still billowing from what witnesses say was a huge fire. >> the vehicle was fully engulfed, so it was pretty visible from both sides of the freeway. as i approached the scene this morning i probably saw the least amount of way. >> reporter: investigators at this point think the truck suffered a blowout from the tire on the left-hand side and that set off an incredible chain of events. >> that caused him to swerve to the left sboorks the center divider. and then he actually merged over to the right shoulder of the freeway. >> when he hit the center divider it crumbled, spewing concrete on to the southbound side of the interstate. ten cars trying to avoid the debris crashed. some drivers complained of pain but no major injuries were reported. >> we were very thankful and lucky. especially with it being dark early morning hours. >> reporter: drivers in both directions were then stuck for hours. no movement, nowhere to go. it was especially stressful for people trying to get to work like this e.r. nurse. >> because our e.r. is full right now and nurses that have worked for 12 hours on the night shift need to get home and get to sleep. so they can rest good back tonight. >> ironically that's just where they took the four victims from this accident. they took them where she was trying to get. imagine seeing this coming at your car. this is a piece of that concrete divider. it hit one woman's windshield shattering it. she said she had glass inn eher eye. the other three drivers including the big rig driver, they all complained of various pain on their body, but they are all expected to be okay. reporting live in walnut creek, amy hollyfield, abc 7 nurse. a big rig crash in vallejo and fire on highway 37. this happened just before 7:00 this morning. it shut down both lanes. the eastbound lanes have since reopened. the westbound lanes may not reopen until 12:30 this afternoon. ab abcreporter has that story. >> reporter: sky 7 hd has the bright flames lighting up the sky. this started as five-car collision that included a big rig and four other cars. lanes were shut down on highway 37, forcing morning commuters to turn around. chp doesn't know what led to the crash or how the fire started but they say the big rig carrying two trailers of hay fueled the flames to keep going for hours. dustin miller captud video of the thick smoke from his backyard. >> this morning we heard some explosions outside of our backyard there. so i went out in backyard and we saw people on fire and there was an explosion. >> reporter: the driver of the big rig got out just in time. he and all the other drivers are safe. >> pretty scary feeling. and kind of a helpless situation. see how much fire and explosions like that. scary feeling. >> a scary situation for a caltrans worker as well after being rear-ended near the scene. >> i'm janet o., abc 7 news. caltrans driver who was involved in the three-car crash is unhurt and same goes for the other drivers in the incident. we mentioned this crash on the other in walnut creek causing major traffic headaches. traffic reporter is here to tell us more. leyla? >> yes. take a look at the walnut creek camera, southbound is moving along fine. one lane is taken away at highway 24. but this is a really impressive improvement from earlier this morning. now, northbound traffic hour a little bit different story with lanes slowly starting to reopen. the sigalert still is in effect northbound side at 680 at highway 24. still down to ten miles per hour and coming out of danville. you can use danville boulevard as alternate. it looks like things are slowly starting to improve here. we're going to swing up to highway 37 westbound side. still remains closed at wilson avenue. they expect it to reopen at 5:00 p.m. folks have been taking highway 29 to highway 12. that is also quite busy at this hour. so again, 5:00 p.m. is the estimated reopening of westbound highway 37 leaving vallejo. as far as walnut creek goes, amy thinks that all lane on northbound 680 according to chp should be around 12:00. >> wow. thank you so much. developing news in southern california. hundreds of cars still stuck along a ten-mile stretch of state route 58 after flash floods covered the highway with mud and debris. most of the vehicles appear to be big rigs. the california highway patrol says there are also 115 cars and two tour buses stuck in all that gridlock. abc news reporter marcy gonzales has this story. >> reporter: today a muddy mess in southern california after this. the thunderstorms year setting off massive mudslides. >> everybody out there is land locked. >> reporter: that flow miles long, setting swallowing cars tra stranding more than 100 people. >> are we stuck? >> we're stuck. >> reporter: shutting down a 30-mile stretch of interstate 5. >> 911. >> reporter: one of california's busiest freeways. >> next thing you know boulders are coming down the mountain. it was just really crazy. >> it just happened quick. so it was -- it was scary. >> reporter: this woman forced to abandon her car and trudge through the fast-moving debris filled flood waters. >> she's at least waist deep. >> reporter: emergency crews helping other drivers dig out of the thick mud. re rescuers spending hours searching through the air. the los angeles fire department tweeting pictures of one of their rescues bringing this dog along with several others and their owners stuck on the roofs of their homes to safety. and there were reports the mudslides hit a school, trapping 11 teachers inside. we're told it could take up to two days to get them out. marcy gonzales, abc news, new york. some new details this morning. the suspect accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old student at a sunnyvale charter school pleaded not guilty just moments ago. 18-year-old jonathan chow worked part time at spark charter school. abc 7 news reporter joins us outside court in palo alto. matt? >> reporter: about 45 minutes ago the defendant entered a not guilty plea inside this palo alto courthouse. now his attorney also asked for a psychological evaluation for his client. this is new video of this morning's hearing. you can see 18-year-old jonathan chow was in handcuffs as his attorney entered a not guilty plea to one count of sexual penetration with a child, two counts of lewd accounts with a child and two counts of