beacon, she activated an sos alert. >> i neulanding would be difficult. >> went, oh, my god, back to base and got a guy that went straight down to this little opening to get me. >> you guys can help me? we will put her in a stretcher. >> as she was being rescued, this is what she thought. >> how amazing it is that technology and people can make this happen. >> h 40, we're good to go. >> having suffered a stroke, time was of the essence. tara, who happens to be a minister, says she'd do it all again. while her balance and vision have been impacted, her mission is stable, her resolve crystal clear. >> being alive and doing what you love to do is really important. that's what i'm going to do. >> reporter: in santa rosa, melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >> the blue cut wildfire is the

largest in southern california being fanned by temperatures hovering around 100 degrees. a look at the fire that has b n burned almost 32,000 acres, you can see a little bit of flames there. hard to see this high up but you see smoke coming off of it. firefighters say conditions are brutal even though temperatures eased slightly today. cal fire says containment is still just 4%. evacuation orders still in place for nearly 80% of residents. moving north the clayton fire is 55% contained but the water district is still without power and evacuation notice. a mandatory boil water order is in place and residents returning home are being advised to take bottled water with them and residents said it destroyed 75 homes and businesses and the fire destroyed nearly 45,000 acres. a member of the olympic team

has no place to come home. matthew porter maintains all the equipment. just a few days before the olympics they moved and bought a new home there. unfortunately he lost the new home and a go fund me account has been set up to help him. exhausted pilots from the cal firebase are hoping to get a day to rest after fighting it all week. leslie brinkley is live at the sonoma county airport with what it takes to be a firefighting pilot. leslie. >> reporter: wow, impressive story about these guys, planes behind me, two air tankers and command aircraft. if a fire call comes in they are ready to be airborne in four minutes time, dispatched 300 times a year. as you said, it's been a very busy week for them. there's little chance to take a

breath between missions in the heat of the fire season. in between 25 flights and he flies solo and coordinators with his captain to drop retardant on the right spot. >> we're trying our best to save stuff and some people are trying their best to destroy stuff. that's pretty sad. >> reporter: knowing an arsonist started the clayton fire is unsettling. >> we try not to think about it, we put retardant and try to help the folks on the ground get around it. >> reporter: they pumped and dropped 80,000 gallons of retardant in a single day. pilots say fighting a fire from above requires tactical coordination. it's dangerous. two years ago, a pilot crashed and died, from yosemite. >> it's danger. collision between an airplane and a drone, we're not looking for that at all.

>> when ever we see a drone in a fire traffic area, we will cease air operations. >> reporter: there have been more than four incidents and drones that grounded firefighting aircraft with eight weeks ahead. cal fire wants to let the public to know, you fly, we don't. >> reporter: abc7 news. today this is 18th spare the air alert this year. our time elapse shows you how smoggy it was today. you're encouraged to ditch your cars and hop off public transportation to cut back on that smog. the reason for that alert is the wildfires burning across california. we sent out push alerts at 2:00 this afternoon. you can get alerts where you live by downloading the free abc7 news app and 18 abling push alerts any time you wish. enabling push alerts.

inhaling thick black smoke shown here from sky 7 has caused major breathing problems. chris is live in san jose wo that story. >> reporter: hi. i was out here covering the fire last night. i'm definitely feeling the effects right now. if you look behind miyu can see the train trestle. we're getting a closer look on the trestle that caught on fire yesterday. it is closed off but you can see how close it got to the apartment building that houses many seniors grateful their homes were saved by firefighters. this smoke can be seen for miles, a train trestle caught on fire right next door to a senior apartment complex. >> i had a lot of mucus, a lot of congestion. that's why i ended up down here this morning because i just had to get out of my apartment. >> reporter: wednesday afternoon, residents were evacuated from their homes as the fire moved closer.

