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tv   ABC7 News 500AM  ABC  January 10, 2025 5:00am-6:00am PST

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now abc seven mornings live. >> a new fire in southern california, triggering new evacuations. the death toll now in the double digits, now at five. we're entering the fourth day of an apocalyptic scene that seems to have no end in sight. misinformation online is making it tough for everyone to navigate this emergency. we're breaking down some of the false claims and fake images that have gone viral since these fires
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broke out. good morning. it is friday, january 10th. friday is here, everyone. yay!. friday is >> there's a lot to get to, but first we'll check in with drew. >> yeah. here locally it is another beautiful day. we continue the warm, sunny pattern to finish out the week. a live look from the accuweather forecast showing you the kgo rooftop camera. it is calm out there, just a light breeze right now and we have totally clear skies. so temperatures this morning were generally in the 40s and in the 50s we have our typical chill first thing, but just like yesterday, it is going to warm up very nicely. yesterday many areas got into the 70s today. slightly cooler but still really comfortable. we'll go into the 60s with full sunshine now. an update on the fires in southern california. we continue to track the two big ones, the palisades fire and the eaton fire. we had a new fire yesterday, the kenneth fire that is getting contained, but still those two large fires are burning out of control. winds right now are still strong 30 to 45 mile per hour gusts. we continue to be under a red flag warning until 6 p.m. but thankfully, guys, later
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on this afternoon, the winds will switch to an onshore flow that will bring about higher humidity across the region. let's check in with frances and see how the roads are doing this morning. good morning frances. >> good morning. good morning everyone. luckily the winds not having too much of an impact for bay aa roads right now. but there are a couple problem spots out there. one is on westbound 580 at grant line road. a solo car crash blocks the left lane, and you can see there are a few brake lights as you make your way through the altamont pass, and hopefully this one will be cleared. it is a solo car crash. that drive time from tracy to dublin is 28 minutes. also southbound 101 looking good. san rafael to san francisco delay free at 15 minutes. it's also green on westbound four from antioch to concord, as we show you live shot of 880 in oakland. it's fine here. right hand side traffic for those tail lights that's moving northbound and up at 29th avenue, there is a crash that is being cleared from the lanes. amanda. gloria. >> all right. frances, thank you so much. and as you wake up this morning, multiple fires are
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still burning out of control across southern california. >> winds are still a major concern as fire crews desperately try to contain the record wildfires. as we start to get a view of the scope of the damage, and it is staggering, we are focusing on the three fires of most concern the palisades fire on the coast, the eaton fire near altadena and pasadena, and a new fire, the kenneth fire, north of calabasas. this is another look at the palisades fire burning now in the santa monica mountai. it's now california's largestai. january wildfire on record. and this dramatic video from a ring camera shows the flames as they destroyed a home on tuesday night. the fire has burned nearly 20,000 acres and at least 5300 structures. some people are managing to get back into their neighborhood to check and see if their homes survived the flames. >> i just drove by my house just to get some closure. and yeah, it's rubble. there's nothing there. my daughter, who was born
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there and she's 23 now and said, dad, get something, just pick up something. and there's literally nothing. >> you are looking at the devastation in pacific palisades, block after block left, leveled by the flames. the national guard is being deployed to the fire areas in the los angeles county. sheriff is working on implementing a curfew as an added safety measure, firefighters are finally getting consistent help from the air, but there was one incident that hampered their efforts yesterday. >> a firefighting plane was grounded after being hit by a drone, leaving a large dent and a hole in the wing. now, nobody was hurt in the incident and the faa is investigating. >> one person has been detained in connection with a new fire that started yesterday afternoon in the west hills near calabasas. the kenneth fire has burned nearly 1000 acres and is 35% contained. this morning it was threatening numerous homes, which led to evacuations, but that evacuation order was lifted
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last night. there are no reports of any injuries. >> it was estimated that the eaton fire had damaged or destroyed 100 buildings. well, now that number is as many as 5000. the fire near pasadena has burned close to 14,000 acres, causing extensive damage to altadena. it is blamed for several deaths, and family members say one person who died is a 66 year old man who was trying to protect his home. >> and i just i just got out. i just got out and i went down the street and there was a police car, and i flagged him and i said, my brother's in the house, i need help. and he told me to get out. and he said, go. >> family members say the man lived in the home for more than five decades. and what you just saw is a scene that unfortunately, we've been seeing over and over again this week. >> many, many people have lost their homes and their belongings across southern california. abc seven news reporter zach fuentes has been helping our sister station kabc all week, as they get life saving information out
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to their community. he's live in altadena this morning in a neighborhood that has been mostly destroyed. zach. >> yeah, it is just tragic what we're seeing in this neighborhood and so many others. i'm going to just step out right now and let you see this house behind us that we literally yesterday saw burned down before our eyes. it is just tragic. this home, too, is surrounded by other homes just like it that are burned to the ground. miraculously, though, there is a home just to the right of this one that is still standing. it is literally the only one in this block that is still standing. let me just take you to some video from yesterday of this first home we showed you burning. this is the heartbreaking moments that crews worked to fight this fire. that fire, by the way, broke out almost a day after the majority of the other houses here burned, which really just speaks to how uncertain things are out here right now. and fire crews worked hard to save that home. but once they couldn't, they did just start focusing even more energy on saving this house next to it. and they did succeed. and even though the homeowner says she's beyond grateful for that, she's still just heartbroken.
