avenue not far from lake merit. the driver taken into custody nearby. >> let's go to eric thomas live in oakland with the latest on the story. eric? >> reporter: dan, we're told the young victim is in critical condition at the hospital right now. the story begins here at the intersection of 8th avenue and east 15th street where you see a couple of police motorcycles are here and officers are conducting their investigation. they say this is where a maroon toyota traveling at a pretty good clip hit and critically injured the young victim. the scene, this all happened at 1:30 in the afternoon. this is where the hit and run occurred. the toyota then continued on to the 400 block of foothill where the car slammed into the back of another vehicle. no one was injured. the owner of the other car was not injured there. the suspect then walked away from the scene. she was taken into custody outside a strip mall on 9th avenue a short distance a wachlt we talked to a witness who saw the suspect. she appeared to be injured.

>> white female, about 5'10", kind of dirty blond hair. only wearing a tan-colored bra, green pants and black boots. she was heading east on international. >> it is unknown if alcohol or drugs were a factor in this collision. investigators have said that speed was a factor in this collision. >> reporter: police won't tell us the age of the young victim. but we were told she was taken to children's hospital. again, in critical condition. officers are still here investigating at the scene. they say that they are also investigating where the second accident occurred about four blocks from here. we don't yet know the name of the suspect or the victim. but we are out here, as are police investigating what happened. exactly what was going on with the driver at the time and they are continuing to monitor the condition of the young female victim. live in oakland, eric thomas, abc 7 news. >> eric, thank you. now to a late development in

the north bay fires. state fire investigators cordoned off a kol stowing a it's located on bennett lane. sky 7 shows us the area. police are guarding the site being treated by fire investigators as a crime scene. the times reports most of the state's 160 full-time fire investigators are in the north bay trying to determine causes for each of the region's devastating fires. >> the gates finally opened for people in the hard-hit coffey park neighborhood in santa rosa to go back home. reporter wayne freed man is there live tonight. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, it's not what i'm hearing. it's also what i'm seeing, dan. for anybody experienced a fire like this, they know that there's this day, day of reckoning when they come face to face with what's left. imagine not just one house or two, but an entire neighborhood filled with them. >> for residents of the catastrophe known as coffey

park. this is the day they've dreaded and waited for. >> i came over for closure. >> reporter: for almost two weeks, john pittman saw the same pictures as everyone else. showing a pattern of devastation of what used to be his neighborhood. a close chaos. >> this is for real. i don't think that your tv cameras or anything does justice what we're standing in right now. >> reporter: no way. this a once in a lifetime experience for the unluckiest among us. >> in all the time we spent with them, that was the one moment his wife let her guard down. mostly the philosopher in her shown through. >> it's a devastation but we're not devastated. >> reporter: we heard a lot of that today in the strange, almost musical sound of metal de crunching of feet and everywhere a chorus of sifting. one house down from the pittmans and behind what used to be a fence, we found barbara nichols.

>> clearly, you can recognize the bed springs but other things i pick it up and what could this have been? >>. >> reporter: similar questions house after house, street after street. she found this memento of her grandmother's. john, a wedding ring. for a man who could fix just about anything, that was about all he needed. >> it ain't vietnam. that's all i can say. >> reporter: in coffey park, santa rosa, wayne friedman, abc 7 news. the sulphur fire lake is contained. we're hearing a story about how two people escaped the flames. laura anthony joins us with the story. laura? >> reporter: hi, cheryl. we're in holiday island. this is what it sounds like, an island. actually, a peninsula with one way in and out. otherwise, surrounded by water. residents told us that fact was a curse and a blessing. as the fire raced down the hill.

>> we didn't know if we were going to to make it off. we were surrounded by fire. >> reporter: jeffrey moore, can't believe he and three friends made it out alive. called holiday island. the 30-unit park was completely cut off by flames as the sulphur fire raced down towards them in the middle of the night. >> it was hard. it was hard. we didn't know what to do. we panicked. we just all ran. >> reporter: he and his friends evacuated their neighbors pinned in by flames. the truck morris was going to make his escape in was itself consumed by fire. so he and his friends had to go to plan b. >> the other two guys, they remembered there was a aluminum boat down here. they threw it in the water and came around to the backside and i went out the backside to escape. we got out of here in the boat. we were rescued about an hour

later. >> my son and i drove our motor home through the fire. >> >> reporter: larry piazza lives on a home and his home survived somehow. >> i'm really hurt about all this. everybody. not just my son and myself. but everybody's stuff and everything is gone. >> i'm going to have to return this cable box. >> reporter: down at holiday island, the memory of what happened is too painful. but he will be forever grateful that he and his best friend jim and the two other buddies he escaped with are all okay. >> the four of us, we're going to be brothers for life. >> reporter: in clear lake, laura anthony, abc 7 news. michael finney is also in lake county to answer questions for people affected by the fire. we'll check in with him in a few minutes to see how people are being helped out. now to the bear fire which

