on fire. citizens were vigilant. in the end a sargeant identified brenan. he searched a law enforcement data bank on a hunch. >> we have data bases that are used by officers arsonists have to register. >> he found the mug that looked like a sketch and lived in the area where fires were occurring. his neighbors say he seemed to be unstable, and a loner. >> he was lonely. >> he couldn't talk to you >> the suspect has prior arrests. in 1999 charged with setting 16 wildfires in the south bay. one per week this, is how he appeared in a sketch police distributed at the time. compare that to this most recent

one. authorities say he'll probably be charged later for setting the fires in the nabtd near downtown san jose. among them, a blaze that swept through a building in the back of a search that is right across the railroad where he lives >> our other top story, brought is prompting the federal government to declare california and ten other states as natural disaster areas. meaning farmers could qualify for loans new images show how dry the state s you can see there is no snow in the sierra nevada in this picture from this week. the sierra was cover hadded in snow. >> severe water shortage forcing marin county to start tapping

into one of the reservoirs. officials say it it hasn't been used for about 20 years. >> well, tonight university of california says it plans to cut water usage system wide by 20% by year 2020. it doesn't look like we're going to get rain as this weather continues. sandhya, what do you see? >> taking a look at live doppler seven hd, clear skies right now. yes it's unusually warm for this time of the year. the red indicating areas of drought now bringing you up to present time. look at red area and how much it's expanded our lack of rain

and snow taking tolls. long range models showing nothing until january 26, 2013. this would be one of the driest januarys on record since record-keeping began in 1850 in san francisco. cheryl, back to you. >> thank you so much. >> firefighters getting a handle on a winter wildfire burning in los angeles county tonight. the angeles national forest in the foothills the fire is only about 30% contained. 17 structures have been destroyed the fire burned 1700 acres hundred of firefighters and residents are trying to keep homes from burning. >> great to see neighbors kich

in here. they say saved this house just by putting the palm trees out. >> three men have been arrested accused of setting an illegal camp fire. >> another senior living center is under quarantine today. residents came down with severe stomach problems a senior facility has also been quarantined because of the noro virus. no deaths being reported today by local health departments. the total in the bay area is 21. doctors say one of the best ways to protect herself is to get a flu shot. in fremont people are doing that,

laura and it's not too late. right. >> felicia brought her daughters to washington hospital. >> they've had it every year since they're babies. and we're around germs all the time. >> what will the shot protect you from? >> from the flu. >> it is not always pretty but officials say getting a flu shot is the right thing to do. >> how could you describe it? >> it feels better. >> dr. martin says they're seeing a broader cross section of people with the flu season. >> we see young and old being affected but now it's our middle

aged working population. >> some sold us the surge prompted them to act sooner rather than later. >> i work in a day care. i'm around stick babies. >> the $ten clinic continues on friday. so far there are no concerns about supply n fremont abc7 news. >> a drug task force announced one of the biggest drug raids in the history of contra costa county. the picture shows part of what authorities recovered. 475 pounds worth $18 million. guns, cars, motorcycles and nearly $1 million cash. >> san francisco police are asking if you have seen these

two men expected of shattering windows and spraying graffiti on a 37 bus last december. police say a large job surrounded the bus. >> a san jose woman on a dating web site biked out of half a million dollars recovered less than half of the money. >> just individual seems to be interested in my life situation. came across as a strong christian person. prayed with me. >> this woman does not want to be identified she started communicating with a man on christian mingle.com. e mails and phone calls, he seemed like a catch. >> i got stranded in a city with a dead battery. and this individual stayed with me for i

believe it was 90 minutes making sure i was safe because he said he no woman of his to ever northbound a situation without help. >> but then, he asked for money. first a few thousand dollars for his daughter's tuition. she got bank account information and paper work. she gave him more than $500,000. thankfully someone intervened and they went to authorities. the deputy d.a.in this case. >> we want to trust one another n olden day wez used to do business on a handshake. that is not possible anymore with the international crimes that are going on. >> she says the so called sweetheart scams are happening more and more. bottom line, never give money to someone you haven't met in person. our victim says he sent gifts and ice yoel yated her from loved ones telling her no one would understand when they had. >> they'll come across someone

