live from the cbs bay area studios, this is kpix 5 news. a live look outside, dangerous weather conditions rolling in , adding to a tough firefight for crews on the front lines. unfora for isolated thunderstorms to begin within the next few hours, we will show you where they are and what to expect. we need to talk about the air quality because it is hazarded coming up. prompting new evacuation orders, the rush to get people out. also, fire crews dealing with another problem, looters. one firefighter was robbed while battling the lightning complex. >> you try to take advantage of them and we are going to

prosecute you to the full extent of the law. thank you for joining us, three massive wildfires are burning across the bay area. they have scorched over 1100 square miles nearly 7 times the size of san jose. flames are forcing new evacuation orders this evening. right now firefighters are bracing for dry lightning and gusty winds that could ignite new fires. the biggest fire is the l and you lightning complex burning in the north bay. more than 500 square miles have been scorched, and containment is at 17%. katie nielsen is in the dry creek valley area and what are ns l >> this is actually the calm before the storm, literally and figuratively. the winds have not really picked up yet, we are not seeing any of those thunderheads but we are seeing a lot of these helicopters, this is the

national guard, a blackhawk helicopter with what they call a bambi bucket. a 600 60 gallon bucket pulling water out of this pond in the dry creek area then taking off, headed back into the fire lines on the other side of the ridge from us. again, these helicopters are trying to do as much work as they can before the storms later tonight. >> i set them up on the roofs. >> i am not supposed to be here. but i am saving my home, i hope. >> a complex system of sprinklers and hoses are trying to keep the entire property wet knowing there might not be enough firefighters to save every structure.

today, crews as far away as seattle are helping construct a friend, clearing brush and raking leaves from buildings that could be at risk. the same time, three air national guard helicopters with 660 gallon water buckets made roundtrips back and forth from a pond in dry creek to the fire line on the hills. trying to shore up the containment lines ahead of tonight storms. >> the last thing we will need anywhere in the state, that will be another strain on resources. representatives made it clear during today's press conference, the focus overnight tonight will be to attack any new fires caused by the forecasted thunderstorms. >> if we do get a new start, we have the resources. it's difficult, but we have to do is, we have to make sure we don't get this on us. >> what is the plan with the very real threat of new

lightning strikes? >> reporter: as you can see, a lot of resources are already in place, you just saw another one of those blackhawk helicopters take off behind me. what we have been told is that they do have engines and other resources so if another fire starts tonight the priority is to get on it and get it out. life there dry creek. katie nielsen, kpix 5. let's go to meteorologist, derek peck, keeping track of the storm and air quality. >> let's start with the thunderstorms just showing up on the radar but there is a ke a loover lder on thcreenwill see what looks like a complex of storms already sitting off the coast of san mateo county, that is not actually the thunderstorms. the national weather service has set the radar so sensitive because they want to pick up

the beginnings of any signs of trouble. this is clutter. if you're watching closely, keep your eye down here, see how they are moving and detecting lightning out here already, that is real. this isn't, the focus is going to come from down here. we got some thunderstorms that have developed, this will be what we watch over the next few hours which is why unfortunately we're still on track tonight through monday morning to see another round of thunderstorms with dry lightning and strong gusty erratic winds move across the entire bay area. the timeframe still holds it will come for the overnight hours into early monday, i cannot tell you an exact location that will get hit, it will be random much like the wind will be when it hits. there is no direction that firefighters can plan for because they are strong down burst that creates chaotic wind bursts that can go any direction, that is why they are so concerning and that is what the system looks like. if we take a look the air

quality from the fires going for the last several days, that is the tri-valley where we have actually seen some of the reporting stations within the last two hours take it up a notch from unhealthy for everyone too hazardous. it does not mean you change your behavior, the air quality is just as bad to the point you don't want to be outside breathing this but it is an interesting note that we have technically hit hazardous levels of air quality here, through the tri-valley. more detail on that and we will look at the future cast on these thunderstorms, coming up in a few minutes. for now, juliet, back over to you. into the newsroom, new evacuation orders in santa clara county. the zones in red, some of those are north of magnolia courgnoli thomas grade and east of highway 101 two metcalf road. the complex fire is now burning

