live are you live, this is abc 7 news. >> thanks for joining us, i'm kristen sze. contra costa county skr investigators are trying to determine the cause of a housefire this morning that killed an elderly woman. sky 7 was over the scene. sky map 7 shows you exactly where the fire happened on co h coventry road in concord. firefighters were battling the two-alarm blaze just before 7:00 this morning. abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield is there live. amy? >> hi, kristen, fire investigators are here. the coroner has just arrived. the coroner will be the one who will officially identified the person who was killed here. neighbors say they already think they know who it is. neighbors could only watch

helplessly as a huge fire destroyed this concord home just before 6:30 this morning. one neighbor tried to get to the woman who lived here. >> somebody is trying to break in, to get her out of there, but it just went up. the shingles were broken. she had holes in her roof. it just end up like a timber. it was awful. >> reporter: gilberto nanez lives across the street and took this cell phone video of the fire. he couldn't believe the size of it. >> like 30 feet up. i am in front of my house, i said i'm feeling >> reporter: terry otto was worried it would spread. >> i got my hose because the embers were in the tree. >> reporter: firefighters say one woman lived here alone. one person was killed in the fire. neighbors are assuming it was her. investigators can't say for sure. >> that would always be the assumption that that who it is. we need to make sure before we can say anything definitively.

>> reporter: when firefighters got here, fire was coming out from all sides of the home. the roof was starting to collapse and power lines were down. getting to the home was a challenge and dangerous. >> the roof collapsed into the structure so there's a lot of debris inside of the structure. there's just a lot of belongings inside the structure that are smoldering so we're trying to get that completely out. >> reporter: none of the firefighters were hurt. they are all okay. at this point, they think they have an idea where the fire started in the middle back of the home. but they don't know why. reporting live in concord, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. >> amy, thank you. we're enjoying fair weather across the bay area right now. but clouds rolling in this afternoon into tonight will bring us rain. meteorologist mike nicco is tracking the wet weather for us. mike? >> yeah, kristen, hi, everybody. it's been a long time since we've been on storm watch. in fact, today, if it doesn't rain in your neighborhood, more likely the 16th consecutive day without rain. let's jump into the storm impact scale. give you an idea what to expect

out of this light storm tonight through tomorrow morning. less than .2 an inch of rain. it will be breezy at times, but looks right it will stay below anything that will cause much damage. right now we're seeing a few radar returns around ukiah and cloverdale, moisture that's about 15,000 feet and not reaching the ground. but this is from eureka northward. see yellows in there. moderate rain up in the pacific northwest. for us increasing clouds from mt. tam. quick look at your accuweather 12-hour planner. it's not going to be quite as warm today. temperatures in the mid to upper 50s. rain in the north bay by 9:00, moving into the heart of the bay by noon. i'll give you a look at that, and a chance of rain coming possibly christmas day, kristen. >> thank you, mike. to the deadly train accident in washington state. we know the train was traveling much faster than it should have been in the area where it derailed. abc 7 news reporter is in dupont, washington, with the very latest. >> reporter: the quiet routine of a morning commute shattered.

>> amtrak 501, emergency, emergency, emergency, we are on the ground. >> is everybody okay? >> i'm still figuring that out. we got cars everywhere and down onto the highway. >> there's a lot of metal and a lot of screeching and a lot of just being thrown around. >> reporter: the debut ride of amtrak 501, faster route between seattle and portland, tragically cut short. 13 of its train cars derailing. many crashing onto the interstate below. >> people are flying, you know, you're like, oh my god, this is real. >> it was almost like being inside a dryer machine, shook completely to the other side of the train and then back. >> reporter: the ntsb's on the scene working around the clock. and preliminary findings recovered from the data recorder show the train was traveling at speeds of 80 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. passeng passenger, chris, even tweeting about the speed just moments before everything derailed. >> i could see that someone had been catapulted from the train onto the ground. >> reporter: when dan and his girlfriend came across the accident, the eagle scout sprang

