bay area. >> firefighters are making progress fighting a grass fire burning in oakley tonight. some residents are being allowed to return to their homes. i'm dan ashley. >> i'm ama daetz. it broke out around 2:00 this afternoon, burned at least 5 acres and two out buildings but no homes. let's get to news reporter laura anthony who has the very latest. laura? >> reporter: yeah, hi, dan. actually the evacuation orders have been lifted entirely. that was mostly for the homes on the other side of where i'm standing here. i am in oakley at this point. you can see really nor active flame. the forward progress of the fire has been stopped completely. we're showing you one of the structures that was damaged. this is some sort of outbuilding or garage. it looks like it sustained fairly serious dabbling. 0 fortunately no homes were burned. let's show you what it looked like a few hours ago out here in oakley when the fire was at its

height. you could see from sky 7 and from the ground that there were quite a bit of active flames that the winds were really whipping this fire up and at some points we did see some structures burning. but again at this jus t the outbuildings that were burned. no homes damaged. although it was a pretty scary time for the folks who live out here. >> fire got about 100 yards from behind our house. while that was going on, i had a buddy with a hose trying to wet things down and another lady from the neighborhood was helping us evacuate our animals. we have five dogs, three cats and a pig. >> after that i grabbed my bobcat and 250 gallon propane tank and drove away from the fire. >> we had pretty good winds pushing the fire pretty quick into grassy areas and pushing it towards residential neighborhoods that we had to evacuate. >> reporter: and we're back live

here. we're showing you the number of rigs that are out here. mutual aid was called for rather quickly because of the flames and smoke and the wind whipping up here. you could see too that folks were monitoring the situation. there were a number of people that protected their own homes. let's come back live now and show you the fire trucks. there are a number of them, dozens of them still here on the scene. as i said, mutual aid was called for rather quickly. at this point, i would told about 25 rigs from all over the area, contra costa fire, east alcantra cost ta, san ramon valley, cal fire was overhead doing water drops. one of the complications for this fire i was told was that there are no fire hydrants in this area. these rigs only had the water they brought with them. if it weren't for those aerial drops from bob, this fire might have spread to a greater area. at this point, these rigs appear to be staying here at least for

the time being. it's still pretty windy out here. live in oakley, laura anthony, abc7 news. >> a san jose man serving a 400 plus year sentence for raping more than two dozen women now has a shot at parole. george anthony sanchez has been at soledad since 1989. a relatively new california law could make way for his release. he's making his case as we speak. chris nguyen has the story. >> reporter: in the mid '80s many residents lived in fear of a notorious rapist who terror rised in nine south bay communities. a break in the case came in 1987. >> we are convinced with the evidence at hand that he is clearly the ski mask rapist. >> reporter: george anthony sanchez was sentenced to more than 400 years for ambushing and raping at least 25 women over a

three-year period. his victims thought they could move on without fear that he would ever be released from the state prison, his home since 1989. but california's elderly parole program has shaken their sense of security. the program offers parole hearings to state prisoner who are 60 or older and have served at least 25 years. sanchez who is now 58 went in for area i hearing today under a special set of circumstances because he committed most of his crimes before the age of 26 which classified him as an youthful offender. in an interview with our media partner the mercury news, one victim said i thought he had no chance at parole. i will do anything in this world to keep that from happening. i'll go to every parole hearing, i will do whatever it takes to keep him in prison. reform advocates believe the program adopted in 2014 but put into law in 20171 one of the most humane, practical and cost effective be solutions to prison overcrowding and to prevent the state from providing expensive

custody for people too frail to have a danger. chris nguyen, abc7 news. >> nine months later another victim of last year's camp fire has died. abc7 news learned paul ernest died monday because of health complications stemming from his recovery from burns suffered in the devastating fire last november. family members say the 72-year-old spent the last nine months in the icu. once the butte county corner's office confirms the circumstances of his death, he would become ot 86th person killed by the catch fire, already the deadliest in state history. >> a major federal crackdown now in effect in san francisco targeting the city's tornado loin district which officials say is smothered by lawlessness. abc7 news covered the problems for a very long time. we went along on a sweep of that saw the arrests of dozens of

