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we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. powered by strong winds, the dixie fire explodes in size as containment falls. bay area air quality impacted by northern california wildfires, what you can do to stay safe. smoke filled skies today, i'll let you know when you'll see an improvement coming up. a new cdc study finds people who have been infected with covid 9 cough covid-19 are twice as likely to be reinfected. this restaurant is closed once again, how covid cases are impacting bay area restaurants and staff and costing them big bucks. abc7 news starts right now. >> building a better bay area moving forward finding solutions, this is abc7 news. the people that had to run

from this fire like we did, it changes you. you're just not the same. >> heartbreak and destruction in northern california as wildfires turn homes to rubble and level one historic town. good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm larry beil. >> i'm ama daetz. the dixie fire in plumas county is on track to become the second largest wildfire in california history. it has once again exploded in size torching nearly 435,000 acres of containment dropped tonight from 35% to 21% as firefighters battle intense conditions. to the south the river fire has burned 2,600 acres and is 40% contained. these fires are two of the 35 burning across our state now and wildfire season is far from over. firefighters california are in a race against time battling wind driven wildfires that show no sign of letting up. in plumas county the dixie fire is now the nation's largest wildfire nearly four times the

size of san jose. >> we stood outside of the property yesterday and watched the trees go up. >> flames leveled the historic town of greenville. in a matter of hours home after home was reduced to rubble and most downtown businesses are gone, too. some had stood for more than 100 years. shoo been here since 1973 and it's really hard to stomach this. >> in the sierra the river fire has left a trail of destruction and wiped out near 100 homes near colfax and threatens more than 3,000. this man returned to find his worst fears had come true. >> it's completely gone and all our neighbors, great neighbors, leveled. >> officials say california has seen a 150% increase in acres burned this year compared to 2020. it's already a historic fire season and it's only august.

>> we're seeing truly frightening fire behavior and i don't know how to overstate that. >> people living in the north and east bays are seeing unhealthy air quality because of that wildfire smoke. >> it was really bad this morning. what can we expect this weekend? let's check in with with meteorologist sandhya patel. unfortunately we'll continue to see impacts from those fires this weekend. let me show you the satellite picture. you will see how dramatic this view and disturbing it is, all that smoke moving in from those wildfires into the bay area. our air quality has been impacted. we've been seeing poor air quality even unhealthy at times. right now the worst of it is in the moderate to poor category. other parts of the region around the state of california where the wildfires are, very unhealthy to hazardous. as you look at the smoke forecast, briefly tomoyou want outside, it might improve but not for long. tomorrow afternoon and evening we see moderate air quality and

that's why the air quality advisory extended through tomorrow, moderate air quality expected the next couple days, that smog hard to miss tonight. i'll be back with a full look at the smoke forecast and when things will get better coming up. abc7 news reporter amanda del castillo continues our team coverage in the east bay where readings show the air was unhealthy for sensitive groups. >> reporter: people are starting to feel the impacts of the smoky skies hanging over the bay area. along main street in pleasanton many opted to sit indoors friday afternoon finding some discomfort during the day. >> it's a heaviness like somebody sitting on my chest. >> my eyes were burning and watering and i felt congested and it was bad. it was really bad. >> i felt a little bit of it in my eyes. >> i started choking because my throat got super dry and i was like having an allergy attack. >> reporter: late friday air quality moved to moderate levels in parts of the bay area, but in others readings showed the air was unhealthy

for sensitive group. the bay area air quality management district warned high elevation locations like napa, sonoma and solano counties may experience worse conditions, reasons why experts are telling people to keep their windows and doors shut as we enter the weekend. >> i thought today is the day i'll take a brisk walk and then i looked and thought no, i'm not. >> i was planning a hike oplanng sunday. i may not spend as much time exposed to it. >> reporter: residents here knowing too well the realities of having multiple fires burning so close to home. >> that's not fog. it's smoke which reminded me of last year. we had the orange sky and so i don't know. >> reporter: what we do know, firefighters are continuing to battle the number of wildfires raging farther north. >> i feel terrible for people who are in these areas who it's and it's terrible. >> reporter: the bay area air quality management district announced it's extending an air

