fire line.

yosemite has swelled to 175,000 acres. 2,000 firefighters are making some progress. right now they have it 5% contained. the fire is dangerously close to 4500 homes tonight. it has already destroyed 16 structures since it began six days ago. good evening, everyone. i'm carolyn johnson. dan ashley is off tonight. here is the latest map showing just how large this fire has grown. let's get to abc7 news reporter john alston who is live from the fire tonight. john? >> reporter: about 10 minutes ago the hillside exploded into flames. this is along highway 20 which remains closed. the fire has also touched yosemite national park which does remain open at this time.

this is one of the many hill sides that cal fire is very concerned about. partially because this wood that is burning is dryer than lumber that you would buy at a store. flames continue to own the hillside. the night sky makes it easier to see the actual fires burning under all of that smoke. tonight cal fire put some crews on stand by to make sure the flames don't jump to the south side of highway 120. a few miles away hundreds of people gathered to hear an update and to ask questions. >> we have folks that are east of the flats and before the gate and didn't get evacuation notices. they had to leave on their own. we need to know the status of the line. >> reporter: she rushed here. her family owns property in the fire zone. for her, so far so good. >> i was at work and listen together scaner for four

days. i thought, you know what? this is escalating. it is in the canyon. we came to get friends and family out. remember, it is not just about your immediate family, but this whole community is a family. >> reporter: officials know where the fire started, but not how. there was lightning in the days before flames broke outlast saturday, and it is not unusual for the wood to smolder. >> there is a lot of infrastructure shed a -- infrastructure around water and the water shed getting to the lower valleys, so we are dealing with protecting those as much as possible. >> reporter: back live now, to be clear this is highway 120. there have been voluntary evacuations and tankers made between 40 and 50 airdrops. expect the same drill again tomorrow. fire officials say this fire will probably be burning for several weeks. john alston, abc7 news. >> stunning images. thank you, john. look at this satellite image from nasa. it shows where all of the

smoke from the fire is going. it is heading over tahoe and into reno. it is essentially avoiding the yosemite valley. they say the air is clear with no smoke problems there. meteorologist sandhya patel is tracking the fire conditions. she joins us now with live doppler 7hd. >> and here is what it looks like as far as the conditions. let's look at live doppler 7hd. let's check out the weather, where the fire is burning. 69 degrees and the relative humidity is coming up throughout the day. the winds have dropped off northwesterly to 4. and as you look at this satellite imagery, it shows you just how far that smoke is traveling. it is quite a distance as i show you this loop here taking you up toward reno. it is 149 miles. we do have an air quality warning until noontime on monday for the vicinity of the fire. and we do also have a dense fog smoke advisory, tahoe and reno are under it until

saturday at 7:00 p.m. look at this time lapse. with all of the smoke in the air you are looking out toward heavenly and you can see the redish hugh of the sunset. i will talk about the local weather and what is changing. the governor declared a state of emergency for the city and county of san francisco and that's because of the threat the fire poses to the city's utilities as well as its water supply. abc7 news reporter cornell bernard has been on this story since this afternoon and has tonight's developments. >> the governor's declaration will help san francisco repair any damage from the fire. right now it is too early to tell what the damage is because the danger is still very real up there. they power every building in the civic center and provides water to a thirsty city. the bartender is pouring drinks and getting ready for a busy night. the one thing he depends on nightly is clean, fresh water out of a tap.

>> people need to drink water to stay sober and cleaning, like the list goes on. >> the massive fire near yosemite is threatening a vital source that provides water to 2.6 million people in the bay area. the public utilities commission declared an emergency activating this situation room to monitor the rim fire. the biggest concern is ash falling into the reservoir. the digital gauges are monitoring the water quality in realtime. for now, the levels are safe. >> it doesn't happen immediately. we would see theúcloudiness increase slowly and giving us sufficient time to make the adjustments to the system so there would be no disruption in water service to any of our customers. >> reporter: local water supplies can be taped into as a back up, but they are also a big source of power.

it keeps the lights on inside every public building in san francisco and it keeps muni rolling. two out of three power houses are now off line to prevent lines from arcing and endangering firefighters. but they may already be down. >> we don't know the condition. our above ground facilities are our transmission lines and our power houses and the cottages and houses we have in the sierras. >> reporter: pg&e is selling power to the city to make up the difference. >> it is great they are looking out for us. it is pretty devastating that they didn't have a simple thing like water. >> he doesn't take his water for granted, but protecting the supply is now a challenge. in san francisco, cornell bernard, abc7 news. developing news, police are searching for the hit and run driver who hit a motorcycle on 580 just before