burned 320 acres in santa cruz county, a different part of the bay, obviously. it started on a property the site of a chop shop bust in 2015. that's according to the santa cruz sentinel which -- the fire is 40% contained. cool temperatures, little wind and that overnight rain stopped it from growing. people in the neighborhood have been allowed back in their homes now. but evacuation orders are still in place for those still living closest to where the fire is burning. cal fire says they hope to have containment in the next four days. chariot is hopeful it will be back in service soon. it's an on demand computer van service. it had to suspend service because of compliance issues with the highway patrol. reporter jonathan bloom joins us at the chariot van lot where a lot of drivers were turned away today. jonathan? >> reporter: you know, it's the middle of rush hour on a friday. and normally these big passenger vans would be on the roads picking up commuters.

now they're sitting here not going anywhere. they ordered chariot to suspend service because of problems with how some drivers are licensed. >> the service that i normally ride wasn't available in the morning, so i contacted them, asked them what was going on. >> reporter: she received this letter saying they were pausing service, a delicate way of saying the license was suspended. >> i was frustrated. i use chariot because there's not a good public transportation option for me. >> reporter: since it started three years ago, chariot has been controversial. riders love it for cutting commute times in half. others complain it clogs streets and driveways. officially that's not why it's shut down. >> the california highway patrol takes transportation seriously. >> the chp found some drivers didn't have the right kind of license for what the state considers a bus. that's any vehicle holding ten or more people. >> we tell them what they need to do to fix it.

we tell them we're going to come back within a certain amount of time. we've done this three times. >> reporter: after failing the inspection last december, the chp says it came back in march and again in august. each time it found a handful of drivers still didn't have the proper license. off camera, two chariot drivers told us they're currently in school for the licenses and chariot has given them a deadline of december. in the meantime, it's found a work around. >> it looks like they actually reduced the seating capacity on some vehicles to get below at that threshold level. >> reporter: the drivers told us chariot is letting them keep working in vans with only nine seats for now. that is, if there's any work to be done. friday afternoon, they came in but say they were sent home while chariot waits for the chp to finish their reinspection. in san francisco, jonathan bloom, abc 7 news. oakland's new fire chief was sworn in today. chief darren white has been the interim chief for the past nine months. he got an enthusiastic welcome at city hall after he was

appointed to the top job permanently. mayor libby schaaf made it official this afternoon. that you're watching. the chief is looking to win back community trust after incidents like the horrible ghost ship warehouse fire that killed dozens of people. >> it's a priority for us. i want to make sure the department feels confident in what we're doing and make sure the community feels like the confidence or i want to restore any confidence that maybe lapsed in the community and how we perform and deliver service as a department. absolutely. that's a priority. >> chief white may be new to the chief's job but he's been with the fire department for 20 years. some warriors and wranglers find common ground. >> we got the opportunity to celebrate the men and women that make it the greatest country in the world. the story behind a special meet and greet in the south bay. i'm michael finney live in clear lake with how habitat for humanity might be able to help

you rebuild. 7 on your side is coming up. rain is gone. heat is coming. i'm sandhya patel. i'll have the weekend forecast coming up ifrmt. what's in a name if you're this town. its airport could be called san francisco despite b ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ wow! nice outfit. when i grow up, i'm going to mars. we're working on that. some people know how far they want to go. a personalized financial strategy can help you get them there. see how access to j.p. morgan investment expertise can help you.

chase. make more of what's yours. to j.p. morgan investment expertise can help you. by living off the grid. completely. or... set the washing machine to cold. do your thing. energy upgrade california. ziefrjtsd necessary, what a year for first responders. in the south bay, they've been to them all this year. including two hurricanes and the north bay wildfires. abc 7 news reporter david louie shines the spotlight on the 129th rescue wing. >> this paved -- undergoing a mandatory, 600-hour teardown. it's seen a lot of action this year. 100 of the hours on missions to two hurricanes. harvey in texas and irma in florida. plus the north bay wildfires.