quality advisory issued earlier this week until saturday because of the smoke. in pleasanton i'm amanda del castillo, abc7 news. >> you can track the air quality where you live on our website, www.abc7news.com. we have a map that is constantly updating the conditions. you can also view this using our abc7 bay area app. now the latest on the surging delta variant, the first time since february the u.s. is averaging 100,000 new cases per day, but there is a vaccination milestone tonight. 50% of all americans are now fully vaccinated. tonight every state in this country is reporting high or substantial community transmission fueled by the delta variant. researchers are also tracking another variant called lambda first detected in south america now reaching the u.s. in small numbers. the early data suggests the lambda variant might partially clip away at vaccine efficacy, but for now lambda is not considered to be a variant of

concern. tonight a new cdc study finds people who were unvaccinated were more than twice as likely to be reinfected compared to those who were vaccinated. abc7 news reporter and vaccine team member luz pena spoke to bay area experts to find out why. >> reporter: it's the argument some have used to not get vaccinated. i've had covid. therefore, i don't need the vaccine. i'm somewhat protected. turns out that's not entirely true. today the cdc released a study reporting individuals who had covid-19 are twice as likely to get reinfected. >> we don't know exactly how protective or how long the protection from natural infection will last. >> reporter: ucsf dr. timothy henrich has studied the long term impacts of covid-19. >> the study from the cdc really proves vaccines are going to be necessary to achieve full protection for

people who have been previously infected. >> reporter: in the cdc study those who were infected with covid-19 in 2020 experienced a reinfection between may and june of 2021. that's about the same time the delta variant intensified across the u.s. >> hopefully this will push a number of people who have been holding out thinking they don't need a vaccine to go ahead and get vaccinated. >> reporter: the delta variant accounts for more than 83% of virus across the u.s. the president of the gladstone institute agrees with the cdc data but says reinfections could be more than twice as likely to occur. >> we're projecting that the numbers are actually higher than what the cdc is reporting here. >> i think that's very likely because we know that the delta variant is so much more infectious. >> reporter: the latest data shows the mrna vaccines continue to be more than 90% effective in preventing hospitalizations.

in san francisco, luz pena, abc7 news. breakthrough covid cases are causing restaurants throughout the bay area to close down to keep staff and customers safe. abc7 news reporter kate larsen found out how some san francisco restaurants are handling the closures. >> reporter: it's pandemic deja vu, temporary restaurant closures due to covid cases. tosca partially reopened friday after a staff member was exposed, the north beach restaurant closing a few days to get everyone tested. the restaurant says now that everyone is known to be negative full service will resume over the weekend. >> it's like ptsd again. >> reporter: lori thomas is executive director of the golden gate restaurant association. she believes there have only been a handful of recent san francisco closures, but after surviving a shutdown each one is painful. >> what restaurants are having to do unfortunately in that situation is to temporarily close, not because they're being dictated to be closed, but because they just can't

physically staff the restaurant if some of the workers are out on quarantine. >> we've been closed for a week and we'll be closed probably another week. >> reporter: scott chillcut is the co-owner of aziza. despite mandating vaccine for employees in the spring, three staff members recently tested positive for covid, all breakthrough cases. >> it's deflating because we thought once everyone was vaccinated and all the steps we took to get through to this point, we were hoping we were on the back end of it. we had no positive cases for 14 months prior to this. >> reporter: and safety doesn't come cheap. he expects the two-week closure will cost them $75,000 and they're still only running at 50% capacity because of staffing constraints. >> it's a huge loss of revenue and it's certainly not a time where we can be losing revenue. >> reporter: yowant to help a restaurant out, bring a mask for inside dining. don't show up if you feel sick. get vaccinated and remember to be kind since everyone is short

