good afternoon. >> we're on earlier this afternoon to bring you the very latest on the massive north bay wildfires. a lot of valuable information running across the bottom of your screen. >> let's begin with the latest on the fires. authorities say 29 people have now died in the fires. they continue to check on hundreds of people reported missing. the fires have consumed an estimated 180,000 acres and at least 3,500 structures have burned including more than 2,800 just in santa rosa. >> aside from the evacuations already in place, there's now a mandatory evacuation in sonoma valley for north of east napa street to the end of east napa. and today north bay congressman mike thompson announced that congress passed a funding package for the fires and the

hurricanes. >> today the house of representatives passed an emergency supplemental bill of about $37 billion. about 19 billion of that is for hurricane and fire relief. it's important to note that they plussed that number up at the very last minute by an additional $1 billion because of this devastating fire and i know that there will be more to come. >> so the feds are taking action. let's take a look right now at where the fires are burning exactly. >> among the fires burning this afternoon as we speak, the tubbs fire is now 34,270 acres. only 10% contained. the pocket fires grew to 8,100 acres over night at zero percent containment. >> the atlas fire more than 43,000 acres charred. it's just 3% contained.

the nuns fire has burned nearly 14,700 acres and is 3% con contained. >> you also have redwood and potter fires. new information about 30 minutes ago. >> here's thomas allman. >> the fire is more devastating than we were told. if we thought there was 50 structures and 40 outbuildings, i'm here to tell you that's not true. it's much higher. yesterday we announced there had een six fatalities. today i'm telling you eight fatalities. >> we're expecting more winds tomorrow. tomorrow night we expect winds that could be almost to the force that we saw on sunday and monday. so we're not out of the woods yet. we still have danger ahead of us. and so literally all it takes is one of those small hot fire

embers to come out of containment lines we built already and we're off to the races again. i can't stress enough. i appreciate your patience but we still have a few crazy days ahead of us with the winds that we're expecting starting tomorrow night over the weekend. >> the prospect of more winds is frightening. the entire city of geyserville is under a mandatory evacuation order. the pocket fire jumped by 4,100 acres overnight. >> it's currently burning south in the hills over the city. firefighters are using aerial water drops and fire retardant to stop the flames. >> 463 people are still unaccounted for in sonoma county. norma zarr is and mike grabow's family is

looking for him. he lives in one of the hardest hit areas. >> sonoma county authorities announce they're shifting from search and rescue to recovery. >> we're using search and rescue team members. they are law enforcement associated. we are spreading resources very wisely. we have cadaver dogs up here that can scent bodies and help us find people. that is the reality of it. the next part is the rest of the reality. identification is going to be hard. so far in the recoveries, we have found bodies that were almost completely intact. we have found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones. >> grim news there. in total, more than 900 people have been reported missing in sonoma county. 437 have been found so far. >> smoke from the fires continues to spread south you can see over san francisco bay

area causing all sorts of problems. >> live look from san francisco. 91 flights have been canceled because of reduced visibility. 115 flights canceled yesterday. delays up to three hours. officials urge everyone to limit their outdoor activity as air quality reaches unhealthy levels. views from the cameras around the bay show how bad the air quality is schools have canceled classes and most activities today. >> officials urge everyone to keep windows closed and pets indoors. obviously limit your time outdoors. >> for sure. >> let's turn our attention to the weather. winds very important both in terms of the firefighting and the air quality. here's a live picture from emeryville looking toward san francisco. >> you can see how thick the smoke is. there's a spare the air alert and health advisory in effect throughout the weekend. also red flag warning for much of the bay area. let's get to spencer christian for more on all these conditions. >> this is the most extended period of poor air quality and high fire danger i've seen in the bay area.

