70,000 acres and everything that stood on them. >> those winds have pushed the smoke into the bay area taking our air quality to unhealthy levels. it is a scene of devastation. >> this is the video out of one road in the community of paradise where you can see house after house after house has been destroyed. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony live in butte county for us. laura? >> reporter: hi, larry. now that the flames moved through this area, we are in paradise. it is devastating here. let's show you these cars. this gives you an idea of what . we've seen the scene play out, some of the cars in ditches. that's a school bus just pulled off the side of the road. f werg get o o panic. the road through paradise is now

lined with scenes of apocalyptic destruction. abandoned cars line the roadways. there are trucks, even a school bus among them. some even ran off the road or smashed into one another as drivers tried to escape the wall of flames. now we know at least five people here didn't make it out. though the wind driven flames moved through what's left in their wake is devastating. in every direction, left and right, street after street, the homes are gone. and so are most of the businesses. >> the town is devastated. it's devastated. we're grateful we got people out as quickly as we did yesterday. but he have we have a lot to do to rebuild. >> paradise mayor jody jones and councilman steve crowder surveyed what was left of their

town. trying to keep an eye toward the future amid so much darkness. >> this is my business here, and we're working to head over and see how our house is. i don't know if that survived. 380% of the houses in town are gone and our downtown is devastated. this fire took everything. it wasn't a section. it was townwide. i'm showing you something we found across the area. we referenced it last night reporting from inside the fire line. these are ammunition shells that are all over the place. we could hear them going off last night. larry and ama at the height of the fire. as for paradise, you heard the councilman there say he thought about 80% of the homes here have been lost. i can tell you from driving

around here today with my photographer, randy davis, i'm pretty sure that that number is accurate. it's terrible laura, you covered the north bay fires last year. how does that feel? eerily similar? >> reporter: larry, we thought we had seen everything, the napa fire, redding, randy and i were there earlier this year. each of the fires was terrifying and devastating in their own way. but we've seen things here that we haven't seen at the other fires, for instance, the cars lined up on the roadway like that. my heart sunk when we drove up on those cars. you start to imagine what people were going through as they were trying to drive through here yesterday and last night. and all they could do was jump out of the car and run. we see the cars turned sideways. you can tell where they smashed into each other trying to make

u-turns frantically and in some cases just running off the road and in some cases like search, eight cars in a line in a ditch. perhaps following each other because they couldn't see. in the end, butte county sheriff has the saying that the folks they found that passed away were in vehicles and died from smoke inhalation, they believe. as bad as the flames were, it was the smoke as well that was causing huge problems up here. >> so sad. >> terrifying. >> laura anthony, thank you. evacuees have headed to nearby chico. >> carlos saw ed owe is at one evacuation center that's overwhelmed with all the people seeking assistance. >> reporter:i one of the evacuation centers is behind me. neighborhood church. this is one of four evacuation shelters set up by the american red cross. this one here is already at capacity, which means that all their beds and cots are now

full. all 371 of them. despite that, volunteers are still trying to help as many people as possible. you see some waiting in line right now hoping to talk to insurance agents and see what their options are. many are waiting for any good news about the properties. >> throughout much of the day, people have been opening their hearts, dropping off donations of food and water at the neighborhood church in chico. the red cross shelter at capacity. >> nicole reirden slept in her mom's car overnight. >> we have a bed inside. but we can't leave our dog, we're staying in our car. they've been very helpful. >> she and her family were evacuated yesterday morning. in the chaos, she abandoned her rv because it was empty on gas. she thinks the flames could have taken her rv as well as her home. >> i know ace hardware burned down. we're right below ace hardware. it had to go through us to get

to them. our side of the hill is completely burned. we're about 95% sure our house is gone. >> other evacuees dealing with a similar situation waiting to get word about their homes. >> we're hoping right now that our home is going to be okay. you know, we heard on the news that there was total devastation in paradise. you know how sometimes there's a home that's okay, we're hoping that that home is ours. >> reporter: just one of the heartbreaking stories that we've been hearing today. there are two other evacuation centers taking in evacuees right now that people are told to go to if people need a roof over their heads today. they're left to wait hoping to get any word or be allowed back to go to their neighborhoods, their homes. that's if they're still standing. reporting live in chico, carlos saucedo, abc 7 news. thank you.