child pornography. child was a part-time lunch monitor and extended care teacher's assist about at spark charter school in sunnyvale. the el many entry school has about 160 students, just opened this year. chow was arrested for the alleged sexually assault of an 8-year-old student on campus. the girl reported the incident to her mother. after that spark charter was closed for a due days after it was discovered. the school did not complete background checks on employees. our immediate reporter reports a claim on behalf of the parents and child has been made against the school and county board of education as precursor to a lawsuit. as for the criminal case chow will be back in court for a bail hearing. if convicted on all charges he could face life in prison. reporting live in palo alto. al po at to intersection is closed after a water main break this morning. water started leaking in the area just before 8:00 this morning. crews are still there working to fix that leak. they say they expect the intersection to be closed for most of the day. and that is forcing the vpa northbound line 89 to reroute folks. allow extra time if you're going to be using that bus this afternoon. happening now. a search is under way for missing 66-year-old man on the peninsula. albert jacobs was last seen in east palo alto eight days ago at his sister's house. police say jacobs suffers from a medical condition and may become disoriented. khaki pants and plaid shirt. license plate you see on your screen. a construction project gone wrong leading to a dramatic scene in houston. the developments just coming in after a scaffolding collapse that left several people trapped. another car recall. this time involving kia. the makes and models being pulled off the road and what you need to know to protect your fami when i was sidelined with blood clots in my lung,h. it was serious. fortunately, my doctor had a game plan. treatment with xarelto®. hey guys! hey, finally, somebody i can look up to... ...besides arnie. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. xarelto® is also proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people 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here in the bay area plan to join that effort in less than 20 minutes at 11:30. drivers are demanding uber increase rates by 60%. add an option for customers to leave a tip on the app. according to facebook posts strike supporters say many drivers make less than minimum wage once they add in the cost of doing business. technically only employees of a company can strike. drivers are open that uber takes them seriously even though they're supposed to be independent contractors. uber says that always welcomes feedback. new this morning, if you have a laid model kia suv you may want to get it inspected. south korean automaker a is recalling 670 thousands of surento crossovers. the transmission can be shifted out of park when the driver's foot is not on the brake. the recall covers or rent tos from the 2011-2013 model years. kia says it began investigating the issue in august when it got a letter from a lawyer saying the child moved the surento shift lever out of park. the suv rolled causing an injury. kia says it will notify affected car owners next month. extra steps for safety in the wake of a shark sighting near alcatraz island. what swimmers are doing before they dive in for a weekend competition. and then meteorologist ahead with the forecast. >> hi. good morning, everybody. let's look at live doppler 7:00 howard de hd. the showers are just about gone. we do have another chance of showers this weekend. cooler weather before another warming trend rolls into the forecast. i'll have the latest numbers for your neighborhood. firefighters pay it forward to members of the force who need it the most. what they're doing to make a difference for some of their own the health care law gives us powerful tools to fight it. on medicare fraud. to investigate it. prosecute it. and stop criminals. our senior medicare patrol volunteers are teaching seniors across the country to stop, spot and report fraud. you can help. guard your medicare card. don't give out your card number over the phone. call to report any suspected fraud. we're cracking down on medicare fraud. let's make medicare stronger for all of us. oakland, sunnyvale, all the bay area, this is a brbc 7 news >> happening today, surfers from around the world are in santa cruz for the annual cold water classic surf competition. we're looking live right now from our santa cruz camera. 96 surfers will be competing today through sunday. they come from all across california as well as hawaii, puerto rico, mexico, and japan. they're competing for points to qualify for surfing's top tier world tour. the grand prize winner this weekend will take home a cool $50,000. >> whoa. >> we're not there. >> 50 grand in your hand? >> yes. happy with that. >> it will be better sunday probably than saturday because we're going to have some showers tomorrow. especially near the coast. drizzle in the morning. in the 60s and 70s. here's some of that rain that we have this morning. palo alto, one of the light showers did come on down and look at just made it enough to be aggravating. not enough rain to help the drought or help out plants. just enough to make everything a little wet and maybe make your air a little less. all right. let's look at the east day oakland island. juries this beautiful sun rise this morning. watch how the lights through the clouds hitting the lower cloud. just absolutely gorgeous. thought i would share it with you. if you have pictures you want to share with us, #abc7now. i would love to see those. very colorful sun rise on my facebook page and twitter. you can see the clouds starting to cloud. going to be a brighter day today. all the moisture still up around 10 to 12,000 feet. that's why over the next couple hours the computer models are gridding out. that's about it. in fact, look at this. other than the low clouds developing along the coast, a maintain tomorrow. it's getting a lot brather outside. cooler today. chance of showers tomorrow. even cooler yet. it's going to be sunny and warmer next week. here's a look at our set-up. the low that brought the flooding rain to california. getting close to us but notice how it's losing the moisture. isolated sprinkles possible. if you're heading out this evening don't worry about it just take a coat. it's going to be a cooler than the last couple evening. brings us unsettled weather for saturday. here we are the rest of the afternoon. best chance of storms in the sierra if you're heading that way. overnight, drizzle possible. the best chance of any really organized showers up across the north bay in the morning. and then look how the cold front falls apart as it moves through the neighborhoods. at any time tomorrow there's a chance of a light shower. less sunshine than today. a little breezy and cooler. today we're in the 60s along the coast. san francisco, richmond. 