now from abc 7, live breaking fuse. >> the breakin news in southern california, we got word a third bidefire has broken out and burning out of control joining two fires already leaving mass destruction. look at this live picture here in venturaaaaaaaa leaving thousands of evacuees to understo wonder if they'll have homes to return to. certainly not this home here. thanks for joining us, i'm kristen sze. fires exploding in size threatening entire cities and moments ago governor brown issued a state of emergency

eventu ventura county where the thomas fire is raging out of control. the second, the creek fire, started this morning in cagle anan canyon near sylmar. the third and latest, the rye fire is burning in santa clarita, but no homes are threatened there yet. the big concern this hour is strong winds. as we look live in eventual ra coun ventura county, see the flames going strong devouring that structure there. firefighters say there's 0% containment. abc news reporter has more. >> reporter: this is just a glimpse of the destruction, this fire is burning out of control. due to the intensity of the fire and the winds, crews are having a hard time making access and we're told there are multiple reports of structures burning. winds gusting up to 68 miles per hour, whipping up explosive wildfires raging through southern california. >> anybody home? >> reporter: sheriff's deputies knocking on homes in the town of

santa paula in the middle of the night, and forcing evacuation orders for at least 8,000 homes. >> we have over 100 sheriff's personnel working in the fire areas dealing with evacuations. >> reporter: the flames devouring everything in their path. >> horrendous, you know, there's a lot of fuel in its path. and the wind is not doing them any good at all. >> reporter: the wind blasting fiery embers down streets. electrical lines going up in flames. this home one of over 150 structures destroyed. firefighters desperately trying to contain the wildfires but it's an uphill battle. >> we're going to be faced with the same challenges we have yesterday, we have extremely high winds, very, very low relative humidities and fuel conditions are absolutely as bad as they can be. >> i was in disbelief and shock. >> some residents panicking as the flames close in. >> we need to get out of the here as soon as possible. that fire is right there. >> reporter: this fire fight is far from over.

the santa ana winds driving this fire are expected to die down this afternoon but pick up again wednesday night into thursday. abc news, ventura, california. reporters from our los angeles sister station, kabc, are on the front lines covering both fires. here's what the reporters saw in ventura and sylmar just befo before -- >> reporter: we showed you this, the back end of it is just blown away by the flames. ventura county fire and l.a. county fire, they had to leave to handle other situations because they knew this home was a loss. the one berow it is a loss as well. by fire. up there on the ridge another home that within the past five minutes is now going up in flames. here the situation is getting worse. they were hoping to save homes on the left side of santa barba barbara. you can see the embers have gone

over the street. now that house over there is on fire. pretty much every house on the right of santa barbara has burned down. and that's where firefighters have converged as they're trying to save something on this side, but, again, every house from the corner all the way down, appears to be destroyed and now on the other side of the street, you can see the homes burning over there. >> meantime, north bay firefighters are on their way to help crews in ventura county. the strike team left richmond at 7:00 this morning. abc 7 news reporter tiffany wilson was with them as they departed for the front lines. >> reporter: 22 north bay firefighters gathered in the predawn darkness, greeting each other with handshakes and hot cups of coffee. strike team leader jeff rowan says they started monitoring the raging thomas fire last night. >> they have predicted santa ana winds pretty severe, plain the worst of the season that we were told. so kind of had an idea that maybe we would get called out down south, sure about 4:30 we got the call.

>> reporter: within minutes firefighters from tiberon, ross valley, and marin county fire departments starting packing up. two hours later the convoy assembled. five trucks gathered at the richmond san rafael toll plaza, they expect the drive to southern california to last six or seven hours. they don't know how long they'll be away from home but do know they'll face similar conditions to the recent wine country wildfires. >> santa ana winds down in southern california, similar to what happened up here. . >> reporter: before leaving, they briefly circled up, introduced themselves one by one and rowan reinforced priorities of communication and safety. >> any questions, concerns, comments? >> reporter: rowan says as soon as they check into base camp, it's go time. >> get an assignment and go to work. just as if you're doing it here. >> reporter: he says every one of these firefighters is rested and ready for the long days ahead. in richmond, tiffany wilson, abc 7 news. east bay strike team is also headed to southern california to help fight the wildfires.