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>> they did everything they could to save mine. but i mean, if you look around, it doesn't. in the scheme of things, it doesn't really matter because all of my neighbors have so much. but this community is just amazing and everyone is really supportive of each other. and i know, i know that there is a bright future ahead, but it's going to take a long time. >> now, chelsea, that woman you heard from there just bought this home. she moved in three weeks ago, and she said part of the reason she chose this location was because it was not a high risk fire area. and that's just something that highlights how shocking this disaster has been to the residents here. they were not expecting it. now back out here live. what you're looking at are wood chips that she spent hours on rolling up in plastic. she also recently got rid of a high risk tree. and those were measures she took when she initially heard that a high wind event was coming to the area. little did she know that it was going to end up being this devastating fire. she thinks that these measures actually may have helped save her home. we also talked to her neighbors to the right of her. they lost
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everything. but just like you heard her say, they are determined to rebuild. they say that this community is resilient. so that doesn't take away from how tragic things are around here and the destruction and devastation that we are seeing around every corner. but that's our look out here. live in altadena. zach fuentes, abc seven news. >> yeah, and zach, you had talked about seeing these residents doing what they can to save their homes. >> but you've also talked about, you know, adding insult to injury, looters being in the area and having, you know, added to the loss that these residents are feeling. can you talk about that? >> you will not believe this. but as we were driving through here, we have it's all evacuate. so only media can come through our first responders. of course, as we were coming through here, a chp officer told us to be careful because there have been looters spotted in this area. they arrested two two looters already this morning. that's on top of more than a dozen that have been arrested. that's what we know about at this point. i talked to one man yesterday who said he was helping save a
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neighbor's home. they were working, bringing in a hose and stuff. he thought some people were coming to help. those people went to a house next door to loot. so people are absolutely taking advantage of the situation out here. it's just disgusting, frankly. but there are also so many people coming together to help one another out, and that is really what's giving people hope and just making things seem optimistic out here. >> yeah. look for the helpers. all right, zach, thank you so much. stay safe out there. >> now one challenge for l.a. leaders that goes beyond the fire fight, correcting misinformation. >> false claims have been spreading almost as fast as the fires. abc seven news reporter lena howland joins us live in studio, explaining the impact of these claims that are going viral. lena. >> well, gloria, just like we saw only months ago when nonstop online hoaxes obstructed federal relief efforts in the aftermathl of hurricane helene, political figures are now fueling misinformation online surrounding southern california's fire fight. president elect. president elect donald trump blaming governor gavin newsom's water policies. elon musk taking to ask. taking
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to x sharing a post pointing the finger at the city's first female fire chief and her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, even going so far as posting dei means people die. we had an engineering and tech expert weigh in on this. >> this is the biggest thing about it is the sharing. when you share this with somebody else and somebody share it and somebody share it, you lose this chance to correct the mistake now, because it's going to be like hundreds of thousands of people already saw that. >> and this i photo of the iconic hollywood sign engulfed in flames, is another example of something fake that has been shared repeatedly across the country. this as the technology to manipulate videos and photos and photos is becoming more and more accessible to folks online. and this is all happening only days after meta announced it is doing away with its fact checking policy. facebook, instagram and threads are all
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moving over to the community notes model, which is similar to ex. live in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. the fires in los angeles are forcing the nfl to move monday's wild card game. you can see how smokey practice was yesterday for the l.a. rams. instead of playing at home on monday, the rams will face the vikings in glendale, arizona. you can watch the wild card playoff game right here on abc seven. coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. monday, and we are tracking wildfires statewide. and you can, too, see fires and air quality at a glance. go to abc seven news.com/fire map. >> some good information there. okay. 5-10 this morning. over the past week, because of these wildfires, we've been throwing out a lot of numbers. so it's good to put this all into context. the two largest fires currently burning right now, the palisades fire and the eaton fire, have currently burned a combined total of about 33,600 acres. to put that in comparison here, locally,
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that is more than the entire area of the city and county of san francisco. so san francisco is about 30,000 acres in size. it's like these wildfires have just wiped out the entire city of san francisco and then some. and still they are not contained by any means. and the winds are aggressive right now. but there is some encouraging news. the winds are going to weaken as we head into the weekend. here's live doppler seven along with satellite. if you remember this picture a couple days ago, this high and that low were extremely close together. that ushered in the very dangerous and unprecedented winds earlier this week. now, this area of low pressure is moving off to the east as it does. that will weaken the winds and bring about better conditions for firefighters back here at home. it's quite a different story. across northern california it is calm up here. we have a lot of sunshine. we are warm, but we're still dry temperatures in the 60s. something will change though. over the weekend. winds will pick up. a wind advisory will be in effect for the north bay mountains,
