structures. the word devastation neither strong ndescriptive enough. >> there were ashes blowing in the air. >> there's nothing left. >> reporter: not in the fire's path. residents say it moved a mile in less than half an hour driven by high winds. too much, too fast says cal fire. the drought that took the snow from mount shasta also helped take this town. >> it is a worst case scenario. everything was aligned unfortunately yesterday. >> reporter: nothing left of this church but a sign and another across the street, only the bell where it fell. in a town of roughly 3,000 people, two-thirds of them remain evacuated. >> it's just awful. just awful to know your neighbors have no home. how scared everybody is. we don't know if anybody was, you know, perished in the fire. don't know. weed is a strong community.

we will pull together and put our town back together. >> reporter: from the ashes, in weed, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. so much of the progress on that fire in weed depends on the winds. abc 7 meteorologist sandhya patel is tracking the weather. >> as we take a look at our red flag warning, it covers the area of weed until tomorrow night with good reason. take a look at the current conditions up in that area near the weed fire. we are basically looking at gusty winds, 84 degrees, relative humidity is 24%. wind out of the southeast to 21, gusting to 32. the strong winds along with low humidity and dry fuels will keep that fire danger up. it will make it a fight for the firefighters. i will be back with a detailed look at the potential for rain helping them battle that fire and for us here in the bay area with the drought situation. i'll be back with those details. nearly 6,000 firefighters are on the job right now trying

to contain a dozen wildfires across the state, including the fire in weed. >> the king fire has destroyed more than 11,000 acres. it's only 5% contained. it is burning north of highway 15 between sacramento and south lake tahoe. 500 structures remain threatened and two people have been hurt. in madeira county south of yosemite a fire has destroyed more than 33 homes and forced the evacuation of 600 people. the fire near oakhurst has burned 320 acres and is 40% contained. a lot of people have been dropping off food and drinks for evacuated residents at the red cross shelter in oakhurst. a local movie theater brought fresh popcorn. detectives are asking for help in catching the vicious thieves who brutally beat an elderly husband and wife in their home and robbed them. the tack attackers befriended the couple on friday and stole a

wallet and cash. they came back the next day and beat the couple and stole a safe. detectives re-interviewed the couple today hoping they might remember something new after their horrible trauma. they are also re-interviewing the neighbors hoping for new leads. activists traveled to sacramento today to persuade governor brown to sign the so-called yes means yes legislation to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses. supporters of the bill rallied for their support on the steps of the state capitol today along with state senator kevin deleone who authored the legislation. the bill which passed last month would require california colleges and universities to adopt a policy of unambiguous affirmative consent. essentially both parties must say yes before having sex. >> it's allowing survivors to finally have a fair and equitable process in reporting and also the educational measures make it so that students are going to be aware of the policies. >> nearly 50 colleges and universities nationwide, including ucla, usc and

occidental college are under federal investigation for their handling of sexual assault allegations. california will no longer be the last western state with a pump as you please approach to ground water. the governor signed legislation overhauling the state's management of its supply. one region of the bay area learned more than a century ago what happens when you pump too much water out of the ground without replenishing it. the ground sank, similar to what is happening in the central valley. abc 7 news reporter david louie joins us from downtown san jose. how much did the ground sink? >> reporter: well, cheryl, it's difficult to imagine this was the ground sink in san jose 14 feet, more than twice my height. it's a process called subsidance and the forefathers of silicon valley knew early on what they had to do. this is what it looks like. as the water table drops from pumping it causes roads to ripple, creates ruptures as the ground sinks. this is happening right now in the central valley as pumping depletes the ground water.

the same phenomenon occurred in san jose a century ago as truck farmers and growers irrigated from wells. >> downtown san jose sank 14 feet. the ground elevation sank 14 feet because of overdraft. that's why, one reason why in the early 1900s, the reservoirs were built. >> reporter: today, ten reservoirs and a network of recharge ponds replenish what is pumped out. the region already has in place what other water agencies will have to implement. that was started 75 years ago with agriculture and cities cooperating. but today, the issue isn't embraced universally. the bay area council, for example, a coalition of businesses, backs the state's new water management plan while the california farm bureau opposes it. >> there has been a long history of agricultural interest and urban interest, obviously, supporting ground water management in our county. i can't say why that isn't the

case elsewhere. >> reporter: the valley water district decided in the mid 1990s to source all of its ground water hundreds of miles away. because of the current drought, starting in november or december, they will begin to do a reverse flow to bring that stored water 100 miles north. once delivered to the central valley project, the district can exchange that water for supplies closer to san jose. the project is nearing completion at a cost of $3.3 million to move the water north. >> folks are looking at the model that we have here, how we have been managing ground water for decades and how it's kept the ground water basin in a healthy state. >> reporter: in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. bay area streets should be safer starting today. drivers have to keep three feet of space between them and bicyclists on the road under a new california law that just took effect. but how do you enforce that buffer zone? abc 7 news reporter vic lee is live in san francisco with a look at that tricky question.