this this is a look at black and white satellite image. we outlined long trails of smoke for you moving southward from the fires being carried southward by persistent northerly wind and this has been the pattern for the last couple days and continues through this afternoon. now, let's take a look at surface wind right now across the bay area generally sort of a mixed picture around the bay and near the coast. we have breezy conditions. winds between 10 and 20 miles per hour. up in the north bay, also a mixed picture. some locations the wind is light. santa rosa has only 3-mile-per-hour wind right now. petalu petaluma, gusting to 17 miles an hour and over higher elevations wind is stronger. so this is the current situation. red flag warning in effect for much of the bay area until 5:00 this afternoon. wind will be generally out of the north-northeast gusting to 45 miles per hour over the higher elevations. humidity remains dangerously low at 10% to 20% and under those conditions fires can start and spread rapidly.

up in the north bay right now, right around santa rosa, the wind gusts over the next 24 hours will increase a bit into the early evening hours and then taper off into the overnight and early morning hours but let's pick up wind gusts animation. 5:00 tomorrow afternoon, a sharp increase in winds tomorrow night and overnight into saturday morning. by 2:00 a.m. saturday, we'll look at winds gusting between 20 and 35 miles per hour over much of the bay area. continuing to be strong into the mid morning hours of saturday. then we'll see wind tapering off late saturday night, which is good news. high fire danger remains with us through the period. fire weather watch in effect from late tomorrow afternoon to late saturday night over the north and east bay hills. possibility for winds gusting to 60 miles an hour with low humidity. and you can see right now we've got low relative humidity everywhere. 13% at santa rosa. novato, 9%. 13% at concord. these are conditions that allow fires to start and spread

rapidly. this is the view, if you will. you could call this a view from our east bay hills camera. air quality remains very unhealthy which is the operative word here throughout the bay area today and most of the area tomorrow. it will be poor in the santa clara valley. we continue to have flight delays at sfo because of reduced visibility. delays up to 150 minutes or 2 1/2 hours and we see no significant improvement in visibility or air quality or fire risk in the immediate future. >> all right. thank you, spencer. there's some signs of life returning to normal. napa valley college says its faculty will return on monday and classes are expected to resume on tuesday. >> a few people are returning to their homes in the silverado area of napa with police escorts. eric? >> reporter: we're all family with the point of no return.

here is what you might call the point of return. at least briefly for some of these people. they come here to where the police have a road block. they get briefed. with a police escort they're allowed to go to their homes for a few minutes to grab medicine and other necessities. they also get to see what it looks like around their homes. sometimes it is good news. sometimes it is not. chris and his wife have ten minutes to get medicines, wedding pictures and other property out of their home and a lifetime to marvel at how the house survived. >> we told everyone we lost everything. we wanted to go with the worst-case scenario and be realistic. >> reporter: in reality their home wasn't touched. surprising because flames surprised a neighboring home and the fire burned within two feet of this wall. >> as you can see, it wrapped around us and left us alone. kind of got everybody around the corner. i'm sorry. we're so lucky. we're so lucky.

i don't know when we can come in and be habitable but there's a lot worse stories out here. >> reporter: this is the first day that people evacuated sunday night were allowed briefly back and with a police escort. they can see how flames destroyed some homes and spared others at random and they could feed livestock that have gone days without food and some could count their blessings. >> we have two homes that could have been impacted. luckily our homes are fine. but i have friends in the area who lost everything. >> reporter: now, along silverado trail and golf course earlier it was blocked off to everyone including the media for a while because they were thinking they might find more bodies up there. the search continues for damaged homes, destroyed homes and people who might have been killed by the fire. as you know, there are still people missing. law enforcement from all overing

we have seen chp officers from central valley helping to direct traffic and helping people get where they go. the atlas fire consumed thousands of acres. that's why they're not letting people back into their homes for a good yet because so far these flames have been unpredictable and so far they want to make sure that everybody up here is still safe. you have this road block and several west and north of here as people go back to their homes to see what has been left behind. reporting live in napa, eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> can you tell us the overall mood? some people are grateful if their homes have been spared but also there's the ominous warning that through the weekend we could have winds gusting again 40, 50, up to 60 miles an hour. that has to be very stressful. >> reporter: nobody up here has relaxed or even close to being relaxed at this point. they do want to get back in and see what's left behind if there