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the east bay hills and the santa cruz mountains through sunday morning. so tomorrow this is the forecast for saturday. the winds are going to pick up. we could see frequent winds gusting 30 to 50mph. guys. >> gloria, thank you so much. drew. our coverage of the los angeles wildfires continues this morning. coming up, we hear from a mr of the warriors basketball team about losing his childhood home in the fires. >> and convention season is about to kick off in san francisco. how the new mayor is changing the outlook for a major conference, as we now know which artists will be performing next month in san francisco for n
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news helicopter showing those fires in southern californiae this morning. right now, we know a total of ten deaths have been reported across all of the fires currently burning. the palisades fire has burned nearly 20,000 acres and is at 6% containment. the eaton fire, near pasadena, is more than 13,000 acres and
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has destroyed 5000 structures. another fire broke out yesterday, the kenneth fire, near woodland hills. a man is in custody for arson charges related to that fire. and as you can see, still burning brightly in southern california. now, the palisades fire is hitting closer to home for warriors coach steve kerr. we're learning. coach kerr's childhood home has been destroyed. his 90 year old mom, ann, made it out okay, but he says he is not alone when it comes to the destruction. >> you know, that's my home tow. and all my friends who are from there, pretty much. they've all lost. lost their homes, their their family homes, childhood homes. our whole high school is gone. the town looks like it has just been completely wiped out. it's surreal. >> and in this photo from 1996, ann kerr is seen replacing the net on the basketball hoop in front of the palisades home where steve practiced his shot.
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growing up, kerr says he visited his mom at the house for dinner just a few weeks ago. we are staying on top of all the developments coming out of the wildfires in los angeles county. get updates as they happen on abc seven news.com and the abc seven bay area app. >> today, we're expecting another major appointment announcement from san francisco's new mayor. daniel lowery spent his first full day in office yesterday, mapping out how his administration will tackle the city's budget crisis. lowery announced a hiring freeze for the city in an attempt to tackle the city's nearly $900 million budget shortfall over the next two years. but the freeze will not apply to all employees, more specifically, those working to combat the fentanyl crisis. >> this hiring freeze will not impact public safety or public health when it comes to making sure that our emts, our nurses, our firefighters, our police officers can get back to full staffing. >> during his inaugural address,
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lowery announced the city is under a fentanyl state of emergency. he says he is creating a police friendly 24 over seven drop off center as a jail or emergency room alternative for those who are suffering a mental health crisis or suffering from addiction. he expects it to help 9000 people annually and be running by the spring. >> so many san francisco businesses rely on big conventions, and the first major one of the year is about to begin. the jp morgan health care conference returns to the city next week. abc seven news reporter suzanne fawn looks at the impact for this conference. >> san francisco's sights and sounds draw scores of tourists every year, but it's the convention business that really packs an economic punch. the westin saint francis hotel in union square will once again be host for one of the biggest conventions in the city. the jp morgan healthcare conference. the conference includes global industry leaders, investors and tech creators. >> the jp morgan conference is
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one of the most significant conferences that we've had. it's one of our longest lasting partnerships. >> in 2024, the jp morgan healthcare conference generated more than $90 million for san francisco's economy, including its small businesses, restaurants and hotels. >> it's enormous for us. it's such a great way to kick off the year in the hospitality world. >> just like at dreamforce, city leaders say convention goers will wine and dine and visit local businesses, and there will be plenty of security, including sfpd ambassadors. but there is one big difference that sets this conference apart from dreamforce. >> they don't use the convention center. they use the hotels specifically around the union square area. and of course, the westin saint francis is their headquarter hotel. >> this year there have been some monumental changes right before this premier conference, a long hotel strike wrapped up just in the nick of time. we're all breathing a sigh of relief, and there's a new mayor. >> i think daniel lurie. mayor
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daniel lurie brings a bright new day here in san francisco. >> some are hoping that a change will help rev up san francisco's economy. >> coming straight out of the gates, he already he's he's already become a great partner. he's even said to me, you need to tell me where i need to be and who i need to talk to get some of these conferences back. and we start to map out, you know, what that calendar looks like. >> we all know that we can do a little bit better. we all know that san francisco is a world class city. i know that different conferences are looking at san francisco again, and so we'll get back into that cycle. and i think the future looks bright for the city. >> the hope that the j.p. morgan conference will pave the way for more conventions to come in san francisco, suzanne phan abc seven news. >> and we want to remind you, san francisco is getting ready to host thousands of people for the nba. again, that's a little more than a month away. and this morning we're learning who will perform during the weekends concert series. dance pop dj and producer zedd, as well as electronic duo the chainsmokers, will perform the concert series
