right now. >> long last i can announce a cease fire and a hostage deal

has been reached between israel and hamas. >> after 15 months of war in gaza, celebration in the streets as top israeli officials and hamas leaders agree to a cease fire hostage deal. good afternoon, i'm kristen z. that deal still needs approval from the wider israeli government. if that happens, we could see the first part implemented in just days. abc news reporter reena roy has the details. >> from the streets of khan younis in gaza to tel aviv in israel, israelis seen lighting flares after hearing there's a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. the prime minister of qatar making the announcement after high level delegations negotiated the agreement over the course of months in doha. president biden speaking this afternoon. >> phase one will last six weeks. it includes a full and complete cease fire, a

withdrawal of israeli forces from all the populated areas of gaza, and the release of a number of hostages held by hamas, including women and elderly and the wounded. and i'm proud to say americans will be part of that hostage release on phase one as well. >> biden's team and the incoming trump administration were both involved in the negotiations, the president saying israel will also release a number of palestinian prisoners, and palestinians will be able to return to their neighborhoods in gaza. israel's security cabinet is set to convene tomorrow to officially approve the deal. then it goes to the wider government and a 48 hour window for legal objections opens before the first of three phases is implemented. an egyptian security source telling abc news coordination is already underway to reopen the rafah border crossing and allow the flow of international aid into gaza. fighting has been raging for more than 15 months since hamas attack on israel on october 7th,

2023, which israeli officials say left more than 1200 people dead. since then, more than 46,000 palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the hamas run gaza health ministry. the prisoners have been held for 466 days. the agreement is set to begin this sunday, january 19th. once phase one is complete, which will last 42 days. phases two and three will be finalized. reena roy, abc news, new york. >> tonight, president biden will make a farewell address to the nation that was always scheduled for today. abc seven will be carrying the event live. it is scheduled to start at 5:00 tonight. now to the latest on the wildfires burning in los angeles county. they're counting down the hours under another high fire risk with a red flag warning in effect right now until this evening. and we've learned the death toll is now at 25. the number of acres burned in both the palisades and eaten wildfires has held steady, just really slow growth. containment

is very slow. health officials have now issued a dust and ash advisory warning of dangerous particulates in the air, and the eaton fire has become the most destructive wildfire in southern california history. abc reporter melissa dan is in altadena, where the eaton fire has been burning, and she has a look at the recovery efforts and current conditions. >> eight days after the devastating fires began in southern california, millions in western los angeles county and most of ventura county are again under a particularly dangerous situation. red flag warning, but not the 80 to 100 mile per hour winds that hit the county last week. >> the danger has not yet passed, so please, please prioritize your safety. >> abc news learning the atf, which is investigating the cause of the fire, is zeroing in on the palisades highlands area. there are questions whether a fire first reported on a hillside just after midnight on new year's day could be

connected to the fire that started on january 7th. among the thousands of structures destroyed, several schools, unaffected schools, welcoming students, families and employees. today, from those that have been destroyed by the fires. many students also lost their homes. >> i lost one thing that i really liked in our house was this one stuffie that was there since i was first born. >> los angeles mayor karen bass announcing an executive order to speed up the recovery process. but as residents wait to rebuild, they need somewhere to live immediately. officials are warning landlords not to take advantage of the situation. >> we have seen people increase their prices for rooms that they are renting, for houses that they are leasing 100, 200, 300%. here's my again my warning you will be publicly shamed. i want to make that crystal clear. so stop it right now. >> finally, a break in the winds

is expected and that will really help firefighters for the next few days. but there's still no rain in the forecast. and now the region is under an air quality health alert. this is due to wind blown dust and ash. melissa dan, abc news, altadena and in just a few minutes, abc news reporter melissa don will join us live from the fire zone to tell us more about the struggles for those who have lost everything in these wildfires and what comes next for them. >> now let's get to the weather forecast. abc seven weather anchor spencer christian looking at that red flag warning that's continuing. and this is for los angeles county and more right? >> that's correct chris. and the red flag warning for high fire danger remains in effect until 6 p.m. for most of los angeles and ventura counties, and for parts of san luis obispo and santa barbara counties. you see the alignment here with the circulation around that low pressure system literally pulling the winds from land to sea, offshore flow, which is the pattern that has held for several days now for about a week. in fact, right now we have