staffed. i'm kate larsen, abc7 news. the delta variant is pushing back or canceling more bay area companies' return to work plans. wells fargo told its employees it is extending its work-from- home policy until october. google pushed back its return to work date to mid-october. the ride share company lyft pushed its schedule back to february and linkedin will allow its employees to work remotely permanently. a prominent bay area activist is accused of sexual assault, how he's responding tonight. growing chaos at airports nationwide, what spirit airlines' ceo is saying about more flight cancellations. missing the message, one bay area county is falling far short when it comes to water conservation. here's a look at what's coming up tonight on jimmy kimmel live with guest host anthony anderson. >> i'm anthony anderson, but you knew that already. >> i lost $10,000 that night, too. >> 10,000? >> yes. >> you know what i won?

my wife.

a well known community activist in san francisco has been accused of sexual assault. john jacobo announced he's stepping down with his position with the san francisco building position following calls to resign from several city supervisors. allegations surfaced this morning on social media and blog post scribing an describing an incident of sexual assault in april. jacobo said he woman needs to be heard but he believed the relationship was

consensual. alameda county sheriff's investigators ruled out foul play in phillip kreycik. officials suspect some sort of medical emergency took place while he was running. he disappeared on a run near pleasantton july 10th. get ready for more chaos at airports across the country this weekend. spirit airlines ceo said flight cancellations will continue through next week. at oakland international airport today half of spirit's flights were canceled. passengers' patience is running out. >> reporter: tonight with thousands grounded across the country frustration is growing. >> we're trying to go home. >> reporter: today spirit canceling more than 300 flights bringing the total number of cancellations to more than 2,000 since sunday. >> now it's time to figure out how can we get home.

>> i have to be back to work. i have to get back. >> reporter: spirit ceo saying as flights were canceled crews were dislocated through the system and in the wrong place at the wrong time. >> there will still be cancellations over the next few days, but we can saturday to build back to a full operation. >> reporter: the budget airline placing the blame on weather, system outages and staffing shortages causing some to sleep in the airport, but saying in a statement today that their plan to recover from the current operational disruption is working all in a major effort to earn back customers' trust. >> it's going to take us some time to build back that confidence and earn their trust again, but we'll learn from this and we're going to continue to grow. >> reporter: with the continued cancellations the airline ceo also said they're going to give full refunds and vouchers for future flights. elwyn lopez, abc news, atlanta. santa clara county residents are missing the target big time when it comes to conserving water.

in june they were asking to cut their usage by 15% from 2019 levels. a report out today shows there was virtually no change. in fact, 7 of the 13 cities that buy water from santa clara valley water district actually used more water. if things don't change this month, the district may may surcharges for those who go over the limit. it's a problem especially because rain is not in sight. >> no, not at all. meteorologist sandhya patel is here with what's in store for us. >> let's look at tonight at the time that the sun was setting from our east bay hills camera. it was a red sunset. i know there's a lot of color there, but that is due to the smoke in the air and that obviously added to the additional hue. we look at some of the smoke safety tips this weekend as we continue to see the impacts of

the wildfires. avoid exposure to smoke. close windows and doors and put your ac on recirculate. we're looking at the surface where the smoke will be concentrated. the blue is less smoke. tomorrow 9 a.m. you'll be okay. watch what happens heading into the afternoon and evening. you start to see some yellows and greens in our north and east bay valleys and locations there. you're looking at moderate to heavier smoke. sunday night i think the sea breeze will start to push some of that smoke and blow it out of here, but overall in the upper parts of the atmosphere, this is the aloft, we're still going to continue to see smoke until sunday night. keep that in mind, especially if you have any sort of respiratory issues, obviously burning in the eyes, throat not uncommon as you get exposed to the smoke. fog along the coast tonight is compact and because of this a little mist and drizzle not out of the question. temperin the 50s to 70s. it was a hotter day inland

