locked out the window and saw the smoke, and i thought it was the safeway or, you know, thought it was like much closer because the smoke was so large. >> there's still a major backup from the earlier shutdown on northbound highway 101 so here's look a gridlock from our traffic computer and a look at how many miles that red is. that is the stop and go stretch. just a lot of slow traffic. >> yeah. pretty bad. we'll stay on top of this story and bring you updates on the abc 7 news app. good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm kristein sze. thanks for joining us. traffic is also a major problem right now further south in marin county. >> that's right. the eastbound lanes of the richmond safe rafael bridge are closed right now after several hours. a big rig caught fire and has really delayed things. drivers have spent the day stranded order finding alternate routes. abc 7 news reporter wayne freedman is on the scene with the latest. >> oum cigarettes must a person smoke before crossing the richmond bridge today? when it's a mess like this, people are thinking more like packs. >> happened during the morning commute. >> now the aftermath has extended through nine hours and count being. at 8:00 a.m. this big rig or what remains of it hit an eastbound guardrail, careened another 150 yards and caught fire in a spectacular crash scene that even hollywood might be proud of. what happened exactly we don't know yet. the crash is still under investigation, but we do know the driver was not intoxicated. no injuries, no other vehicles involved. what a mess from diesel spilled on the roadbed to melted metal to a cargo of contaminated soil and concerns of structural damage from the fire and rerouting of traffic off the bridge backwards. meantime on the western side. bridge eastbound commuters waited. read this woman's lips to say i left two hours ago. her name is beth miller from santa rosa and is a teacher. >> what are you learning right now? >> patience and tolerance and acceptrance. >> reporter: well, that would be a good start. >> until the next stop. >> reporter: that's two jammed lanes, one long day in and around the richmond bridge. it began at 8:00 this morning. chp is estimating 6:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. for traffic to start flowing again. if experience is any teacher here, it might be a little bit before 6:00 p.m. knowing the chp, they give themselves a little wiggle room. last time there was a jam other they finished a little early. 6:00 p.m. is the official estimate here in san rafael for traffic heading east across the richmond bridge. live in san rafael, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> wayne, thank you. right now crews are trying to stop a growing fire in the santa cruz mountains. sky 7 is live above the loma fire which has scorched 1,500 acres since break out yesterday afternoon, and you can see it's still going there. so far one structure has been destroyed. a firefighter had to be taken to the hospital with a minor injury to the eye. because of the heat fire officials are worried about fatigue. the wind has not been a problem today but could pick up if the area cools down later this week. so far firefighters' biggest problem has been access. >> the roads getting into a lot of these areas can be difficult for the engines to get the penetration in to deploy the cruising and really make the progress that we like. >> at least 300 homes have been evacuated. the evacuees have no idea when they are going to be allowed to return to their homes. abc 7 news reporter david louie is live at the santa cruz county fairgrounds in watsonville where some residents and their livestock are just waiting this out. david? >> reporter: well, that's right, dan. so far 27 horses have been trailered and then brought to this facility in order to be safe from the loma fire. the evacuation of horses has been orchestrated by an all-volunteer group whose members drop everything in order to mobilize and to spring into action. the fact that only a few people have utilized red cross evacuation centers indicates residents have developed their own contingency plans. not so much for their animals. animal control officer george deleone says lorss, livestock and barn animals fire up a lot of people in and around loma prieto and a number will need to be rescued. >> it can be anything from goats, pigs, horses, cattle. to in the past we've had camels. >> reporter: and even four alpacas staying at a horse stall at the santa cruz county fairgrounds. an move >> for people staying in their home and evacuating to safety. some owners won't leave their animals and we're here to make sure that everybody gets out okay. >> jack flash is one of 27 horses that have been moved to the graham hill show grounds for safety. they are getting vet care and plenty of hay and water out of the fire zone. >> do horses sense danger? >> yes. if they get irritated, they get agitated, hyper. they sense, it so they know there's something going on. >> reporter: but here they are at peace as are their owners and there's room for more rescued animals. >> it all depends on the fire and how long the fire goes and how intense the fire is and how populated the area where the fire is going to be. it can be hundreds. >> reporter: that means the volunteers. equine evac have been standing by for several days working in conjunction with animal control officers and cal fire. we all know that fire conditions can change quickly. we're live in the santa cruz mountains. david louie, abc 7 news. >> david, thank you. let's go quickly to abc 7 meteorologist sandhya patel with the late on the conditions that firefighters are dealing with. >> yeah. sandhya, what's