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at pier 48, runs february 14th to the 16th. three day general admission tickets cost $400. vip tickets are going for 650, and vip plus tickets will cost you 1500 bucks. the difference, though, is that vip plus gets you onto an elevated viewing platform and it gets you a little closer to the stage, so sounds like a lot of fun, but definitely pricey for that price. >> i better be on stage with zedd. >> i better have a microphone in hand. >> no, do not give amanda a microphone goes downhill from there. i just want this vip plus thing to become like, the norm. >> oh, i hope not. >> that's a huge jump to $1,000 from vip to vip plus. yeah, for a little bit closer to the stage. so you better come with a mic. you've been to chase center. it's not really a bad seat in the house. yes. >> so i wonder if they'll throw in a drink or a little food or something. that would be nice. >> that'd be that much. yeah. >> one drink. here's a drink coupon and drink coupon this
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morning. let's take you to sutro tower. we have another wonderful day across northern california. it's such a different story across southern california with the winds. but yesterday, i mean, some of our warmest areas were closing in on 80 degrees. santa rosa got very close to 80 degrees yesterday. so another day of these warm temperatures, more records are possible today. tomorrow our attention will turn to the winds. the latest information does have these winds coming in a bit stronger tomorrow. we could see winds 30 to 50mph with the strongest gusts in our hills. that's where we have a wind advisory in effect through saturday. the dry pattern. we're looking into the future and really the next 7 to 10 days, we're not finding any rain or any significant storm on the horizon. winds this morning are very light. it's calm out there. even in our hills. the winds are lighter than they were yesterday, so temperatures right now are typical morning chill in the 40s and low 50s as we get you going on this friday. so expect a lot of sunshine just like yesterday. we're in this pattern. high
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pressure is in control. it leads to these temperatures well above average. here you go. later on this afternoon we'll go into the 60s once again with full sunshine. just like yesterday. 1 or 2 areas could hit the low 70s as we head towards 3 or 4:00 pm. so highs today will go to 62 in oakland, 63 in santa rosa, 61 in the city, 68 in san jose. overnight tonight, the big story will be the breeze that picks up. so let's look at the winds future track. let me go back real quick to future tracker showing you tomorrow morning they start to increase. the winds will peak here in the afternoon, probably close to 1:02 p.m. that's when we'll find peak winds around the region and then they'll calm down heading into sunday morning. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. sunny and dry today. gusty winds return tomorrow. look at the seven day forecast in the middle of january. not all that common to see a full sunny seven day, but that's what we're looking at with the dry pattern through next week guys. >> all right drew thank you. coming up the seven things to know this morning. >> there's a new app helping people impacted by the wil
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person was detained last night. that fire has burned nearly 1000 acres. >> number two, ten people are confirmed dead in the fires. that number is expected to rise as officials are able to search through the fire zones. >> and number three, back here at home, we are looking at another warm and sunny day today. temperatures back into the 60s for another afternoon, but over the weekend we do have some gusty winds to talk about. a wind advisory in effect tomorrow could see gusts up to 50mph in our hills. >> number four, it's a make or break day for tiktok. the supreme court is hearing arguments today on the app's future here in the u.s. >> number five, a heads up if you take bart. starting monday, bart is making some schedule changes. it's part of an effort to sync the schedules and improve transfers with other transit systems. >> and number six, if you manage to be taking bart this morning, there are ten minute delays on the richmond line right now, but also some better news for smart train. they're going to have a grand opening at the new petaluma north station. the event starts at noon if you want to join the
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festivities. >> number seven ford kicked off the detroit auto show last night by showing off is fastest street legal version of the iconic mustang ever produced. the car can top 202mph. wow. very cool. well, a wildfire alerting app founded in sonoma county is now the top app in the app store. >> watch duty is proving to be a vital tool for those living in southern california. abc seven news reporter cornell bernard shows you how it works, and uh. >> there's fire everywhere. uh. >> a path of wildfire destruction in southern california still forcing people from their homes. but some residents have been unsure where to go. >> on the first night, we saw some of the major evacuation systems that exist failing due to the traffic volume. >> nick russell is vp of operations for watch duty, a free fire tracking app run by a north bay nonprofit combining real time radio scanner
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information and wildfire cameras with publicly available maps of fire incidents and weather alerts showing the surface wind direction on the map, showing the evacuation zones where the fire is, and just putting the entire story from multiple locations and data sources into one place that anybody can use. russell says watch duty uses a team of staff and volunteers who are monitoring fire events 24 over seven, and can send alerts. the app, launched in 2021, now has 7 million active users with more than a million downloads just in the past 24 hours. >> it's absolutely mind boggling being ahead of chatgpt, you know, looking at this solution that was built here to get information out to communities. >> russell says he's now hearing from app users who say the info watch duty is providing has been nothing short of life saving. >> we're getting inundated with messages from our user base, telling us stories of how we gave them the extra minutes that they needed to gather their pets, loved ones, folks that
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needed assistance and get out of their homes prior to receiving an evacuation order. >> watch duty once served users in sonoma, lake and napa counties now provides fire information in 22 western states. cornell, bernard. abc seven news. >> this is a pop up donation site and it is growing fast and it is growing rapidly. >> a silver lining in los angeles coming up at 530, the community rallying together to help fam you can access your fico® score in a snap. (daughter) what i would give to be able to make art on this scale! (dad) you will one day. but it's equally important for you to be thinking about your future... building credit— (daughter) dad... fargo, what's my fico® score?