are pets and livestock. we followed a family that went up top feed goats and chickens earlier. they know how unpredictable it can be. if no other sign than seeing aircraft, helicopters, going back and forth doing air drops. they know they're not out of the woods yet. literally not out of the woods yet. they are preparing for what may come this weekend if those winds do indeed pick up the way we're being told that they will. >> eric, you showed one woman wearing a respirator mask but others next to her are not. you are not right now. how is it feeling right now in terms of any potentially adverse health effects? >> reporter: well, you can see the air around you. it is kind of murky up here. not as bad as i've seen other places. i would say maybe one in four, one in five people you see on the street are wearing some sort of mask or

prares respirator. some are closing down because the air quality is so poor. it may get to the point where you'll see more people wearing respirators and masks because of poor air quality. if you have a respiratory problem, it's going to agitate

a news conference just finished up in sonoma county. it was about an hour ago. everyone is urged to be ready for more evacuations and thanks to all of the first responders for their tireless efforts. >> we're so grateful to have extraordinary partners to assist our community in combatting this

disaster. we know that many of you do not have access to computers and phones, so we are working with cal fire and the city of santa rosa to conduct daily shelter briefings at all of our shelters. we're committed to continuing this throughout the disaster response. please continue to be vigilant and ready to evacuate at any time. you can prepare by having your medications ready to take with you, warm clothes, closed toe shoes, keeping your cell phone charger next to you, gathering your important paperwork, food and water and keep a small amount of cash on hand. make sure you can locate your pets and bring a crate and pet food with you. the county website has important information on evacuation centers, fire maps, prescriptions, evacuation areas,

and many other informative things. nearly 4,000 individuals are staying at our 24 shelters. we encourage community members in need of sheltering to use one of our larger four evacuation centers with enhanced services such as mental health and acute medical assistance so these include sonoma marin fairgrounds, sonoma county fire grounds, lc allen high school, and the santa rosa veterans building. again, our hearts go out to everybody that has been affected by this disaster, and on behalf of the board of supervisors, i want to say how grateful i am to the first responders but not only the first responders but the army of volunteers that have come forward. we ask for your patience and your kindness to one another as we deal with this horrific

disaster together as a community. we will recover and thank you so much to sonoma county. >> i think one of the things that's difficult as people normally in these situations you think i'll be gone a day or two. we're seeing this event may take a lot longer to resolve itself. they need to get their medications and everything they need for their pets as well. >> it's so hard. you have so little time. there are so many things to consider. >> exactly. new evacuations yunld w s under sonoma as the tubbs fire continues to grow now burning more than 34,000 acres. >> people raced to get out of the neighborhood along loyall valley road. we learn it was just in the nick of time. >> reporter: a drive through shows what the fire did last night and spots where it is still burning. firefighters are staged nearby and watching it carefully today it's also being watched from bod. this is a rural area where the homes are very spread out but drive the other direction and you will find a neighborhood on

flat streets. the fire hasn't reached this area but it is close so an evacuation order is in place here. jeff, his wife, his father in law and his dog are still here. >> i'll stay right until the flames are reaching on the doorstep. >> reporter: that doesn't mean he isn't nervous. >> when they told us to evacuate, there was flames up in there. the flames were cresting the top of that hill and over here. i was pretty scared. >> reporter: we went into town to talk to people who have evacuated. they are at least enjoying some creature comforts like an open starbucks, a rare find this week. >> it feels like a ghost town. just hanging out. a lot of people have left. some of us didn't want to leave. >> reporter: jeff can't get fresh coffee and a scone. police say they can't force you to leave, but if you do believe, you won't be allowed back in. >> just a hot breakfast. we still have hot water.