into action. >> there was injured people walking all over the place, in shock, and i was like, dude, somebody needs to, like, just be a leader, sort of organize and even when people are pinned under the train, i just, like, i grabbed the dude's hand and, like, rubbing his back and i was just, like, just talking to him. >> reporter: authorities are also questioning why positive train control wasn't activated. it works kind of like an autopilot and can slow down the train if it's moving too fast. now officials say it was installed on these tracks but for some reason it wasn't in use. abc news, dupont, washington. berkeley police are searching for the driver involved in a hit-and-run just before midnight. sky 7 flew over the scene this morning at san pablo avenue near ashby avenue. police say a car hit a pedestrian at the busy intersection. the victim was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. investigators spent hours searching the area. all roads are now re-opened. happening today, gop

lawmakers are poised to pass the first tax reform bill in a generation. republicans say it will spur economic growth and create jobs, but skeptical democrats are sounding the alarm. abc 7 mornings anchor is here with bay area reaction. natasha? >> republicans are racing toward the self-imposed end of the year deadline. it would be president trump's first major legislative win. they say it will bring relief to millions of americans. we just heard house speaker paul ryan make that argument this morning. >> the typical family of four making the median family income gets a $2,059 tax cut next year. this is real relief. this is real relief, and people are going to see this in their paychecks before too long. >> a new analysis looks at what will likely happen in a decade and finds 70% of the middle class will see a tax hike. 76% of the wealthiest will get a tax cut. house minority leader nancy pelosi also spoke today. >> this is the worst bill to ever come to the floor of the house.

with stiff competition for some of the things they've tried to do. the worst bill in history because the number of people it affects, the amount of money, it sucks up to the higher income and the impact on our future defic deficits. >> the corporate tax rate will be permanently slashed from 35% to 21%, for the rich the rate will be lower for 39% to 37%. we're monitoring reaction on twitter. senator kamala harris tweeting "if you worry about burdening your children with debt, let's be clear, the republican tax bill would increase the deficit by more than $1 trillion." representative eric swalwell tweeting in part "why not give middle class a permanent break rather than hoping for a trickle down that won't happen?" president trump took to twitter this morning writing in part, "biggest tax cuts and reform ever passed. enjoy and create many beautiful jobs." abc 7 news. some alarming news tonight about hunger and senior citizens. they're the fastest growing

group in the u.s. that can't count on getting enough food. abc 7 news reporter matt keller went to a special event in mountain view this morning where seniors got much-needed help during the holidays. >> reporter: in emergencies mountain view firefighters come to the rescue. today, they still offered assistance without the lights and sirens. >> do you need help unloading them? >> reporter: this is the 14th year the firefighters teamed up with second harvest food bank to hand out food to hundreds at the mountain view senior center. >> founded the seniors need a little extra love during the holidays. >> reporter: ken grabbed his bag but the food is not staying in his refrigerator. >> we share it with neighbors and so forth. it's always healthy and good. i appreciate all the donors. >> reporter: second harvest says nearly 57,000 seniors in silicon valley rely on the food bank every month. they're the fastest growing food and secure population in the u.s., and the number of seniors struggling with hunger is projected to double in the next ten years. all of that creates major health issues. >> they're 50% more likely to

have diabetes. they're 60% more likery to have heart problems. and they're three times more likely to have depression. so it's really important that we resources available for them. >> reporter: resources can include a friend like ken who keeps his eyes and ears open for people in need. >> a lot of people, they either mentally or physically cannot do it. so you have to be attentive and support and listen to them or just be aware that apart from god, we have nothing, so share all we have. >> reporter: second harvest food bank has several programs if for seniors in silicon valley. if you'd like more information, go to our website, abc7news.comb in mountain view, matt keller, a abc 7 news. the thomas fire in southern california continues to grow, one woman is taking matters into her own hands. what she did saved her home and her town from going up in flames. plus, has a friend ever forgotten to tag you on facebook for better or for worse? problem solved. i will show you how facebook is making sure you see every single picture that's posted of yo