fugitives. we interviewed a drug dealer who told us he could make $30,000 a day and talked with one resident who turn into into a video vigilanty. now a new effort, this one is seeing some results, too. vic lee is in the newsroom with the tonight. >> dan, as you know, the tornado loin is a diverse community, a large inventory of affordable housing. lots of school age children and seniors and all of them have to walk a gauntlet of crime every day. the feds are saying enough is enough. >> the tenderloin has become a magnet for retail drug trafficking to an extraordinary degree. >> the "t" as locals call it, the u.s. attorney calls it one of the state's biggest open air drug markets. police operations here are not new. now, a tough new federal initiative with federal prosecutorers and law enforcement agencies specifically assigned to combat

crime in the "t." >> 15ausas to this initiative. and more than 15 federal law enforcement agencies. >> 15 federal prosecutors to take on drug traffickers and other criminals here for a period of one year. long overdue says randy shaw, head of the tenderloin housing clinic. > this is the first time we've had any high law enforcement official make these commitments to the neighborhood. 40 years we've been waiting for that kind of response. >> reporter: new u.s. attorney david anderson announced the arrest of 32 alleged drug trackers, two of them anderson said are high ranking trackers from mexico and honduras. their street deal were housed in oakland and commuted to the tenderlo tenderloin. >> up to ten dealers were live in the residences lease bids highly organized traffickers. >> reaction from the mayor

london breed and police chief william scott. >> we try to provide support and compassion here in san francisco. ultimately there has to be consequences for illegal activity. >> the collaboration is a good thing. >> reporter: u.s. attorney anderson says his office will not prosecute what he calls innocent homelessness, nor would they go after drug users who are not dealing. vic lee, abc7 news. >> employees at corporate walmart offices at san bruno and other cities staged a walkout in the hope the company will stop selling guns after one store was the scene of the mass shooting in el paso saturday and two employees were killed last week as a mississippi store. thomas marshall, a worker at the e-commerce office in san bruno organized the protest. walkout had a moment of silence for the shooting victims. >> we're tired of living in a country fearing for our lives. it truly breaks my heart that people were walking into stores

of ours and they're afraid. >> abc7 news reached out to walmart for a response. we have not heard back. walmart's ceo doug mcmillan promised yesterday to respond to the shootings in a "thoughtful and positive way." a bay area veteran says it shouldn't be this hard to find a house. the struggles and obstacles in his way and why his problems are too common for people who have served their country. >> we have answers if you want to buy a hope in the bay area. a hot line is open right now and they are waiting to hear from you. >> i'm sandhya patel. cooling trend has begun. but the heat will be returning.

buying a home in san francisco may have gotten a little less competitive.

buyers are less than half likely to face a bidding war as last year. still is, redfin says in july, san francisco was the most competitive housing market in the nation. while in san jose, the bidding rate plummeted year to year. redfin says last monthent 35% of bids in san francisco faced a bidding war. down 72% from 2018. san diego was the second most competitive market in the nationing with 21% of redfin offers facing competition. >> abc7 is committed to helping build a better bay area. we've been examiniing high rent >> the problem is especially acute among the homeless veterans. eric thomas spoke with a vet about his struggles. the good news is eric taylor won't be will being in his rental car this week. instead the veterans support

group swords to plow shares is putting him up in this hotel for one week. >> just to is have to go through this. >> spread out on his bed are letters, applications and responses from agencies he's contacted for housing help. >> no one expects to be in this situation but it happens. >> reporter: the veteran is disabled from a training injury that broke his lower back in the '80s. he lived in emeryville for 14 years till his landlord died and he moved to hayward and lives there for nine years il it the owner turned it into an airbnb. he has shuttled between motels and his car till it broke down since april. since then he's been renting to a car to get to the physical therapy appointments. last year he charged $8,000 for car rental, motel stays, gas, meals and bills. >> people say oh, thank you for your service. but give some vets a chance. >> does have a housing voucher from the veterans affairs support housing or vash program

similar to section 8. that's the problem. >> how much luck have you had? >> nothing yet. >> in fact, it is so tough for hopeless vets to find some place to rent, santa clara came up with a special program to pay landlords extra to take them in. >> as long as you're willing to sign a year lease. for any went unit you make available, you get another $500 additional unit bonus. >> they do it with an annual $1.6 million budgets. meantime, eric taylor is hoping he hears something before his voucher runs out next week. eric thomas, abc7 news. >> and an effort is under way in sacramento to prevent housing voucher discrimination and it includes veterans vouchers. >> a bill being considered would make it unlawful for landlords to refuse renters solely based on vouchers. >> an assembly committee is set to consider the measure after summer recess scenario our hot