6:00. that caused the motorcycle to collide with a big rig. the driver of the motorcycle died at the scene. the driver who struck the motorcycle took off. part of 580 was shutdown for several hours. three toll leans on the bay bridge are shutting down for the weekend. westbound lanes 16, 17 and 18 are on the right hand side of the plaza and closed two hours ago. you are looking live at the bay bridge toll plaza. the lanes will remain closed until monday morning at 5:00. during that time the crews will change one of the cash lanes on the far right into a fast track train. the westbound fast track drivers will be allowed to access two bus lanes on the far right hand side of the toll plaza. overseas to the crisis. there appears to be a toxic glass attack and has gone viral. the syrian americans have held a vigil for friends and family members. alan wang has their stoimplet -- >> reporter: about a hundred

members in san jose urged the u.s. to respond to what appears to be a toxic gas attack on syrian rebels and civilians. >> 67% of those who were killed are children and women according to the society. >> the u.s. and the united nations are calling for an investigation into what killed as many as 1300 people. but these anti-syrian government activists are convinced that the uh sad regime launched chemical weapons outside of damascus on wednesday. >> there and no doubt whatsoever. how can you fake a child, a 2-year-old, 3-year-old, how can they fake that? >> almost everyone here has a friend or family member who has been injured or even killed in the war in syria. >> and watching my own brother, my own brother getting shot is not right. >> another vigil took place in walnut creek with about 50 demonstrators. the u.s. navy forces are moving closer to syria and

jackie spears says it is time. >> i do believe that we have destroyers in the region that can use tomahawk missiles that can destroy these sites and they can identify which ones they are. >> reporter: the government says the allegations are baseless. if confirmed it would be the worst chemical attack in syria's two and a half year civil war. in san jose, alan wang, abc7 news. resignation without admitting fault. next, why out going san diego mayor bob filner who has been accused of sexual huh res meant meant -- harassment says he is the victim of a lynch mob mentality. and how bad is the air you are breathing stuck on the roadways? and are you always late for class 1234* michael finney looks at extreme alarm clocks that should have you jumpin

waking up early. many students and their parents are dreading it. how can you rouste the sleepy heads? michael finney tries the sleeping alarm clocks. >> oh, the 8:00 a.m. classes. they can be brutal especially

after a long summer of sleeping in. >> ever since i was a teenager it has been difficult for me to wake up. >> usually i set six or seven alarms on my phone. >> they both struggled to get out of bed and they say their alarm clocks don't help. >> you hit the snooze button and go back to bed. >> i know how to snooze it and i snooze it in my sleep. i don't want to miss weaking up. >> reporter: it is a common problem among high school and college students. we decided to check out a new trend for rowing the late -- rousting the late sleepers. they are sometimes called extreme alarm clocks. here is one appropriately called the sonic bomb. this piercing noise is disturbing enough, and it also comes with this, the bomb that shakes your bed. megan bravely agrees to try it out. we set up a camera and here she is sleeping oh so peacefully when suddenly --

she is jolted awake. megan says it felt worse than it looks. >> i was in like a dream state and i thought a bomb was going off in my room. it instantly shocked me. my body jolted. >> reporter: megan says she never considered the snooze button. >> i thought to myself, i am not getting back in. i am awake. i do not need to go back to sleep. >> reporter: now we check out the clocky. when the alarm goes off, clocky jumps off the nightstand and starts rolling and the room. you have to chase it down to turn it off. >> it is a great idea. >> reporter: kurt agrees to try it out and again we set p the camera. here he is in a deep sleep and then -- the alarm goes off. sure enough he jumps off the table and kurt stumbles out of bed. >> you think, where is it? now i have to chase it down because it is loud and annoying. >> reporter: he finds it in a corner and he is up for the day. >> there are a small number of people who might benefit from

these approaches. >> reporter: we showed the director of the ucsf sleep disorder center. we asked if it is a good idea to be jolted out of your sleep this way. >> it certainly seems like a very abrupt way to wake up. i don't know if it would be harmful to people, but it would get your heart rate going fast. >> it was so shocking. >> you are not going to sleep through this. >> if you would like a more pleasant way to wake up i recommend the abc7 alarm clock app. it will wake you up gently and give you news, sports, weather and traffic alerts. everything you need to start your day. you can download it free on to your smart phone. just go to abc7news.com/apps for download details. em michael finney and that's 7 on your side. san diego mayor bob filner agreed to step down after a

sexual harassment scandal. although he still denies the allegations. the city council unanimously accepted his resignation. filner apologized for making people uncomfortable, but said he did not sexually harass anyone. >> you know, i started my political career facing lynch mobs. i think we have just faced one here in san diego. you are going to have to deal with that. a lynch mob mentality, rumors become allegations. allegations become facts. facts become evidence of sexual harassment which has lead to my demand for resignation and recall. >> filner's final day as san diego mayor is next friday. pollution data devices are being installed next to the most congested freeways. the devices are being placed near 80 and 880 and where 286 and highway 101 come

together. it it is -- it is a federal lehman dated project and the devices will go on-line in january and the levels seen on the internet. let's check in with sandhya patel for a look at what is coming this weekend. >> carolyn, it is looking good, but it will be anything but summer heat. we have changes in store and i will talk about them in a moment. live doppler 7hd is showing you some fog beginning to get organized around the san mateo coastline. we are getting a nice, dry slot here. it is not for long though. we will see it fill back in as we head in toward the morning hours. from our tower camera, you can see the fog over downtown san francisco. 58 in san francisco and 59 in oakland. 59 in los gatos and half moon bay. from our high definition emeryville camera the visibility is good, but we have the low clouds near the coast. it is 55 in novato. one of our cool spots. low 60s for concord,

