a very loud explosion is what i heard. and then there was a bit of a commotion inside. >> a terrible and deadly explosion at one lab. one worker killed and another injured when she was literally blown out of the building by the blast. good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> i'm carolyn johnson. it happened after 4:00 this afternoon when a scientist was

preparing a pre gas mixture at mrt, membering technology and research in menlo park. the investigation into what caused the blast has yet to begin. abc7's don sanchez is live in menlo park with the story. don? >> a little preliminary estimate that there may have been some sort of problem with pressure. there were problems and delays trying to get inside because there has been a leaking methane cylinder there, and they were trying to drain it. right now investigators are about to go inside. >> for me it was a loud explosion. that's what i heard. >> bob collier works with office usa buff the lab where they happened. >> i heard the building shake and i heard the explosion. >> jim hill was at his office when the explosion occurred in the lab down the hall. he joined two dozen other employees in getting out of the building. the scientist was mixing helium, methane and nitrogen

into one cylinder like this when something went deadly wrong. and some of the people went to the aide of their fallen comrades. >> it was risky in the laboratory. they didn't turn off the other cylinders. >> the man from the lab was still alive, but he died in front of the building. and there was a woman scientist in the lab who was blown out the door by the force of the blast. >> she was transported, as i understand it, outside of the hearing and eardrum-related issues, more than likely from the pressure of the explosion in the con -- confined area. according to her fellow workers -- co-workers, the complaint was minimal. >> it has damaged the lab, and they have determined if it is safe, and there has been water damage. the company does research on a filtration process. but the fire chief says there was never a hazard from the explosion. >> the nature of what you do here and the size and the amount of product they are

able to use, there isn't a risk to the local community or anyone outside of the structure itself. >> what caused it, and what role does that leaking cylinder play? >> that's what investigators will determine. >> i know the ins and outs, but i can't think of what will set it off? >> cal-osha will take the lead on the investigation. now, because of the damage inside, they are red tagging the building, and that means nobody can get back inside until monday at the earliest. in menlo park, don san -- sanchez, abc news. >> thank you. we have breaking news from san francisco. police are investigating a hit-and-run accident that happened after 10:00 in the south of market area. officers say a car hit a pedestrian at huh thon before taking off. -- uh thorn before taking off. the victim was rushed to hospital with serious injuries, from what we understand. the suspect's car likely has front end damage. to southern california where a fast-moving wildfire

forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes. the fire has i don't know to more than 1100 acres and it is threatening million-dollar luxury ranch houses. two mobile homes have been destroyed. 1500 homes are still under evacuation orders right now. the fire is just 20% contained. it started in the center divide of interstate 15 in the cajon pass and close -- closed that freeway for a time causing traffic back ups on the route from l.a. to las vegas. i-15 is back open now in both directions. federal investigators are looking into a gas explosion that destroyed a cupertino home. this condominium in the northwest square complex was gutted during a fire on wednesday afternoon. no one was hurt, but crews found seven leaks on a gas line serving the complex. both the state puc and the national transportation safety board are investigating the incident. a vigil brought two families together, families forever changed by violence. the navas lost their three-year-old son in a gang shooting in early august, and

as thomas roman reports, just weeks later, jose esparza's six-year-old son watched his father get gunned down. >> tears, screams and prayers accompanied the next vigil and memorial for jose esparza and three-year-old carlos nava. six-year-old jose esparza, junior placed a candle at the memorial. he watched as his father was gunned down last sun day. his mother says he's in shock. "he acts like he doesn't understand what is going on. she in denial. but everything is recorded inside him." the crowd of 100 family, neighbors and friends came to the el pueblo market at international boulevard. this is where esparza was shot to death during an attempted robbery after he cashed his check in the market. this monsignor says he has been saying funerals lately

for children he once baptized. >> i had a mass for the little boy nava three years old two weeks ago. last week i had the funeral of jesus, a young man, 21. >> reporter: now the memorial for esparza. she is the godmother to esparza's oldest son and she says the family is reeling. "it is very sad. especially watching my god son. he is seeing a psychologist, but the youngest still doesn't know what he has lost." oakland police arrested two suspects in the nava drive by shooting which they say was gang-related. it happened on 95th avenue down the street. so far the gunman who killed esparza are still at large. organizers say they plan to have a vigil on the anniversary of carlos nava and esparza's death so the community doesn't forget. in oakland, abc7 news. >> burglars hit an antique store early in the morning hours stealing an eek toos, jewelry and art work.