>> reporter: tricky indeed. 36 inches, three feet. that's how far your car's got to be from the bicycle. three feet, 36 inches. now, if you're not sure how wide three feet is, well, the chp says you're probably already too close to the car so slow down and keep your distance. the new law is intended to prevent accidents and ease tensions between drivers and bicyclists who worry about cars driving too close to them in urban and rural streets. >> this law will hopefully put a stop to that or at least make it less likely that you're going to get buzzed by a car. >> reporter: cars speeding too close to bicyclists. bus versus bike collisions. the chp says in 2012, the last year for which statistics are available, 153 bicyclists died in accidents, a 7% increase from the previous year. the new law is intended to bring those numbers down.

david kimberling was a victim of a hit and run. he welcomes the buffer law. >> anything that fosters a little more awareness about bicyclists who share with traffic helps. >> reporter: we drove around the city today to see if drivers were keeping a safe distance from bikes. with the exception of a few, most were mindful of their fellow bicyclists and shared the road safely. it helps that san francisco has a wide network of bike lanes. most drivers, it seemed, kept their distance from those lanes and in fact, gave extra room to the riders. drivers we spoke with have no problem with the new law. >> i think we both need to watch out for each other. >> they're using the roads too. i believe they should -- we should be aware of each other. >> reporter: most bicyclists we met weren't too sure drivers would follow the new law. >> you think it's going to work? >> absolutely not. >> i've already had two cabs come within a foot of me today, so i doubt it. >> i think some drivers will be aware but not everybody. >> reporter: the chp says it's

not gearing up for any enforcement campaign. so bottom line of this law, it will work only if drivers follow it. vic lee, abc 7 news. still ahead tonight, the continuing search for what sparked a san jose fire. >> it's undetermined how it started. a massive blaze that took hours to control. that's ahead. also, earthquake warning signs going up in san francisco. you will see why. plus, crash tests for car seats. 7 on your side's michael finney looks at which are best for your baby. and the graveyard of shifts off san francisco's coast. what researchers are finding buried in the deep.

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national football league. major sponsor anheuser busch issued a statement today saying it is disappointed and concerned by the recent incidents, referring to the child abuse charges against adrian peterson of the minnesota vikings and the domestic violence cases involving ray rice, the 49ers' ray mcdonald and greg hardy of the carolina panthers. the statement goes on to say quote, we are not yet satisfied with the league's handling of behaviors that so clearly go against our own company culture and moral code. we have shared our concerns and expectations with the league. minnesota's governor mark dayton and senator al franken also weighed in today, criticizing the team's decision to allow peterson to play this weekend. today, nike removed all of its peterson related merchandise from its stores in the twin cities area. the company that owns t.j. maxx and marshall's agreed to pay nearly $3 million for illegally dumping hazardous waste in california. investigators found batteries

cans and lamps in the company's dumpsters throughout the state including in the bay area. t.j. companies incorporated says it has adopted new policies and procedures to eliminate hazardous waste. san francisco supervisor david campos wants an hiv prevention drug accessible to all residents free of charge. the drug has shown a 99% success rate preventing the spread of hiv. he says fewer than 1,000 city residents have access to it. he will introduce the plan at tonight's council meeting. those who do not reinforce their properties against earthquakes may get a public shaming. next week the city will begin posting these signs on buildings whose owners have not complied with the first phase of the new seismic retro fit ordinance. the program requires buildings with a business or garage on the bottom floor to reinforce the structure. >> these notices are only going up on buildings that have not complied with the screening process. it's important to note these are not placards that say this is a

hazardous building. they simply say the owner has not complied with a portion of the mandatory retrofit policero. >> all buildings have to be retrofitted by the year 2020. san jose investigators are looking into what started a roaring fire at a pallet recycling yard early this morning. a nearby business supplied incredible surveillance video of the moment the blaze sparked. matt keller has the story. >> reporter: a watery mess remains behind on mayberry road off oakland road in san jose as firefighters spent hours making sure no spark could survive. this was the scene earlier this morning. this video is from san jose fire department photographer craig rose. flames shot up to 35 to 40 feet high. a second alarm was called as firefighters went defensive, surrounding the flames and shooting water on hundreds of