line to navigate the process of buying a hope, part of our housing week series. >> michael finney is live with help. michael? >> it is difficult if you have all the money in the world to buy real estate. now imagine being in the bay area with a middle income, imagine it. most of us live it. if you need help with buying a home, just trying to get your feet on ground, what you're going to need then call our hot line. we have experts from all over the bay area and they're going to be here taking your calls till 8:00 tonight. joining me right now frat richmond neighborhood housing services is nique beasley. niqc nikki, what do you need if you're looking for a below market house? >> first thing is determination and patience. but the numbers are this. typically with credit, you need a minimum of a 620 credit score. some lenders will look as low as 580. credit should not be a barrier deterrent. you would need to be working.

so you need to be able to demonstrate you can pay a mortgage. affordability will matter but that will be based on your down payment. typically first time home buyer programs will have programs as little as zero% up to 3.5%. there are closing costs. so it depends again on the value of your property. so we always ask that you take the time to meet with the housing counselor or work with a hud approved counseling agency so you don't disqualify yourself. our goal is to share that we're changing the narrative of home ownership that you don't need 20% down or 700 credit score. it is dependent where you want to live, how much you feel safe but it doesn't have to be the 20%. >> it can be as low as 3%. >> less than that. there are some community lending programs, some institutions will have 1% down with no pmi which is the private mortgage insurance which is typically a big factor in getting a person qualified.

>> that's extra money you have to pay each month. it could make or break a real estate transaction because it could be a significant amount. >> thank you very much. i'll let you go back to answering phone calls here. a lot of the assumptions we all make about buying a home are all yesterday rules. the rules are changing because it is so hard to get into a home in the bay area. that's why we have this hot line going on till 8:00 tonight. give us a call, 415-954-7621. no matter how stupid you may think your question is, it's not stupid. give us a call. from the 7 on your side offices i'm michael finney. >> thanks so much. we want to collect on our accuweather forecast. quite breezy across the bay area today. >> meteorologist sandhya patel is here with the forecast. >> i call it the winds of change. that's brought about the temperature drop today. hi there. dan and ama, look at live doppler 7 first. we'll talk about the siera thunderstorms. it is active there right now.

monsoon moist moving in. isolated thunderstorms south of tahoe. if you're traveling there through tomorrow, expect this pattern. very quiet here in the bay area. just a sliver of fog lingering near the coastline. temperatures have dropped. it is noticeable in some parts like novato, 11 degree cooler, 9 degree drop in fairfield at this hour compared to 24 hours ago. the wind is certainly playing a role coming off the cool ocean water gusting to 30 miles an hour, san francisco, fairfield. that wind is what brought about the change in our temperatures. and the breezy conditions are going to continue so if you're stepping out to run errands tonight, going into tomorrow, expect gusty winds out of the west-southwest going into tomorrow, as well. live look right from our kgo roof camera. the trees are blowing in the wind. the winds have cleared out our skies across most areas. that's why you're getting this view of a uny golden gate bridge but traffic looks like it's backing up.

62 in san francisco. 68 in oakland. mid-70s from redwood city to san jose. 79 in morgan hill. our east bay hills camera looking at mt. diablo. 81 in santa rosa. 81 in fairfield and concord. a live look from our san jose camera. low clouds tomorrow morning. cooler than average through saturday and it is going to be turning hot inland starting on sunday. the hour-by-hour forecast will show you the low clouds expanding during the overnight hour tomorrow morning. 5:00 a.m. around the bay and along the coastline. expect gray skies. can't rule out a spotty drizzle. in the evening, a few high clouds passing through, as well. temperatures in the morning in the 50s. good sleeping weather tonight. as we head into tomorrow afternoon, 64 in san francisco, 63 half moon bay. oakland 69 degrees. these temperatures are below average for this time of year. 78 in san rafael. low 80s around santa rosa,

livermore. 73 palo alto and 85 in morgan hill. i don't think we have much to complain about when you look at the seven-day forecast, below average for your thursday. the break from the heat continues friday. this is where it might get interesting. same system cooling us down the next few days will bring in a slight chance of a few showers in the north bay saturday. it's just a slight chance but notice with the temperatures really rebounding as we go into sunday from 84 to 94. inland areas will feel the heat going into monday, tuesday, and wednesday with mid to upper 90s appearing. good thing is the coast will remain comfortable thanks to fog and the sea breeze in the mid 60s. dan and ama. >> thanks. >> trying to live large when living small. >> you can't quite stand up all the way in the lofts, but it's close. >> tiny homes are a big trend and there is only one place where you can live in a community of them legally.

