>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc news. >> we are so they in peace and we are not? liz: bay area residents tod pitching in to help afghan refugees coming to the region. it comes as the rush to get people out of kabul continues in the wake of a terror attack near the airport. larry: thanks for joining us. liz: you are watching abc7 news at 5:00, live on abc7, hulu live, and wherever you stream. larry: the race to evacuate

american citizens and allies from afghanistan is more dangerous. president biden's security team warned another a terror attack in kabul is likely. that comes after thursday's suicide bombing that killed at least 13 american servicemembers. two were marines from southern california. the pentagon says more than 5400 people are still inside the kabul airport, awaiting flights ahead of next tuesday's deadline to withdraw troops. >> we have the ability to include evacuees on u.s. military airlift out of afghanistan until the very end. larry: in an internal note, secretary of state thanked the diplomats involved in the evacuation effort. he did not say if the u.s. will keep a diplomatic presence in afghanistan after the withdrawal deadline. liz: the bay area is lending a hand to afghan refugees who may be coming to northern california soon. a relief operation is helping me

-- is happening in the east bay with donations. l, so many wondering how they can help out. reporter: a lot of people are helping today. this relief mission happening in a big way. we are outside of a mosque in hayward, where donations have been arriving by the minute by a generous community, all for refugee families coming from afghanistan. all the necessities are being donated. lots of support from the bay area. >> every single item you have in your home, we need for them. reporter: the bay area afghan community organizing a drive like no other. this family from union city brought all the supplies they could find to help refugee families escaping violence in afghanistan. >> tough times. i feel the pain. the best thing to do is help out

your people. any people. reporter: relief supplies are pouring in outside this mosque in hayward. od clothes, toys, even prayer rugs, who may be starting over with nothing. >> we don't know how many people are coming, but we want to make sure we are well-equipped. reporter: the united afghan association is organizing this drive. for some, the mission is personal. >> we want them to feel at home. we don't want them to feel how our parents felt when they came here and had nothing. >> charitable donations collected in the past week are enough to fill this giant warehouse in alameda. an outpouring of love and support. >> on the news i see it all the time. reporter: this man says his brother was killed by the taliban. his sister now trying to keep her kids safe. >> we have 20 to 30 family

members back home. we are trying our best to see what we can do for them. reporter: for now, this humanitarian effort is helping those who may be feeling helpless. acts of good will. >> i wish the best for everyone in afghanistan, for our troops. hopefully we get through this. reporter: some folks told us they have a bit of survivor's guilt, knowing they are safe and others are suffering. these items will be taken to the warehouse in alameda, where refugee families can benefit. if you would like to help the people of afghanistan, go to abc7news.com/takeaction. cornell barnard, abc7 news. liz: it is heartening to see how many people came together to help. you can find resources on how to help at abc7news.com/takeaction.

larry: happening now, one of the most beautiful places in california is in harm's way. south lake tahoe residents told they may need to evacuate because of the rapid spread from the caldor fire. firefighters are taking a stand at echo summit, hoping to slow the fire's devastating events. stephanie sierra live in the town of strawberry in el dorado county. what are the conditions like right now? stephanie: we are less than a mile from the fire line in strawberry, roughly 13 miles outside south lake tahoe. the flames are moving in that direction. i'll show you where we are. this portion of highway 50 has been transformed into the main staging area for calfire cruise. they are struggling.

-- calfire crews. the flames are burning less than a mile south of us. this was our view driving in today. an outline of trees in what turned into an orange sky. calfire is dedicating most of the 3200 fire personnel to the northeast of the fire, as flames are moving directly towards south lake tahoe. right now, southlake isn't under any evacuation warning, but fire crews say anything can happen. how likely do you think that evacuation order will be moved in tonight? >> as of now, i don't believe that is likely. it may be possible, but i don't think we are there yet. the concern is high. that is the direction the fire is headed. stephanie: calfire issue to new

evacuation warnings east for the community of echo summit and strawberry, where most of the active fire is burning, with hotspots burning down tree branches. one calfire firefighter tells us the next few days will be the worst. about an hour ago w ago least see the outline of the trees in the distance. now it is all blurry. another indication of how close the flames are moving. firefighters are concerned the winds will move this fire toward southlake. stephanie sierra, abc7 news. liz: the smoke is impacting us here. this time lapse video shows it is getting progressively hazier along highway 24, moving east toward walnut creek. joining us with a look at the conditions is meteorologist sandy a patel. sandhya: -- the bad air quality

is coming back. sandhya: let me show you the vantage point. oakland is at 117. it is poor for sensitive groups. san jose, also over 100. san francisco is moderate at 61. the visible satellite picture smoke, the sierra nevada just pouring into our region. that is why we are having a harder time breathing. we have red for livermore. that is unhealthy air quality. air quality is deteriorating. we will see some improvement today and tomorrow into early next week. it is even worse in the tahoe area. visibility down to a quarter of a mile right now. we will be back with the smoke forecast, coming up. larry: a cdc station into a