crews from several agencies are attacking this campfire. photographer matt rice shot this picture. it raged across the area at a rate of, get this, 80 football fields per minute. check out these massive plumes of smoke. plumes of smoke being generated by the fire. citing the extreme loss that families and communities are losing, they announced the closure of all public schools through november 23rd. they are going to be shut down until that day after thanks gig. this includes all districts and charter schools. the county's office of education says it will take time to fully understand the loss and destruction before reopening the schools. let's get to cal fire's scott mclien who joins us live on the phone. scott, thanks. i know you're obviously very busy. we appreciate your time. what is the situation right now in terms of containment and

evacuations. >> we're looking at, at least 70,000 if not more than 70,000 acres burned at the time we're speaking now. i was 5% contained earlier this morning. i'm hoping we'll see a little bit more of an increase as we go on throughout the night and into tomorrow. keep in mind that the fire was held in check as it bumped the city limits of chico on the east side down 99 to the south. it did cross 99. it is in check there. the south end of the fire is held in check as well. they're making a lot of good progress, but there is an extreme amount of work that has to be done to put this fire to bed. the north and northeast are the situations that we're -- the firefighters are trying to deal with right now. and then the community of paradise will take an exorbitant amount of time to basically get -- take care of all the hotspots because of all the

burning structures. >> you know, we have a lot of wind yesterday. how is the wind today? how is that situation? >> good news this morning, they canceled the red flag warning or most of the fire area. that meant that the winds were going to settle down. they're still present but definitely not as dramatic as yesterday pushing this fire. that meant our aircraft could get up into the air and start working this fire. again, it's a visual aspect, this fire has a heavy smoke layer, i was in it all day yesterday. and it was just basically at 9:00, it was nighttime for the rest of the day and into the night, of course. aircraft, i mean, i believe they had three dc-10s on it during the courseof the day when they could. air tankers and our air fleet and different types of helicopters. the fire is still very active. and unfortunately, we just learned this afternoon that another red flag warning for northern california is coming in to effect starting tomorrow

afternoon. >> that's obviously the last thing you need. >> right. >> we have shown the video of a lot of abandoned vehicles and traffic, people trying to get out of the area. do you have any insight at this point how many of those people made it out to evacuation centers or is simply too early to tell who the owners of the vehicles are? >> it's so dangerous up in there. too early to tell. once you get one roadway open, the one behind you would close. it was just like a leapfrog effect. went from one situation to the next. firefighters one situation to the next. i mean, we had so many of the public sequestered in certain areas, just the whole type to let the fire go past before they could move. buses were taking them crew buses were taking individuals down. keep in mind that the hospital was also in the fire area. also was partially destroyed. those patients had to be removed. >> wow. >> the list goes on and on.

>> it's awful. scott, we appreciate you taking the time to give us an update on the situation. your crews are doing good work. thank you so much. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. that was scott mclean with cal fire. let's take a look at the smoke from the campfire. this is taken from nasa satellite imagery. see how it heads westward and hits the coast around expands over mendocino, lake and sonoma counties and drifts south toward the bay area. if you look closely, you can see a wisp of smoke from the fire in solano county. >> to give you an idea of how big the fire is, take a look at this map. we've overlaid the boundaries of the campfire and viewed over the bay area. you can see 70,000 acres, about 129 square miles stretching from san francisco to about half moon bay. this thing is gigantic. >> gives you chills looking at it. not just here, a mandatory evacuation has been reinstated this afternoon for the entire city of malibu.

you can see mansion after mansion just burning there right now. look at that. according to tmz, caitlyn jenner's malibu home was destroyed. two fires are burning in ventura county. the woolsey fire has burned acres. so far, they're both zero percent contained. we have some live pictures right now. this is from the upscale community of calabasas in southern california as you can tell from the mansions and all of their pools. the woolsey fire started inland in two locations. then it spread to the coast and that's why you see a lot of the evacuations that are taking place in malibu. if you're familiar with the area, you can see sky map 7 and identify the individual streets. they have tens of thousands of there, including the jenners and the kardashians, if you're following them and their lives. alyssa mill amilano,milano,milaa