that story is next. >> then at 5:30 on world news with david muir." >> coming up on world news tonight, breaking news. a tornado touching down at 60 million americans face weather alerts. plus a nation on edge. false alarms causing americans

it seems like we are living in a world ruled by inflated housing prices. marie kondo and tiny living. >> so to see what that tiny living is really like, abc7 news partnered with bold italic, an online magazine owned by medium. >> we went to northern california's only legal tiny home community which is in the city of isleston. >> hello. >> i can easily grab the shirt that i want. >> for solids, the process is

you put a paper carrier also known as a coffee filter in there. there. >> you coming out? there she is. this is louise. and ella. this is our tiny house, tiny house, big sky we call it. this is a house we built ourselves. as you come into the house, we have a couch that we built here that has storage. everything here has storage. but it also turns into ottoman. >> our house is 192 square fight on main floor and that is all of our hanging clothes. so that's all you get. about two feet worth. shoe storage is down here. and then we have a loft at

either end which adds another 150 square feet. we're just under 350 square feet if you count the lofts. >> maybe i'll just let you go up there and look. we have a big four foot by four foot sky light up there that opens so it gets good ventilation going through there. you can't quite stand up all the way in the lofts but it's close enough. my wife and i decided we want theed to, after watching 20,000 hours of hgtv tiny house shows decided we wanted to build a tiny house. they gave us an opportunity with my background to build something affordable, do more things that we wanted to do. we ended up with a projector screen that kind of tucks and hides away. and it works okay. my favorite feature is the

bathtub. so we can actually do a little rainhead. >> full size refrigerator. it's about 18 cubic feet. >> typically we're under $750 a month for tuts and rent. so we chose a tiny house over an rv. i would say mainly because my wife liked the cuteness factor. you have the hdtv tiny houses and then you have like small tiny house have is for homeless and they're kind you have i think that a combination of the two could definitely do things for the housing crisis in being able to use land more efficiently. it's made our life just so much more simple. it's been a fantastic change and there aren't anything we would change about it. >> interesting what people adapt to. >> definitely. >> the tiny home community is really interesting. filled with people who come from

all walks of life. >> if you want more coverage, you can do so on abc7news.com. >> now, learning to dribble but not like steph curry. >> we're going to take you to a playground where urban kids

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superior accuracy in the palm of your hand. the new accuweather app from abc7 news. minute by minute forecasts plus realtime radar and larrys. keeping you safe. search accuweather in your app store and download now. >> coming up on abc7 news at 6, a small north bay city takes a bold step to keep homes safe from wildfires. the city isn't paying for it. >> also one local school district still needs teaches more than 2,000 of them. we examine that's behind this massive short and. >> who has that kind you have money? >> who does? >> not me. >> few can afford a down payment

let alone a home. 7 on your side looks at options to help you come up with the cash at 6:00. >> finally here tonight, some san francisco kids are learning to have a different kind of playground fun. >> abc7 news was in the bay view district as these urban kids got a lesson in dribbling. > this type, the goal is give these kids the same opportunities at organized sports that the children in more after frunt communities have and see what happens. so far learning the world's most popular sport has had its ups and downs. >> it's a little rough here and there. it's not like basketball. they're so used to basketball. it was a little rough at first but once the kids started playing, they're starting to love it. >> the new men's soccer coach was a guest instructor to run through different kinds of drills. >> the bay view united team will begin play in a soccer league this fall. and they look like they're having a fabulous day out there. >> definitely a good time. >> "world news tonight with

david muir" is next. i'm ama daetz. >> i'm dan ashley. we will see you again in half an hour at 6:00. tonight, breaking news as we come on. a tornado touching down moments ago. severe storms striking several parts of the country. 60 million people on alert from the midwest to the northeast. plus, the flash flood threats. entire communities under water. also tonight, nation on edge. following the back-to-back mass shootings, panic inside of the offices of "usa today." workers evacuating after a false alarm about an active shooter, as cameras capture the fear in times square after a motorcycle backfires. shoppers scrambling for safety. this, as president trump visits the victims of gun violence, staying largely out of the public eye. met by protesters in both cities and still facing questions about