pallets. next door a surveillance camera at mayberry auto body and repair captured the first flames. the clock on the surveillance system is about ten minutes fast so just before 2:00 a.m., the flames grew bigger. an auto body employee started spraying water but it was too late. the flames were just too much for a garden hose. the fire was now out of control. >> it was hard to control the fire because it's wood and it's dry wood and it go fast, you know? i was afraid the flame get into my shop. >> reporter: several auto body shops run adjacent to the pallet recycler. their clients' cars were exposed to the heat. the owner of the auto body shop believes at least two dozen cars were damaged. paint was bubbled, windows exploded, and metal melted. the good news? no one was injured. firefighters and business owners now dealing with what was left behind. >> we are going to use a backhoe and pull apart the piles of

debris and get in there. it will be an extensive overhaul operation. >> reporter: you will be here a long time. >> yeah. >> reporter: the recycler says it could be a week before they reopen. they have a mess to clean up. the cost of the fire is still under investigation. matt keller, abc 7 news. a team of researchers wants to learn more about hundreds of ships that sank just a few miles outside the golden gate. noaa, the national oceanic atmospheric administration furnished this video showing one of the vessels at the bottom of the pacific. very cool pictures. the earliest known wreck dates back to 1595. each wrecked ship tells a story frozen in time. >> we are hoping to learn not only what we might from the remains of the ships. we are hoping as well to connect to the human stories. >> many sea creatures have transformed the wrecked vessels into their homes at the bottom of the gulf of the fairlawn national marine sanctuary. >> we are also looking at these wrecks as laboratories in the

ocean where we can see their impact on the environment, what the environment's done to them. >> sailors say currents, shifting winds and heavy ship traffic combine to make the area outside the golden gate very treacherous and sometimes even deadly. we are going to move on to consumer news and a very important topic to keep your family safe. car seats. >> consumer reports is partnering exclusive with 7 on your side to reveal which are the best ones. here's michael finney. >> research has shown for years and years, we have reported it here, that children are safest if kept in a rear-facing car seat until the age of 2. but as consumer reports explains, most kids outgrow their infant seats way earlier than that age. for newborns infant car seats are the best option. they provide the best fit, are convenient and face backward which is the safest option for babies up to 2 years of age. infant seats display both the weight and height limits. consumer reports says pay particular attention to the height limit, because children

are likely to grow too tall for the seat before they reach the weight limit. consumer reports simulated 35 mile per hour crash tests on infant seats and show how jarring a collision can be even for seats that do well. >> when children are injured in motor vehicle crashes, it most often is an injury to their head and that happens when they contact something, usually in the vehicle interior like the front seat back. you can imagine as they get taller and are closer to the edge of the shell of the seat that it becomes more of a risk. >> reporter: consumer reports tested 33 convertible seats which are ideal once your child outgrows an infant seat. the shells are longer, they can be positioned rear facing until the recommended age of 2. they all passed a simulated 30 mile per hour crash test and were also assessed for how well they fit in vehicles and how easy they are to use. top ratings went to the keyko next fit for $380. consumer reports also recommends all the convertible seats that

range in price from $145 to about $300 for the advocate. another great choice, the even-flo sure ride for $100. children should remain in a car seat or booster seat until a safety belt fits properly. that won't happen until your child reaches 4'9" so keep them in the seat. >> thank you. let's go outside and talk about an absolutely spectacular weather forecast. >> a little bit of breeze in your hair and sunshine, it looks great out there, sandhya. >> it is stunning out here. lots of sunshine, a few high thin passing clouds. i tell you what, though, see this jumbo umbrella? might come in handy as we start to head towards thursday morning. we do have showers in the forecast. you might want to start looking for your umbrella. you might not need a jumbo one but let's talk about the rain chances coming in. live doppler 7 hd just tracking a few clouds here in the bay

area, down to our south. watching showers and thunderstorms developing, moisture from odile will bring another round of showers and thunderstorms to that area tomorrow and of course, they are dealing with the extreme heat down there. in the bay area we do have a beach hazard statement that's been extended through this evening for marin and santa cruz counties. the risk of rip currents will be high. be careful if you head to the beach. just a gorgeous view of the high clouds passing through. it has been a mild to warm day, 69 in san francisco, 75 in oakland right now, 76 san jose. half moon bay, 68 degrees. mix of sunshine and high clouds from our golden gate bridge camera. 80s right now santa rosa, napa, novato, 89 in livermore. the view from the east bay hills camera showing you mount diablo, little bit of haze there. showers looking pretty good for wednesday night into thursday morning. a slight chance of thunderstorms and we are looking at sunnier and warmer weather as we hit the weekend. here's the system that is developing. we will call it a summer storm