ethridge. >> they're taking water from the pool and trying to get the flames away. let's get to spencer christian for a closer look at the conditions that the firefighters are facing. spencer? >> so sad and tragic and scary. here's a look at live doppler 7. looks like a massive cloud. but it's actually smoke from the fire. let me take you to the location of the fire. the newest reporting station shows 60 degrees, 14% relative humidity. very, very light wind. but, of course, closer to the fire, these fires create their own microclimate. conditions will be different and more severe closer to the fire. here's the satellite image showing the smoke blowing down into the central valley and across the bay area and out to sea. the winds aloft are stronger. that's why the wind is blowing in the direction it's blowing and spreading rapidly. red flag warning in effect 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. sunday for

virtually all the bay area hills and mountains. winds could gust up to 60 miles per hour at their peak and in the higher elevations. relative humidity dangerously low from 9% to 17%. winds intensifying overnight tomorrow night into early sunday morning. during that period of the red flag warning. later in the day sunday, we'll see the wind diminishing a bit. it has a dry pattern. we're in fire weather conditions. larry and ama. >> thank you, spencer. fires may be miles away, but they're still having a huge impact in the bay area. the thick smoke that canceled football games and why you may not want to head outside. the wild weather phenomenon stirred up by these huge fires. and we're going to take you back to the growing fires in southern california that have

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the destruction to the town of paradise can be seen through the eyes of fleeing evidence. before and after pictures and satellite views. kristen sze is here with prospectives that give you the scope of this tragedy. >> larry and ama, i want to show you this video escaping by car as paradise burned. >> whole town is on fire. >> oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. >> hey! hey! there's a -- attached to the car in front of you. >> get out of here before more power poles fall. oh, god. >> whole trailer park. >> oh, my god.

oh, god. >> hey, hey. you're okay. look at me. hey. >> so much destroyed, including the town mcdonald's. this is the before picture found on google maps. and this is the after picture captured by oakland firefighters as they arrived to help. now, i want to show you this video i made using nasa satellite. i basically animated it from two days ago before the fire started to today. no fire. fire starts yesterday. today. and you can see how the smoke has enveloped the bay area. that's why our air quality is so bad. that's three prospectives for you on one epic tragedy. >> you hear that woman panicking. >> frightening. >> we would probably all do the same. as you probably noticed, how could you not, the fires are causing a lot of problems in the air right here in the bay area. you can smell that smoke. in many areas, the poor air quality is a serious health

haza hazard. this is video from sky 7 over san francisco where an air quality alert was issued just this morning. >> take a look at the difference since yesterday. you can see from the mt. tam camera, the air is browner and hazier. school suspended recess and outdoor activities because of the poor air quality. it wasn't a good time to be a tourist if you happened to be visiting, this is unfortunate. >> lyanne melendez is live from the embarcadero with what she found. >> reporter: i think things are changing a little bit. the air quality a little bit better. a little bit better. people are, as you see behind me, hanging out. although, earlier today a lot of people were wearing one of these. i was wearing one of these also. but for some life as we know it here in san francisco, was interrupted.s start with one ofn attractions. the cable cars. operators were given masks to protect themselves from the

smoke. tourists had to ask why people had them on. > i don't have a problem with it. so many people walking around with masks. >> i'm feeling a little in my chest. >> tight? >> just a little tight. >> the school playground is typically bustling with kids at noon. but san francisco unified ordered every school to keep kids from playing outdoors. >> we've been monitoring the air quality for san francisco. we know that right now it is not at a healthy level. we want to make sure that kids are kept indoors. >> there was disappointment from twin peeks, the quintessential wedding photo was not meant to be. >> it's not clouds, it's all smoke. >> this retired firefighter from north carolina is used to the smoke. but didn't expect to miss out on what should be an incredible view. >> i'm amazing what you can't see here. but i'd like to come back when it's clear. >> we're from germany.

it's a bummer to be on twin peaks and not able to see anything. on the other hand, it's cool to be in california during the time of a wildfire. it's an authentic california experience. >> reporter: so i want to add to that. i was recently back east and i was approached by someone who knew that i was from california and that person said to me, you know, i would never live in california and i said oh, because of the earthquakes and they said no, because of the fires. i have to tell you, every time i go back east, everybody says to me, oh, california and those fires. amazing. that is what we are now known for. i'm lifelong the embarcadero in san francisco, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> that is so interesting, lyanne. >> it's true. >> i wouldn't have thought of that. we're known for a lot of things. but the fires, not necessarily jumping to my mind immediately.