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abc, seven mornings live. >> the palisades fire is now california's largest january wildfire on record. from the air, you could get the true scope of the devastating loss. this morning, crews continue their work to extinguish multiple fires still burning out of control across los angeles. >> plus, getting ready and staying ready. expert advice on how to prepare your family and your home for a situation like
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this. >> two new investigations into the santa cruz wharf collapse are launching, one for how it happened and another for an odd theft in the aftermath. >> good morning everyone. it is friday, january 10th. >> yeah, i'm gloria rodriguez. thank you so much for joining us this morning. why don't we start with a check of the weather with meteorologist drew tuma? andrew, i know we're hearing a lot about the wildfires in los angeles. the wind there. are we seeing wind here? yeah, here. >> today the winds are light. that changes tomorrow as a wind advisory will begin saturday for our highest peaks. this morning will begin in san jose where it is clear out there it is calm. look at the current wind speed. basically calm out there. if not just light. 47 degrees in san jose with clear skies across the board. we're starting out clear, no fog to be found and temperatures in the 40s and in the 50s. it's another day of warm afternoon temperatures, sunny skies, light winds will go into the 60s. so another day where we could see a few record highs possible to southern california. we go. we are, of course, watching all the
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fires, the palisades and the eaton. still the two biggest fires. the winds right now are elevated. you can see they're gusting about 30 to 40mph. what firefighters are waiting for this afternoon, the winds will weaken and they'll switch directions. onshore flow develops and that will bring about higher humidity, which is great news. but the red flag warning does continue through 6 p.m. tonight. let's check in with frances, see how the commute is going this morning. >> hi, drew. there's things slowing down right now because of a new accident ie east bay. this is on southbound 880 at whipple. so as you make your way southbound through union city, you'll find some brake lights there. 13mph approaching whipple, the two right lanes are blocked. and we'll check out the other popular ride for you. this is emeryville live shot for headlights moving westbound on 80, making their way towards berkeley. and it's flowing well right now, although getting a little bit crowded. so the drive time from highway four to san francisco has grown to 35 minutes. but better news across the golden gate bridge. the
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earlier roadwork in the northbound direction has been cleared, and we're still keeping track of that ten minute bart delay right now on the richmond line, heading towards berryessa and millbrae. amanda. gloria. >> all right. frances. thank you. fire crews continue to be spread thin across los angeles county as they try to stop the spread of multiple wildfires. >> and now they have a new challenge. a new fire started yesterday evening. that one is called the kenneth fire. it's not far from calabasas. the other two most devastating fires are the palisades fire. also the eaton fire. >> the palisades fire turned deadly crews finding human remains in the rubble, adding to the death toll across all the fires, bringing the total deaths to now ten. it is still burning in the santa monica mountains. it's california's largest january wildfire fire on record, having scorched almost 20,000 acres and destroying more than 5000 homes. >> the eaton fire is estimated to have damaged or destroyed as many as 5000 buildings. the fire
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near pasadena has burned close to 14,000 acres, doing extensive damage to altadena. >> one person has been detained in connection with the new fire that started yesterday afternoon in the west hills near calabasas. the kenneth fire has burned nearly 1000 acres and is 35% contained. this morning it was threatening numerous homes, which led to evacuations, but that evacuation order was lifted last night. there are no reports of any injuries. one challenge for l.a. leaders that goes beyond the fire fight, correcting misinformation spreading just as fast as the fires. >> abc seven news reporter lena howland joins us live in studio, explaining the impact of these false claims going viral. good morning lena. >> good morning gloria. misinformation began to swirl when president elect trump blames the fires on governor newsom, saying the governorr failed to sign a water restoration declaration, which newsom says does not exist. still, despite newsom's office
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debunking the claim, posts online about it have continued to spread as rapidly as the flames. elon musk also taking to x, sharing a post pointing the finger at the city's first female fire chief and her commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, even going so far as blaming the fire on diversity. this as meta just this week announced it's doing away with its fact checking policy. >> what we are doing is we are pushing this kind of fact checking on the average person. do they have time to go and check everything, or they just run away with the first picture or the first video? there is no limitation for any kind of conspiracy. they can just add any element they want. they can add any idea to that. >> another fake image we've seen shared repeatedly online is this a photo of the iconic hollywood sign engulfed in flames? that never happened, but experts say the technology to manipulate videos and photos is becoming more and more accessible. and now you can create something like that for free online. live