it happened at the antique and design mall on bay shore boulevard around 3:30 this morning. among the items stolen, gold and silver coins dating back to the 1800's. >> they took the gold and silver, and anything that i think would be a fast meltdown gold coin, silver coin, sterling silver, george an silver which is from the 1800's. >> the owner says the burglars entered here through the roof and then dropped through a shaft into the store. no arrests have been made so far. a duck injured by a blow dart was rescued by a concerned citizen. over the past week someone shot several ducks with a blow gun at the marina playa complex. this young mallard was hit under the eye, went straight through. the dart was removed at wildlife center of silicon valley. the duck is doing well and will vent -- eventually be

released. the green day front man was kicked off a southwest airlines for wearing saggy pants. armstrong sent a tweet saying "just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants caged too low. no joke." armstrong was trying to fly from oakland to burbank. cindy chu was on the flight and witnessed the incident. >> a flight attendant approaches him and says, "pull your pants up." and so he said, "don't you have better things to do than worry about that? ". and then the flight attendant said "pull your pants up or you are coming off the plane." >> southwest responded to armstrong's tweet saying "very sorry for your experience. someone from our kerry lagses team will reach out to you to get more details." a new twist in the on going saga over that lost iphone 5 prototype. c net said it went missing at this mission district bar. a source said the phone's signal was traced to a home in san francisco. after initially denying that

officers were involved, this sfpd says four plain clothed officers did in fact accompany apple security to a home on anderson street. according to police is, two apple security officers went in the house, but they did not find the phone. the man who lives in the home claims the apple employees did not identify themselves. apple would not comment. no new jobs. up next, the august unemployment report in the bay area faces behind the dismal numbers. >> and the president diverted on his way to camp david. why the military brought marine 1 down prematurely. >> and why tropical storm lee is packing as it heads towards new orleans. and then late other "nightline." >> coming up next on "nightline" travel deals worth snapping up. how good old-fashioned travel agents are back and winning bargain hungry customers. and christian kick boxers. these men say they are cracking heads in the name of the lord. that's on

>> closed captioning brought to >> closed captioning brought to discouraging report on the nation's jobless picture. it sent the dow jones industrial average tumbling more than 250 points.

all the games for the week wiped out in a single day after the labor department reported that not a single job was added in august. zero job growth for the first time in nearly a year. and the nation's unemployment rate stubbornly stuck at 9.1%. here is wayne freedman. >> reporter: the monclai re district seems okay. it seems prosperous at first glance. >> how many people have applied? >> only five, and i have had it up for a week. >> reporter: but even julia craig would say to look deeper in this shadowy economy. that's for carol saldono. a mother of two who fits the definition of under employed. raquel had to take two jobs. >> i made just enough and i get like another one. >> it is a bit misleading. yes americans are working, but not as much and not making as much and changing careers to

do so. >> we are both middle aged rookies. >> they made good livings in real estate before the economy collapsed and both were out of work for more than a year. and now they are learning on an up swing mortgage brokering. >> did you ever think you would start a new career at 58 years old? >> no. my boss' mentor is 36 years old. seems like i was 36 yesterday. >> i think the realization you have to keep training yourself is huge. >> they expect to make more money in these jobs than they did in their old ones. but they would be the exceptions these days. >> there is nothing to be put away for savings. my car is 10 years old this year. i need to buy a new car. >> she used to be a caterer and now she works in a pharmacy making 70% of what she used to without benefits.