>> nor to mine. probably because we live here. when i travel back east, i hear that a lot these days as well. getting burned up there. >> for years, it was the earthquakes. >> now we're having such enormous explosive fires. >> true. >> all the time. >> just the haze behind us. >> declining. >> for a lot of people with the mask today. good job. you need that if you're outside. >> let me give you a look at what else is going on fl live doppler 7, you can see what appears to be clouds. but it's actually the smog billowing from the fires moving to the central valley and out to sea. this is the view, such as it is from sutro tower. oakland at 62. 65 mountain view. upper 6s at san jose, morgan hill and pacifica. this is another view of the smoke from east by hills camera. that dot off in the distance is the sun. it's 59 degrees at santa rosa, napa.

novato. 65 at vacaville. 63 at livermore. a little bit better. clearer view from the abc 7 exploratorium camera looking at part of the skyline. that shining dot is the sun. these are all forecast -- we have fire concerns with us through the weekend. smoky skies, poor air quality and no rain in sight for the next seven days. although, there's hope off in the distance which i'll talk about later. red flag warning in effect for a high fire danger in the hills and the mountains. from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. sunday, wind gusts could reach from 35 to 65 miles per hour. we had dangerously low humidity 9 to 17%. with all that going on, we have a frost advisory in effect from 1:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. lows drop into the upper 20s and low 30s in mendocino county as well as the three counties immediately north. napa, marin and sonoma. bring in pets, protect plant and

bundle up people as well. in most locations, upper 30s to mid-40s. colder in the north bay as i just pointed out. tomorrow's highs, mid-60s at the coast, about 70, upper 60s to 70. low to mid-70s inland. here's our air quality report. spare the air tomorrow. unhealth full air in the bay. poor in other areas. expected to remain poor sunday and monday as well. on we go to the accuweather seven-day forecast. the high temperatures will remain in a steady range of low to mid-70s inland, low 70s around the bay, mid-60s on the coast through the seven-day period. veterans day, the holiday is on monday. the good news, promising news is that about nine or ten days from now, we see a wrinkle developing that might bring some rainfall. too early to call it. a storm or to determine how much we might get. but the makings of a rain system

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welcome back. we're taking a live look now at the fire burning in southern california and calabasas area and right now the chopper, you can see some of the flames there in the middle. it is above a gour a hills. so many homes and structures have been lost. the paramount ranch was among the structures destroyed in the fire. they film things like west world there. major productions. you can still see flames, a lot of smoke in the area. calabasas is where this fire is burning. it's affecting nearby communities, such as thousand oaks, which just had that mass shooting just devastating loss of life there. those folks, the last thing they need to deal with is evacuations.

i have family in thousand oaks. they had to evacuate overnight. they're on edge and making sure the cars are packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. larry? >> a lot to deal w the campfire is serving as a study for fire weather lab. they encountered the same phenomenon that our own laura anthony captured. a thin tall column in the middle resembling a fire tornado. david louie caught up with the weather students as they returned to campus. >> craig clements and the graduate students were on site for the campfire collecting data to learn about fire behavior. the down slope winds were very strong and dry as flames raced down the canyons and began to destroy what used to be the town of paradise. >> the wind so strong. it actually can move the flames closer, it pushes it closer -- the flame from closer to the

fuels and also can cause the spots to move farther. it's spotty and moving really fast. >> dr. clements saw two democrat dramatic scenes like this captured by laura anthony on the fire line. >> it's a smaller scale than something like the fire tornado that occurred at the car fire. they're not as strong as a tornado. they aren't as large in diameter for scale in both height and in width. they spin for a while, rotate and dissipate quickly. they don't really indicate any more damage until their size gets really, really large. >> it helps to spread the lyfir gray burnthey g pliv've seen 100 feet next to the road. when they get explosive like that, when they burn, they eject a lot of embers and they can start fires. it propagates like that.

>> he says until it rains, fire danger will remain high, including the south bay. in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. more fire coverage coming up when we come back. we'll take you back to southern california. a live picture where the fire reached the beaches of malibu. later, it's "gaming with america's best internet provider" internet. it's "all your teenagers streaming at once" internet. it's "i can get up to one-two-three-four-five mobile lines included" internet.

