next at 5:00, a ferocious fire in martinez. one home looks to be destroyed along with multiple cars we're live at the scene with the latest. plus robbed and beaten while riding b.a.r. t. one woman says she's speaking out to prove a point about standing up. and how long these potentially dangerous conditions will last. plus, a sonoma farmer fighting to save his ranch. the rush to reopen emergency wells as water becomes very scarce. and going back to work in santa clara as businesses are now required to track the vaccination status of workers. we look at what this means for everyone else.

listen to that. you can hear the rush of the fire and the sound of things popping. flames just erupted and quickly burned down this house. firefighters acted quickly though to stop it from spreading beyond the borders. good evening and thank you for joining us i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. we're glad you're with us. the fire torched this home and many cars on the property. it happened on arthur road just east of 680. matt boone is live on the scene for us. matt, what are you hearing about the fire? >> dan, as you can hear there is still a lot of wind out here right now. one of the main concerns and one of the reasons why firefighters are still on scene. now if i get out of the way and we zoom in behind me you can see where that fire burned. up on the hillside behind this home. there's actually a pg & e tower that does appear to have suffered some damage down at

the base. it is also blackened and charred as well as the cars. it looked and explosion. that broke out around 1:50 this afternoon. the fire quickly burning grass, cars and a structure on the scene. that black smoke billowed into the sky causing a back up on the freeway earlier as drivers tried to figure out where it was coming from. the road in front of this home, arthur drive is still currently closed. there's still traffic in the area. it's unclear how that fire started but a neighbor who saw it says she believed it started in the grass behind the home says she's never been this worried about fire season so early in the year. >> we've been a lot worried with this field behind us. and the grass had not been cut down yet. so we're very blessed.

it's cut down now. >> reporter: now thankfully, firefighters were able to get this two alarm fire under control pretty quickly. mostly containing it just to this property behind me. you can see that big boom up there from contra costa fire department. still working on trying to mitigate some of the damage that was caused by this fire. but thankfully, it did not spread because once again this wind out here definitely a major concern as we head to the drier months. reporting live in martinez, abc 7 news. yeah, absolutely can be so dangerous. thank you so much matt. an intense fire at a home in san francisco's cole valley neighborhood killed one person who lived there. crews were called to the schroder street building around 2:00 this morning. firefighters and sheriff deputies rushed inside a burning home on grandini avenue this morning. two people inside were trapped. sheriff deputies rescued one person in the building. firefighters were able to save a second resident.

both were taken to the hospital. a thai woman is telling us about the brutal attack she suffered on b.a.r.t. in an exclusive interview with abc news she says she takes extreme precautions to try to stay safe but everyone that didn't work in this case. here's liz kreutz with this story. >> i don't have anything, nothing. >> reporter: every monte cansinen takes the train to work, she carries a nondistinct purse, wears her hair up and a cap to look like a boy. >> i never thought it was going to happen with me. >> reporter: around 8:00 tuesday morning she was on bart nearing san francisco when a stranger approached her and demanded she hand over her phone. she refused and he immediately began to attack her. when the train stopped, the

suspect took off leaving her bloodied and scared. >> he did not stop punching me. like so many times. just punching me in my face. >> reporter: since hearing of the recent violent attacks on asian-americans she's been extra careful when commuting to work. >> do you think you were targeted because of your race? >> i'm not pretty sure but i feel like i'm a girl, that be like a small asian girl. maybe it's easy for them to kind of like, you know. like to steal something from me. that's what i thought. >> reporter: b.a.r.t. police are investigating the attack. so far they have not identified a suspect. for now montecon says she wants to share her story to bring awareness and change the narrative. >> say something, because we're not weak. that's what it is. we're not weak. we have to, like you know, speak up for yourself.

>> in san francisco, liz liz kreutz. scary moments today in a high school. a stranger walking in and attacking a student and a teacher. police have taken the woman who clearly went on a tirade to jail. she ran into a car and punched a 15 and 16-year-old as well as that teacher. faculty was able to rush everybody out of the class and lock everybody inside until police arrived. >> >> that is unnerving. look at this, s, cahear twi video. sandhya patel is live with the advisory that just went into effect. >> reporter: s that going to remain in effect through tomorrow morning, that is going to remain in effect through tomorrow morning and likely going to get extended. you can see why the wind advisory is in effect.

