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. >> the campfire is only 5%

contained. it's already destroyed structures and acres. twice the size of san francisco. just an hour ago, president trump approved an emergency declaration for the state of california. >> laura anthony begins live coverage. laura? >>. >> reporter: hi kristen, i'm standing in front of the vehicles that ran off the road. this is a school bus that ran off the road at the height of the fire. this town of paradise at 26,000 people suffered tremendously in an event that lasted maybe 24 hours. all over, we're seeing cars like these appearing to hit each other. they're frantically trying to get out. you can't help but wonder what they went through trying to get out of here. >> how did they get out? did they get out? we now know at least five people died in their cars trying to escape the raging campfires that

swept through paradise. all along the roadways, there are abandoned cars, school bus, trucks. many in disarray in ditches, smashed up and facing in all directions. clear signs that getting out of here was shear terror. the only choice to abandon the vehicle and run. though the wind driven flames have moved through, what's left in their wake is testify stating. in every direction, left and right, street after street, the homes are gone. so are most of the businesses. >> about 80% of the house this is town are gone and our downtown is devastated. this fire took everything. it wasn't a section. it was townwide. >> 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. >> it may be a little while before we're all together. but we will be all together. we will rise in the ashes and rebuild. >> you heard the councilman say that by his estimate, by driving around today, there are about 80% of the homes here in paradise that have been destroyed. this is, of course, the largest community that within the path of the campfire but up the road from where we're standing is the town of mcgail i can't. we drove up there as well. unfortunately, the scene looks similar. i spoke with a cal fire spokesman. he had been at the fires in the north bay and he said unfortunately, he thinks this fire and the damage from it is going to exceed even the tubbs fire. laura anthony, abc 7 news.

>> raw power and fury of this fire, it's just been ferocious and these are some of the sights and sounds we pulled together for you from early this morning. >> the scooters cafe sign shows how the quick destruction from the fire in butte county is so devastating. in a matter of minutes someone's livelihood goes up in flames. nothing anyone could do. >> let's look at the skies in chico around 10:00 this morning. two hours later, darkness descend descended. >> chico is about half an hour east of paradise. reporter carlos saucedo is in

chico where many are camping out tonight. >> 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. >> back here. >> nicole reirden slept in her mom's car overnight. >> we have a bed inside. we don't want to leave the dogs. we can't bring him in. so we're staying in our car. they've been very helpful. >> they were evacuated from their home 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. >> ace hardware burned down and we're below ace hardware. had to go through us to get to them. our side of the hill is completely burned. we're 95% sure our house is gone. >> dealing with a similar situation waiting to get word about their homes. >> we're just hoping right now that our home is going to be okay. 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. >> this is what alameda county firefighters saw overnight. they were racing there to help. video shot from inside their truck. you can see flames everywhere they looked. the smoke from the campfire has drifted about 180 miles from butte county into the bay area as you well know it is incredibly smoky and hazy out there tonight. >> the poor air quality prompted officials to issue a health alert and close the schools. >> wayne freedman has been on the ground all day. wayne, how are people dealing with all of this? >> well, they seem to be doing better. the conditions now are better than they were. we've been looking throughout the county. it was very unhealthy earlier.

it is still unhealthy now but better. from here, it's roughly 100 miles to the butte fires. the air has come this way. but it feels much closer. especially after what this county has been through. brown became the new blue in the north bay today. that's not the name of the tv show. if so, it wouldn't be a medical surgical drama despite appearances. instead, think smoke signal from a disaster zone in butte county. >> i think people are feeling a little stressed out about it. it's a little eerie. >> who wouldn't in this region that lost more than 5,000 structures 13 months ago, when this secondhand smoke settled in from the campfire, it brought back firsthand bad memories. >> how bad is it today compared with back then? >> it's about the same. >> how thick quawas the smoke? so thick that streetlights switched on. courthouse square on a friday would normally fill at noon. at the beer barron restaurant, the owner wiped soot and ash