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and here are the stories making headlines at this hour. the devastating campfire that's burning out of control in butte county has claimed at least five lives. the victims were found in the hard hit community of paradise inside vehicles that were overcome by fire and smoke. 70,000 acres have been burned so far. thousands of structures lost. abc 7 news is at the scene of the campfire and reporter laura anthony tweeted the mayor of paradise believes 80% of the homes in that town are gone. in southern california, the fire situation as bleak. the woolsey fire has raced into malibu. thousands there have been ordered to evacuate. now our reporter in ventura county with the latest. natalie? >> reporter: that's right, larry. this home in oak park was reduced to rubble, fortunately the couple who lived here got

out safely. next door, it looks completely untouched which shows you the erratic behavior of this fire. at sunrise, firefighters received much-needed relief from air support. >> everyone is responding with every tool in the toolbox. >> the fire dee vowing the brush near thousand oaks, california. dozens of homes already destroyed. >> it's devastating. what you take for granted every day, being able to come home and rest your head on a bed, it's gone. the flames jumping the freeway halting commute. all of malibu under evacuation orders. residents scramble to leave. >> let's get the hell out of here. grabbed whatever i thought i could grab. we made it down the street in time. >> to the north heartbreaking destruction as it turns deadly.

some residents narrowly escaping the danger. their car surrounded by golden flames. >> oh, my god. >> four people are trapped in the basement. >> four stuck in a hospital basement saved moments before the building went up in smoke. a ppocalyptic images as homes a businesses are destroyed. >> all right. i want to take you live to a news conference that is under way in southern california regarding the fires there. let's listen in. >> as difficult as it may be, homes can be rebuilt, property can be reacquired. so i want to take the opportunity once again to thank the sheriff's department, the allied law enforcement agencies, our partners with the fire service who have done, once again, a tremendous job in very difficult circumstances. as i know all of you are aware, fire departments are not able to put out wind-driven brush fires. our best efforts as a community

is to evacuate, protect property as best we can. as i mentioned, we have not lost a single life thus far and the firefighters and our law enforcement agencies have done a fantastic job of keeping the public safe, protecting as much property as possible. we are, as a city in thousand oaks, we've evacuated 75% of our city. that means that some of the folks that were affected by the shootings just a few days ago were likely asked to leave their homes on top of that. keep their families in your thoughts and prayers. again, i just want to thank all of the emergency and first responders and our community for their cooperation with our law enforcement and fire officials and we're not through this yet. but we have really done a good job thus far. thank you. >> you were listening to a live news conference happening right now in ventura county, southern california. it's sobering hearing him say the fire crews can't put out

wind-driven fires. the best thing to do is evacuate and protect property. >> you're at the mercy of the weather kchblts you can have it contained in one spot and the wind blows and there's another fire. more than a dozen fires actively burning across the state of california. the largest is the campfire in butte county which burned so far more than 70,000 acres. we have set up a page on c abc7news.com to find out about evacuations, road closures and how you can help fire victims. it's all on abc7news.com. when we come back, the effects of all that smoke from the fire that is burning in butte county. schools closed, games canceled. details ahead. of course, air quality is declining as the smoke builds up dramatically in the

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i mean, it's wall to wall smoke here in the bay area. this is the view from mt. tam, our camera atop the mountain there. you see nothing but hazy conditions. the air is so bad, it's actually worse than the air in beijing, which is notoriously poor. >> abc 7 mornings reggie aqui has the details. >> the air quality is so bad in the bay area that in san francisco, it's actually five times as bad as the quality of air they're breathe not guiling beijing. >> take a look from sky 7.

you can see it and you can certainly smell it. it looks like a lot of haze or even a cloud that sky 7 is flying through. that is the smoke that is coming from the fire that is burning north from butte county. let me give you the numbers to show you what this looks like. the aqi was 177 in san francisco. 179 in fremont. that's considered in the unhealthy range. compare that to beijing at 34, which is actually in the good range today. hong kong at 63. new delhi has some of the worst air in the world. today, their number is quite high. 237. that's classified as very unhealthy. but not as bad as ukiah. their aqi is 336. a stunning number. that means they're in the hazardous range. the point as which it's recommended that you don't even go outside. >> scary. many high school football playoff games have been postponed because of the bad

air. >> reporter leslie brinkley is live in concord where they're monitoring the air. leslie, how is it there? >> reporter: it's game on here for now. delasalle takes on pittsburgh, smoky skies overhead. officials are carefully monitoring air quality from now up until the 7:00 p.m. game t e time. if the smoke gets worse, they could call the game. they've pulled the game on many other games in smokier parts of the bay area. >> you'll see it's 124 right now. >> using various air quality measures, including the purple air and -- they canceled 75% of tonight's championship football games. >> we feel this is really in some respects kind of a state of emergency that with so many games going on and with the poor air quality, we needed to take steps as a section.