this is a job she had to take. >> i am scared to get laid off again jie. what would that mean? >> well, i have used up a year of unemployment scpru to rebuild your unemployment status. >> have to, not want to. under challenged, underpaid and under employed. >> what's wrong with our economy. >> i don't know. but we need to find out fast. >> just one other note, the name of the report is hardly reassuring. they call it out of work and losing hope, and yes the investigators did time its release for this labor day weekend. 234* the -- in the newsroom, wade free man jie. if you or someone you know slook for work, organizers of the next job journal event are hosting an event in south san francisco on the 20th and will offer more job openings than ever before. it is free, and we have all of the information you will need at abc7news.com.

president obama will address a joint session of congress about his new jobs plan next thursday. we will air that speech right here on abc7 beginning at 4:00 p.m. tonight president obama's helicopter marine 1 made an unexpected stop on the way to camp david. shortly after taking off from the white house, the chopper landed at a site in west virginia where he and his daughter took a motorcade the rest of the way. the military made the call because of weather. there were no reports though of wind or rain in the area. >> not the case elsewhere. heavy rain is expected to dump on folks living anywhere from louisiana to the florida panhandle this weekend. look at this satellite image. tropical storm lee is bearing down on the gulf coast. governors of louisiana and mississippi declared states of emergency. the biggest concern was flash flooding. that's big trouble for new orleans because the city sits eight feet below sea level. sandhya patel has been tracking lee for us. >> she has that and the

weekend forecast. >> yes, i want to show you tropical storm lee has intensified. it is packing winds of 50 miles an hour. it is in the gulf of mexico tracking north at 5. it is really kind of erratic in terms of its movement. rainfall as you look here over the next couple days expected to be really on the order of 10 to 15 inches across louisiana and mississippi and parts of alabama and the florida panhandle can pick up four to eight inches of rain. as the tropical storm makes landfall across louisiana, they are expected to sigh some widespread flooding across the area. so the concern is with the isolated amounts of 20 inches it could spell problems. live doppler 7hd showing moderate to heavy rain moving into new orleans and as you can see, this will continue to be the case over the next 24 hours. here in the bay area, high temperatures came up today in most areas in the upper 90s around livermore, antioch,

fairfield. clear lake hitting 98 degrees. san jose is 89 and 90 in santa rosa. these temperatures though are going to be heading down as we go into the next couple days. 69 in san francisco right now and half moon bay is foggy and 61 degrees. half moon bay is reporting visibility down to about three quarters of a mile right now and it is going to mean areas of dense fog along the coastline. san francisco as well, we are seeing that on the tower cams. antioch clear and 81 degrees. dense fog near the coast this weekend. gradually cooler this week -- weekend, and we are looking at hazardous conditions. the swell that has been building will continue to maintain the higher than normal surf which means watch out for the possibility of rip currents for south facing beaches. fog near the beaches are really in over the bay. we are already seeing it around oakland, hayward and this is going to continue to be the case through the morning hours. temperatures in the morning, low 50s to low 60s.

the pattern for the weekend is going to be a quiet one as the higher pressure controls our weather. we will see though downward trends in our temperatures. tomorrow they fall and they fall more on sunday and then continuing right through labor day. still pleasant weather. look at the highs on saturday. warm and 90 degrees in saratoga and 87 in san jose. 86 santa clara. on the peninsula, afternoon sunshine and 84 for palo alto, mountain view, millbrae art and wine festival a nice day. if you don't mind the fog, low 60s. you won't see a lot of sun along the coastline. downtown san francisco, 66 degrees. in the north bay, upper 90s around ukiah, but the mid80s for sonoma, novato. 75 in oakland and 80 for union city. inland areas, still a warm, sunny day. 94 in antioch and around the monterey bay, 68 degrees in money tau rai. here is your accu-weather seven-day forecast. it is warm inland and cool at

the coast, but the general trend through the labor day weekend is a cooling trend. back to work, back to school. it is a warm up on tuesday and wednesday. >> thanks, sandhya. coming up next, getting more out of your weekend. >> and