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in studio lena howland, abc seven news. >> all right, lena, thank you. local fire officials are encouraging people here in the bay area to make sure you're ready for a wildfire. abc seven news reporter tim johns has some tips to make sure that you remain safe. >> the devastation in los angeles continued to unfold thursday. entire neighborhoods destroyed and homes reduced to rubble and ash. the horrifying scene serving as a reminder for many in the bay area of steps they should take. if a similar disaster were to happen here. some of the things you can do for your home are outlined by cal fire. in the case of a fire emergency, the agency recommends shutting off your gas, propane tanks, and even air conditioning if you have time. officials say moving objects that may burn easily into the center of the room, away from windows and doors, could mitigate loss. cal fire also recommends turning off automatic sprinklers and any running water as they help preserve resources for firefighters. steps are also recommended by san francisco fire rescue captain justin
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shaw. >> i haven't seen anything like it in my 30 year career. >> shaw says while it's almost impossible to be totally prepared for natural disasters of this magnitude, small steps can make a big difference. one of the most important being to regularly ensure you have defensible space around your home. >> what we're seeing in los angeles is wind driven fires. embers going blocks and blocks and catching other areas on fire. if you have things around your home that could ignite, that just makes it more dangerous. >> despite evacuation orders, images have emerged from l.a. showing people staying to defend their homes against the flames, something captain shaw advises against. >> if we're going into an area that's been evacuated and we arrived to fight the fire and we find that we have to stop fighting the fire in order to rescue someone that stayed behind. that's only going to delay our efforts in stopping that fire. >> and when the time comes to leave your home, shaw says having enough supplies to last for at least three days is critical. >> you need to have food and water, at least one gallon per person per day, and be able to have a place to go. don't just get in the car
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and leave. you need to have a destination. you need to have a plan put together. >> in san francisco, tim jonze, abc seven news. >> great tips there. state workplace safety investigators are now looking into the collapse oe santa cruz wharf. the end of the wharf fell into the ocean on december 23rd. nobody was seriously injured, but businesses were forced to close until the start of the new year. meantime, santa cruz police are searching for the people who stole a commemorative plaque from the wharf. now, if you recognize anybody in the photo, you are asked to contact the santa cruz pd tip line. >> two additional macy's stores here in the bay area are on the list of locations. the company plans to close this year. stores in the village at corte madera shopping center and at the new park mall in newark will be shut down, along with more than 60 other macy's locations across the country. san francisco city officials revealed early last year the macy's at union square will shut down as soon as the city finds a buyer for the building. walgreens is
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closing a dozen san francisco stores at the end of february, and that inclua store on geary with the highest theft rate of any walgreens in the nation. also a store on potrero that recently had $84,000 in merchandise stolen. and the walgreens on market street, where a security guard shot and killed benkhert brown during a shoplifting incident. the retailer did not blame crime, instead saying rent, staffing and supply needs are reasons for the closures. walgreens is closing 1200 stores nationwide this year. >> now it's time for our abc seven mornings advancer. it's our way of highlighting some things happening in the day ahead, right here in the bay area. >> first, the oakland police commission is meeting today to consider possible changes to the police department's pursuit policy. the policy has been criticized by governor gavin newsom while announcing he's extending the state's law enforcement partnership with oakland. he warned the police commission must change the policy. right now, oakland officers are only allowed to
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initiate pursuits when they have a reasonable suspicion a suspect committed a violent crime or has a gun. >> people in the north bay will have a new public transportation option. starting today, a new smart train station is opening up in petaluma. it's located at corona road and mcdowell boulevard, about three miles northwest of the downtown train station. a grand opening celebration will be held at noon. >> bart riders. there are some minor schedule changes coming due to construction starting monday. some departure times will shift by a few minutes. crews will be working on the track between colma and millbrae nightly to upgrade bart's train control system. the work will start at 9 p.m. every night after 9 p.m. a train will serve riders every 15 minutes between millbrae and sfo only, and riders will have to transfer at sfo to board a yellow line train to finish their trip. >> after several decades on the air, there are still more lessons to be learned on sesame street, the topic that will be
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the focus of the show's 55th season. but first, let's get a check of the forecast with meteorologist drew tuma. we all love elmo. >> yeah, you know what? i was a barney fan. my sister was sesame street, so we were always kind of competing for the tv. you know, you got to live in a split household sometimes. here's a live look outside our east bay hills camera right now showing you it is calm. it is quiet out there. it's another sunny and mild day today. it's clear and cool out there right now. sunrise 725 this morning. we have a warm and dry forecast this afternoon. again, a few records are possible later on today. now tomorrow the winds are going to pick up, especially in our hills for the north bay mountains, the east bay hills and the santa cruz mountains. we do have a wind advisory in effect saturday through sunday morning, where we could see gusts upwards of 50mph. so downed trees and some power outages are possible. looking at the wind forecast, it's fine today, but tomorrow the winds ramp up first thing in the morning and they stay pretty elevated all day. so looking