today. i think the heat will ease a bit the next couple days. look at the fog from our east bay hills camera tonight. smoke impacts continue this understand weekend. morning starts off with the fog, a little mist and heading into the afternoon fog will hang around near the coast, the rest of you looking at sunshine, but it will be hazy, modern temperatures mid-50s to mid-60s, a comfortable start. in the afternoon it's going to be warm in the south bay, 89 in morgan hill, 84 san jose, 78 milpitas, 77 palo alto, 64 pacifica, downtown san francisco 67 degrees. temperatures are coming down a couple degrees, 65 in the sunset district, north bay 84. hazy skies around napa, santa rosa, low to mid-80s in the east bay, 72 oakland, 80 in castro valley. head inland and it's hazy sunshine and warm

weather,90 in pleasanton. we will still see smoke out there. it is going to be hot inland tomorrow, breezier in the afternoon and evening sunday. notice it's less smoke, cooler weather and then temperatures start to come back up. next week we'll be close to 100 inland, mid-60s coastside, not a lot of change the rest of the workweek. in the short term the biggest concern is as that smoke mixes down near the surface and continues to do so, it's mixing with some of that fog. so tomorrow we'll be dealing with that once again. good idea to just try to avoid it. spend less time outdoors if yo

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disney+ isn't just on your tv or mobile device. it's live in san francisco this weekend. summer tour is taking over pier 27 from games and prizes to movie memorabilia and costumes, there's something for everyone who loves disney. abc7 news anchor dion lim got to check it out with the fans. >> him and grandpa dave were watching mandalorian this morning. >> reporter: isn't it a little bit early to be watching disney+? >> never. >> the stories continue.

summer tour happens again tomorrow at pier 27 hours 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. disney is the parent company of abc7. i'm in for dan. chris alvarez is handling sports, extra innings for both the a's and the giants tonight, chris. >> coming up in sports some of football's greatest put on their gold jackets, plus put a gold star on this play, yaz crashes into the wall ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google, turn up the heat. ♪ ♪ ♪

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making it easy to make things right: that's what we're made for. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. get a quote today. sports on abc7 is sponsored by your local toyota dealers. >> well, ahead of the series opener again the rangers a's outfielder ramon laureano suspended 80 games after testing positive for a banned substance. he'll miss the rest of the

season and some games in 2022. juan toscano-anderson throwing out the first pitch, stephen curry checking in with a little fun on twitter. straight to extras we go. top ten, game tied 1-1. curtis terry strikes out. we move on anthe a's looking to win one for ray fossi and they do. two on for starling marte, three-run homer wins it, 4-1- 11, their tenth walk-off win this season, oakland three games back of houston in the a.l. west. giants/brewers, you know you're in milwaukee when you got a sausage race there. bottom four check out this play from mike yazstremski in center field, what a catch, bangs into the wall and hangs on, so nice we show it twice. top six giants still down 1-0. brandon belt solo homer to right field, homer number 150 in his career. we're tied at 1-1. the giants

had won five straight extra inning games in rowdy tellez snaps that streak and brewers and provide leadership. all the buzz since the nfl draft has been about the quarterback battle between jimmy garoppolo and trey lance. jimmy is the starter. trey is backup, but don't worry, fans. trey will play. >> the two's in every group are trying to surpass the one's and i say trey the same way. trey will play for us this year. i know you guys will run to twitter on that. that doesn't mean he'll go start or anything. he'll get plays. you got to prepare him for. that. pro football hall of fame weekend, three guys with bay area ties putting on the gold

jackets, john lynch, tom flores, charles woodson, the 2020 class inducted tomorrow and the 2021 class sunday. in the olympics u.s. men's basketball wins their fourth straight gold medal with an 87- straight gold medal with an 87- 82 win you know when you're at ross and find just what you need... to make any space your space? (sighs) yes! that's yes for less. get the best bargains ever for every room and every budget. at ross. yes for less.

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podcasts are on there, also. good weekend viewin with guest host anthony anderson! tonight -- offset. henry golding. and music from robin thicke. and now, anthony anderson! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> anthony: thank you! thank you! all right. thank you. welcome to "jimmy kimmel live!" i'm your guest host, anthony anderson. give me more! [ cheers and applause ]