it looking like? >> right now, dan and kristen, it is still warm out there near the fire lines. it was about 90 degrees today so another hot dry one, 88, relative humidity creeping up and 14%. winds are gusting to 9 and that's pushing that smoke south away from the bay area but as you take a look here the forecast for the loma fire area increasing winds and lower temperatures and higher relative humidity, so it's a double-edged sword. we're locking at the higher humidity and cooler weather to help the firefighters. the winds will not help as they will be gusting into the next 24 hours to about 14 miles per hour tomorrow afternoon, and we'll take you in a little bit further and you'll notice the winds will continue to increase and go down so they will be a little bit shifty as we head into the next 24 hours. as far as the temperatures, they do go down. much cooler wet they are upcoming weekend and live doppler 7 is tracking the cooling change which is the fog. i'll be back with a complete look at your forecast coming right up. dan, kristen. >> thank you, saida-na. there is a haze hanging over parts of the bay area. as you can see in this view of the east bay hills from our camera. >> that's expected to be another spare the air day. abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez is live from the oakland hills with more on the air qualls there. >> reporter: dan, around here it's not fire causing the problems, it's the ozone and as you mentioned it is another spare the air day, and as temperatures have dropped hopefully continues will continue to improve. you know temperatures remain high when the local movie theater has "some like it hot" as the upcoming attraction. >> probably shouldn't be wearing the jean jacket. a little too hot for that. doesn't seem like it's cooled off much. >> the bay area quality district was monitoring the loma fire and the impact it may have on our air. >> we don't expect that smoke to come down to ground level. it's very high aloft. the main thing we're concerned about is ozone. >> that's why the high temperatures inland, low winds and the exhaust from the cars greet ozone which can irritate your lungs. today is the 25th spare the air day of the season. at uc berkeley a few students preferred the outdoors in the shade. it wasn't a sweltering day at cal but students were still whining. >> classes don't have air conditioning and ventilation and windows don't open that wide. >> right now it's just way too hot to come to close wearing anything but a t-shirt and shorts. i made the mistake of wearing black today and i'm paying for it. >> reporter: like many students here are hoping for the normal average highs in the 70s. in the east bay, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> just ahead at 5:00. >> there's no blatant racism that's gone on there. >> next, colin kaepernick is speaking out again, his criticisms of a bay area police department. >> also the east bay family trying to come to grips with the violent attack right outside their home. and heading off head lice. 7 on your side's michael finney checks out the products used to get rid of it. are they a they're bringing crime, when mexthey're rapists.ople... are you going to have a massive deportation force? you're going to have a deportation force. we're rounding 'em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. we're going to build a wall. that's not america. we're all californians. i'm tom steyer. it's time to speak out. please, register. and vote. vote. nextgen california action committee is responsible for the content of this advertising. >> i just saw my dad running inside bleeding saying they shot her. sheshot her. i'm just glad my mom is not dead. >> an outpouring of support for victims of a violent crime in a very peaceful neighborhood. a man pistol whipped and his wife shot twice in the front yard of their home in orinda. >> just horrifying and it happened very fast. a couple just returning home yesterday afternoon when they were confronted by two men wearing masks and carrying guns. >> abc 7 news reporter laura anthony is live in orinda when a search for the suspects is still under way tonight. laura. >> hi, dan. carol brown picked up her husband from the nearby b.a.r.t. station just before 9:00 last night and together the couple came here to do some grocery shopping and then police here will say these two masked men followed them home. >> we actually thought it was my son and his buddy doing a pre-halloween prank on us and then i saw the guns. >> a shaken tom spaulding told us he and his wife carol pulled into their orinda driveway when two men wearing halloween masks ran up to them. >> give it up and i reached in my pocket and pulled out my walt and gave it to him and he hit me in the head with the gun and meanwhile carol still thought it was a joke and was fighting to keep her purse which had her brand new phone in it and all of our vacation photos on it and the guy shot her twice. >> a member. orinda school board, 80-year-old carol brown was hit twice in the pelvis and upper arm. >> and i just saw my dad running inside bleeding saying they shot her, they shot her. >> reporter: the couple's son was in the home when his father came in. >> i think my dad said the one man had a mask with a pig snout on it. >> whether you're in a parking lot at the b.a.r.t. station or any shopping area, anyone can be a victim. it's important to always look around and see what's around you. >> i don't really know what to say. i'm just glad like my mom is not dead. >> reporter: tom spaulding told us his wife has several months of recovery ahead of her. in orinda, laura anthony, abc 7 news. >> 49ers quarterback colin kaepernick accused san francisco