alameda county fire tweeted this vid jeo of its crew leaving tow around 5:00 this morning. their firefighters are joined by others from fremont, hayward and oakland. in addition to the extra manpower, the strike team is also bringing extra equipment for the front lines including several fire rigs. the san mateo fire department is also helping out. the department sent out a tweet early this morning saying four san mateo firefighters en route to help assist with the thomas fire in ventura county. meantime, abc 7 news confirmed the state has asked san mateo county to form three strike teams consisting of 15 engines and over 60 personnel to be ready to head down south today. if you have friends and family in southern california, we're sending out push alerts to keep you updated on the conditions. to get breaking news updates any time, download the abc 7 news app, and enable push alerts. we're following breaking news from san jose right now. sky 7 is live over mt. pleasant

high school. we're told a body was found this morning. the body was found just after 7:00 a.m. you can see officers there, officers say the body was an adult deceased male. homicide detect ives and crime scene investigators are at the high school now trying to figure out the cause of death. mt. pleasant high school is in the east side union high school district. district officials say school is in session. no one is affected. they're calling it business as usual. other than the investigation. developing news in the east bay now, 3,000 oakland workers are on strike right now in a showdown over pay and labor practices. this video showing the start of their picket before dawn. abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield has been monitoring this all morning. she joins us live with oakland city hall with how this may impact citizens. amy? >> reporter: hi, kristen, yeah, the strike is going strong. look behind me, we're at city hall. these workers being out here means that services such as libraries and community centers

are closed. the mayor is calling this strike illegal, but these workers say she's wrong. they started picketing before dawn. even as oakland mayor libby shaf declared the strike unlawful and said the city would file an unfair labor practice charge. that threat did not deter these workers. mid-morning, they had officially shut down city hall. >> we all know what the truth is, we're getting underpaid and we're overworked. we're understaffed as well at this city. >> reporter: these workers say shutting down the city was not an easy decision. >> i'm not happy about it, i mean, we're really conflicted because we want to come to work. and we want to do the good work that we normally do but the city has gotten to the point where we don't really have a choice. >> reporter: the mayor has said the city has negotiated in good faith for seven months. and offered fair salary increases. pointing out the city only has so much money. >> we can't spend money we don't have, we have to preserve our basic services.

oaklanders need those potholes filled, they need the trash picked up off the street. i we spend money we don't have, we then compromise services. >> reporter: these workers aren't buying it. >> listen, there's a building boom in oakland. we have never experienced such building structures as we have in the last five years. there's money. i know. there's money. >> reporter: the city says it made its best and final offer on friday. there are no plans to negotiate today so the strike could go beyond today. the notice at city hall says city hall is closed until further notice. live in oakland, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. >> amy, thank you. you'll find the entire rlist of oakland city services affected by the strike on our website, abc7news.com. be sure to enable push alerts on the abc 7 news app to get any major developments on the strike as well as breaking news as it happens. new this morning, two men

are under arrest accused of killing a man over his cell phone. the alameda county sheriff's office says jordan patton, and marcus fortune, robbed the victim before shooting him last month in san leleandro. here's a picture of the victim, daniel carlos. the 32-year-old redwood city man arranged to meet the suspects through an online app called let go. the shooting happened at the 76 gas station parking lot at east 14th street and 159th avenue on november 18th. investigators are asking anyone with information about the crime to come forward. now you might have noticed an extra bite in the air this morning. in fact, this entire week. it's definitely cold. a live look from our mt. tam camera shows conditions looking a bit gray. certainly blustery across the bay. now our weather team is tracking a freeze warning set to kick in tonight. let's check in with meteorologist mike nicco for an update, at least the winds should moderate the temperatures, right, mike? >> a little bit.