>> they postponed the san ramon valley game, the san leandro high school game and the bishop o'dowd game. they compared this smokeout to a rainout. they'll play the game instead on monday as they choked in on the football fields for the school. >> we're taking action now that we feel is maintaining safety for our student athletes. the central coast section also postponed games until tomorrow including the burlingame mountain view game and the leland versus sara game. >> the rule is still at game time if the air quality is 151 or higher, they're not allowed to con dublgt the game. >> 150 or lower, they can play? >> that's correct. >> reporter: right now the air quality here appears to be in the 65 to 75 range. that's moderate. it's okay for the game, so it's looking good for delasalle. nearby communities, getting up towards 150, even as high as

300. we're in a pocket in this part of the bay area that's not quite so bad. in concord, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. leslie, thank you. abc 7 news spoke to professor of environmental sciences. he said breathing in wildfire smoke may be as bad as breathing in diesel exhaust. it can have lasting health consequences. >> with what we're breathing in are small particles that can get into the deep lung. they can generate injury and inflammation in the air ways and lungs. it can affect people with cardiovascular disease, heart disease. >> he tells us risk of heart attack or stroke increases when the air quality is this poor. it's also a humg factor for asthmatics and smokers. it's important to close windows of your home and not to circulate air from outside unless you have a helpa filter. >> let's get into it. we've got smoke across the bay area as you know.

it's quite smoky and unhelpful for tomorrow in the north bay. the inland east bay. air quality is going to be poor through the weekend and through monday as a matter of fact for virtually all the bay area. red flag warning in effect for the hills and mountains from 10:00 p.m. tomorrow until 4:00 p.m. sunday when gusts could range 40 to 60 miles per hour. when will we get more rain? the last rainfall was 37 days ago. octobered 3rd. projecting ahead, no -- we might have rain by the 18th. that looks like our next best chance. here's the accuweather seven-day forecast for the search days ahead. we're predicting no rain. continuation of the current pattern. hazy as long as we have lingering smoke. continuing buildup of smoke. november 11th is veterans day. we observe it on monday. that will be the holiday. all right.

the fight over wireless, over 5g. what one local city wants. i'm 7 on your side's mic

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dozens of cities, including san jose joined together in a lawsuit against the federal communications commission. >> this is about a recent decision giving millions of breaks as they seek to deploy 5g cell. >> here's the reporter. >> as america's telecom companies try to build a 5g wireless network, many want to install them on public utility poles. they want to charge for access, which is the subject of a lawsuit in which san jose is included. the mayor wrote an op-ed sharing how the city has been working to add the technology at fair market rates and include neighborhoods that are vastly underserved. we know that's a barrier to economic opportunity and educational opportunity. we have to get through this to broaden prosperity in the valley. >> in the op-ed, fcc commissioner who spearheaded the policy tweeted we must do better

than mayorly car dough's failed broadband policies. san jose approved zero small cells, zero. depriving residents of broadband options. it fell behind the digital divide there, only widened. not true according to city officials proved san jose approved permits today with 4,000 more in the pipeline: the city is moving forward with the lawsuit against the fcc to not only ensure that the public/private partnership isn't dismantled but so others can model proposals. >> we've got a federal government. trump administration that's quite interested in continuing to impose requirements on cities. essentially force local taxpayers to pay for structures that benefits big telecom. >> the lawsuit is expected to be heard in the tenth circuit as early as next spring. chris nguyen, abc 7 news. more trouble ahead for sears. the retailer adding to its list of store closures as it heads

into bankruptcy. >> michael finney is here with that. michael? >> it's rough when you head into the holiday season and announcing more and more store closings. 40 sears and k-marts will close by next february. that's in addition to the more than 140 locations that are set to shut down by the end of this year. sears stores in santa rosa are earmarked for this latest closure. the company is currently honoring warranties and liquidation sales are expected in time for the holiday shopping season. experts say now is the time to shop for discounts and make sure you use gift cards. if you are thinking about a used car, the prices are climbing. thanks in part to higher interest rates. across the country, we're spending more than ever for used cars. edmunds says the average price for a used car at an all-time high of just over $20,000. higher interest rates mean the average used car buyer is paying