caring and loving. and they will find where you're vulnerable. and leverage that for their own good. i want the public to hear, to be careful if seemses to kw good to be true, it's probably fraudulent. >> 99% of the time there is no arrest and money is gone. in this case authorities intervened in time to alert a turkish bank about a final transfer and when an associate of the suspect went to pick up that money he was arrested and recovered. >> despicable crime. >> a spokesperson says the company is talking with the district attorney in a statement the company says before new members join christian mingle they're required to sign a pledge not to send money to

anyone they meet online as well as report anyone who asks them for money and financial information. >> just ahead a decision on a parking ticket that made history. coming up at 5:00 california woman cited for wearing google glass >> plus is a can of paint that costs $100 worth that amount of money? >> and oscar nominations are announced. big difference in th [ female announcer ] try a yummy lean cuisine dish. with 13 grams of protein for 10 days, you'll feel great. i'm trying this too. maybe this. nope. not trying that.

[ female announcer ] ditch the diet. go on a try-it with lean cuisine. a win, win for the driver cited for using google glass

behind the wheel. is a wearable computer with a transparent display abust right eye a traffic court judge dismissed both charges against her, ruling there was a lack of evidence. she believed to be the first person ever cited for wearing google glass while driving. >> yahoo ceo has fired her right hand man. he is leaving after just 15 months on the job. mayer lured him way from google with a pay package worth $56 million. tech experts say mayer was not happy with his performance. >> and chuck e cheese is being purchased for nearly a billion dollars. he was founded by nolan

bu bushnell. piers restaurant was on the current site of the santana row shopping center >> worker that's started picketing a popular eatery, upset owner sold joe's of west lake. the restaurant will close after 57 years in business. they say the current owner has not given severance pay for asked new owners to guarantee jobs. they forgot the important asset. the workers. because the people came here just not for homemade ravio raviolis. >> the spokesperson says once the restaurant was sold the owner paid more than half a million dollars into pension funds. >> some sad news about two popular actors from 1970s. russell johnson who played professor on gilligan's

died at age 89. >> oscars right around the corner and you can watch it here. you know nominees goring to start lobbying hard. >> i'm thinking big. fantastic. >> the director's trip back to the 70s earned nominations for best picture, plus a slew of acting nods. ten nominations in all. "gravity" is also with ten nominations. also, 12 years of play is right up there after achieving nine nom nation nations joining those three, captain phillips, nebraska, and the wolf of wall street. >> such ate great year for films

a lot of times you're scrounging to find people this, year, every category had twice as many as they could. >> recent winners made the actor category. >> i have an indian in my house. >> they're called native americans. mom. >> when makes that decision? >> streep broke her record with 18th nomination for her work in august osage county. leonardo dicaprio for "wolf of wall street" and matthew mcconaughey for dallas fire club. >> we'll hear the fridays "the oscar goes to" sunday night,

march 2nd right here on abc. >> remarkable films this year, no question. >> imagine paying $100 for a gallon of paint. >> what? >> that is what one company is charging. >> consumer reports teamed up with seven on your side to find it's fitz worth high cost. >> designers showcase paint from farrow & ball. it costs 2 to 3 times more than other paints. consumer reports included it in tests of 60 fients see what you get paying top dollar. on farrow & ball's web site these photos show off beautiful colors but paint is pricey. $100 a gallon. consumer reports compared farrow & ball to less expensive paint

from home depot. this checks for stain resistance. stain swatches going into this machine to see how easily or not so easily stains scrub off. this test checks to see how well each can cover dark stripes. >> it's important to get good coverage from a paint because it will reduce the coats have you to put on to cover the color. >> the expensive farrow & ball paint couldn't cover well with one coat. look how much better this $34 paint did. as for beautiful colors, consumer reports sent a secret shopper to home depot to see how closely it could match a sample with behr paint. back at the lab testers compared color of the two paints. >> they're very close. >> the color difference was within 1%. as for the stain resistance tests? farro & ball paint did go do a

good job. satin he nam mel from behr esh earned top ratings. there is another advantage, it's primer as well as paint. so you don't have to use a primer first. >> that paint is expensive. >> thank you. >> well, let's talk about the weather forecast. no rain to speak of a >> sandhya? >> yes. we haven't used our umbrellas we're hurting for rain. now it's beautiful up clouds and no moisture. but we're tracking a red flag warning. interior monterey counties and southern salinas valley under that red flag warning until noon. look at how