french fries and potato chips may have given the potatoes a bad name. it finds the lowly spud could be good for the heart. even a small pilot study of just 18 patients suggests a couple servings of potatoes a day can lower the blood pressure as much as oatmeal without causing the weight gain. these potatoes were microwaved without the butter or sour cream added as toppings. the purple ones in particular appear to be have the highestment amounts of antioxidants although the redskined and white skinked potatoes could have more affect. >> no butter or sour cream? >> we are finding out about another benefit of vigorous exercise. researchers found people who exercise intensely continue to burn calories after their workout. the study published in medicine and science and sports and exercise was done

on men who were really pumping a stationary bike. it turns out they burned almost 200 extra calories over the next 14 hours. this post workout calorie burn. researchers remind us though that you really need vigorous workouts, more than just walking to get the full benefit of that. larry beil is burning calories as he sits there. >> i did do vigorous things today. >> moving on. >> it is now or never for the giants. speaking of vigorous and intense. shades of last december for cody ross. doing it with a bat and angrily. the giants cooled down the defense. sports is next.

good evening, everybody. the raiders wrapped up the pre-season in seattle tonight. head coach hugh jackson was kind of curly -- surly earlier this week, and this won't make him happier. this is hugh in one of his

happier moments tonight. raiders got a decent game from campbell. campbell 8 of 11 and 76 yards and the raiders though could not find the end zone. the seahawks with their own problems. jackson throws into coverage and branch says i'll take that. interception and a nice return for the raiders. they couldn't do anything with it. the seahawks are making something out of nothing. washington off the shoe tops. the immaculate reception. washington takes it inside the 20, and then clayton takes it in from there. the seahawks beat the raiders 20-3. the silver and black are 0 and 4 and will open for real at den vemplt to college -- for real at denver. it is their season opener tomorrow as they host san jose state in the go walsh legacy game. he has begun his quest for the heisman. if you are mike mcintyre, the question is how do you stop mr. lock? >> maybe he will twist his ankle getting off the bus. that's the only way you can

stop him. you have to make sure you don't let the running game get out of hand. >> and join us for the kickoff game of "lexus after the game." it is bigger and better than ever. well, bigger. we will be on around 8:30 right after abc prime time game. better late than never. the reeling giants opened a series with first place arizona this evening and the offense returned. the giants looking to pack some punch like this dude. giants were down 1-0 in the third and he is staying hot. just misses the homerun here. cody ross should be out by a mile, but he is way off the mark. beltran can heat up the giants and they can make tinting. high, deep and aloha. to the fifth and the beltran show continues. he bloops the single and in comes cane. he is four for four and three r.b.i. in the seventh, it is ross muscling up and a solo blast.

his 11th. shades of the way he exploded last september. he is doing it with the bat and the glove. spectacular grab. a save and a beauty. full extension and the giants win it 6-2 and they close to within five back of the diamondbacks who have their 9-game win streak. and the a's and m's in oakland where you don't leave home without your bobblehead. the a's are down and bases loaded in the third. matsui crushes this ball all the way to the wall. 3-2 oakland. to the fifth and scott sizemore sliced to right and in comes matsui to make it 5-2a's. cliff pennington had one hit and he made it unit could. -- made it count. the a's busted open and roll to the 9-2 victory. >> that was a catch from cody. >> that is what the giants need right now. they need some momentum and they need to get a little hot. >> runs would be a nice thing, unusual these days. >> we are looking forward to

after the game too, larry. the expanded version. >> the expanded version of after the game. >> "nightline" is next. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm carolyn johnson. for larry beil and sandhya patel, have a good [ female announcer ] did you know nine out of ten growinkids don't get the recommended amounts of whole grain and calcium? that's where their favorite cereals like trix and cocoa puffs can help. general mills big g has the only leading line of kid cereals with at least eight grams of whole grain and a good source of calcium. look for the white check on the cereals they already love... like cinnamon toast crunch and lucky charms. help them grow up strong with general mills kid cereals. ♪