covid outbreak that sickened a dozen students in a marin county classroom likely originated from a teacher who declined to be vaccinated. eight of the 10 students seated closest to the teacher's desk were infected with covid-19. four students in the back three rows also got sick. the teacher attended social events and came to work despite experiencing a fever and cough. the teacher thought it was just allergies. the teacher would occasionally take off his or her mask to read to kids in violation of school rules on masking. liz: some parents have decided to shift their kids from in person classes to online. this is a trend that prompted a seven shoveling of teachers. -- sudden shuffling of teachers. our abc7 news reporter has the story from concord. >> there is concern in the

community about covid and people are being extra cautious. reporter the situation is fluid at mount diablo unified, as the number of families requesting remote learning tripled in the first 12 days of class. >> initially we had 100, 150 students who signed up for independent study. that over the last few weeksthat number is 500. we need approximately 12 teachers in that independent study program. >> that means those teachers will shift out of in person classes, so current students will get new teachers or have their class combined with another. >> i am empathetic to the students, because it is change. >> it feels unsettling. reporter: this mother has two elementary students who are not impacted by the changes, at least not yet. >> it makes me want to keep an eye out for what will happen

here. it makes me thinking ahead to my options. reporter: families are pulling their kids out of in person learning even though the number of covid cases is relatively small. less than 50 in a student population of 28,000. this person says they are pleased how classes have been going so far for his daughter. >> i like having her in school as opposed to being online. reporter: the mount diablo superintendent did not rule out additional adjustments as the school year progresses. larry: coming up on abc7 news at 5:00, are people really paying attention to this recall election? how empathy could be the biggest threat to governor newsom. the scramble to prepare for a new law aiming to reduce pollution by reducing food waste. it may also

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liz: the california gubernatorial recall election is on september 14. reporter josh haskell with our sister station and los angeles digs into recall apathy and what it can mean for governor newsom and those trying to unseat him. john: there is no denying california voters are confused about the recall ballot's two questions. even more confusing, governor newsom's advice to only vote on the first question and leave the second blank. >> we are in this national conversation about expanding the right to vote, but we have a california democrat saying don't vote for half the ballot at all. john: the latino community foundation fears a number of factors have led to voter apathy for the september 14 recall, especially among latinos, who represent roughly 8 million

eligible voters in california, about 6 million registered. >> you find people that don't know there is an election going on. there are so many problems, whether it is rental relief or jobs or health care. we are still in the thick of this pandemic. this recall election may not fall to the top of the to-do list. john: a poll showed among voters likely to per dissipate, 47% -- to participate, 47% would recall newsom. according to the latino voters are much more inclined to oppose the recall. an assembly member who represents parts of south l.a. says his majority democratic constituents don't know what is at stake, which is one of the reasons governor newsom's campaign is concerned about turnout.

>> we have not done a good job letting people know how dangerous it is for this republican recall. liz: coming up on abc7 news at 6:00, i will talk all things recall, including the impact of vice president kamala harris canceling her rally with governor newsom today. on abc7news.com, we have everything you need to know about the recall ballot and important voting deadlines. larry: food that goes to waste produces methane. that is a greenhouse gas. communities across the state are busy planning for a new law to recover food that could instead feed the hungry. abc7 news reporter david louis shows us what santa clara county is doing to implement this new initiative and help build a better bay area. david: santa clara county is already diverting millions of pounds of food from being wasted thanks to second harvest food bank and other groups that redistribute it. in four months, a new climate

law aimed at reducing carbon emissions from discarded food takes effect statewide. >> it is a real opportunity to get food to people that need it and divert food that could be in -- be eaten from the waste stream instead of thrown away. david: the initiative will cast a wider net to include grocery stores and restaurants to stop tossing out nutritious food. it will be a new mindset for many of them. >> they have to make sure it either gets sold or ends up with an organization that can redistribute that. it is a new way of thinking and could have a huge impact in making sure food is not wasted. david: social service groups, churches, and food pantries long depended on surplus food. volunteers have been key to sort and distribute it. now there will be even more food available to meet growing demand.