we don't have any electricity. all our food is rotten. but i'll hold out. >> well, with the poor air quality masks and res parrpirao are sti

authorities say 77 cell towers were damaged. 64 have been restored. pg&e says 45,000 people are without power presently in sonoma county. >> all right. the other thing we're watching closely, certainly for

firefighting, the weather. >> spencer christianson here with a look at what we can expect today and the next few days. >> mixed winds at the surface. calm in some places. stronger in others. generally stronger higher elevations. that's still a fire hazard. here's a look at live live livee mainly sunny skies above the haze. this is a look at our dirty, smoke filled health threatening air. these are current temperature readings. 64 in san francisco. oakland, 68. mid 70s at mountain view. san jose and gilroy and half moon bay. more temperature readings right now, 78 at santa rosa. one more live view from emeryville camera, that haze just continues to hover over the entire region. these are forecast features. smoke-filled air for the next few days. winds will increase late tomorrow going into saturday. it will be turning warmer this

weekend as well. fire weather watch, red flag warning for higher fire danger is in effect now and will continue to be in effect until 5:00 this afternoon for all of the bay area. winds in the higher elevations will gust out of the north-northeast to 50 miles an hour. very low humidity. 10% to 20%. fires can start and spread easily. on we go with fire weather watch, which kicks into effect tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 and will be in effect until saturday night at 11:00 over the north bay and east bay hills we may see winds gusting up to 60 miles an hour during that period of time and again humidity will remain very, very low. overnight clear skies above. hazy conditions below. we'll see low temperatures in the early morning hours dropping into the upper 30s to low 40s in the north bay valleys. we'll see upper 40s to about 50 elsewhere. tomorrow under hazy sunshine look for highs ranging from low 60s at the coast to low 70s right around the bay and mid 70s

inland. and of course air quality remains quite unhealthy for the entire region friday and into saturday. a glimmer of hope. next wednesday the forecast animation starting at 7:00 next wednesday night a little frontal system will sweep down that may bring us rainfall and cooler air into thursday. let's hope that materializes and intensifies. here's accuweather seven-day forecast. a warmup over the weekend. sunday and monday, high temperatures mid to upper 80s inland. low 80s around the bay. low 70s on the coast. gradual cooling into a fall-like pattern next week. bring on the rain. >> wednesday can't get here f

now to a reunion between a chp helicopter crew and a family they rescuesed after the atlas peak fire started on sunday night. >> the father of the family made a difficult decision. vick lee has the story.

>> this was the first time since the rescue that the chp helicopter crew members saw this family. on sunday night as the flames raced through atlas peak, they left their home just before it burned to the ground. >> all i can see was flames, like, 15, 20 feet high. >> they drove up to a feield along the mountain. that's when the crew saw the family. they landed the chopper. >> i said we can take four people. he made the decision of who was going to go. a very selfless act on his part. >> i thought these guys, please take my family, you know. i'll be here. i'll be all right. >> i was crying. my son, my mom, everybody was crying. >> reporter: he tried hard not to show his fear but the flames were close. >> i call my daughter and i tell her, if i don't see you again,

remember i love you. that was it. >> the courage and selflessness did not go unnoticed. >> he's saying take my family and go. i mean, kudos to him, you know. what a guy. >> i told him we were coming back. i don't think he believed us. >> officer lowe meant what he said. later that night they found him and picked him up. >> i was, like, nervous when he didn't come. he came. >> when i saw him again, i so happy. >> we want to thank these two officers because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be alive right now. >> boy, so glad that whole family is okay. >> for sure. >> "world news tonight" is coming up next. >> for all of us here at abc 7 news, thanks for joining us. our next newscast and latest on

the fire situation is coming up at 4:00. we'll see you then. tonight, several breaking stories as we come on the air. the violent prison break unfolding right now. multiple prison employees targeted. schooled were put on lockdown. tonight, reports of injuries, a fire set. and several people rushed to the hospital. also breaking, the deadly wildfires. new evacuations. the line of cars. two major fires combining as one. and authorities with their new warning. just in tonight, a major development in the las vegas massacre. the hotel has just released a new timeline. what we're now learning about the hero security guard and when this massacre began. the american mother and her family held hostage for five years, freed by a terror group. brian ross standing by. president trump's chief of staff comes before the cameras, addressing reports of growing