on the ground. reporter: strong winds and dry conditions are fuelling the raging wildfires in southern california as officials continue to battle. 110,000 people evacuated from homes. schools closed in at least 15 districts and thousands without power. low humidity and strong gusts keeping firefighters on edge as they hope to contain a difficult series of fires. topography, steep, hard to get members in there and hoses deployed. reporter: more evacuations in ojai valley. thomas fire, 150 square miles. state of emergency under way. urge caution even as threat starts to fade. still ask folks to stay away from homes. not completely out of the woods yet. hope to let people back in as soon as possible. reporter: for residents, devastation of homes coupled with neighbors gone in a flash, almost too much to bear. i m numb. i don t know. we ll get through it. it was very quaint, cozy neighborhood. and the house was just wonderful. i don t know what s going to happen.
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 strong winds fanning these flames so ferociously. hours earlier lilac fire exploded, at least 20 structures destroyed before this neighborhood burned to ground. last check, 2,500 acres and growing rapidly. gained most ground on the smallest skirball fire near bel-air. 20% condetained. rye fire is 7,000 acres. thomas fire in ventura county, almost 100,000 acres and destroyed 150 buildings. creek fire, burned down five homes and ten other buildings, including this barn with 40 horses trapped, just six survived. omar shows us what it s like on the ground. reporter: strong winds and dry conditions are fuelling the raging wildfires in southern california as officials continue to battle. 110,000 people evacuated from
reporter: she was one of a handful of women who came to the california coastal commission hoping to put pressure on mavericks organizers to bring true gender equity to the event. there s definitely sexism out there. there s no doubt about it. reporter: the committee for equity and women s surfing says mavericks plan for a women s heat doesn t go far enough and says the prize money a total purse of $120,000 for the men and $30,000 for the women is obviously unequal. the group wants the commission to deny mavericks four-year use permit application and cut it down to one year to leverage a full women s division in 2017 and beyond. i would like to see these women compete in semifinals and a final. i don t know why it doesn t go far enough that we had a very hard time finding six women to make up one heat. reporter: mavericks founder jeff clark said more women need to surf mavericks on a regular basis to qualify for the contest and mavericks worked hard to put women
cove neighborhood and in front of the vegas home, you can see a small arrangement of candles and flowers. this is where the veteran officer and his wife raised their family and where he died before dawn. police officers assembled and saluted, as the body of 58-year- old gus vegas was escorted to a corner with the presentation of an honor flag. vegas had 15 years with richmond police. it was great they sowed such respect for him. neighbors were struck by the senseless loss. still have so many years left of giving to the community, to his family, to the children he took care of. now it s all gone. i heard the shots this morning. pop, pop, pop. reporter: those closest heard shots just before 5:00 a.m. but to link them to this household, always peaceful or their neighbor, off-duty. he always smiled. he was always, a common neighbor. a solid guy. and you could talk to him about anything. this is a huge blow for us. reporter: richmond s chief joined with investigato
medical problem may have caused a wreck. when first responders arrived the car was running and the driver was unconscious, the 55- year-old man was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. we want to start with weather and traffic this morning, we re on friday, people want to know what the weather is like. cooler as we go into friday and saturday. it a mix of sun and clouds, sometimes the surge up sun wins out. mostly clear. the patchy fog. 40s on the temps. 52 and temperature not going to change that much. 25 in truckee. a mix of sun and clouds. some of the patchy fog is there occasionally the clouds move in. partly cloudy, cooler, but by the coast and around the bay, with more fog. happy friday. happy friday steve. traffic is doing well, let s take a look at what we have with 880 north and southbound. it is a nice drive, you expect it to be light at this early hour, we re not disappointing. san mateo bridge traffic is looking good heading to the peninsula