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at the fire danger index this takes into account humidity moisture levels and our vegetation, the wind gusts and parts of the north bay and some specific spots in the east bay. we could see moderate to high fire danger early saturday afternoon before the winds relax on sunday morning. looking at the three day forecast, we'll track a lovely day today. gusty winds return tomorrow, but they calm down here for the most part on sunday. look at
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and that is the metering lights at the bay bridge toll plaza have been turned on, but right now there's not much of a backup, although we'll start to see that change very quickly. also, better news now for a crash in on 880. also, that drive time westbound for highway four to san francisco is 35 minutes still, but an update on southbound 880 at whipple. all lanes have just been reopened, so traffic is still heavy right now from 92 to whipple, but hopefully
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that will be clearing very shortly. gloria. >> all right, francis, thank you so much. and this morning we have a live shot from los angeles overlooking those fires. you can see the line of the fire right there.the and of course, we are tracking these blazes in southern california this morning. ten deaths have been reported across all of the fires that are burning. the palisades fire has burned nearly 20,000 acres. it is at 6% containment right now. the eaton fire near pasadena has charred more than 13,000 acres. it's destroyed 5000 structures. and another fire broke out yesterday, the kenneth fire near woodland hills. a man is in custody for arson charges related to that fire. and of course, we'll keep you updated on that. firefighters from the bay area and other parts of the state are continuing to travel to los angeles county to help with the fire fight. a crew from santa clara county arrived in southern california yesterday. cal fire sent nearly a dozen fire retardant dropping aircraft to help contain the palisades
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fire. we talked to one captain who has made eight drops under turbulent and windy conditions. >> pretty apocalyptic, the amount of, you know, we're used to seeing big fires up in the timber with with, you know, the smoke and the flames and all that. it's a little different when it's running through downtown la. and you know that, you know, people are losing their houses and they're they're doing the best they can just to get out of the way of this thing to, you know, they're running for their lives. >> crews from san francisco, san mateo, oakland and marin are all on the fire lines this morning. >> and despite the tragedies impacted, families and communities are rallying together to help provide comfort to families who have lost everything. reporter kevin osbeck, from our abc sister station in houston, is on the ground in los angeles. he and his photographer came across a donation pop up. >> this is all happening in the parking lot parking lot. i outside the rose bowl. the people organizing this say if
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you have warm coats, warm sweaters, they could especially use those donations because they know some fire victims really need those. and here's the back story here. yesterday, two guys who have a hot dog cart decided, you know, we want to come here. we want to give about 500 hot dogs. that was their goal. they started putting that out on tiktok. people started then coming here and donating on top of getting their free food in the donations. and that act of kindness yesterday has grown in to this. i mean, it is just huge. i mean, we can't even show you all the donations because it spans all the way over there. and again, anything you need. they had hot coffee here earlier, hot meals to they prepackaged meals. and this is really important stuff because there are people who desperately need this. >> wow. the power of social media, the heartwarming gathering right now in the face of these fires. now, if you've watched our coverage this week and wondered how you can help, we do have a suggestion. you can scan this qr code on your screen
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to donate to the red cross. you can also visit redcross.org. slash abc. your donations support the red cross as they help people recover. >> says chris stapleton. rene wrap these sound like e lineup for popular music festival, but these are actually the guest lists for the upcoming season of sesame street. so those musicians, along with noah khan, samara joy, will appear on the 55th season of the iconic family show. the upcoming season will focus on lessons in emotional well-being. songs from the artists will double as life lessons, and it will include an r&b pop track from sza about gratitude. the new season of sesame street debuts next thursday. they get these great guests on the show all the time. >> no kidding. i wonder if rocco will make an appearance because elmo hates rocco. >> oh, so you know this very well. you know the my son is a sesame street kid. >> or he was growing up and so rocco is the rock that everyone