with no where else to go they found themselves outside brea e breathing in the toxic particles and the smoke was black because the trestle was covered in tar. >> i had to pick up my blouse and cover half of my face. >> reporter: elizabeth rosales had a tough time getting out of bed today. >> i'm afraid to speak because i could feel it in my throat. >> you can see they increase the airway inflammation lining of the airway. >> reporter: those living with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease need to limit their time outside, especially on spare the air days. >> they're super sensitive to particles, change in weather, temperature, anything like that that can make them more sensitive and secrete more mucus. >> reporter: bay area air quality will continue to be

difficult in monterrey county. >> if you have coughness, whe e wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightening, change of mucus coloring, please go to the doctor. >> reporter: they're still trying to determine the cause of the train trestle fire. abc7 news. authorities have stumbled on a massive marijuana grow operation while fighting a fire in monterrey count. i they posted pictures of deputies eradicating more than 17,000 marijuana plants and 700 pounds of processed pot. it began last month and currently 60% contained. a sheriff's deputy and his canine partner are being cd for a major pot bust in sonoma county. more than 108 pounds of marijuana he sniffed out near santa rosa, authorities arrested the two men for marijuana for

sale and transportation and conspiracy and the pot has a street value up to half a million dollars. we're learning tonight the man shot by police in hayward has died. saturday, more than one officer fired at 36-year-old eric after he was in a stolen car that ran into police cruisers. two officers suffered minor injuries. police arrested a second man in the car. they haven't said who was actually driving. the district attorney's office is investigating the officer involved shooting. residents of san jose continue to complain there aren't enough officers on the street to protect their neighborhood. there's a big divide over the city's leadership whether outside help is needed. live at san jose city hall where the debate is under way. >> reporter: it's pretty clear what the problem is. san jose is down about 600 officers from its full authorized strength. at last week's graduation class

academy, there were only seven members of that class. the councilmember says at that rate it will take ten years to rebuild the department. the councilmember thinks it's time to call in for help to patrol san jose. >> from 1400 to 1,000 to 900 to 813, it will take over a decade to get that number back up. rather than wait around, it's time to ask for help. >> reporter: the help would come from the salt lake sheriff's office or highway patrol. >> this is a half-baked idea without checking capacity of others to come and help. we need to build the san jose police department. >> reporter: the police officers don't embrace it but was done three years ago when santa clara sheriff's officers patrolled oakland residents with a contract. citizens fed up with crime spoke. >> three men were beating up a woman. the police didn't come. the next day the p.d. said they

had to prioritize their calls and didn't have anybody to handle the matter. >> reporter: san jose's police chief is against the idea saying outside officers may not be sensitive to community needs and expectations and would be bound by their own agency's policies and pursuits and conduct and the plan detrimental to morale and recruiti ining efforts. valley doesn't buy that. >> that's a simple law and order pull them over and write a ticket. i don't understand what culture differentiator there may be in play. >> reporter: the plan is still under discussion. san jose, david louie, abc7 news. >> there may soon be a knew smoke-free zone, next. >> private memorials on public property, should there be a limit to memorials to fallen cyclis cyclists. >> real-time exploration, the mission off the coastline. and a $1 billion

california's clean air laws we've cut toxic pollution. we're seeing fewing cases of asthma in kids. and the new clean energy economy has created more than half a million jobs. i'm tom steyer. just when we're making progress, the oil companies are trying to weaken our clean air laws. but we can stop them. send them a message. we're going to protect our kids - not their profits. ♪

this is abc7 news. >> you may have noticed the bicycles painted white around san francisco part of a worldwide phenomenon called ghost bikes to honor fallen cyclis cyclists. they have been removed and some activists say they should not be removed here. carolyn. >> reporter: next week a member of the san francisco bike committee will be here calling for a moratorium. she also has a chalnge.org petition and says removing those ghost bikes is a slap in the face of grieving families. ghost bikes frame and wheels are

painted white as tribute to bicyclists hit and killed. julie mitchell and her family made one for her 21-year-old son, dillon, who died three years ago on the streets of san francisco, after colliding with a garbage truck. >> people would stop and pay their respects and read it and people would slow down to see it. it was making an impact. it was more than just a memorial to us. it was a powerful tool, i feel. >> reporter: then one day, it was gone. >> very disrespectful, like throwing my son in the garbage. >> reporter: all over, san francisco ghost bikes are disappe disappearing. devon warren took this picture of memorials that have been removed. as a member of the bicycle committee, she's introducing a resolution calling on members of the public works department to hold off a year before dismantling. >> i would like for them to permit putting up the ghost