more than 339,000 acres in the foothills east and south of san jose. onto alameda county, there are new evacuation warnings, these are just warnings outside of pleasanton, livermore, and fremont. cal fire is warning residents in the areas that they might have to evacuate if winds push the fire in their direction. >> we're hyper focused on that structure defense component and evacuations, so please, please look at those evacuation orders were warnings and listen to those, we put them out there . a tempary shelter has been set up at the high school in morgan hill and today president trump announced additional resources are deployed to help battle the wildfires. the federal government has deployed over 26,001st responders and personnel to

battle the wildfires, we are working closely with the governor. >> this stunning video shows what it's like driving through parts of this easy you lightning complex fires at night. cal fire sharing this video, recorded near big basin redwood state park showing hail of embers flying through the air hitting the windshield. the road barely visible while shrouded in thick smoke. closing in on both sides of the roadway. the flames from the lightning complex of scorched 71,000 acres and san mateo county stands at 8%. we followed a strike team as they try to stop the flames advancing towards felton and how was the firefight going in the santa cruz mountains? >> unlike the north bay in the santa cruz mountains, we are

talking about redwoods and trees with tall canopies. the fire retardant drops are not as affected because the fire retardant would land on the canopies and not on the ground. so here they are relying more on the ground resources to fight those flames. >> flames are scorching empire road in the redwood state park. this area hasn't seen a fire of this magnitude in decades. so there's a lot of fuel, the fire has destroyed these redwoods as it marches east towards the town of felton about two miles away. not too far ahead we found the strike team setting backfires to try to eliminate the dry fuel and stop the flames from reaching felton. >> we are fighting fire with fire, taking it down from the top of the road and using it as takes it away from the main fire and gives us a

buffer. we can fight more on our terms than letting it come to the woods. >> not enough firefighters, with the resources they have their trying to outsmart the fire. >> we have minimal wind in our favor, it moves slowly and it's a little bit more manageable. >> it has already barney circle so this is kind of knew. >> they refuse to evacuate he has been putting out hotspots in his neighborhood, sometimes with just a bucket of water. mostly just digging a fire line. >> authorities continue to urge people to leave and say it is too dangerous for untrained residents to fight fires also, the santa cruz county sheriff's department says it would help their effort in getting the looters out. someone stole a firefighters wallet and drained his bank account while he was fighting fires. fattening, sickening behavior. frankly i can't believe that somebody would actually have the nerve to break into a firefighters vehicle. >> talk on the firefight these

firefighters are hoping their strategy will pay off before the weather changes. >> we're going to try to hold it to prevent fire spread. >> we see those inflatable pools of water around you, what are those for? >> yeah, so there are a handful of these inflatable pools filled with hundreds of gallons of water here in the town of boulder creek and it is almost filled to the top part, just in case of the fires or the flames get too close firefighters can get quick access to the water and they are talking about some of the fire hydrants with water pressure that is isjusta up if they need to get water quickly and their engines to fight the fires. a lot of these here in town. >> thank you so much. remember to stay with kpix 5 for continuing coverage of the

fires and for a list of evacuations go to our website, kpix.com. coming up, a close call in the east bay. a person trapped after a fire breaks out at an apartment building. and fire crews facing some tough conditions, what they say is hindering the firefight. also kpix 5 is proud to be partnering with the red cross in a virtual telethon for fire relief. it will be running all day awesome internet.

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authorization as blood plasma as a therapeutic treatment for covid-19. taken from patients who have recovered and could help those currently battering -- battling the virus. it's unclear how effective it is but it could help patients with mortality rates by 35%. the mac trumps campaign is getting ready for the republican national convention that's kicks off tomorrow. beside the president some of the speakers include vice president mike pence, the former lady and ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley. back in the bay area one person had to be rescued when an apartment building went up in flames around 11:00 this morning on the complex on north civic drive in walnut creek. see the smoke coming from several of the units of firefighters sing one person was trapped on the second floor balcony, they were rushed to the hospital with burns. the cause of the fire is under investigation. helicopters and air tanker

flying back and forth loading up on water. the so-called woodward fire scorched nearly 2700 acres of the dense forest. the flames are only 5% contained the rugged terrain is making it challenging to reach the fire lines. the national park service is has closed the national seashore to help the roads clear for fire crews. the city of san jose is offering reduced hotel rates for fire evacuees, rates starting at $99 at night at 13 local hotels. rooms can be booked on a new length that will go live overnight on the city's website. also air b&b is encouraging hosts in and around the fire area to offer housing to evacuees. people forced out by fire may be eligible for a free stay for the open homes program. nice to hear.

