bright orange flames but look what happened last night: this got a lot of attention. it was a larger than average flare and you could see it from san francisco produced in the chevron richmond refinery at 7:00 last night and twitter blew up with people with a lost questions on what it was. the mayor elect posted open his facebook saying it was the biggest flaring seen at chevron in years. chevron said it burned off excess fuel to detreasurized and shut down a refinery units. contra costa built haz-mat was on the scene. >> something is not running normal. at this point i cannot speculate what went wrong. chevron says there has been no exact to the community and the refinery is showing the air quality is well in q standards.

the health for say the majority of the smoke from the flames blew it over the bay and did not of the smoke from the flames blew it over the bay and did not pose a danger to the public. >> more than 100 belmont residents are home after a powerful storm displaced them from a mobile home park. >> 11 families with kids will receive visa and target and safe way cards to use for food, clothing or christmas differents. a donation page and other efforts raised $31,000. organizers say the first $25,000 is given to the 11 dismissed families and the remainder is shared with other mobile park residents. >> residents near a creek will have advance notice when a police department is imminent that is prone to flowing over the bangs. there will be a website give

neighbors nearly two hours advance notice. the website would display the creek on a map and show a system showing areas of likely flooding shooting for the end of john to launch the new site. >> can you track the rain with live doppler hd with the weather app free on apple's app store or google play with more information on our website at abc7news.com/apps. >> a parolee is back in jail for savaging attacking two women, the 25-year-old kenneth bridges was taken interest custody after someone reported the assault while it was happening. lisa has the story. >> kenneth bridges is accused of breaking and an apartment early on wednesday morning. when inside police say heaterrized the women would live here. one is 54. other is 63.

a neighbor says both are mentally challenged. >> it is very disturbing. our idea is to fine closure for the victims. >> a woman managed to dial 9-1-1 while brimming was in the apartment still and police arrested him on-the-spot. detectives do not think the women knew bridges but they do think more victims could be out there. i showed bridge's photo to people in the neighborhood and several had seen him before. >> i have seen him two or three times standing there. "there" is a few feet from the victim's apartment. >> laura is scared. she and the victims live with a disability and shows the women were not targeted because of it. >> it makes me nervous. now i have to lock over my shoulder. >> kenneth bridges was on parole for robbery when arrested and now is held on 16 felony counts ranging from rape to false

imprisonment. this morning the wife of a fallen c.h.p. officer and their four children will complete a portrait that will be part of a rose parade threat on new year's. the officer was killed if the lip of duty two years ago on 680. because he was a registered tissue donor he saved the lives of several others. the portrait is one of 72 on the california transplant donor network "donate life support," with 60 butterflies one for each lifer transformed by a single deceased donor emerging from an open book. the san jose city council meeting could spark fireworks. the meeting is the last chaired by the term out mayor will appoint a replacement for the city council member with some people up in arms because incoming mayor liccardo is pushing his own candidate.

a news conference by labor officials will call liccardo's approach unethical because he has not taken office and the candidate will preserve a pro business majority on the city council. today, oversight panel in sacramento will consider a report that fines 2,000 rods and bolts on the new bay bridge span may not need replacement. safety concerns were raised last year when crews found 32 cracked rods in the new span. caltran is trying to decide whether to replacing the remaining bolts that cost taxpayers $6.5 billion anchoring the main cables and a new report from the toll bridge program find it would not fail if extra steps were taken to protect the fast wereers. the golden gate bridge will close in three week for the longest time since the 1937 debut from saturday january 10 until monday john 12th, 54

hours. that will give crews enough time town stall a movable median bayer to prevent head oncollisions. transit buses can still cross the bridge along with bicyclists and pedestrians. north bay drivers have to travel through the east bay to get to san francisco. this weekend, st. anthony's kicks off the drive to help nodey families. starting tomorrow morning, volunteers will collect curb side donations in front of st. anthony's on golden gate avenue if san francisco. this area the goal is to collect 500 hams by christmas eve. the foundation is in need of can goods and new sobs and hand knit scabs and hats and unopened high general items. the items will be used to make different bags which will be distributed christmas day. some of us will use our windshield wipers on the drive to work. meteorologist mike nicco? we have drizzle and scattered showers and they will cover all of our neighborhoods

and it will be steady as we head through the morning hours as the cold front pushes in to the north bay. in san rafael you can see it is raining on 101 with visibility low. it is definitely slick. be careful traveling through this. we will use this to talk about the forecast for the afternoon. from morning rain could be light-to-moderate to afternoon showers with temperatures mostly in the my 50's to low 60's. there is high cub at 3:00 p.m. today through 3:00 p.m. saturday and be careful there. good news with all of this rain, we went from 55 percent coverage of exceptional drought the highest category, to 32 percent in most of bay area now out of that. a new report says there is a 75 percent probability of average to above average january, february and march.