bike, of course, provided no ghost bike is posing a public hazard. >> reporter: the head of public works says the current policy is two weeks for any memorial but he's open for change. >> if it's a piece of art or something that doesn't involve a lot of maintenance, maybe there is some common ground we can look at and see what's reasonable. >> reporter: julie said she would erect another tribute to her son if she knew it would be allowed to stay. carolyn tyler, abc7 news. a bay area nurse's assistant was arrested today on charges related to harassment and threats targeting television personality, kris jenner. fbi special agents took her into custody at her newark home this morning. they believe she sent numerous electronic messages to jenner and hacked her social media accounts and hacked other members of her family. the fbi has been investigating her for stocking jenner since 2014. charges have been dropped

for a man accused of making death threats against san diego's active police chief, donald hogan son was calling for the beheading of chief toney chaplin. a judge said there was not enough evidence in this case. it looks like a bill banning smoking on the sideline of youth sporting events. they voted to ban all tobacco products within 250 feet of any game or practice where children are present. any who wants to smoke, use an e-cigarette or chew tobacco would have to walk almost a city block away or face a fine. the bill passed the assembly in may. the chinese group based development group bought the oyster property for billion dollar research and life scie e sciences company. they plan to begin the landing at oyster point as it will be called and number of anywheres

have to be developed before the site can be developed. for consumer tech news, which laptop should a student get before heading back to school. >> partnering up with "consumer reports" to find out. >> there are lots of options for students heading to college this fall. "consumer reports" offers tips how to pick the right laptop. whether writing papers, taking notes or playing streaming video ga games, it's important for college students to choose a laptop that can handle what they need it to do. "consumer reports" says the first thing to do when shopping is check with your school. often, they have specific requirements when it comes to computers. most colleges say you can buy windows or apple. some specific schools within the college may use applications that only run on one or the other. >> in college campuses you will see a lot of mac laptops in which case you go to an engineering building and see a

lot of window laptops. >> reporter: consumers reports says price is something to consider. >> mac laptops will be expensive and you will pay more but in most surveys they are more reliable. windows laptops offers a wider variety of places, as low as 0 $200 to 1,0$1,000 or more. with then there's size. offering a good compromise for weight and students on the go. recommended 13 inch models include the macbook pro for 1 0 $1300. 1,0$1,000 dell xps 13 inch non-touch. and the 14 inch acer aspire is a "consumer reports" best buy at 7 $700. >> they're great, cool, toes carry. if you're pulling an all-nighter writing that term paper you will be looking for larger screen than those little guys afford you. >> looking for back to school

discounts for students. let me point out a couple to you. apple offers discounted education pricing on laptops and other items. microsoft offers zowb s discoun 10% or more and many other individual computer makers offer them up. >> unless i'm wrong, tomorrow is friday. >> it is. >> hi. we will be seeing cooler weather head og to the weekend. right now, seeing signs of change and temperatures dropped a few degrees. clouds are out, the breeze is stronger and the marine influence is stronger. we'll talk about your weekend, around the corner. we have fog around the coastline and watching thunderstorms in sierra nevada both north and south of the lake tahoe area. this will continue. there's been hail and rain

associated with it. if you're traveling doing last minute hiking and camping. an isolated thunderstorm can't be ruled out sunday. low to mid 80s in the afternoon and low to mid 40s. if you're outdoors and see skies like this one on lake tahoe, you want to travel indoors. here are the local mountain views, 77, san jose, morgan hill and a live look from the camera, 2,000 feet. 78 in san jose, 74 in napa. currently in the low 90s in fairfield. 88 in livermore. we are dealing with a little bit of haze you see from our mt. tam cam and it will call for fog tomorrow morning. light drizzle temperature tomorrow and a spare the air alert issued again. impacting the south bay, you can see how hazy it look the from

san jose and air quality will be poor, why spare the air for your friday, moderate elsewhere due to smoke and fog. if you can, use mass transit, if possible, for you friday. temperatures primarily in the 50s. antioch, livermore, in the low 60s, showing you where the fog is sitting for the start of the commute at 5:00 a.m., pushed well in the oakland area, santa rosa and palo alto and inland areas seeing the sun. hot tomorrow like today. 87 morgan hill. 77 in sunnyvale on the peninsula and palo alto. foggy, half moon bay, pacifica, upper 60s to low 60s. n nt north bay, 75 and sonoma, upper

