behind one of the most iconic movie themes of all time announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening ancient history is facing an immediate and uncertain future tonight in one of the most cherished slices of america a wildfire roaring through parts of california s yosemite park, threatening hundreds of giant sequoias some more than 2,000 years old. tonight crews literally using a network of sprinklers to create humidity around the towering trees to give them a fighting chance. remarkable imagery revealing the spread and intensity of the fire, which doubled in size over the weekend. the fire fueled by the severe drought now affecting over 97% of california, along with extreme heat which is not just making things difficult in the west, but extending all the way to the gulf coast, leaving 36 million under heat alerts. miguel almaguer is in the fire zone tonight with late details. reporter: exploding in size again overnight, yosemite s washburn fire i
years looking out for the kids in her community. reporter: at age 70, robin borlando came out of retirement this summer hoping to save some young lives. don t play on the ropes, baby. reporter: a mother of three, grandmother of six, answering philadelphia s plea for lifeguards to open public swimming pools and help people kids off the streets. i was a lifeguard when i was 16 and loved it i decided to finally to do something for our kids, our community. they re killing our kids they have no place to go the pools are closed all around reporter: here in philadelphia, at least 100 children, 17 and younger, have been shot so far this year. i live in the house with my family, and we hear about 14 shots. reporter: including just steps from her front door. and it was three young boys that were shot and killed. when you see it, it s scary, and it s very sad.