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pretends is an actual pet, and elmo is the only one living in reality where he's like, that's rock. >> so, so funny. >> when i was a kid, i had a pet rock. so like, i can relate, like literally that was a thing. >> so pet rock. never heard of that before. you never heard of pet rocks? no. >> oh, please tell me at home. >> where have i been in the 80s? >> i don't know why we were obsessed with pet rocks, but it's because my parents had us think that they did, like, just here. just take the rock. >> yeah. low maintenance is great. >> oh, my gosh, this morning i'm questioning everything, my child. here's a live look outside from our kgo rooftop camera. a calm and quiet out there. you can see the flags atop the piers if you look closely. just a real gentle breeze out there that will change as we head into the weekend. so another day of record warmth. possible sunny skies this afternoon. now on saturday, winds will pick up gusting 30 to 50mph
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in our hilltops. the dry pattern. we're looking well into the future. the next 7 to 10 days are looking pretty dry out there. so temperatures right now we're in the 40s and 50s. as we gt you out the door here on your friday, here's live doppler seven along with satellite. some encouraging news across southern california. this area of low pressure is moving to the east. getting farther away from this high that is going to weaken the winds across southern california later on this afternoon, a pretty rare event is unfolding across the south. i just talked to friends in atlanta and they're getting walloped with snow right now, something they haven't seen in years. so this is a pretty fast moving system, but areas that typically don't see snow like arkansas, mississippi, alabama, georgia, they are seeing snow this morning back here at home. future weather showing you it's sunny and it is mild in the bay area later on this afternoon. we're back into the 60s once again. so today mid upper 60s for most of us. the sunny skies continue. the winds remain pretty light throughout the day. that will change
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overnight tonight. winds begin to pick up in the overnight hours and they will peak tomorrow afternoon. here's a look at future tracker wind speeds. that wind advisory will be in effect for our hills. our hills could see winds gusting about 30 to 50mph. so we'll stop it right here. i think the peak winds tomorrow are between about 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on our map on the valley floor, the winds are right around 20 to 30mph. but in our hills again, those winds, we see those deep reds, especially in parts of the north bay, especially parts of napa county. we could see those winds gusting close to 50mph. that could lead to some downed trees, some possible power outages. but the good news these offshore winds don't last all that long. by sunday morning they're really backing off. so the back half of the weekend is a lot calmer. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. if we just showed you this forecast without any context, you'd probably think this is in the middle of the summer, not in the middle of january, because we are totally sunny, totally dry,
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gusty winds tomorrow, relax on sunday and the dry pattern looks to continue through all of next week. guys. >> yeah, we've been blessed with our weather here in the bay area for sure. well, next at 6:00, how a local bay area based company is making a big impact on the wildfires in southern california. >> but first, in ten days, he retakes the oval office. but today, president elect trump will be sentenced in his hush money (banker 1) let's hear it! (vo) with wells fargo premier a team can help you plan for your dream. (woman) i have this vacation home... (banker 2) so, like a getaway? (woman) yeah, but...
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has been insisting the sentencing proceed. >> we believe that the sanctity of the jury verdict must be given primacy. the jury's voice must not be rubbed out. >> trump originally faced up to four years in prison, but being reelected in november changed that. the judge has said he will now impose what's called unconditional discharge, which means no jail time, no fine and no probation. in today's gma first look, it's a make or break day for tiktok. the supreme court is hearing arguments today on the app's future in the u.s. here's abc news reporter selina wang. >> in this morning's gma first look tiktok supreme court showdown, you have to make these chopped italian sandwiches. these are the future of the app used by an estimated 100 million americans, soon to be in the hands of the nine supreme court justices. after congress passed a bipartisan law to force tiktok's chinese parent company
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to sell the app or face a ban, citing national security concerns. that deadline now just days away. hey there, i'm nadia, but content creators and small business owners like nadia okamoto say without the app, they may not survive. >> tiktok has been such a magical source of organic brand awareness. that is a very scary future. >> and coming up at 7 a.m, we'll have much more live from the supreme court and talk to abc news chief legal analyst dan abrams live with your gma first look, i'm selina wang, abc news, washington. >> coming up on abc seven mornings at six. why people on tiktok thought the golden gate bridge went missing. >> and we are back live this morning in southern california, following the latest with those devastating wildfires. we'll check back in with reporter zach fuentes and look at the forecast today. >> our warm, sunny pattern continues back into the 60s, with records possible once again this afternoon. over the weekend, though, we do
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have some gusty winds to talk about in our hills. a wind advisory will be in effect across our highest peaks. tomorrow. could see winds gusting upwards of 50mph. peak winds tomorrow, likely between 1 p.m. and a victory that is there for the taking. grab it. now that was a great halftime speech. let's go win. [jim valvano] don't give up. don't ever give up®
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