let's head over to darren, you have a full plate right now. >> obviously the potential for thunderstorms tonight is the main issue. but before i get there let's start out right now where you live. the smoke and the air quality is something we have had to live with, even if you are not on the front lines or directly in danger were still breathing and air that's pretty darn unhealthy. we went over a threshold. if you take a look at the south bay with the deep shades of purple on here and there is a pattern. the farther you get down into these valleys notice how pushed back against the hills, the air quality gets the worst. that's how you know it's working, the winds pushed the worst of the air and settles it back in these valleys right in the base of the hills, that whe southernmost part is down here that's been getting hit the worst. but, not the worst bay area wide, that distinction goes to the tri-valley. one in livermore and one in pleasanton. just an hour ago for about a

two hour timeframe we were at the hazardous level for air quality. not that your behavior needs to change when you hear the word but no it it's an unpleasant distinction to have for your part of the bay area. some of the worst air quality affected has been here. limit your time outdoors to the best of your ability. you have got to get out and live your life, but if you don't have to be out but it as much as you can. dealing with your fair share of bad air quality you guys got in on the act today, it has been rough. this is the camera we have got closest to the locations r qual and that is all smoke, you can barely see a thing. san jose, there you we're keeping this going tomorrow. the forecast calls for more of the same. let's move on and we will talk about the issue coming later tonight. see the clouds?

it is starting to light up, but if we pull out water vapor you will see the engine driving all of this, look at this area of low pressure. it used to be a tropical storm but now it is energy and a lot of moisture getting thrown our way. if we put it into the future cast come in for a close up view, we will clear out this first band of clouds and i want you to look for the dots here, these are scattered showers. this gets us into the early evening, that is when we are likely going to see the beginning of these isolated thunderstorms across the bay area. i'm going to get out of the way and play this forward for 845 to 850 tonight in the over night hours. that gets us to two in the morning scattered across the bay area. it gets us to four in the morning and there are still plenty of them on here getting us to before sunrise and once we get to about 9:00 the back edge will clear. basically overnight is when we see the isolated thunderstorms march their way across the entire bay area from south to north. it looks like the northbay

would be an area of focus in that particular run, but we cannot narrow this down with that kind of specific. the national weather service puts us under a red flag warning for a reason. it does not expire until 5:00 p.m., but we just saw where the real trouble spots are going to be overnight to tomorrow morning. as far as tempter is not the headline in the upper 50s for morning lows and still about 5 to 7 degrees above average for daytime highs across much of the bay area. still hot, not heat wave hot, but it is hot out there and there is the 7 day forecast. let's get to the next 24 hours hopefully event free, but busy. over to you. okay, we have got the ion f flag. and we know what he can do.

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left. running into the inside wall, spinning out hard into the wall exiting the car on his own power, but was taken to a hospital. because of that wreck that happened so late come the race finished under caution allowing to cruise across the finish line. and when you win, they celebrate with a cold shower. >> down with three seconds left. >> he pulls a three-pointer. it's good, it's good! >> finishing with 43 points to even the series it's time for the biggest sale of the year on the sleep number 360 smart bed. can it help with snoring? i've never heard snoring. exactly. no problem. ...and done save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed.

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the latest on the fires burning across the bay area. evacuation orders issued for santa clara county, the scu complex fires are burning just under 34,000 acres and 10% contained. cal fire predictinge you complex fires will burn for weeks, possibly even longer. the flames torching over 340,000 acres and are 17% contained. as for the complex fires, cal fire is making a plea to stay away from the evacuation zone,

not only to clear the roads, but to allow authorities to track ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs >> yuccas: tonight gulf coast on alert for back to back strikes. more than a million acres scorched, the state's historic redwoods threatened. tens of thousands displaced and a troubling forecast that could make the situation worse. >> also president trump unveils a controversial virus breakthrough. plus mr. trump responds to secretly recorded audio tapes where his own sister appears to call him a liar. >> he has no principles, none. >> and we'll look ahead to ahead to the republican national convention starting tomorrow. two powerful storms set to make landfall starting tomorrow.