70s. 77 in fremont. head inland, warm, 89 in fairfield. those temperatures will slip a couple degrees more inland. your forecast saturday and low 60s. sunday, notice the temperatures coming down. upper 80s warmest spots. upper 50s beaches, below average for monday. 86 the warmest spots. don't worry, we'll come back. tuesday and thursday, inland to low 60s, primarily at the coastline. good thing is you can australia figure out where you want to spend your day. >> thanks so much. the ice man cometh and he's wearing a bear skin beeney. that story next on world news with david muir. saying the u.s. swimmers lied and were not robbed at gunpoint before they left rio.

tonight, you see the surveillance from the nightclub and gas station. the american military family and the mother allegedly drowned by her own son in the pool. >> thanks. ready to save a bundle? a fast and easy way homeowners can save hundreds of dollars a

a boat is set to leave san francisco tomorrow on a mission. on board the boat nautilus, as they prepared to get a look at the reef on board. and they will use robotic rovers to do deep sea exploration and a marine sanctuary and they rec t recently discovered a coral reef. >> as you go deeper in the ocean, species need to adapt to be able to live in a high

pressure environment with little light. who knows what we will find. >> you can follow the mission at nautil nautiluslive.org. the crew will also explore the wreck of a world war ii ship used for atomic bomb testing. abc has a partnership for exhibits at the hands-on science museum. >> remarkable. one of the world's most famous mummies, the ice man is a 5,000 year old mummy found on a glacier in 1991. according to dna results, leather coat make of sheep and goats and shoes and laces from a wild cow and hat from the side of a brown bear. the material suggests the iceman was adept at killing both domesticated and wild animals. do you know who this is. a local treasure, about to get a big honor. the story next.

california's clean air laws we've cut toxic pollution. we're seeing fewing cases of asthma in kids. and the new clean energy economy has created more than half a million jobs. i'm tom steyer. just when we're making progress, the oil companies are trying to weaken our clean air laws. but we can stop them. send them a message. we're going to protect our kids - not their profits. ♪

coming up tonight on abc7 news at 6:00, a controversial statute of donald trump goes up in san francisco. it is anything but flattering. tonight, the political statement the artists claim they're making. can a single word in an ad make a difference, why suppo

supporters of a sugary drink tax in oakland are crying foul. tony bennett will be in town tomorrow to leave much more than his heart in san francisco. >> abc7 news was outside the fairmont hotel as crews prepared to reveal a bronze statute of that legendary iconic singer. >> it was created by east bay sculptor wolfe, who worked to get a pose of him standing with his arms stretched out. >> you try to get a gesture in your work to make something that has feeling to it. i think that's what i tried to do in the peace, tried to give him that exuberant quality he has. >> the public unveiling will take place tomorrow at noon in front of the fairmont and will be there, where he performed his classic song "i left my heart in san francisco." in 1961. >> incredible. david muir is next. we appreciate your time and we

will see you in half an hour. tonight, breaking news from rio, coming in right now. police now recommending that two american swimmers, including ryan lochte, be indicted. authorities in brazil say the swimmers lied. tonight, right here, the new surveillance video of them at that gas station. what really happened. and standing firm. this evening, sources who have talked to the swimmers tell abc news that they were, in fact, held up by armed gunmen. also breaking, the wildfire out of control. flames now racing tonight, across land at 30 miles an hour. the major headline coming in from chicago. the head of police says seven police officers should be fired. he says they lied after an officer shot and killed a teenager. the well-known american military family and the mother allegedly drowned by her own son. and usain bolt. tonight, the science.