procedures. the hydrocarbon vapor ignited, resulting in the fire that occurred yesterday. >> reporter: the fire sent huge plumes of black smoke into the air people could see the dark pillars for miles. residents in richmond, north richmond and san pablo were told to shelter in place until after the fire was contained, 11:15. some reported hearing explosions. a claim chevron flatly denies. i want to be clear there were no explosions. there was an ignition that may be what people are talking about hearing but there was not an explosion, there was a fire. >> reporter: the fire was extinguished early this morning many a small controlled burn called flaring is ongoing to release pressure officials here at chevron say cal osha and epa are money the outside agent skaoepbsding -- are among the outside agencies conducting

their own investigations. thick smoke and particles affected hundreds they packed emergency rooms. nick smith joins us from doctors medical center in san >> reporter: the spokeswoman here at doctors medical center tells me they activated their command center after 6:30 p.m. in response not compromised air system in the region. take a look at video from last night. 200 contra costa county residents sought medical attention for respiratory problems after the fire at the chevron refinery. at its peak you could seeyívzyo large fires kicking out thick black smoke. a shelter in place order was given, thousands of residents were told to stay in their homes. as soon as we learned of people experiencing health issues related to the fire our cameras were at kaiser hospital in richmond. some had complaints of shortness of breath. >> eyes was burning. my throat was burning, i was

feeling dizzy like i was going to fall out. my daughter complained of her throat being itchy. i had to come get them checked out as well. >> i got dizzy, i fell out. i was taking my groceries in and went out. the chemicals and the reaction from the chemicals, which triggered off some breathing complications. >> reporter: none of those were seriously ill. at one point there was great concern for knows near the fire. five minutes after the fire started sirens alerted in the area to stay indoors letting people know it was not a simple fire but an emergency alert. doctors hospital is owned and operated by the west contra costa health and care district and decide call in extra staff. the head of emergency services holding a press conference in about an hour up-to-date us

with the latest. of course, we will keep you updated on our website. nick smith, abc7 news. eric thomas continues our live coverage with reaction from rip money's mayor. >> -- from richmond's mayor. >> mayor is adamant about a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire at the city's biggest employer and biggest tax revenue source if you ask the mayor her feelings in the wake of the fire she will say she concerned but sounds frustrated by the past accidents and this accident. frustrated by hundreds of residents once again having to rush to the emergency room. and by fighting with chevron over the refinery's future and value for property tax purposes. the mayor is calling for a thorough transparent investigation of the cause by chevron and government officials. right now she is not considering chevron a good neighbor. >> they are a high

profiteering company that makes billions of dollars a year. and given that they make such a high profit, we think they should be paying more to the community of richmond that has suffered for over 100 years with the risk this recent accident has put us into. >> chevron and allies have gone on record saying they want to improve the plant. they want to bring night 21st century but they've been blocked by the city and neighbors. the mayor's response is, unit 4 that caught fire wasn't part of any upgrade plan that they've ever been shown. eric thomas, abc7 news. we could all be affected by that chevron fire as early as today we can expect to see higher gas prices. california blend gas futures jumped more than 37% in trading this morning. the number four unit at the

refinery is shutdown others remain operational. californians could be paying as much as 24 cents per gallon more than yesterday many gas will likely average more than $4 per gallon soon. >> this is the third fire at the refinery in the past 13 years. failure of a pipe improve early attached cause fire in january 2007 one worker suffered minor burns. chevron says no unsafe levels of hazardous materials were released. in mar of 1999 a leaking pipe created a vapor cloud that ed burned, 400 went to the hospital complaining of respiratory problems. chevron is holding a town hall meeting tonight for residents. it will be held at the richmond memorial auditorium at 6 p.m., located -- stay with abc7 news for continuing coverage of the refinery fire. we'll have the latest information on abc7news.com

and on twitter and facebook. fire in san francisco injured two firefighters prompted evacuations and damaged nearly a dozen businesses in the 1500 block of ocean avenue. firefighters ran into such a dangerous situation the fire chief is amazed everybody made it out alive. sue thompson joins us. they were hit with a backdraft? >> reporter: yeah, this was an close and highly dangerous situation for firefighters this morning on scene. nine of them came face-to-face with a potentially fatal backdraft. it happened across the street as three firefighters went inside the front door of that coffee shop to fight the flames, six were behind them as back-up, that's when it happened. as fire crews go in to flight the flames, an unexpected and powerful fireball comes thundering out. a backdraft, strong enough to push 200 pound men backwards.