much of the state is covered under that red flag warning. from sierra to southern california to show how dry it is around here. we did have a half dozen record high temperatures today. sfo, 73. oakland museum, 78. both locations tied their records for the month of january. 73 san jose. wafrm around the bay. second straight all time record for the entire month of january is 78 in monterey. looking at sutro tower a beautiful view. 68 san jose. look how bear it is in tahoe. looking at state wide snow pack. only 17% of normal. 66

rosa. more highs are expected tomorrow. mild to warm and still, no rain is in sight. no snow for the sierra. high pressure still deflecting rain north. jet stream going there. our drought going to worsen here. and upper 20s to low 30s. bundle up. rest of you into 30s to 50s range. mild, san francisco, half moon bay. heading towards friday, week is going to end. 76 south bay and bill roy. mountain view,

sunset district south san francisco, 71 in downtown san francisco. and east by, oakland, 71 degrees. inland, warm again. 71 in san ramone. accu-weather forecast, temperatures will be slipping a little bit. cooler saturday by a few degrees. sunday, monday, for martin luther king day, holding about the same and wednesday, thursday, a little bit of cloud cover. once again, high and driechlt i'm sandhya patel. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. >> just ahead animals sweltering in the heat wave. heat cancels a major sporting event.

>> then at 6:00 controversial banners lining san francisco's market street.

look at these picture. lions being frozen blood, blood flavoring to cool off a heat wave that had temperatures hitting 117 degrees. a thousand people have been treated and 500 flying foxes have died because of heat exhaustion. power blackouts are up, electricity usage surges and now, it prompted officials at australian open to suspend the event. and lightning is also a problem. >> listen to this. today, sacramento king as announced they'll become the first professional sports franchise to

accept bit coins. starting march 1st fans will be able to buy and pay for tickets with dij nal money. saying the goal is to have a cashless environment. >> a san francisco district grabbed top spot on the list of the hottest neighborhoods in 2014. saying vernal heights is affordable, near public transportation and growing in popularity. eagle rock in los angeles number two, followed by morning side, lennox park, upper chevy chase and dessert shores in las vegas. >> what would it take for to you get a 49er tattoo? >> i love 49ers but don't know if i'm going to go that far. if i'm going to go that far. >> one storejennie-o w where ea where every thursday people ride 10 miles for tacos.

we thought wsurprise them with a better kind of taco made with jennie-o ground turkey cooked thoroughly to 165. i feed my kids turkey tacos over regular tacos any day. i think they are light and they are just fresh tasting. yeah. when i eat well, i feel well. anncr: it's time for a better taco. the tacos tonight were pretty much perfect. make the switch. look for jennie-o ground turkey in a store near you. [dad] [lau [boy] mom!ughs] [mom] yes? [boy] whoa,whoa,whoa... [mom and dad] [laughing] [boy] whoa,whoa,whoa... [mom] you've got two left feet,boo.

those who've been denied ewelcome to covered california.

now, you can no longer be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. enroll today at coveredca.com. coming up at 6:00 efforts to protect personal information on your cell phone. tonight why regulators don't think anything needs to be done z skies may be clear but snow is coming down in the sierra. see how the process evolved into a high stakes operation. it's coming up at 6:00 >> look at this little guy this, is my nephew the caption says san diego who?

right. >> e mail your photos to us and post them on our facebook page or tweet them to us. very cute. >> and be sthour like our battle of the bays on abc7 news facebook page. >> seattle is ahead but we know the bay area going to show who the real champions are. >> so much track talk now. join n right? if you want to believe 49ers concord establish sment happy to accommodate. >> takes less than an hour to ink youring self with your team the tattoo is just $49. >> cheap way to experience the thrill of ink and show support for 49ers. >> offer good through post season. plenty of time to get one after the 49ers take care of seattle on sunday then head

towards super bowl. >> right right about. that go, 49ers. i'm cheryl jennings. welcome to "world news." tonight, fire in the mountain. homes burn to the ground. a raging wildfire near los angeles. families told to get out. >> don't waste anymore time. water warning in west virginia. pregnant women now being told don't drink the water. getting help. news, today, about the long wait in your hospital emergency room. and golden arm. baseball's highest-paid pitcher of all-time. $10,000, every time he throws the ball. and a good evening to you on this thursday night. we begin with a flame, a tinderbox and now a roaring wildfire near los angeles.