gusts up to 35mph at camp nine, nearly 45mph at browns canyon. these wind gusts are irregular, though. i mean, they could be 15mph. one moment and the minute later 25 or 30mph. so the wind gusts, as you see going into the evening hours will diminish a bit. the red flag warning likely to expire at 6 p.m. and then going into the overnight hours, the winds remain still fairly strong, but not so gusty and so dangerous as they have been. this red flag warning once again in effect until 6 p.m. for this area shown here in red. particularly dangerous fire weather situation. relative humidity still dangerously low, about 8 to 15mph. now let's shift our focus here to the bay area. locally, we're looking at very calm conditions. wind speeds under ten miles per hour. and it has warmed up a little bit since this time yesterday, about 2 to 4 degrees warmer than at this time yesterday. right now it's 60 in san francisco and hayward we've got 62 at oakland, 65 at san jose, upper 50s at redwood city and 61 at half moon bay. blue sky over the golden

gate. temperature readings up north 64 at santa rosa, 63 at napa. fairfield, 6361 at petaluma and 61 at concord and livermore. these are the forecast headlines for us through friday. chilly mornings and mild afternoons will continue. the weekend outlook calls for a cooler pattern still, though, though sunny and dry and then turning windy again on monday here in the bay area with a strong offshore flow overnight, low temperatures will be down into the mid to upper 30s once again in the inland area, so another chilly early morning start tomorrow and low 40s will be the lows around the bay shoreline. highs in the afternoon tomorrow. low 60s near the coast, mid 60s around the bay shoreline and low to mid 60s inland so that mild afternoon pattern continues for us. and here's the accuweather seven day forecast. notice a little bit of a cooldown on friday and saturday. i talked about the weekend being a little bit cooler, but remaining sunny and dry both days. it gets cooler still on monday and we expect

sunday and monday, i should say, and we expect a little bit of an increase in winds, but the winds will tame off, taper off a little bit, get tamer going into the middle of the week, but it's going to be quite cool going into the middle of next week. so the mild weather we have now is going away kristen. >> yeah. all right. thank you spencer. the state's response to those wildfires has prompted another effort to recall governor gavin newsom. organizers say they plan to file the papers in the next two weeks for what they are calling a, quote, series of catastrophic failures before the fires. the governor has also faced attacks from president elect donald trump only hours after the fire started. this week, republicans in congress suggested federal assistance for california should come with conditions. east bay congressman eric swalwell says this is not what we should be focused on right now. >> people in the area are still in evacuation zones and are not in their homes. i don't think that's what they want right now. they just they want their government to do what government is supposed to do, which is respond to a crisis and take

care of them. >> an adviser for the governor tells abc seven news he is, quote, 100% focused on the fires, ongoing rescue efforts and the recovery process, not politics. 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. we'll have an update on wildfire recovery efforts now underway in los angeles county. take a look. emergency crews have transformed the rose bowl from a stadium to a wildfire command (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card! (woman) i found it! i found my card! (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card. (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo. what else can fargo do? quickly tell you what you spend on things like food. (dad) fargo, what did i spend on groceries this month? (son) hey dad, can the guys stay for dinner? (dad) no... (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo.

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let's get back to our wild cover coverage. right now, we want to

get the latest on how evacuees are coping, and how the state and other officials are responding. abc news reporter melissa don joins us live now from altadena. melissa, i want to start. there's so much to cover, but i want to start here. and that is a red flag. warning is still in effect for l.a. county. and health officials have issued a dust and ash advisory warning of air pollution. so from where you stand, how are the winds and how is the air? >> absolutely, kristen. so the first thing is that at least where we are, we're in altadena. this is where the eaton fire burned, where, you know, basically into the eastern part of los angeles county. fortunately, the winds have subsided here, but it's really to the north of us and then through ventura county that they're still under that red flag warning. what's very considerable is to think that some of the mountains that are near us. that is where there's still been hotspots where firefighters have been actively trying to put out the eaton fire. that's always the concern. and above all, it is just so dry. that is just really what