70s everywhere else. 80s in the inland east bay neighborhood. heading up to the classic, noon, it's going to be 71 in napa. look at this. mid to upper 70s through the afternoon hours. colorful sunset. 52 degrees by the end of today. temperatures tonight we'll have a lot of cloud cover. that will keep us in the mid 50s to low 60s. if you're heading to half-moon bay tomorrow morning, probably the wettest part of the day even though scattered showers possible. 57 to 59. but sunday a lot more sunshine. 55 to 68. wanted to show you the niners, ravens game. mid 70s there. in santa clara. i was trying to go to the seven-day forecast. four degrees coolers tomorrow. low to mid 80s around the bay and inland. >> good night for a charity tonight. >> i know. i'm not going to be there with you tonight. >> san francisco. yeah. >> so they're celebrating another year of their new house. >> just opened in february. >> that's right. thank you for always be there for us. >> i'll be there next year. >> cool. let's move on. new this morning. . a group of very braf swimmers doing a test run a day before the alcatraz triathlon. look. they jumped into the water this morning. alcatraz island close to the same spot where the video was taken last saturday. this shows a great white shark feeding on the sea lion. david mcgwire says one thing swimmers will not be wearing tomorrow is a wet suit. >> if you're wearing a wet suit you're dark and look more like a sea lion. especially if we're at the surface. sometimes we believe it's mistaken identity that the sharks come up, they'll bite and circle around and realize we're not their prey and swim away. >> deer. mcgwire says the dolphin club will keep a close watch on all of the try athletes. fire department says charities across california are coming together to help dozens of firefighters who lost their homes in recent wildfires. the fire family foundation oakland firefighters random acts are connecting 30 departments with 30 firefighters who lost their homes. many in the fally fires. the apartments which adopt a firefighter will provide necessities for that person's family. organizers are hoping this will encourage a big brother/big sister program with firefighters in the future. it's finally friday. you know what that means. time to meet our perfect pet. find out how you can make these adorable little kitties part of your family. coming up next layover. 24 hours. hello, reykjavik. oh, so that's how you spell it. what are you looking at? oh, cool. hungry. fish, anyone? hello, seventh waterfall of the day. hello, duck boat. hello, sheep? oh right! itchy icelandic sweaters and no foreign transaction fees. sweet. one last look. ahh. triple points. and we're off. what's next? wherever the journey takes you, carry american express gold. it's more than a card. it's the gear that gets it done. coming up at 4:00, the special wording in san jose's minimum wage law that is costing workers big bucks. and on abc 7 news at 5:00 ham bugger alternatives. consumer reports puts veggies burgers to the test and finds out which one tastes the best. time for perfect pet. >> a couple of new friends. one who hasn't been here in a while. didn't mean to cut you off there. just want to make sure everyone remembers who you were. talk about your friends. >> yes we have pluto and piper here today. they are both 4 months old. they were found as strays in the western edition neighborhood but found in different locations. we're not entirely sure whether they're brother and sister or not. but they share a lot of the same person amouality characteristic. very out going, super confident. really fun cats. they've definitely become very good friends of the shelter during the last few weeks. >> adopt two if you can so they have somebody. >> exactly. we're not require that they go home together but we often recommend that kittens do get adopted in pairs. they're just a lot happier and healthier if they've got a buddy to socialize with and cuddle with and play with. >> somebody wants to get down and work around. well, we've got these two. i'm sure you can plenty of other animals in need of forever home. call, 415-554-3000. pluto and piper. absolutely. gorgeous and great, great cats. behaving very well. >> yes, but they do have a leash on, i noticed, right, if a kitty gets away, watch out. you try that. all right? thank you. all right. from all of us here at abc 7 news. thanks so much for joining us. have a great weekend. bye-bye. if you're an adult with type 2 diabetes and your a1c is not at goal with certain diabetes pills or daily insulin, your doctor may be talking about adding medication to help lower your a1c. ask your doctor if adding once-a-week tanzeum is right for you. once-a-week tanzeum is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes, along with diet and exercise. once-a-week tanzeum works by helping your body release its own natural insulin when it's needed. tanzeum is not recommended as the first medicine to treat diabetes or in people with severe stomach or intestinal problems. tanzeum is not insulin. it is 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[dramatic music] ♪ hello, everybody. i'm chris harrison, and welcome to the show. are you guys ready to play "millionaire" today? [cheers and applause] good. you might recognize our first contestant as the sign-language interpreter from the national christmas tree lighting, but after today, you might just remember her as a millionaire. from laurel, maryland, please welcome tenysa santiago! [cheers and applause] >> hi. >> hi, tenysa. how you doing? >> great! how are you? >> what a great honor. how do they choose somebody to get that job? >> gosh.