the trees are blowing. really things are rocking and rolling around the bay area. 56 miles per hour, embarcadero it's blowing as well. as we take a look at that wind advisory until 5:00 a.m. tomorrow, gusts 40 to 50 miles per hour bringing that possibility of downed power lines and trees. so these winds obviously have the potential to do some damage and there are fire weather concerns as any fires that develop would rapidly spread. ama, dan. >> >> that is such a danger, thank you sandhya. now let's talk about the drought specifically in the north bay and the fight by ranchers and their water source. >> reporter: a piece of

equipment literally untapped for almost four decades until now. >> these wells were drilled sometime in the the first drought. >> reporter: her surveyed an empty pond in his arid land today. >> have you ever seen it like this. >> never. >> never. >> never. >> not everyone in1977. >> not even in 1977. >> reporter: long droughts are the night mare of dairy farmers. he's had to truck in 30,000- gallons of water for his herd. but without guarantee that he'll be able to get that water tomorrow until now. by tapping these wells. the county will help

the region. >> there are that water to keep alive and that's what this is about. >> it will save businesses. >> this up until we can get more water. >> anxious times. in the south bay santa clara county health officials announce new rules this week that will require businesses to track the covid-19 vaccination status of their employees. now some are wondering if other counties will follow suit. abc 7 news reporter chris nguyen has more on what you need to know about this. >> as businesses began to welcome more employees back to the workplace. some have questions over just how safe they'll be. >> keeping them healthy is so important to us. >> reporter: stan vucovich is

manager of an office fice fice solution company. his company has been busy. >> what kind of protocols do we have in terms of temperature change, where you seat people, how you seat people. all of that comes into play. >> reporter: one delicate item in the mind of many business owners is how to approach their work force about whether or not they've been vaccinated. santa clara county provided new clarify with a new health order that requires businesses to track the vaccination status of their employees. >> it's compliant with the law. we've always been very focused on ensuring that our rules are compliant with all applicable regulations and statutes. >> reporter: workers choose not to share their vaccination status. but if so, it'll be assumed they're not fully vaccinated and therefor they'll have to follow masking and social distancing rules that wisay the county guidelines are a good

call, especially ahead of the state's mandate lift. >> mandates are what we need to get us working again. >> reporter: as santa clara county prepares to put these rules in place, it's to be seen if other counties will follow their lead. >> this is kind of the home stretch. we just, we don't want to get it wrong now. and this really helps us get it right. >> reporter: in san jose, chris nguyen, abc 7 news. santa clara county eased their rules based on the outcome of a meeting tomorrow. that's when cal osha will look at re visions issued last fall. proposed changes includes allowing fully vaccinated workers to stop social distancing and wearing masks. >> meanwhile health officers say they agree with the state's

guidance on keeping a mask mandate for most indoor settings until june 15th. that's the day the state plans to fully reopen the economy. and you can see on this map. 11 counties are respected as well as the city of berkeley. still ahead. lebron versus curry. we are live in los angeles as the warriors battle the defending champion l.a. lakers in the nba play in tournament. plus, confetti fills the sky as does a trophy. the latest celebrations for the the latest celebrations for the wo this academic year has been, um, challenging. but i think there's so much success to celebrate. woman: it's been a year like no other. man: yet, for educators across california, the care, compassion, and teaching has never stopped. woman: addressing their unique needs... man: ...and providing a safe learning environment students could count on. woman: join us in honoring

the work of educators. together, we will build a better california for all of us.

olympic champion, activist and track legend lee evans died today one week after suffering a stroke. evans won two gold medals at the 1968 games setting world records in the 4 by 400-meter

relay. he was also a member of the spartans legendary speed city with tommy smith and john carlos. along with smith and carlos, evans fought for racial equality and spear headed the t protest at the olympic games. >> and on twitter, they wrote, his struggle for is indelible and enduring. a special celebration took place at santa clara university for the best women's soccer team in all of the united states. >> the 2021 national championship trophies, let's go broncos. >> that's coach smith accepting the trophy on behalf of staff and players. they won the national title on monday defeating top seeded state.

it was the program's first national championship in 20 years which is a big deal. coach smith credited their players for defeating their opponent and the pandemic. >> this is by far the wildest, craziest most unpredictable ride a team has ever had to endure. there's 100 completely valid reasons to give up, give in and everybody would have understood. that's what most people would have done. they didn't do that. >> understandably getting emotional like other college teams. the broncos stayed in a players only bubble and due to covid restrictions they played only 7 conference games. s that great. congratulations to them. congratulations to them. well call it the great if you have risk factors like heart disease, diabetes and raised triglycerides,... ...vascepa can give you something to celebrate. ♪ vascepa, when added to your statin,... ...is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke.