they will in the higher elevations. down in the valleys that are sheltered, that's when the wind effect becomes negligible and very cool. hi, everybody, here's a look from the east bay hills camera. winds gusting up to 35 miles per hour in the hills. that's not going to translate down into the valleys as much as it did yesterday. in fact, you can see where the hills were a lot warmer than the valleys during the overmight hours. these are the lows from this morning. look at that. places like concord, we were 35. santa rosa, 36. want to turn your attention to the north bay. this is where we have our best chance of freezing temperatures tonight from 1:00 in the morning to 9:00 tomorrow morning. it could possibly kill some tender vegetation. you want to protect that by covering it and also some pets, bring them in if you can. make sure you take those sheets and blankets and everything off that vegetation after 9:00 or you'll suffocate it. we could have more chances of freezing rain, freezing temperatures coming up, kristen. >> okay. thanks a lot, mike. breaking news just in from overseas as south korea counts down to the winter olympics.

which country just got banned. and hot holiday gifts. flying off shelves before you can buy them. but it's not because they're so popular. the scam just uncovered. and you see here right here on abc 7 on "good morning america," but ginger szee is about to reveal something you might not see, a life of personal struggles. her golden eagles need his help. >> that's amazing. >> and it has come time to release them. see it next "right this minute

breaking news this midday,

the international olympics committee has suspended russia's olympic team from competing in the 2018 winter games in south korea. the harsh punishment came down in the last hour. russian officials are not allowed to attend next year's games and the country's flag will not be displayed at the opening ceremony. so far this morning, no response from russia about the suspension. now today's morning money report, it seems the grinch is stealing christmas. they're called cyber scalpers. people who use computer programs or bots to make mass purchases online. it's the same technique that can make it difficult to find tickets to concerts or sporting events but now being used to buy up popular toys ahead of christmas. many of those items are being resold on ebay for more than 100 times the retail price. some lawmakers are calling on retailers to help crack down on these online scrooges. >> stores and the people who make the products can block the bots.

they can and they should be protecting their customers. >> the national retail federation says it's working to strengthen enforcement and take away the tools being used against innocent customers. from the tv screen to fine point, "good morning america's can the "ginger zee is sharing her life story if a brand new book. the very personal natural disaster she's now making public. and we've got a long stretch of dry weather and above-average temperatures. as the high pressure stagnates our air, look what could happen. poor air quality could develop. more on our possibility of spare the air alerts and

weaving your own shoes... by out of flax. or simply adjust your thermostat. do your thing, with energy upgrade california.

zbrmpl now your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> all right. let's take a look at what's going on outside. putting the final touches on the accuweather seven-day forecast trying to find some rain. it's not going to happen any time soon. let's talk a little bit about the breeze s that continue to b a pain if you're up in the higher elevations. the north at 13 to 22 miles per hour. that's up on mt. tam right now. let's see what it's doing to our tm temperatures. 65 in hayward already. 64 in varejao. san jose, 62. 63 in half moon bay. the winds were just rocking all night. well over 40 miles per hour. they're a little bit calmer now. thankfully. here's a look at the golden gate bridge from sutro tower. looks absolutely gorngeous this morning. sunshine. a small touch of haze. nothing like we'll see later on in the week when the air stagnates for a couple days. without the winds to keep the air overturned, we're going to have another chance of frost, a

better chance tonight and tomorrow night. and possibly, we'll just go for that for now. building warmth to near record levels as we mhead toward the weekend. all right, daniel coined the term ridiculously resilient ridge. he's a guy on twitter, also has his own wikipedia page for this. that's what brought us the drought and the pattern we're seeing now and that's why we're so dry and temperatures running above average. 61 to 62 along the coast. 6 to 65 along the bay. 63 to 67 inland today. in fact, temperatures will run about 3 to 9 degrees warmer than average. another gorgeous view. look how clean that air is from emeryville all the way out to the golden gate bridge. here's a look at the south bay. just as sunny. little bit of haze out there. your accuweather 12-hour planner, 60 to 64 at noon. nice day to be outside. i put an asterisk next to, that's as early as the sun will set all year. that will continue through tuesday of next week. we'll be starting to push into the 40s at 9:00.