from tables with no takers. >> it's not prime outdoor dining weather. >> instead, it looked like a scene from an alternate avoidable future. locals talked about climate chance and the new normal. all this due to a fire far, far away and too close to home. >> reality can be a real awak awakening sometimes. >> by the way, something they still trying to get past. this would have been a football game tonight at cardinal newman high school. because of the air, that's postponed until monday. so tonight at this hour, the bad air quality continues. live in santa rosa in sonoma county, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> wayne, thank you so much. it continues and we see it everywhere. we got this picture with the #abc 7 now showing the smoky skies in san francisco this morning. compare it to last night's sunset. you can get a feel for how the smoke from butte county is affecting us here in the bay

area. now let's go outside live. here's a look at san francisco and in some parts of the east bay, the smoky air is like smoking half a pack of cigarettes, if you will. let's get to meteorologist sandhya patel for when we can see relief. >> it's going to be a while before we get relief here. look at how awful the air quality is from the east bay hills camera. it's hard to make out the hills there. there is a spare the air alert that's been extended through monday. also an air quality advisory teu to the heavy wildfire smoke. saturday, unhealthful, poor elsewhere. sunday, monday, poor for the entire bay area. look at this dramatic satellite picture of that smoke plume coming down into the region this afternoon. it has been sitting over our area, although some spots are starting to see a little bit of improvement in visibility. red flag warning will be going back up 10:00 p.m. saturday night until 4:00 p.m. sunday. our fire danger is going to

remain high through the weekend. it covers of the east bay hills, lake and solano counties where the winds will be gusty. humidity is already low and will remain low. please be vigilant. look at the blanket of smoke getting picked up on live doppler 7 across our region. if you can, try to stay indoors to avoid the smoke. it's bad out there. i don't need to tell you that. but limit your exposure. thank you, sandhya. >> providing firefighters with a better understanding of fire behavior. they've been on the frontlines with a laser equipped truck and cameras. >> reporter david louie caught up with them as they returned to their lab at san jose state to hear about what they've learned. >> wind play a major factor in how wild land fires behave. that's how craig clement and his graduate students raced to the campfire with their specially equipped truck. between observation and data production, they pinpointed wind

behavior that spread the fire quickly. >> with the onset of these winds, the northeasterlies off the sierra, they basically have a low-level jet that's really strong, like 40 miles an hour above the surface. so that's what was driving the smoke downwind and actually down the canyons and was also how where it helps to spread the embers. >> clements believes the great pines contributed to the spread. they tend to explode and spread embers as well. graduate student matthew brewer was surprised how fast they spread. >> out of nowhere, huge guests and the fire would move 80 feet in 30 seconds. like that. it was wild to see that. i've never seen extreme fire behavior like that. >> they saw this phenomenon by laura anthony on her cell phone at the campfire. we call that a fire world. a smaller scale than something like the fire scale that occurred at the car fire.

the fire whirls aren't as strong as a tornado and aren't as large in diameter in scale and in height and width. >> because of that, they dissipate quickly. compare that to a true fire tornado from the car fire last summer that created hurricane-force winds up to 165 miles an hour. in san jose, david louie, abc 7 news. the fires are also raging in southern california this evening. >> just ahead, the devastating fires are taking and under mandatory evacuations including malibu. decision is in. find out if an alameda county judge will resurrect a plea deal in the ghost ship warehouse fire case. >> a lot of people wondering if

some terrifying moments this afternoon captured by a fire evacuee in southern california.

awoman recorded her escape from malibu as flames burned on both side of cannon due may road. >> this image captured by satellite gives us a look at how dire the fire conditions are with all the smoke. that is the campfire in butte county at the top and you can see the bottom is ventura county. the smoke from the fires are really now merging and it's just widespread. >> this is the devastating scene in the area. it's wiped out subdivisions and claiming countless homes and businesses. it's exploded to 35,000 acres, more than double what it was just this morning. the hill fire is holding at 6,000. there is zero percent containment on both. >> at this hour, fires racing towards the hillside community of malibu in los angeles county. a live picture from the fire lines. this is our camera, our helicopter.

you can see the flames rising there along with the smoke and the gusty winds are certainly pushing those flames and spreading them. evacuation orders have been issued for a large part in malibu lakes. let's go to dion lim at the fire command center in thousand oaks down south with the latest there. >> dan and kristen, it is so hard to wrap your head around what southern california has been through in the past few days. of course, we had that tragic shooting at the borderline bar and grill and then this, this massive fire. the woolsey as you mentioned and the hill fires. take a look at the command center. these are first commanders and law enforcement on the ground. nearly 200,000 people evacuated in ventura and l.a. county. that includes many who lost friends and family in the borderline shooting. can you imagine. we heard from the mayor of thousand oaks. let's take a listen.