coming closer to us by tomorrow evening. that's when we will start to see some changes. moisture from odile will continue to feed into the southwest. that's where they may be dealing with flooding problems. for us, we are looking at passing high clouds overnight tonight, going into tomorrow morning. tomorrow afternoon, clouds start to increase and by evening, they are right up against the coastline. late tomorrow night we start to see moisture moving in. tomorrow evening's commute still looking fine. by 10:00 p.m., the possibility of showers enters the north bay as you will notice and then the shower chance actually extends southward. it's looking wet for your thursday morning commute. you might want to put the umbrellas by the door tomorrow evening and make sure you allow for extra time during that morning commute. remember, when it's been dry for so long and then we get the rain, it does drop all the oils. by thursday afternoon, things start to wind down. there is a possibility of some thunderstorms, though. rainfall estimates not looking like a whole lot. eight hundredths of an inch in

san francisco, only a hundredth of an inch in the rain shadow of the santa cruz mountains. san jose expecting only a hundredth. tomorrow morning, mid 50s to low 60s. i don't think you have to worry about a jacket or sweater. as a matter of fact, we are not expecting fog, just some high clouds. most of you should start out clear. tomorrow afternoon, a lot like today. close to today's levels except inland highs will continue to drop. low 70s to mid 80s, another nice day. the seven-day forecast, much needed showers arrive wednesday night into thursday morning and then we start to see warmer patterns setting up for the weekend with upper 60s to low 90s for the upcoming weekend. it will be back to our dry forecast. >> very nice. sandhya, thank you. still ahead, you usually see hockey fans heading to the sap center in san jose but for two days, a tournament for the 21st century is taking over. that's just ahead.

plus the startup incubator is going to college. at 6:00, making water safer to drink for millions of californians. it's revolutionary technology being developed in the bay area. we'll be right back.

ups is going to hire up to 95,000 temporary workers to deliver packages during the christmas holidays. the company wants to avoid a repeat of last year when they were caught offguard by a last minute surge in shipments. meanwhile, sears is borrowing $400 million from its billionaire ceo in order to quote, get through the holiday season. sears lost half a billion dollars during the second quarter of this year. the first bitcoin atm has arrived in san francisco. it's at the work shop cafe in the financial district. this machine allows users to buy and sell bitcoin using actual money. the owner rich menendez explains why he signed on for the machine. >> it's also the first

bidirectional bitcoin machine in the u.s. meaning you can buy and sell the coin in this machine. super excited because it's so innovative and so tech forward. >> right now the coffee shop does not accept bitcoin for a latte but he says the company is working on it. the startup incubator combineator is teaching a class at stanford. it's listed as how to start a startup and starts one week from today. the list of speakers includes paul graham, paypal founder peter theal, venture capitalists and yahoo!'s marissa myer. the lectures will be put online so anyone can view these sessions for free. if you are not familiar with the term e-sports you soon will be. it is the name for organized video competitions. december 6 and 7 is when 18,000 fans are expected to pack san jose's sap center for the intel extreme masters tournament.

fans will watch teams play league of legends and starcraft video games against each other and though fans will pay money to do so, e-sports is huge overseas. >> that's wild. a job very well done. >> that's a game changer. >> the admiral, the coast guardsman and the surprise commendation. stay with

i'm ama daetz in the abc 7 newsroom. coming up on the news at 6:00, the crisis of confidence facing san francisco's fire chief. tonight, the i-team investigates the complaint that could jeopardize her job. also, she didn't get soaked so why was an east bay family unhappy about their mom's new walk-in tub? 7 on your side's michael finney investigates. plus -- >> what do you want to say? >> the people getting siri-ous about the next generation of

personal assistants for your phone coming up on abc 7 news al 6:00. finally here, a coast guard officer got a surprise honor today aboard a ship in alameda. >> the coast guard's highest ranking officer came to the bay area to give petty officer second class matthew bosch an excellence award. >> he was recognized for noticing something very unusual on two boats the coast guard intercepted off the coast of colombia in june and july. >> we went down into the engine room and we noticed really nice fresh panels all the way around. there's if reason to go into your fuel tanks, especially under way like that. >> that fresh caulking turned out to be hiding a compartment with illegal drugs. >> his suspicions led to the seizure of 7,450 pounds of cocaine. its street value is estimated at $113 million. wow. >> definitely deserves the award. >> clever noticing the caulk. >> heads up there. thanks for joining us.

>> for all of us, we appreciate your time. see you in half an hour. welcome to "world news tonight" from california. we're here for the breaking news tonight. millions in the southwest bracing for historic flash floods. damaging winds. a microburst already sending a train off the line. also tonight, the raging wildfires. homes destroyed here in california. thousands sent fleeing. and we're right here on the front lines. that moment on the racetrack. that nascar giant hitting another driver on the track. tonight, a major development. what authorities have just now decided. the urgent manhunt under way at this hour. the deadly ambush. state troopers targeted. and this picture just released moments ago. authorities say he's armed and dangerous. and a made in america quiz for you tonight. are we in your hometown? the one thing that can withstand a mack truck and still fit in your nightstand. any guesses? >> made in america!