quicker cooling without those winds. everybody in the 40s by midnight. let's see where we're going to end up tomorrow morning. look at 30 in santa rosa, 32 in napa. could be even cooler in places like petaluma and san ramon valley will probably see frost tomorrow morning. 35 in concord. of course the warm spot will be san francisco at 48 degrees. here's a look at my accuweather seven-day forecast. what you're looking at there, temperatures in the low to mid 60s. even with these chilly nights. that will continue through at least friday. we'll see an increase in some of the high clouds during the next couple of days also. then saturday and sunday, low to upper 60s and some of our high temperatures are right around 70 to 72 degrees. we'll make a run at them. that got your attention. saturday and sunday. >> yeah. i've been having to really turn up the heater, that's costing a lot of money, so be nice that we warmed it up a little bit. >> there we go. your wish is my command. >> all right. ginger zee is out with a new book today, revealing a very

deep and personal side. the new book is called "natural disaster." in the page turner, ginger zee touch on everything from her eating disorder to mental illness. zee admits ten days before she started working at "gma" she checked herself into a mental hospital. this morning, she spoke with abc 7 morning's co-anchor reggie aqui. >> is was scary to write that. i thought, well, my bosses don't know that, my co-workers don't know that. some of my family members, extended members didn't know that. so it is -- it's a difficult thing to say out loud, but i realized i have to say it because all of us need to say it. it is a disease like any other disease. and with most diseases, you go to the doctor and you get help. you go to the hospital and get help. >> zee hopes her book will inspire other people dealing with similar situations to get help. catch ginger and the rest of the "gma" crew weekdays starting at 7:00 a.m. right after abc 7 mornings. a tv milestone right here on abc 7. "the middle" celebrates its

200th episode tonight. we got a sneak peek as the stars tell us what to expect. as mike tracks that freeze warning on the way, keep tabs where you live with the abc 7 accuweather app as we look live from our sutro tower camera at the golden gate bridge. a beautiful shot. remind you, you can get updates from our weather team on conditions around san francisco and around the

a reminder, we're on 24/7 on the abc 7 news app and abc7news.com. today on our website, we posted a sneak peek at how you can get a free dessert from the cheesecake factory. yum. their promotion kicks off tomorrow. we got an online resource with what you need to know before you go. if you're logging on to abc7news.com from your phone, also be sure to download the abc 7 news app to get breaking alerts and then tune in for the latest news and weather right here on our newscast, abc 7 news at 4:00. a milestone tonight for one of the funniest shows on tv. >> what is the matter with my brain that i can't remember anything anymore? i need to be tested. >> i feel that way sometimes. the 200th episode of "the middle" airing tonight on abc 7, for nine seasons the show has fall

followed the hecks, a midwest family struggling to make ends meet. patricia spoke to reggie aqui about how the hecks are similar to many in the heartland. >> don't make a lot of money, don't live in fancy houses, drive big cars. they're struggling all the time. i don't think they've been really given a voice either politically or on television, so i think with recent events i think people started to look at our show and say, you know what, they've been here all along and we sould hahould have been list >> watch the 200th episode of "the middle" at 8:00 on abc 7. for all of us on

>> to win the million dollars on this show, you've got to have guts, you've got to have brains, and you've got to have nerves of steel. does one of our players today have the right stuff? we're about to find out. let's play "who wants to be a millionaire." [dramatic music] ♪ [cheers and applause] hey, everybody, welcome to the show. are you guys ready to go today? [cheers and applause] sound like it. fired up and ready to go. well, let's welcome our first contestant, a manager at a children's clothing store from san diego, california, megan carolin. [cheers and applause] hi, megan. >> hi. >> welcome to "millionaire." >> thank you. i'm excited to be here. >> well, you're about to face 14 questions, the money values growing from $500 all the way up to that $1 million. [cheers and applause] you have your three lifelines. they're there if you need them. are you ready to get to your game? >> yes.