we are still, though, in bad, bad situation as far as the drought. we have rain north of the golden gate bridge tomorrow evening and sunday is finally beginning to be dry with clouds and monday we will see increasing sunshine and temperatures are warmer-than-average in the low-to-mid 60. is rain affecting the commute? >> it is. good morning, everyone, big trouble south san francisco. there is a sig-alert. it is at grand avenue. all makes are blocked southbound 101. c.h.p. is divert, traffic to grand and they expect this not to re-open for another hour. if your travel take you to sfo or south of the peninsula, use 280. sig-alert full freeway closing southbound 101 in south san francisco. 288 or bart is a good alternate. another accident southbound 17 at 85, in campbell area a car is in the embankment with tow truck blocking lane.

the bay bridge toll plaza has a few drops on the camera and traffic is light coming into the city from that direction. next, the next earthquake along the napa fault line could have a new consequence. the critical infrastructure that could fail. >> an eyesore for a san francisco neighborhood and the woman who says the city ignored her complaints and what officials are finally doing about it. >> the bay bridge toll plaza shows traffic moving fine here. it is light with no rain right now. we are keeping weather and traffic up through the entire we are keeping weather and traffic up through the entire commercial break with abc7 news

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but with green giant's delicious seasonings and blends, we just may change their minds. ho ho ho green giant! covering benicia, san ramon, san mateo and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. good morning, everyone, it is 4:41 on friday, the friday before christmas.

we are looking at a wet golden gate bridge and you can see the bridge is configured for all four lanes on the left side of the scene so they are ready. are the rest of us ready? >> we try for get you ready. >> napa fault is back in the news. >> the next earthquake along the fault could cause levy -- failures that measures 45 miles long. that is more than twice as long as previously thought and a reason why the earthquake was so strong. because the fault is so long and close to the sacramento delta, geologists say another big earthquake could break on the levees and there are 11 miles of levees in the delta. some are old and privately build. >> napa fault still is moving. scientists call it after slip. the fault shifted 10" dug the earthquake. it has moved up to 4" since then

and could move another 6" the next three years a big problem for homeowners trying to repair damage. the after slip could continue to crack foundations or misalign the witnesses and doors. officials at the department of public works will hack into a long-standing problem where residents have complainted when unanswered for months. then we looked into it. katie marzullo has the story. >> this is a gorgeous view san francisco but some can fault see this. >> trash piles up. animals. you hear animals in there. >> you could not walk on the sidewalk. >> she has seen rats and condoms and been calling 311 to report the problem since august. >> they took down my phone number and said they would call. no one called. >> city workers would come by but only to pick up the trash. until now.

you can see the bushes have been trimmed. a department of public works spokesman said there is no record of landscaping complaints at the location this year. the director himself came to investigate. >> it is our job to make places safe and clean foreign. >> he don't know why there is no reflection of the claim. >> we have to trace what happened. we will figure out if there was breakdown. >> there could be an agreement with neighbors where the neighbors beautify the space with city support. there are 140 agreements in the city including up the street. leslie said that is not a solution. >> i don't think they should expect the residents to take care of it. >> public works gets 10,000 call as month and has to prioritize. if you plan to travel somewhere for the holiday, may not want to leave today. experts say december 19, today,

is the busiest travel days of the year and the busiest airport is atlanta. 45 million people are expected to travel between new and january 4 an average of 2.4 million a day. the best day to fly if you like empty airport are christmas eve, christmas day, new year's eve and, yes, new year's day. >> there are no slow days in atlanta airport. >> the busiest airport in the world. >> beats out ohio. >> i see the same cars on the road when we come in but now there is a lot more traffic. get with the program. you need to know when you can get into the left turn lane. >> driving will be tough? >> most of those people are still up from the day before so they are tired and hopefully you got a good night's sleep because you need it this morning as you go through more rain. we will look at the peninsula

coast from half moon bay down to pescadero and headed over to san mateo and palo alto and sunnyvale. it will be light. it will be there in the next five minutes to maybe increasing intensity the next 20 minutes. around the bay bridge and toward the richmond and san rafael bridge and golden gate bridge you can see scattered light showers and alameda is about to get a steady rain and through the altamont pass, you will fine light rain and here is how it looks to the north. the cold prompt is at cloverdale is we will see increase of steady rain and possibly in the intensity the next couple of hours. this is the warm front. warm front usually gets rain. gradual rain. nice rain. the rain that soaks and does not run off. when the cold front comes this afternoon we get showers and we get the brief heavier rain and the possible of flooding. storm track will take this storm

across us but notice the storm track across the northern part of the state so the front is going to come down and stall. it will stall in the south bay so the south pay is going to have a lingering chance of showers and the rest of us have a dry evening. san jose and 101 at 880, it is dry if the commute. looking to walnut creek it is dry. when i came through 680 and 24, it was wet from time to time. steady rain to afternoon showers rain mostly north of the golden gate bridge and dry and. er for the extended period. the wet weather increases along the present as we head to 7:00 in the north bay and happen is the front will come down, stall across the south bay. the south bay has the best chance of being wet in the evening commute and evening hours. we will see a tapering overnight and tomorrow north of the golden gate bridge after the sun is setting at 5:00 we have our best

chance of light rain. we have half an inch in the lower elevation and 1" in the mountains much if you wonder abut the game, heading over chargers are in town to take on the 49ers tomorrow night at 5:25. it will be dry. temperatures are in the upper and down to the mid-50's and if you are going over to the cove, bills take on the raiders and it will start at 62 and dropping to 60 under clouds. the 15 sentence show winter starts and the atmosphere dries and we will be dry and warmer and mid-60 as we head to the holiday on when -- wednesday and thursday. >> south san francisco southbound we. closed. a multi-vehicle accident. c.h.p. is on the scene diverting traffic. you are re-entering 101 at row avenue. avoid the area if you can. if you are headed to sfo 280 is the great alternate. or take bart.