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deposit, plan and pay with easy tools from chase. simplicity feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. the mayors of san jose, san francisco and oakland are going head to head to make sure

people do not lose power. the contest is simple. the mayor who gets residents to install smart thermostats gets the prize. the state wins too by keeping the power on when it gets hot. >> we all have a role we can play in preventing blackouts. we all have a role, we all have a job we can do to help keep the grid stable and keep the lights on and avoid blackouts. >> that role is to reduce energy consumption during heat waves and power. mconnect is giving away 5,000 of them free of charge. go to any connect.com for more information. >> we can all do a little bit more. you just have to think about what you can do to conserve energy. >> yeah it's true. all it takes is to think out of

the box. let's find out more about this wind. >> this wind is coming off the water so if you want to look at conserving energy you at least you don't have to use your ac. but the wind proving potentially problematic. the trees are just blowing in the wind right now. watch out if you still have lose objects in your backyard. you will want to tie them down. right now wind gusts are at 44 in san francisco, sfo 52. hayward 35. 31 in napa. even out toward the livermore valley you're feeling that gusty wind. you will notice some yellows and oranges for parts of the east bay. that's high, to very high fire danger. that's a concern. although the fire danger goes down a bit tomorrow morning it only ramps up again tomorrow afternoon as you will notice stilt high fire danger. so remain vigilant. as we look at this live doppler 7 you can see what's developing here.

it's this area of low pressure that's moving southward. that is what brought us the wind. and will continue to keep the winds going as it digs southward. temperatures are down as a result. down 9 degrees in palo alto. 7 degrees cooler in concord you can feel that out there. 50s to 70s our warmest places only in the mid-70s toáeld. hour by hour the wind forecast tomorrow night. you're still going to be looking at 50-mile an hour winds along the coastline as we head into tonight still strong, still gusty. going into tomorrow morning. the winds are mainly confined to the coast. they ease only to pick up again early in the afternoon. about 50-miles-an-hour in half- moon bay. 44 point reyes at 2:00. as we head into 11:00 p.m. still gusty along the coastline. and then those winds will begin to die down on those systems bringing showers. if you have travel plans, winter weather advisory goes up

around 6,5morrow a couple ofsnow through tomorrow morning. that snow advisory goes up. travel impacts are likely for that area just be aware of that and prepare for winter driving conditions. upper 30s to upper 40s. breezy to windy in the morning. it is going to be chilly so grab the jackets. tomorrow afternoon, hang on to them because of the wind and because of the cooler air. mid-50s to low 70s. here's your accu weather 7 day forecast it's a gusty cooler day tomorrow. winds ease on friday. temperatures rebound for the weekend. and it certainly will be closer to average by the time we hit the weekend. i think until these winds drop off, definitely stay aware. ama and dan. >> yeah, yeah you have to. thanks sandhya. still ahead here, time gone by how our drinking water led to the bones of some

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and a reminder you can get our live newscast, breaking weather news and more on apple tv, android tv, fire tv and roku. just search abc 7 bay area and download it. the south bababababa

supplier is embarking largest project to ensure the tunnel will not flood in case of an emergency. >> there's a reason the level of anderson dam is down to 3% of capacity. it's been drained as work begins on a major seismic retrofit project that begins with a 1,700-foot tunnel to provide drainage in case of an emergency. >> it's going to take about three years to construct. >> reporter: the work won't be visiblas machines bo r gr but those living near by might hear something unusual. >> residents might hear some muffled explosion. all of them will be under ground. it's definitely a very unique

situation. >> the $616 million project will take anderson reservoir out of service for 10 years. just as the region is facing another drought and water customers have been asked to cut back by 25% on a voluntary basis. anderson normally collects local run off and water imported from other sources. >> anderson is the largest single dam of 10 dams we have which is aboveground storage and our afrpbl aquifer. for safety, picnic grounds and recreational use have been suspended. >> the lake bed is really muddy so it's a dangerous area. so we have signs and we encourage people to stay up to date on the project and stay away just for their own safety. >> valley water has held a

number of events to keep the public informed. a source of drinking water for people in the bay area, holds clues into ancient history. >> it's really interesting ama. scientists uncovered of specimens. that's a water source for more than 1 million people in the east bay. it all began last june when an east bay utility district ranger found a petrified tree. >> i was out on patrol not looking for things like this. it was in an area we didn't know this occurred. it was just visible enough and i was just curious enough to my surprise, i went wow. >> wow is right. the remains date back 5 to 10 million years eventually the

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tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. 423 days since new york city shut down, tonight, the mask mandate lifted. new york state following other states as they enact the new cdc guidelines, vaccinated americans can go without masks indoors and outdoors. but across the country tonight, the flash points. the tense moments over masks. and today, the cdc director pressed on capitol hill about the new mask guidance. how she answered. all eyes, meanwhile, on the hill tonight. will they work together to get answers? lawmakers voting on whether to create a 9/11-style commission to investigate the deadly attack on the capitol, to try to prevent it from ever happening again. today, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell joining kevin mccart i