has been something that has been of the utmost importance for firefighters battling this blaze. but again, the good news is those winds are low enough. so we have been able to see that aerial support. as far as the air quality, it is very poor. there are harmful particles that are in the air, so they are advising n95 masks. that's something that myself and my crew we've been wearing and making sure that we put on in between, because this is something with the dust. and then, of course, from so much of that smoke that is still in here, we're expecting to have that alert throughout the evening. >> all right, melissa, i want to talk a little bit about helping out the folks who have been impacted so much. and we do have some video of a wildfire command center at the rose bowl, just a massive location now kind of serving as a clearinghouse for folks needing support and help. talk to us about what people are being offered there and what the challenges are. >> it is a mazing, right? those photos are just stellar to think that just, you know, weeks ago

we were, you know, the third week into the year, this was the new year's. this is where the rose bowl was celebrating having their parade. all the community of pasadena was just celebrating 2025. and now all of that, we've seen that transform. now the rose bowl has turned into that donation site. it was incredible. by the weekend, they already got more than enough clothing, donations, water and things like that. they told people to stop, hold on to some of their clothing and toys and things. however, of course they've let people know. while the immediate donations were amazing, they're still going to be long term needs. right now, so many people are shuffling through, trying to find housing and whatnot, and now coming back to saying, hey, okay, i at least have a temporary closet, maybe at a hotel or an airbnb. what is it that i really need right now? so that is really good because those donations are continuing. and of course, monetary funds from the red cross to other la county organizations that have been collecting, that has also been really beneficial. >> we've been told real quickly, before we let you go, you mentioned shelter and hotels and i'm wondering if you've seen price gouging, because we have

heard of some anecdotal examples of that happening as people look for places to rent. >> absolutely. kristen. unfortunately, we have seen some of that on zillow. and then really quickly, they've been reported. that's what the attorney general, rob bonta, he put up a site to basically make it as easy as possible to report anything. and, you know, angelenos are diligent people that are out there looking on things. they are reporting that it's getting put down. that's important because, for instance, airbnb was offering temporary free housing for fire victims. but then some people, we had heard those reports as well, that they're staying at a residence and then they're seeing it for maybe two weeks or three weeks down the line, the price has skyrocketed more than the 10%, which is considered illegal. so that is something. however, the federal government has stepped in today opening up with fema. they've increased already how many applications they've had more than 53,000. and now they have a temporary housing shelter program that's open. >> kristen. all right. melissa, dawn, thank you so much. really

appreciate your reporting. if you'd like to help people affected by these wildfires, you can donate at redcross.org. slash abc to help the red cross respond and help people recover. the science of wildfires. as parts of l.a. county need to rebuild, what can be done to protect the area from new wildfires in this urban environment, we ♪ dreams begin here. welcome to the goodnight club.

in ventura counties due to continuing high wind gusts, dry air, and the risk of rapid fire spread. even as firefighters continue to try to contain these fires, many are wondering how can the community rebuild better, stronger against future urban wildfires? can science hold the answer? joining us live now for this important discussion. uc berkeley associate professor of mechanical engineering and leader of the uc berkeley fire research lab michael goldner. professor goldner, thank you for

joining us today. >> glad to be here. >> look, this emergency is not even over and are ready. people are talking about in the focus will, of course, have to become how to rebuild. and that's where your uc berkeley fire research lab does experiments that could help answer that question. so tell us about your work and the key lessons we can draw from it. >> right. so we do both modeling saying how do fires move into communities. and we also do experiments with partners like ibhs and the forest service. we've actually been even burning down whole adu homes. and to understand how fires spread from home to home. >> so in your work, i'm sure you kind of have a really good insight into how this became the perfect fire storm, right? when you read news articles or hear from politicians and residents, some people talk about recent weather, past weather, vegetation management, the way communities are built, the materials used. what is it? >> it's all of the above. we had a very high wind event is extreme winds. we also had very dry fuels without rain that

spread the fire close to the community. then embers moved into the community and lit houses on fire. then from those houses, it spread from home to home and through all the fuel in the urban area. and unfortunately, this is a worst case scenario. what we need is gaps in fuels. we need to remove fuel, which is vegetation, from around the houses. we also need to make sure they're really protected from those firebrands or little embers that fly in and ignite new fires. and if we can do that, then only small little fires get up. the houses are resistant and we won't have to do this. the whole community, to really make a change. and so if we can keep the new regulations and keep those things in our new construction, we might see a completely different outcome in the next fire. right. >> you mentioned a good point because, look, we're never going to stop wildfires or fires, right? the key is how to ensure these embers that will be carried in a strong wind event to not start a new fire. and so my question is maybe regard to your home, your own home. and if