c.h.p. said it would be an hour to clear this. sig-alert southbound 101 at grand avenue. it is shut down until further notice. from the caldecott tunnel a solo spinout, actually, west of the caldecott tunnel with a lot of standing water. this is richmond-san rafael bridge. it is rain standing water is the issue. same day shipping is not fast enough for you at times? if that is the case amazon is testing a faster delivery service. >> here is the tech byte. >> today, amazon has a new delivery program for same day shipping isn't fast enough. >> prime now offers 1-2 hour delivery on tens of thousands of items currently available in

manhattan and will expand in 2015. >> net film, say no to off line viewing. there was speculation the service would consider allow users to access votes without an internet connection. >> executive now says that will never happen. >> a joy the holiday season in new york is the holiday displays in department store windows and now you can see them on on the computer because of google maps. >> that includes macy and 5th avenue. coming up, if you are counting on a big tax refund, it could come later than you specific. the i.r.s. could be late with your check next year. >> complete strangers' act of kindness shock as fast food worker and left the employee speechless but very professional. >> you can see the wet

embarcadero and the same in the bay bridge and to the east, be careful driving. keep tabs on weather and traffic throughout the entire commercial break. throughout the entire commercial break. stay

>> the i.r.s. is warning that income tax refunds could be delayed next year because of budget cuts. congress cut the i.r.s. budget by $345 million for the fiscal year ending next september. the agency says taxpayers services will be hurt and there will be fewer acts to audit returns. the cuts come as they are ready to play a bigger role in implementing obamacare starting next year. you will indicate whether you have health insurance. an incredible act of kindness left a fast food worker behind herself paying a customer a commodity limit and the woman handed her not a tip but a mink

coat to say, thanks. she was working the drive through and the woman pulled to the window to get the order. >> i say, ma'am, i like that jacket the. >> she what so sweet and i took it off and handed it to her through the drive if window. >> real, real good. >> the co-workers say she was yelling like she woman the lottery. >> the woman who gave her the $10,000 mink coat says it makes her happy to do fun things. >> what a christmas gift! >> what a surprise. what you need around here is a raincoat. hope you have it ready. >> you would tut want to wear that outside. >> good morning, everyone, the heavy rain in the northern part of the central valley and it is turning interest snow as it heads to the sierra especially north of yosemite. through the industrial valley you will be wet from time to time with low-to-mid 60's chico and sacramento and low-to-mid 60

in monterey and mid-to-upper 60's in southern california with clouds. we need more snow. you can see we are at 50 percent now and that means we have half of what we need. we are beginning to get more today up physical 10:00 and 2-5" above 6,000' at 10" at the highest so there could be delays. we will talk to sue at times and find out what roads are blocked. sue has the local traffic. we are going back to south san francisco with southbound lane of 101 completely shut down at grand and we had a multi-vehicle accident and c.h.p. was open scene diverting traffic off the grand and back on at produce avenue and sig-alert is in effect. they said it would be an hour and they are holding people on the side of the road waiting for the passenger schultz to get the people out of there before they open up the freeway. that is what is taking time. 280 is a great alternate.

or bart. if you are going to. caltrain wants to help you safely were eye your new year's to injury free service at 8:00 people on december 31 and to rely on train and not a car if you plan on partying that night. trains will rate on a regular weekday schedule but there will be four extra departures from san francisco after midnight. there is no alcohol allowed on board after 9:00 p.m. this holiday season, shelters are being overcrowd by pets being dumped. >> an animal shelter received a young black labrador that was dropped over a fence into a homeowner's yard. a man carried the dog down the street and abandoned him. the doc had the tags which the animal shelter used to lobby a message for the owner. the owner said he had given the

dog ambassador hours earlytory a man named george because he was too busy with work and school and he says george is actually the man seen in the video. >> what do you thing when you see that? >> that [ blank ]...if he is going to do that my dog what would he do to other service. >> he gave phone number to the animal shelter and the man claimed the dog ran away, the original owner says he now decided to keep the dog. all right. one of the biggest names sounds off about the hacking scandal, and who got the cold shoulder from the film studios just ahead. >> we are lending what caused a massive fire if los angeles this month may not have been an accident. and looking at the eastern span of the bay bridge traffic is still moving. we have a big sig-alert in south san francisco that sue follows.

this is a way of keeping on top san francisco that sue follows. this is a way of keeping on top of weather and trash and

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. good morning on friday december 19. thank you for joining us. i am kristen sze. >> i warmer risk thomas with sue hall. first we will find out about the rain from meteorologist mike nicco. it is falling even if you do not see the rain on the radar. it is drizzle and light rain. it will take over the compute through the morning hours. you can see golden gate bridge