>> fire departments are not putting out wind driven brush fires. our best efforts to protect property as best we can. as i mentioned, we have not lost a single life thus far and the firefighters and law enforcement agencies have done a fantastic job of keeping the public safe. >> no lives lost. that is what is truly remarkable. now, l.a. and ventura county fire departments, they have faced so many challenges over the past couple of days including the high winds. they've had to ground their aircraft. because of it, there is good news. the winds are expected to shift slightly providing relief for tomorrow. but only for the winds to pick up once again on sunday. live in southern california tonight, i'm dion lim, abc 7 news. there are more than a dozen active wildfires burning across the state. we've put up this map for you. only three big ones, the two in southern california and the

campfire in butte county. >> in oakland, a judge refuse today resurrect a plea deal in the ghost ship fire. it claimed 36 lives. abc 7 news anchor eric thomas was there when the attorneys for the two defendants said they are going to trial. >> we're going to trial. we, you know, can prevail. >> the attorney moments after a judge refused his motion to reinstate a plea deal, got another judge thrown out as too lenient. sara represents al men a, charged in the december 2016 fire that tore through the ghost ship. a warehouse that had been turned bo an artist's collective. sara says authorities knew the ghost ship was a fire trap and did nothing. >> the inspectors and the sheriff's department, the fire department, all who have visited the premises, all who knew the condition and all who sanctioned it. all who said it's awesome. >> earlier this year, sara and the attorney for co-defendant max harris negotiated a plea

deal under the supervision of one alameda county judge that called for al men a to serve nine years and harris for six. when that judge was unavailable, his replacement threw the deal out. sara tried and failed to get the deal reinst this happened. interestingly and from my perspective unexpected, my client gave me a note in writing, then he told me verbally that he wants to go to trial. >> curtis briggs who represents max harris is glad the plea deal wasn't reinstated. >> the best thing that has happened, that plea bargain was rejected. that gives us an opportunity to litigate and gives us an opportunity to bring facts into light. >> sara apologized to develop e. relatives of the fire victims. he said their desire for revenge led to a mob hysteria. he's got to get the admissions of guilt his client made in the original plea agreement thrown

out. in san francisco, eric tochl as, abc 7 news. good evening everyone. let's take a look at live doppler 7 right now. live doppler 7 is tracking this blanket of smoke from that campfire across our region. it is certainly impacting those temperatures. look at how much cooler it's running compared to 24 hours ago. napa up to 15 degrees cooler, 8 degree drop in san jose. temperatures have been held down today. visibility is still poor. santa rosa down to a mile. three miles mountain view. san carlos, san jose down to two miles in hayward. dive carefully if you have to step out to take a look at or run errands or commute time. air quality, i want to show you, many parts of the bay area and the poor to unhealthy air quality but look at parts of the north bay. we're starting to notice that it is moderate. definitely seeing some change in the air quality from earlier today. i do want to show you the air quality advisory and the smoke

is definitely impacting our area. spare the air alert, both in effect until monday. so you will notice tomorrow unhealthy in the north bay, inland east bay, poor for the rest of the bay area. you want to get a mask if you have respiratory issues. make sure you check n the kids. the elderly and anybody with respiratory issues. this is obviously a dangerous time of year with the smoke. as you look at a live picture from the golden gate bridge, you can see it now. the visibility has improved in this area. here's what we really need. our state is parched. last measurable was october 3rd, a little over a month ago. it is expected to be dry through the 17th. our next chance of rain looks to be on the 18th and going into the 19th. it's the chance but it's better than nothing. that one hopefully will help us out around the bay area. the roof camera, this is pretty much socked in.