you're rebuilding, what kind of materials, what kind of roof, what kind of siding. are there ideal materials to use to think about? >> absolutely. we say defensible space. move all the flammable things five feet away from the home and less out from beyond. then use a class a roof, which is like asphalt shingles that's well sealed. and close your eaves. put fine mesh over your vents. use non-flammable materials for your decking. use double paned windows. use siding like hardie board or other stucco or materials that are non-flammable. if you basically imagine you're just trying to seal up your home so really small little embers and fires can't get in. it's not about building a concrete bunker. it's about building a home that's sealed from small fires and moving any potential fire back. and that includes your neighbors. so it's a community wide event, and then the fire gets the community and it just can't take a foothold. >> what about clearing, you know, vegetation or plants and trees that can burn easily? are

there certain ones that we should simply just not ban, but, you know, not put them in because of the reality of what we live in now? >> well, it's hard to say here. it's a long list of different plants, but what we look for are vegetation. that's not going to be dropping a lot of litter. it's not even just the vegetation itself, but all the litter that falls down, all those leaves or twigs, as well as having things that are going to thrive under low water conditions. we don't always have a lot of rain here. and to push even what you do have further back. so it's not it's not about having a barren desert landscape around your your house. what it is about is about spacing it appropriately. and there's some wonderful guidelines for landscaping from places like uc, agriculture and natural resources, insurance institute for business and home safety, nfpa that have these these resources for homeowners and local officials to spread that. and i'm hoping that that information is going to be poured out against all the contractors that will eventually move in here. >> i think it's a well-made point you had about if the whole community does it, if the whole

street does it, it makes you so much more safe. but let me just ask you, if your neighbors don't do it, you can't convince your neighbors to do it or your homeowners association. take action. are there still benefits to you taking those steps that you talked about to harden your home, to clear the vegetation? >> there are still benefits. it's just that the benefits multiply. you can almost think of it sort of as a dominoes thing. the more dominoes you're removing and they're going in different directions, you're stopping the possibility that things can keep falling over and spreading. and just imagine that instead of the community having 500 homes ignite at once for members. yeah, now you have five. if we can get to that level, firefighters all of a sudden have an amazing chance to safely get in there and put out the spot fires. and if they see. so i think we see more likely to be saved. >> perhaps you would get that attention right. all right. professor michael goldner, thank you so much. wish we have more time. we'll have to a team can help you plan for your dreams.

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to this big event, the san francisco chinese new year parade reminder. you can watch it live right here and everywhere you stream abc seven. over the next month leading up to the parade, we'll give you a sneak peek at some of the groups performing in the parade today. take a look at the opening performers. >> we will have about 100 dancers for this year's opening dance. >> it's really great that we get to share this art form with everyone. we're not really used to such a big like platform or stage, so it will be really

cool. >> very proud and excited. we need to rehearsal a lot to make sure they synchronize. they have their good expression. they pass on the luck and happiness to everyone. the kids are very excited so we practice hard. many, many kids, they are practicing from like 4 to 5 years old. it's just every weekend they dance. >> it's a really fun experience, i'd say, because usually we only perform within our like class levels and age groups. but it's really fun to be performing this big dance with so many other people. it's great. i love like

dancing. sometimes it can be a little tiring because the teacher will always correct us, but i love it and it's always really fun at the end. >> dictionary in chinese. so ji means luck. good luck. xiao means everything. peace and nice. ruyi is everything. as you wish. we have a chinese dance and ballet. so the second half will be the symphony dance. think we are very proud of our students and our members. >> i think i feel really proud that we have this great opportunity to represent all of chinese americans in our dance. it will be great to just spread the culture, give everyone a chance to watch it or experience it themselves.

>> the us chinese dance association will also be performing january 29th, which is the actual first day of the lunar new year. during halftime of the warriors home game at chase center. abc seven is a proud sponsor of the 2025 san francisco chinese new year parade. you can watch the live parade saturday, february 15th, starting at 6 p.m. right here on abc seven and wherever you stream abc seven news. we cannot be more excited. thank you so much for joining us. world news tonight with david muir starts now. and i'll see you back here at four. tonight, breaking news as we come on the air involving the american hostages and the cease-fire. we'll go live to tel aviv. also, the new extreme fire danger in southern california. what they're saying