a record high payment of about $400 per month. starbucks is saluting our military this veterans day with a free cup of joe. all day sunday veterans and active military can get a tall coffee, no charge, and their spouse can get one too. you'll need to show military i.d. or other proof of service. starbucks is one of several restaurants offering deals to veterans. if you go out to eat or get anything to drink this weekend, ask around. you deserve it. a lot of them are giving it to you. >> they absolutely deserve it. thank you, michael. thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, one local nonprofit is in desperate need of help. the sacred heart community service has one turkey for the annual holiday food program. one, one turkey. >> oh, goodness. >> they hoped he 7400 to to to hand them tout to families in need. if you'd like to help and

hopefully a lot of viewers will after hearing this, you can drop off a turkey at the sacred heart donation center. you can find information on abc7news.com. grot to ramp that up. students are preparing for another holiday tradition. abraham cooper paid a visit to the elementary school in san francisco today and came armed with crayons, coloring books and advice on writing letters to santa. every year millions of letters pour into the post office headed for the north pole from kids who become very motivated writers. >> you know what, we look forward to it every single year. we've been doing this over a hundred years, having kids come out and they write. we participate. it's nice to come to the schools and enjoy, give them a goodie here and there. it's hard work for us but it's giving back to the community. >> just to increase their odds with santa, the students practiced writing skills in class today. well-crafted requests this year.

i write every year. can i get a winning lotto ticket. >> you're on the coal list. >> oh! we return to the coverage of the fires just ahead. you've probably seen a few of the masks out o

coming up tonight on abc 7. at 8:00. fresh off the boat. that will be followed by

speechless. at 9:00, child support followed by 2020 at 10:00 and abc 7 news at 11:00. a lot of people were wearing the masks today in san francisco because of the poor air quality. >> as melanie woodrow found out, they were hard to come by even in the day. >> this from last fire season. i'm headed outside to see who is wearing a mask and whether or not there are any available to purchase. >> i didn't have to go far. i found one who wore a mask to grab lunch at the food truck on front street. no matter the distance, people weren't taking chances. >> i'm coming to a lunch meeting here on the side of marquette. they kept saying on the news, going to wear a mask. >> reporter: ace hardware put signs on their windows, we are completely out of n 95 masks. >> opened up at 8:00 this morning. >> what time were you out of masks? >> 8:10, 50, 60 maybe.

had a few boxes of 20. those went out the door pretty quick. everything flew out the door. >> they did have these slightly more expensive paint respirators. >> the price point are $29.99. $34.99. $25.99. $44.99. >> abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez snapped these pictures of those who had to wear them outside. her mask an accessory along with glasses and headphones. those without had to improvise. >> back to work. >> is that working? >> no, it's not. >> everyone rolling along as best they could in san francisco. melanie woodrow, abc 7 news much. the ace hardware on battery street tells melanie that they are expecting a shipment of the masks but not until tuesday. ich been looking for smaller-sized ones for the baby. i'm going to keep her inside. >> do they have them? are they available?

>> yeah. amazon. i was checking amazon. thanks for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. i'm larry beil. >> abc 7 news at 5:00 start now. our downtown is devastated. this fire took everything. >> it also left behind buses and cars abandoned as people ran for their lives. >> my car ran out of gas. we had to leave it. >> she's one of the lucky ones. she and her dog are okay. in the bay area, masks are a common sight. how long will the skies stay this smoky. >> local researchers learning from what they've seen up north. >> would move 80 feet in 30 seconds. i've never seen anything like that. >> abc 7. live breaking news. new video of that massive

fire burning in butte county at least five people are now confirmed dead. the fire consumed their cars as they tried to escape. one woman who did make it out just prayed. >> heavenly father, please help us. please help us to be safe. >> flames surround this family as they make their way down the road. but there is not much left behind. this video shows the eerie aftermath of the campfire. >> good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> just into the newsroom, word that pg&e reported problems on a transmission line near the campfire minutes before the fire erupted. >> spokesman scott mclean said the investigation will include electrical equipment. there's no definitive cause just yet, however. >> pg&e spokesman told kqed, we can't speculate on the cause of the fire. there will be an investigation.