>> the rapid ignition of hot gases within the building and the energy sent the fireball nearly across the treat to where we are standing now. >> reporter: the assistant chief says he has only seen this twice. >> something out of the ordinary took place. i've been in the fire department for 30 years this is the only second i've witnessed. they are rare >> reporter: the four alarm blaze is believed to have started in this coffee shop and spread fast to as many as 10 businesses. why or how isn't yet known. neighbors say, the whole scene is tough to watch. >> flames kept going and going and going. kudos to the firemen. >> reporter: it took 120 firefighters and 40 units to take on this fire. crews say with the building made of wood and so compact and close together it fueled the flames. >> the flames kept going from one store to the next to

another to another all these fires. >> reporter: you can see firefighters continue at this hour to mop up the mess out here. after that then the investigation will begin. two firefighters suffered injuries one a injury, a second irregular heartbeat after that backdraft situation. talking with the assistant chief he said after what everyone went through this morning he said it is miraculous they made it through. sue thompson, abc7 news. still ahead, one of america's best known composers has died many remembering the career of marvin hamlish. san jose police union leaders decide whether to ask officers for a no-confidence vote against the police chief. thousands will be stepping up to reclaim the streets from violence. a look at this year's "night

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>> at least five people were injured this morning when a big rig crashed over two vehicles and ran over a chp motorcycle before 8:30 this morning southbound 880 stephens creek boulevard no word on how badly the five were injured or caused the accident. -- or who caused the accident a homeless man who had

weapons in his car was charged this morning. the 37-year-old was pulled overlast month police spotted a shotgun in plain view. a search of his car turned up additional weapons as well as 5800 rounds of ammunition, survivalist gear and marijuana. prosecutors say johns will appear in a behavioral court tomorrow. police chief chris moore does have the support of his officers, for now. members of the police officers' association decided not to proceed with a no-confidence vote against chief moore. some officers have questioned his ability to lead effectively. they say jobs had been cut and layoffs increased during moore's tenure. a department spokesman claims moore is doing everything he can under the restrictions he faces. tonight will be the 29th annual national night out when communities step out to fight crime this year more than 37 million are expected to participate.

oakland has one of the largest events in the nation this is video from last year, mayor quan, chiefs of police and fire and other leaders will visit around the city tonight, a record number. several other national out events or night out events will be taking place throughout the bay area we have a list on the website abc7news.com look under see it on tv. will they have good weather? upper 60s, low 70s, definitely a nice night probably one of the nicer ones to be outside it is going to get hot and the heat will linger during the evening some fog across san francisco going to have zero effect on our weather. poor air quality to talk about i'll show you when in the forecast. if you didn't catch him yesterday, we'll tell you where you can catch a glimpse of director woody allen in the

you can see

breaking news. gas main break in santa cruz forcing evacuations. construction crew hit a six inch main. a couple of buildings around

the break evacuated. so cal avenue closed in both directions at capital road nobody hurt. latest on abc7news.com. the music world is mourning the loss of composer marvin hamlish from broadway to hollywood one of the most prolific composers. he won just about every major entertainment award. he won oscars for his scores in the sting and the way we were. a tony for chorus line. along the way, four grammy and four emmy awards. hamlish died after a brief illness in los angeles, he was 68. >> woody allen continues to shoot in marin county. we have video of allen getting a ride to lunch after the shoot yesterday in belvedere. the film doesn't have a title but it stars alec baldwin and cate blanchett in a story about a wealthy woman who finds herself broke living with her sister in

san francisco. allen's wife also appeared yesterday coming out of a restaurant. shooting will be taking place thursday at san francisco's marina green. great weather. >> yeah, it is going to be warming up. a lot of sun, warmer weather on the way, electrical bill going up, air quality down, terrific. [ talking over each other ] only parts of the bay area are going to have poor air quality, not assured yet but looking likely thursday and friday. going to get warm, summer is going to make a late surge that happens august, settlement, even into october we get hotter than normal for a couple of days things return back when you are tired of dealing with it. san jose beautiful blue sky. doppler is quiet hardly any clouds around, san francisco, oakland or san jose airports no delays this morning. you can see the clouds hanging