police of being racist when he spoke about his ongoing national anthem protest today. abc 7 news was at 49ers headquarters in santa clara when kaepernick spoke with reporters. kaepernick has knelt during the national anthem to protest police brutality and oppression of minorities in the u.s. a reporter asked kaepernick today if he would meet with local law enforcement to talk about his concerns. >> no. there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed within the sfpd. there's blatant racism that's gone on there that hasn't been addressed. >> reporter: kaepernick alsoics pressed for support for other athletes taking up his cause including high school football players across america. well, across the bay it seems the city of oakland wants to get into the marijuana business. city council committee meeting tonight will look at amenting the city's cannabis equity purchase program requiring the owners to give the city 25% of their earnings and a seat on their board. also the applicant or some of the employees must be oakland residents. if approved these amendments could generate millions of dollars for oakland but assemblyman ron vonta believes that move is illegal. he wrote the player wana regulations, by the way. >> parents know getting rid of your kid's head lice may be a real headache. >> michael finney is here with more. >> have your kids been to a school where there's an envistation? >> yes. >> before you rush to the pharmacy for a treatment, "consumer reports" reveals lice-killing alternatives that are safe and even more effective. >> months after her daughter came home from school infested with head lice kristine rodriguez still checks to make sure she is lice-free. i went to the pharmacy and asked what was the best treatment to give and at the time they mentioned nix. >> christine used nix, one of the insecticides recommended by doctors and the american academy of pediatrics. the research pub licked by the "journal of medical entomology" found 98% of the lice are resistant to popular over-the-counter treatments like nix ingredients >> reporter: they need to remove the live bugs and kill the eggs and nits. >> the chemicals on the products don't kill 100%. eggs and pose health risks. so what is the best way to get rid of these pests? "consumer reports" experts say the best method is to physically remove the lice and their eggs by using a lubricant such as a hair conditioner or olive oil and using a fine tooth metal comb to go through the head. >> the space has to be small enough for a single hair to go through and not an egg. >> reporter: use a paper towel to wipe a small comb in between passings. when finishes wash or rinse the hair and repeat this every day until no live lice or eggs are found. to prevent lice from spreading you need to check everyone at your home and soak combs and brushes in very hot water, somewhere between five and ten minutes and wash and dry clothing and bed linens at temperatures hour than 130 degrees fahrenheit. the heat kills stray lice and nits. seal everything that isn't washable in a plastic bag for two weeks, enough time to kill the lice. >> boy, they are stubborn little suckers. >> hopefully you won't have to deal with it but if you do, you know what to do. thanks, michael. >> it was noticeably cooler today at the coast. good evening, everyone. live doppler 7 showing you the fog has closed in on the coastline. the rest of you enjoying clear skies. compared to 24 hours ago notice the drop. 18 degrees cooler in san francisco and down it a degrees in half moon bay. our highs so far running in the low 60s at the coast and all the way to the upper 90s inland. not everyone is getting the cooling effects. inland areas are still baking in the heat. the breeze is coming in. this is switching things up, and that cooling air will continue to move into the inland areas. right now a live look from our golden gate bridge camera. it's pretty socked in. drive carefully if you're heading out to run errands. 66 in san francisco and mid-70s in oakland and 91 and still warm in san jose and half moon bay you're chilling, 57 degrees. we're watching the fog roll in and hopefully this is a welcome sight for many of you. 88 in santa rosa and a beautiful view of the frog from the east bay hills camera and it will be increasing. foggy coast and bay overnight and cooling trend continues tomorrow with below average conditions this upcoming weekend. here's the hour-by-hour evening planner. coastal fog at 6:00. still going to be warm inland, in the 90s. mild at 8:00 p.m. except near the coastline, and the temperatures will be dropping at 10:00 p.m. the fog increases at midnight, and it's going to be much better sleeping weather tonight for those of you who do not have it for the air conditioning. a look at our computer animation, 7:00 tonight and notice it's foggy at the coastline and the fog will push in towards the east bay and parts of the north bay for the morning commute and then it will just sit there all afternoon long keeping you comfortable at the coast. tomorrow morning when you get going it's going to feel better as well if you've been sweating it and don't feel comfortable. tomorrow morning temperatures beginning in the low 50s to low 60s. clear inland and foggy at the beaches and for the afternoon we'll continue to see the drop in the temperatures spreading into our inland valley. yes, we'll still make it up into the 90s in a few locations but not everywhere. most of our inland valleys in the 80s along the coastline. we'll go with the 60s with the fog lingering and everybody else in between that change. look at the changes coming. a slight chance of rain on monday and now it's primarily going to be in the evening, but