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the abc 7 news storm impact scale, today's storm is level 1. that means light rain so keep an umbrella handy and drive safely. track today's storm any time on the abc 7 news app. download it now. happening now, steady progress on the massive thomas wildfire burning in southern california. containment is now at 50%. fire has grown to 424 square miles. it's reduced more than 1,000

homes to rubble. cal fire says weather conditions are improving for firefighters with lighter winds and higher humidity. the fire started two weeks ago yesterday. this is a great story, a woman in santa barbara county built an elaborate system that saved her home and possibly her town from the thomas fire. take a look at this, she installed giant rain birds, a 5,000 gallon backup water tank and miles of fire hose to assist firefighters. she even cleared 100 trees to create a staging area for fire crews. when flames approached her ranch an saturday, firefighters got straight to work. >> you can see, we stopped the fire right here at the eblg of this canyon from going further down. the center flanking fire would have gone right straight down into the heart of montecito, we would have had another santa rosa on our hands. >> the woman says her friend who's a retired fire engineer built the system after another wildfire back in 2008. many of california's state lawmakers want to see improvements made when it comes

to the eiganti-sexual harassmen training they receive. the state requires senators and assembly members to attend the training once every two years. some legislators feel the sessions respect engaaren't engg enough. others say their colleagues show up late or not at all. comes after 150 signed a letter in october claiming widespread misconduct at the capitol. two lawmakers have resigned in the last month. meryl streep is responding to criticism that she stayed silent about harvey weinstein's alleged sex crimes. among the actors who plan to wear black at the golden globes to protest sexual harassment. actress rose mcgowan is accusing streep of hypocrisy. in a now deleted the sigh lelence from people li streep is the problem. streep responded "i wasn't deliberately silent. i didn't know. i don't tacitly approve of rape. i didn't know. i don't like young women being

assaulted. i didn't know this was happening." facebook rolling o ut a new feature to keep track of friends and family, pictures they're posting of you. jessica castro of abc 7 mornings shows us how it works. >> facebook is expanding their facial recognition software and will start letting users know when a know toe is photo is upl social media site whether or not you friends tag you. the new feature is meant to be a control measure for users' image. you may be familiar with facebook's facial recognition. the company rolled out the feature for tag suggestions in the year 2010. so if you have already enabled your settings for automatic tagging, you will automatically be opted into this new tool. and i want to show you here how it works. you will be notified in your feed like everything else in facebook and then you'll also see a picture with a box around your face. you will then let the site know if this, indeed, is you. and then you have the option once you do that for tree

different things. you can save the photo. you can share it externally. or if there's a problem with the photo, maybe you don't like it, you can report the photo as well. the new feature rolled out today everywhere besides canada and europe. and by the way, you can opt out of facial recognition. all you have to do is go to your settings. the new feature only applies to photos uploaded starting today. i'm jessica castro, abc 7 news. kristen? >> all right. good information. thanks, jessica. don't wait until the last minute to do your holiday shopping. the day you'll want to stay away from the mall to avoid the crowds. and the new healthy choice for vegans. coming soon to mcdonald's. and a live look right now at our mt. tam camera. you can see it's getting cloudy and, in fact, the clouds will pack some rain later on today. we'll talk to meteorologist mike nicco with your ac

now your accuweather forecast with mike nicco. >> good morning, were you allowed enough time to take a look at the sky this morning? if not, it was beautiful. layers of clouds out there with a whole lot of texture. i made a time lapse to show you the cirrus that are above the cumulus. don't you just want to reach up and touch it and feel all the different bumps up there? that's the precursor to what's coming our way just kind of the appetizer before the storm gets here later on tonight and during the overnight hours. what it's done for sure is kept us cooler. increaing clouds. we're up to 5 degrees cooler this time than yesterday. some areas in the 40s like santa rosa, ukiah. the rest in the low to mid 50s. this is the way it looks now. impressive looking sky, isn't it, from our exploratorium camera at pier 15. accuweather highlights, mostly cloudy today, highs not as mild as they have been during the stretch of dry weather, today if you don't get rain, will be 16

consecutive days. light rain and breezy tonight from the fast-moving storm. tracking another chance for christmas and the day after. temperatures 59 to 62 degrees in most neighborhoods. we'll have mid 60s around santa cruz, morgan hill and san jose. up to 64 there. only about 58 up around clear lake and lakeport. tonight, not as cool as it has been because of the cloud cover out there. mid to upper 30s where we'll see clearing up in the north bay, the rest of us in the low to mid 40s. let's jump right in, 7:00, there you go, the time, there in the upper right hand corner. out ahead scattered in nature. the steadier line in mendicito and lake counties. up until midnight, scattered showers for the rest of us, midnight to 4:00, the light rain moves through the bay then from 4:00 to 7:00 it moves into the south bay. from 7:00 to 9:00 tomorrow morning, it moves out of the bay. then we'll turn our attention to near the coast where some scattered showers will develop as that cold air filters in over