fairfield, livermore. from our explore for yum camera we are looking out toward the bay and it is a beautiful view. low clouds and fog overnight. cooler pattern for the weekend and we are going to see gradual warming next week. no major heat wave in store. as you look at our computer animation here, here is why we are not expecting hot weather. there is another system -- we got rid of one low. remember the one that brought us the lightning storm this week? the second low, this one is up near the pacific northwest. the cold front will deepen our marine layer and we will see cooler weather heading into the weekend. cooler than normal by a good 5 to 10 dries. 5 to 10 degrees. many will see the sun, but lingering clouds in the north bay and along the coast. on sunday we will see a lot of high clouds and maybe a few sprinkles. stay tuned. one computer model is hinting at that. otherwise sunshine for your sunday afternoon except near

the coast where it will remain cloudy most of the day. tomorrow morning we will strt with cool temperatures, a lot of cloud cover, fog out there and possibly some patchy drizzle right near the coast. 1k3* then in the afternoon, here are your highs for your saturday. mild in the south bay,73 san jose and 79 morgan hill, 71 in sunnyvale and mill pea disand 72 for redwood city. lingering low clouds pacifica staying cool. 58 degrees. mid60s for south city and downtown san francisco. the sunset district is 60 degrees. you will see a few extra clouds in the north bay. 80 santa rosa and calistoga. a little cooler tomorrow. inland and bayside areas you saw a little bit of a warm up. but you are going down tomorrow. it wasn't much. 68 in oakland and 74 in union city. the inland spots are nice and mild. 82 livermore and 81 in san ramon. looking at the seven-day forecast, we will feature cooler weather on sunday. possibly some sprinkles is it what the latest computer models are showing in the north bay.

upper 50s to the low 80s. we will start to see the temperatures rise back up closer to normal. the way carolyn likes it. upper 80sand low to mid60s coast side. i know you like the warmth. >> excellent. considering it is august, let's bring it on. >> you will see plenty in october. >> that's true. colin rush is in for larry beil. >> we are talking raiders. could a quarterback controversy be brewing after the play of terrell pryor? the other team flies in the al west. another

since the allstar break blowing leads and three straight grames is the reason why. suzuki reacquired with a trade in washington. a short drive to baltimore to

join the team. the a's opening a critical three-game set with the oriels. the third inning and cocoa crisp and moss both headed toward the being aware house. a pair of solo homers. number 21 on the year for moss. shortly after the blast in the fourth brian roberts a grand slam, right field with a tractor beam for baseball. a's rally four in the fifth. the two-run single and 7-6. oakland has the feeling no lead was safe. baltimore scores three times. a third straight loss and oakland is three and a halfback in the west. giants and pirates at at&t. fourth inning and to no man's land in shallow left. buster posey and it is 1-0 giants. you can't even call this a mistake. great hitting and that was a

good sls headed over the wall fr a three-run homer in the seventh. he goes eight solid and suffers his eighth loss of the year. it is tied at 13. jack harper and oh no. could have tagged that kid right there. throws home and we have a pickle going, people. they get the out, but it could have been a double play. chad knight for connecticut. 14-13 the final. west port gets another crack at the u.s. championship game and the winner advancing to the world series game. due to nfl restrictionsy wee cannot show you highlights until the raiders' bears 2k3w5eu78 -- raiders-bears game until it has aired in its entirety. they rallied from the half time deficit. they don't win, but it is respectable, 34-26. matt flynn was bad. terrell pryor was good. 130 total yards and two scores to help rally the silver and black.

no guarantee that he will make the warriors squad. curry will get a shot. they signed the guard and he went ungrafted -- and he went undrafted. naturally he will don number three for the warriors. this abc7 sports report is brought to you by river rock casino. interesting time with the raiders with what happened. terrell pryor looked good. >> that was a great showing the way they came back. imagine a small car and now cut that size in half. that's exactly what this little car does.

wake up weather. the morning will start with low clouds, fog and patchy drizzle. cool temperatures, 50s, 60s. lisa argen will be here at

5:00 a.m. carolyn some. >> sandhya, thank you. a new south korean car is taking the term sub compact to a new level. it looks like a high-tech golf cart. when you are ready to park it actually folds itself in half. the korea advanced institute of science and technology says this car is a potential solution for crowded cities. it is all electric and charges in 10 minutes and it has a range of 60 miles. there was a drawback. its top speed, 37 miles an hour. i'm carolyn johnson. for everyone here, thanks for joining us. have a terrific weekend.

>> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live." tonight, neil patrick harris, from the l.a. dodgers, clayton kershaw, and music from pepper. with cleto and the cletones. and now, sure enough, here's jimmy kimmel! ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: oh, that's very nice. thank you. thank you very much. i'm jimmy. i'm the host of the show. thank you for watching. thank you for coming. [ cheers and applause ] we are back from -- thank you. i appreciate it. we're back fro