that's what the 129th rescue wing of the california air national guard does. aircraft mechanic. master sergeant juan morales had to kiss his wife and son goodbye quickly as he took off for the flooding caused by hurricane harvey. >> that's probably the worst thing. hundreds of houses that are flooded and you think about the families that had to evacuate and they're not able to come back. >> estimated the 129th have saved the lives of 1100 people over the past 40 years. they will be recognized this weekend by the professional bull riders in san jose who stopped by to learn more about what they do. >> there's nobody on the planet more special than someone who will sacrifice their own safety for another human being. >> they are perhaps one of the most versatile people to save lives. from a surgical scalpel to a rope. >> they can jump out of airplanes and deep sea dive and fast rope out of a helicopter. they can ice climb and use skis and snowboards. at vs. anything and everything they

need to do to be able to get to that isolated person and save that person's life. >> they take training to staff fire lines and make aerial drops from helicopters. >> here we are wrapping up the third week in october yet there are weeks ahead before the end of the year. who knows where the 129th will be deployed next? >> at air national guard base, david louie, abc 7 news. a sharp increase in the spread of sudden oak death, may have contributed to the intensity of the fires in sonoma and napa county. 2017 survey organized by uc berkeley showed a three-fold increase in infection rates over the last two years. sudden oak death trees means they can burn hotter than a healthy tree. some of the fires in sonoma and napa were in areas with heavy infestations. >> what i did this year, i looked at the areas burned up in sonoma and napa county. of course, in most kayces, they

were hotspots. >> he says the oak rs infected when it rains a lot. the past two winters have been very wet. he also adds that the sudden oak death can spread, where it's spread can manage the fire presented -- >> thank goodness the flames may no longer be a danger. >> this week, michael finney and 7 on your side are at north basis tans centers with help for residents. >> he's in clear lake reporting live. hi, michael. >> reporter: we've been here since early this morning. we've helped a lot of people. we hope we have. we're still set up. we'll be here until 7:00. we say that we're filling in the gaps of all the other people helping city, state and federal government doing a fabulous job. the insurance companies are nonprofit. we're here in case there's something they can't fix or as a matter of fact -- welcome to stop by if you want a snack.

habitat for humanity is here with debra vaughn is who we're speaking with. you say you can help people with the rebuilding process almost right away. >> we can. short term we start with we can offer damage repairs to folks that are out of their house from fire damage. we can get started right away, getting them back into their house by providing disaster response and repairs to the damages that they suffered in the fire. >> you said you can help renters. when habitat for humanity, you tend to think of you've got to have a house. not so, huh? >> no. we can start a longer term solution, we can help homeowners rebuild their houses. we can help renters move into home ownership, become first-time homeowners through the sweat equity home buyers program. >> which is a famous habitat for humanity -- >> what we're most famous for.

>> we're about out of time. i have to let her make a plug for the one donation you would love to get. >> we would love to have buildable lots in the lake county fire burned areas. we're at 501 c 3 organization. lot owners can -- >> there's going to be a lot of empty lots s i have to speed away. thank you very much. debra vaughn. habitat for humanity. they've been helping a lot of people. talking to a lot of people out here. we'll be here until 7:00. if you have an issue, consumer problem. reporting live from clear lake. i'm michael finney. >> thank you, sir. we appreciate it. >> people affected by the fire, call the 7 on your side hotline. monday through friday from 10:00 to 2:00. 415- -- you can reach him on facebook and abc 7 news.com. stockton california's airport thinks it can lure more passengers and airlines by adding san francisco to its

name. san joaquin county supervisor also vote on tuesday whether to change the name to the san francisco stockton regional airport. san francisco is 77 miles away from stockton. that's a 90-mile drive in good traffic. airport officials say the name change would clarify where stockton is in the state because many people have no idea. in selling the idea to the county, the director writes, the use of san francisco in the name has the potential of krein he issing the likelihood of the airport being found by a thousand fold. now your accuweather forecast with sandhya patel. take a look at the live picture from the east bay hill camera. we saw clouds and sun. guess what? you'll see plenty of sunshine the upcoming weekend. get ready for a warmer weekend ahead. take a look at the temperature trend. santa rosa tomorrow. 71 degrees. in the 60s today. you're really going to see the temperatures soar. heading into monday, 81 degrees.

monday tuesday. low 90s. definitely some warm weather on the way. average high for santa rosa is 75 degrees. well above average in the days ahead. live doppler 7 right now showing you nothing. but just clouds. that rain that came through, you couldn't have missed it. everyone got wet as you'll notice there. as it pushed across the bay area in the overnight hours and the wee hours of this morning. the highest total in st. helena. clear lake, 26 hundredths. .08 in -- .3 in san francisco. moffitt field, just another .15. .22 in san jose. this picture, it just looks like fall winter combined much just a beautiful picture sent to me showing you the snow. topping the trees. giving us a taste of winter. north star got an inch of snow with that system that came through. let's talk about the winter outlook since we're on the topic

of rain and snow. the prediction center sent out the winter outlook and it predicts that it's going to be warmer than average for much of the southwestern u.s. this coming winter, as far as rainfall, we have equal chances of seeing wetter than normal conditions here or drier than normal conditions here in the bay area. in case you're wondering the deal with la nina. it's cooler than normal waters near the equatorial pacific. what we've been seeing, this is the sea surface temperatures near to below average. there's a 55 to 60% chance of la nina this fall and winter. but because it's not a definitive thing, it's too early to predict what will happen in terms of our precipitation. we're obviously hoping for a lot of rain here. snow in the mountains. we'll have to wait and see. sutro tower camera showing sun,, clouds. everyone in the 60s now.