62 in san francisco. 60 in oakland. 61 san jose. 67 in half moon bay. this is not a good view from the emeryville camera with the smoke. 57 in concord. santa cruz feeling the impacts of the smoke miles away from san francisco. we don't have much of a wind. that's part of the problem. we need a strong wind to blow some of the smoke away. fire danger high this weekend, we're looking at smoky skies and poor air quality. no rain in sight the next seven days. tonight, bring your pets in and protect your plants. mendocino county and interior north bay under a frost advisory 1:00 to 9:00 a.m. lows in the upper 20s to 30s. tomorrow morning, lakeport 29 degrees. 33 santa rosa. 34 napa. pretty chilly elsewhere as well. hazy skies expected due to the smoke. tomorrow afternoon, hazy still. those temperatures anywhere from the mid-60s san francisco, half moon bay to about the mid-70s in

santa rosa. 73 in livermore. 72 in san jose. red flag warning goes up tomorrow night. here's why. the winds are going to start gusting again. we have the dry air in place. 2:00 a.m. gusting over 30 miles per hour. cloverdale, calistoga. as we head into the latter part of the day on sunday, winds will begin to subside but not until sunday afternoon. the fire danger will be elevated. accuweather seven-day forecast. smoky skies, high fire danger and veterans day observed on monday. cooler on tuesday. dry pattern continues through friday. one thing i want to tell you. a lot of people are complaining about the irritation from the smoke, their throats, nose, eyes. i have been feeling it and i barely stepped outside. i recommend that people stay inside if they don't have to go outside. >> it's bad. >> it is bad. thanks, sandhya. well, we have something

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time for finney's friday freestyle. >> we could use a distraction. >> let's hear about the giveaway. >> bertolli olive oil. we're got organic and then the original. so you can choose between them. that's the size bottle you get. which is a good deal. free bottle is what you get. a $13 value. character to accompany fresh and natural ingredients. >> nice size bottle. that's great. >> that is excellent. it's at grocery stores, safe way, and specialty stores. >> that's fantastic. you have something else. >> this is the cam i pad. it's supposed to remove wrinkles and smooth out your skin. that's the chest pad. it is available -- you can wear it night or day. it's mainly set up for night. you can see it. it's scientifically designed, contoured coverage areas to maximize the area of skin and ensure a more natural,

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i'm ama daetz. coming up at 6:00, you've seen and smelled the smoke. tonight, you'll see what's happening across the bay area, including sporting events also. >> fortunately, what you're about to embark on is going to be a marathon. >> fire assistance from 7 on your side, advice for first-time fire victims from experts and people who have been through this before. sports director, larry beil updates from the injury that forced steph curry out of the game. is this something that will

linger? all of this at 6:00. kristen, dan >> let's hope not. thanks. a moment of tenderness during a harrowing escape from the campfire burning in butte county. >> a father took the cell phone video as he evacuated with his 3-year-old daughter. embers can be seen falling from the sky on to the road surrounded by flames. >> his daughter describes the flames wondering if they are going to burn up. he calms her down with comforting words and a song. >> we're going to get fire. >> we're not going to catch on fire, okay? >> okay. >> we're going to stay away from it. we'll be just fine. okay? >> okay. >> we're doing all right. baby, it will be all right ♪ >> after they finally made it out of the flames, the little girl cheers for the father shouting, you did it! you made it out of the fire. >> so sweet. >> he had to be strong for her even though he was frightened.

i'm kristen sze. >> i'm dan ashley. for all of us here, w tonight, the breaking news from california. the wildfires here in ventura county and in several other parts of the state. there are mandatory evacuations under way. the massive wildfires burning out of control tonight as we come on the air. the walls of fire burning in the los angeles area. right in the community where there was a massacre less than 48 hours ago. homes now burned to the ground. also, the urgent race to get families out of malibu. we're on the scene there as well. and in northern california, the wildfire exploding in size, turning deadly. people trapped in their cars when fire engulfs their vehicles. and my interview tonight with the police chief, breaking down, after the massacre and now the fires. also breaking as we come on the air, the chilling messages posted as that massacre was unld