>> we believe with food being made available, we will be able to motivate and get the resources out there so the food can be distributed to the needy. david: teams this summer have already been reaching out to the first group of food outlets that must comply. joint venture is starting an eight-month study of supply and demand and logistics. unlike many other counties, santa clara has a well-established network ready to handle the new sources of recovered food. liz: next on abc7 news at 5:00, a cal rugby player paralyzed during a game four years ago will reach a major milestone this weekend.

homelessness, housing, taxes, water, electricity, crime, wildfires. [sfx: bear roar] gavin, you've failed. we have to immediately cut taxes twenty-five percent. fix housing and homelessness. and make life in california affordable again. i'm a businessman, the only cpa running. shouldn't we choose ability this time? do you think john cox will be a better governor than gavin newsom? [sfx: bear roar] does a bear sh*t in the woods?

liz: i think it is time to pull out the fans tonight. larry: and sleep with your mask, maybe. sandhya: it is hot inland and smoky outside. i want to show you a time-lapse. this was just minutes ago in

downtown san francisco. looks smoky, hazy. watch carefully, because all of a sudden you see ash falling. don't be surprised if you see some more. air quality is deteriorating. you will notice unhealthy outdoor livermore, altamont, concord area. poor in fremont and santa rosa. in the tahoe basin, very unhealthy air to unhealthy in the reno area. a north wind in the upper parts of the atmosphere dragging the smoke down. 6:00 over south lake tahoe in the bay area, still pretty heavy smoke. this carries over into saturday afternoon. you might see a slight change. there will still be smoky skies. by sunday, blue showing up near the coast as the sea breeze comes in. that is less hazze and -- haze and smoke. temperatures right now triple

digits inland. 104 in fairfield. 98 livermore. brentwood hitting our highs just about now. 80's around the bay shoreline. 97 degrees right now in santa rosa. live doppler 7, clear skies with the offshore winds. we have a heat advisory for lake county running for tomorrow. there is a risk of heat illnesses, especially when temperatures could get up to 106 degrees. you might want to get away. here is your forecast. mid 70's to low 90's at our airports with a light breeze. honolulu looking at heavy rain. 76 in new york city. los angeles88. smoky conditions. haze will continue tomorrow. air quality improves sunday. cleaner and cooler air coming next week. hazy and warm inland. temperatures in the morning 50's to 70's. afternoon highs in the south bay look like this.

93 san jose. hot on the peninsula. 92 in redwood city. san francisco 78. another warm one. 99 calistoga. in the east bay it will be warmer than average. 90 fremont. head inlad, this is where it will be -- inland, this is where it will be hazy and hot. the accuweather 7 day forecast, hot and smoky. you are going to start to notice a shift in the wind, bringing us better air quality sunday into the early to middle part of next week.

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all with the power of the t-mobile 5g network. rule your day with 5g. only at metro by t-mobile. larry: at uc berkeley on sunday, a long-delayed commencement ceremony will be held for the class of 2020. liz: a student athlete was told after an injury he would never walk again. abc7 enws reporter -- news reporter wayne freedman has the story. wayne: we never know how life can change in an instant until it happens. >> one moment i was living at my

dream and another i was living out my worst nightmare. wayne: he is no longer the physical specimen he used to be in 2017. he broke his neck while playing rugby in the ncaa championship game. the doctors were anything but optimistic. he was a quadriplegic. >> they said your injury is bad. the reality is you will never walk again. you will never move your hands. we will do our best so you can do something like pick up a piece of pizza. wayne: it is a story we have told many times. robert turned the worst moment of his life into a reason for living, to inspire. >> i am 1574 days out of my injury and have nto given up -- not given up. wayne: two times robert has addressed graduating classes at berkeley. >> it gives me joy to say congratulations to the graduating class of 2020. wayne: but the pandemic made it

impossible for him or anyone to walk for a diploma, until sunday, when the rest of his 2020, that will happen on his own two feet for a business degree. yes, he has made that much progress in his recovery. >> i hope when people see me walk across that stage, they see themselves overcoming challenges. wayne: his walk may be the last and most important lesson from four long yards of them. >> these 10 yards will be the most important i have walked in my life. liz: wow. larry: i remember the day that he got hurt and it looked terrible. he is so impressive, i bet you he walks without anybody helping him some day. that smile that he projects to other kids, what strength he has inside. liz: strength and perseverance.

larry: world news tonight with david muir is next. liz: thanks for having us tonight. things may be different, but at denny's, one thing will always remain the same... our dedication to safely serving guests the food they love. and hey... if you love to feed people too, we want you to join our family. apply at dennys.com today.

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like you, my hands have a lot more to do. learn more at factsonhand.com today. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air, tracking what could become a category 4 hurricane now set to hit the u.s. and tonight, the news also coming in from afghanistan at this hour, more on the u.s. srvice members lost and what we did not know about this attack. the white house now warning a new terror attack is likely. 24 hours after the deadly suicide bombing at the airport in kabul, tonight the new images of chaos in the wake of that attack killing 13 american service members and at least 170 afghans. the military trying to disperse the crowd of people amid this continuing threat. the evacuations will move forward. tonight, the state department saying it is now working with 500 americans who still need to leave. and the pentagon now revealing more about what happened at that