a cool day, breezy one. you take a look at one more beautiful shot. bright and breezy tomorrow. warmer with lighter winds. heating up monday through wednesday. records possible. high surf advisory in effect for another half hour or so. until 6:00. wave heights are 15 to 16 feet. could go up to 25 feet. that's dropped at 6:00. a beach hazard tonight at 6:00. runs until tomorrow night. watch out for strong rip current. definitely something to be concerned about. upper 30s to the low 50s tomorrow morning. it's going to start out chilly for your saturday. in the afternon, 71 in san jose. sunshine on the peninsula. 70 palo alto. breezy downtown san francisco. 63. you'll see a mix of sun and high clouds in the north bay. 71 in santa rosa. east bay, oakland 68. head inland and the temperatures on the mild side. download the accuweather app. accuweather seven-day. breezy, milder tomorrow. warmer sunday. then the heat is on.

low 90s monday through wednesday. 70s coast side. cooling thursday and friday. 90? >> well above average. >> thanks, sandhya. >> just ahead, rocket to mars.

you can see how much smoke billowed out? a total of 16 engines are being tested? the most powerful in the world. the engines will be used in the orion spacecraft in 2018 and later for a manned mission to mars. two nasa astronauts went spacewalking today. >> hopefully get the fuel -- i don't have another one -- >> oh, boy. >> astronauts did maintenance on

the international space station's robotic arm. they replaced -- the work needs to be done before a supply ship arrives to dock at the space station in a few weeks. this is the third spacewalk in two weeks for those gentlemen. >> don't forget to look up tonight because the meteor shower will be peaking. they're popular among stargazers because the individual shooting stars because the halley's comet can be seen. it hits the earth's atmosphere. now michael finney has been in the north bay all week. you just saw his live report helping people hurt in the fires. we still have finney's friday free stuff today. the pleasanton harvest festival is next weekend. it's one of the largest arts and craft festivals on the west coast. there's even a special kids zone. tickets to get in cost $9. but you can get one for free. go to our website, abc 7

news.com and look for 7 on your side. the cover girl getting recognition and not for the way she looks. but for coming to the rescue of animals in zoechblt these guys were not you need to stay away from it. downcall 911. ine, let our first responders come out and handle it. police and fire will respond as well as pg&e. pg&e will make the scene safe. ♪ ♪ ♪ it feels good to be back. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ aimmediately get everyone out of the building. call 911. the fire department and pg&e will respond immediately and figure out what the issue is and keep you safe. ♪

coming up on abc 7 news at 6:00, a new push to impeach president trump led by a bay area billionaire. why some say it's nothing more than a gimmick. >> operation jungle book. why the feds are busting people who smuggle in illegal wildlife. including tigers and exotic songbirds. it could lead to a cure for cancer. it's remarkable. all coming up on abc 7 news at

6:00. it was supposed to be a big week for a petaluma motorcycle racer. >> she was set to star in an ad. then the wildfires started. she jumped into action and noticed how many people with trailers wanted to help evacuate livestock from the fire areas. >> she and a friend organized the volunteers and then worked 20-plus hours a day to evacuate the animals. we had girls pulling horses out of fields that were on fire. they would get cows, we got wildcats, we got a tortoise. we got pigs, chickens. >> incredible. she was so busy helping farm animals that she missed her new cover girl commercial airing monday during "dancing with the stars." she and her group of volunteers formed a nonprofit to prepare for the next i'm dan ashley for sandhya

patel and all of us here we'll see you in half an tonight breaking news as we come on the air. what abc news has just learned about the deadly ambush. the four young american special ops soldiers attacked and killed in niger. a description of the scene and why is president trump not talking about the mission? >> mr. president did you authorize the mission in niger? >> thank you all very much. >> then asked the white house today how they respond. also, at this hour, the search for a killer. one american city, three suspicious deaths in ten days and the new surveillance they put out. who they would like to speak to and the latest victim overnight. a young man with autism shot and killed. the hidden arsenal, police revealing what they found in this house, handguns, shotguns and an ak-47.