before we get to the monday rain chance there could even be a few showers as early as sunday in the north bay. you'll want to track all of this with live doppler 7 and download our abc 7 news app and it will come in handy. accuweather seven-day forecast. cooling spreads, low 60s to low 90s and near average for your thursday and notice the temperatures in the low 80s and then it's going to feel like autumn. mid-70s right on through the weekend and by monday you bottom out. a slight chance of showers in the low 70s. tuesday partly cloudy and mid-70s so we're going to drop below average. here's the deal. the reason why it's kind of blurry for the rain chance between sunday and tuesday as one computer model is wetter than the other. at this point it's pretty early in the season to get rain but the climate prediction center is saying above average chance of rain so we'll see what happens. dan and kristen. >> thanks, sandhya, so much. coming up at 5:00, a teenager proves to be a cut above. helping the homeless in his neighborhood and then at 5:30 on "world news" with david muir. >> kristen and dan, the massive deadly home explosion that you'll see. authorities believe it was gas and the death of a major league star and what donald trump is now saying. next on abc 7 news. >> prepare to be impressed by the young inventors walking away winners from google's science we can't go back to the years of devastating cuts to public education. exactly why i urge you to vote yes on prop 55. prop 55 prevents $4 billion in new education cuts without raising taxes on anyone. and there's strict accountability in prop 55. with local control over school funding decisions. and mandatory annual audits guaranteeing the money goes directly to our classrooms. not to bureaucracy, not to administration. so vote yes on 55. because it helps our children thrive. new results show last year's high school seniors in california lag behind the rest of the nation on two key portions of the s.a.t. on the scale of 200-800 they scored an average of 4491 on critical reading and 500 math. that's 3.5 points below the national average respectively. california students did well on the writing portion though. they scored an average of 485. that's three points above the national average continuing an 11-year run of outscoring their peers nationwide. san francisco police are crediting good mayor tans for stopping a man wielding a hatchet. this happened yesterday inside lincoln square at turk and goff streets. police say 23-year-old man was hitting a 39-year-old with a handle of the hatchet and when the man was about to hit the victim with a blade end of the hatchet, police say good samaritans tackled the attacker. he is now in custody. the victim suffered injuries to his back, niece and hands. >> could have been so much worse though, right? >> yeah. >> you might be one of those folks who feels better after getting a haircut. >> that's right. so you're about to see how homeless people enjoy that feeling thanks to two young men. >> julio rodriguez and zach fauso turned a street corner into an outdoor barber shop in south bend, indiana. they aimed to spread love with scissors, clippers and combs. >> just as long as everybody out here feels good and gets a haircut i'll be happy. >> give them some hope, you know, make them feel good about themselves for a day or two. >> both young men happened to be in barber school and they hope to spend years helping people look and feel their best. >> what a clever and nice idea. >> yeah. putting their skills to good use. >> coming up at 5:00, why donald trump will not help you get ahead when it comes to beating the morning commute. >> oh, my. >> stay with us. coming up at 6:00, we're live in santa clara county where the loma fire is burning. hear from the people who left their homes in a hurry and now wondering if they will have anything to go back to. plus, election upside. could you call it a trumped up business boost at one bay area store. and see 7 on your side's michael finney help fight a fast track bill he never should have received. all of that is coming up in half an hour on "abc 7 news at 6:00." for now, back to you, kristen and dan. >> thanks, ama. we'll see you then. >> finally here, a driver in washington state has learned donald trump will not help you get ahead when it comes to beating the morning commute. >> check this out. a driver in a seattle suburb placed a cardboard cutout of trump's noggin on the passenger side head rest hoping it would help him cruise the carpool lane pretending there's an extra person there. >> the driver really wasn't using his head. a washington state trooper pulled him over and the driver faces a fine of at least $136. >> might want to try something more realistic looking next time. right, not that we're advocating that you try to cheat in the carpool lane. >> if you do it, do it better than that. >> "world news tonight" with david muir is next. i'm tonight, breaking the record. the most-watched debate ever. donald trump, hillary clinton, and the new fallout this evening. trump upset about his mic. upset about some of the questions. will he do the next two debates? and hillary clinton today, clearly relieved. >> did anybody see that debate last night? >> and the miss universe who says donald trump body shamed her. and trump tonight doubling down. also tonight, the massive and deadly house explosion in new york city, after worried emergency calls about gas. the battalion chief and father of three killed in the blast, 20 injured. and tonight, word coming in now of an arrest. the fires and the floods. the emergency evacuations, flames at least 300 feet high. and the floods. thousands fleeing their homes as a new syst