along the coast partly cloudy to mostly sunny with the rest of us getting total sunshine, 58 in san francisco, 60s until you go fremont, san jose, los gatos, santa rosa east bay valleys 70s there, 85 antioch. low 70s watsonville salinas. 60 monterey, 67 santa cruz. sunny around the bay inland partly cloudy coast first highlight. temperatures hang out in the 50s and 60s for morning lows. inland heat stretches into the weekend. two to four degrees warmer from oakland down to santa rosa. pacifica 63. oakland summer spread developing 77, wider into the east bay valleys farthest eastern region of the contra costa county brentwood 95 all neighbors east bay valleys low to mid 90s today closer to needing air

conditioner. low to mid 70s south bay. los gatos 87. mid to upper 70s most of the peninsula millbrae 71. mid 60s along the coast, near 70 downtown south san francisco and sausalito. low to mid 60s near north bay beaches 20° warmer in valleys. 66 monterey. low to mid 90s inland. 113 palm springs central valley 90s to 100, 80s tahoe, big sur 72. back home this evening a's and angels 7:05 first pitch, 59 by the time the game is over. it will be cool enough at night if you can leave the windows open in the 50s and 60s and it won't get too hot during the afternoon if you can get the house cooled down. wednesday we jump four degrees everywhere. thursday through saturday most

concerning with triple digits inland poor air quality possible thursday and friday east bay valleys and santa clara valleys. coast near 70 start to taper into the weekend. >> come over any time for a breath of fresh air. thank you. we want to take a moment to thank some of the many people helping raise thousands for foster children by liking abc7 news on facebook. marrow j of santa rosa, you can make a difference too just like abc7 news on facebook one dollar will be donated to the sleep train dream campaign with you might like the sound of this, hundreds of jobs are up for grabs today. we'll tell you where to go plus an update on nasa's curiosity.

>> phasing new i

abc7 news is working to help people find jobs co-sponsoring a job fair in san jose we have a full list of those hiring and the positions available on abc7news.com/jobs look there for more information. later today at 4, homeowners' insurance should protect you when disaster strikes. will it be enough? michael finney looks at how to get the most from your insurer. then, pumping iron and the

disease it can help prerent in men. those stories at 4 -- at 4 and 5. amazing new images from mars. >> check out this video sent by the rover curiosity as it descended on to the red planet. >> you see the heat shield fall weighing then later the dust clouds kicked up by the reverse rockets. >> curiosity landed sunday it began a two year investigation as to whether mars could have supported life. >> also get those great images. >> for all of us here at abc7 news thanks for skwoeupblg us today. >> who wants to be a millionaire is next. >> we want to remind but the alarm clock app for

[captioning made possible by disney-abc domestic television] [cheers and applause] meredith: thanks, guys. hello, and welcome to "millionaire." it is "broadway giveaway week," and an entire row in our audience is hoping today's returning contestant can get her broadway questio correct because if she does, then that row will be going to see the hit show "mary poppins" tonight. [cheers and applause] all of those hopes depend on her. from new york city, please welcome kathryn shrader. hey, kathryn. you look great. >> thank you. >> yeah! meredith: talk about the pressure on you to get that broadway question right. >> i know, i know. i mean, i--

considering the fact that i have a degree in theater, if i get i! meredith: oh, you do have a degree in theater? >> i do, yeah. meredith: ok, that's great. >> which means that it's even more pressure. meredith: exactly. and right now, you are waiting tables to make some ends meet? >> yeah, yeah. to kind of figure out where i want to go with a career. meredith: well, right now we're glad that you're here with us because you're doing a good job. you got $11,000. you're 11 away from the million, 7 away from round two, at which point you get to keep all the money in your bank, and you still have one lifeline remaining. are you ready? >> i'm ready. meredith: audience, are you ready? [cheers and applause] then let's play "millionaire." [fanfare plays] besides uranus, which of these other planets has an element-- [laughter] really. just a little decorum, please. [laughter] besides uranus, which of these other planets has an element named after it? [chuckles]