the relatively warm water. by noon, the chance of rain is over. a bear for tomorrow quhornmorni commute. wake up at 4:00 in the morning, join us, see that, rain about everywhere except for the south bay then you will have slick streets develop during the morning commute. it's also going to be quite breezy. 7:00 tonight, 10 to 15. 15 to 25 by midnight and then 25 to 35 mile per hour gusts just about all day tomorrow. now, also starting this afternoon, through tomorrow afternoon, winter weather advisory up to 6 inches of snow at pass levels in the sierra. up to 10 inches at the peak. so you want to be careful if you're heading up that way tonight through tomorrow morning. so the storm will be a 1 on our storm impact scale, means it's going to be light, not only today but tomorrow. that storm will usher in finally seasonal temperatures in the 50s then by monday into tuesday, we have another chance of some very light rain and come tomorrow, we'll take an hour-by-hour look

at that. >> finally. we've been waiting a long time for this. >> yeah, just a little bit unfortunately. >> we'll take it. thanks, mike. >> you bet. now to today's morning money report, christmas son a monday giving consumers an extra weekend to finish their holiday shopping. pleasanton stone ridge shopping senting saying with so many waiting until the last minute, this saturday will be the busiest shopping day of 2017. the most popular gifts, clothing and gift cards rank highest followed by electronics, toys and books. mcdonald's is going vegan just in europe. the golden arch's mcvegan burger consists of a soy patty and egg-free sandwich sauce. if you want one, you'll have travel to finland or sweden. mcdonald's said the burger was created because more people want to eat plant-based food that's better for the environment. sting now on the menu at dunkin' donuts. beer. the fried dough titan teamed up with a massachusetts brewery to launch the dark roasted brew,

first ever brew made with dunkin's dark roast beans and described as a decadent stout-style beer with a full roasted coffee flavor. the beer will debut thursday but only in massachusetts. a baby panda made its debut in the big city. watch this adorable creature put on a show for visitors. food trick shots. >> how about bread into the toaster? boom! >> two at the same time. born from 1945 through 1965 have the highest rates of hepatitis c, but most don't know they're infected? people can live for decades without symptoms, but over time hepatitis c can cause serious health problems. if you were born during these years, the cdc now recommends that you get a blood test for hepatitis c. so talk to your doctor and find out if you have hepatitis c. it could save your life. know more.

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a reminder, we're on 24/7 on the abc 7 news app and actioninactio abc7news.c abc7news.com. today on our website, this story about moms spreading holiday cheer at ucsf children's hospital. if you're logging on to abc7news.com from your phone, be sure to download the abc 7 news app to get breaking news alerts. then tune in for the latest news and weather here on our next newscast, abc 7 news at 4:00. japan's new baby panda did not disappoint during public debut in tokyo. put on quite a show with her adorable antics. snacking on bamboo and not necessarily listening to mom when it was time to move on to the other part of the enclosure. mom had to gently drag her adorable reluctant cub across the way. she can do that now. not when it's a little older and heavier. >> they're pushing away, too, like get off me, mom. >> i know. the little panda is 6 months old

and already melting hearts everywhere. that's going to do it for this edition of abc 7 news. thanks for joining us. "who wants to be a millionaire" is coming up next. we're going to leave you with a live look outside before the rain arrives. >> get an umbrella for the evening hours up in the north bay. >> bye-bye.

>> hey, everybody it's whiz kids week. we've got some incredibly bright young people with us today ready to take our 14-question pop quiz, where an a-plus is worth $1 million. and it all starts right now on "who wants to be a millionaire." [cheers and applause] [dramatic music] ♪ welcome to the show. it's whiz kids week. are you guys ready? [cheers and applause] fired up today. let's welcome our first whiz kid, who's spent a year creating electricity from oxygen. from sunnyvale, california, 14-year-old kaushik tota. [cheers and applause] kaushik, welcome. >> hi. >> if you can make electricity from oxygen or vice-versa, 14 questions, that's nothing to you. >> i hope so. >> we're about to see. $500, all the way up to that $1 million today. [cheers and applause]