breaking news a. teenager is in a south bay hospital after his clothes caught fire overnight. what we've just learned about the bizarre incident. >> a serial arsonist no longer wreaking havoc in the south bay. what neighbors are saying following news of an arrest. >> and we are just three days away from the nfc championship game. we'll take you to seattle for a look at how the seahawks are gearing up for the 49ers. >> a live shot of san jose. the temperatures yesterday were something. records falling. are we going to have the same today? it's thursday, january 16th and this is "today in the bay." good thursday morning. 4:30 it is.

i'm terry mcsweeney. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check in with christina. >> my goodness, i'm trying to track these records and yeah, we're looking just about as warm for today, you guys. i can tell you right now yesterday in san francisco a new record for the month of january was set. it has never reached levels like 78 degrees in the city before yesterday. so temperatures are going to be warm. a little cooler for today but i can tell you santa cruz hit the mark, 80 degrees yesterday. and just about as warm later on. the national weather service did extend the red flag warning. we're going to dive into the forecast. first good morning to mike inouye. >> 78 in san francisco, people must be confused out there. oakland, a smooth drive. northbound coming toward the coliseum we do have construction north, we'll mark it on the map. as you're approaching through downtown you lose a couple lanes. we'll get to the maps. we look to the area.

i probably didn't put that in the rundown. construction to the south heading up to marina boulevard. the slowing has cleared up. crews should start moving in. we'll see slowing develop. back to you. >> thanks a lot. breaking news, bizarre breaking news. a teenager was air lifted to a burn center after what police call a freak accident. investigators say the 15-year-old was working on the car of a stranded driver, a stranger, in the parking lot of a safeway in concord. somehow he got gas on his shirt. when they were done the man gave the teen a ride to the b.a.r.t. station, during the ride the man lit a cigarette. investigators say the flame from his lighter was strong enough to ignite the gasoline vapors on the teen's shirt. the teen jumped out of the car near the station, ripped off his shirt. the driver took off. police say he doesn't face charges. the teen has significant burns on his hands, arms and chest. "today in the bay's" bob redell

is going to have a live report from the burn unit on this bizarre story coming up. >> 4:32, detectives will release information about the man they say terrorized the neighborhood with a series of arsons. peggy bunker live at police headquarters this morning with the latest on this arson arrest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a little bit of good news as we are hearing from police that an arrest was made, they have someone in custody. they aren't saying if they know for certain that it is the arsonist who has targeted the san jose neighborhood. as you know for the past couple days several fires have been set, some within blocks of each other. it seemed to be random as these homes were set on fire. there were several homes back-to-back in the same neighborhood. then a couple of churches and really left neighbors on edge wondering exactly what was going on. san jose residents have been sleeping with one eye open. we talked to one man who says he

is relieved. >> happy for this happened quick, you know, and that we'll feel like more protective and safe here in the house, know. but still have to get the lights on and still to see the people are safe. >> reporter: there is a sketch that was released by police and also the fire department early on as they continue to investigate the situation. it was widely circulated and combination with surveillance video showing a light-skinned male, over 6 feet. they are not confirming if this is the person. we expect to hear from police about 10:00 this morning where they will give us the details and that arrest took place last night, the person was brought into custody. so the word is getting out that perhaps the residents of san jose can be sleeping better going forward. we'll stay at the police department and bring you the

details. live in san jose, peggy bunker. >> we'll keep checking back with you. new this morning also an elderly man pulled from a burning home in newark died overnight. investigators say the fire started in the kitchen of a home near the intersection of darvon and elmwood avenue. it was put out in ten minutes but the man was severely injured. he was taken to the hospital where he died. officials don't know exactly how that fire started but they think it was an accident. >> happening now, firefighters are battling a brush fire burning in san mateo county. it's happening near seaside school road about 10 miles south of half moon bay. the fire is burning near a eucalyptus grove and some homes are threatened. >> a judge could decide if the teen accused of lighting another teen on fire should be tried as an adult. prosecutors have charged 16-year-old richard thomas as an adult with a hate crime enhancement but last week

thomas' lawyer asked the judge to send the case to juvenile court. they say thomas set sasha fleischman's skirt on fire while they were riding on a transit bus in oakland. fleischman identified as a-gendered and suffered burns in the attack. >> police are looking for anyone who may have witnessed a triple shooting last night. the three victims were found near the corner of fillmore and mcalister street about 7:00. two were shot in the leg, the other in the foot. all were taken to the hospital, all expected to survive. police have no suspects or motive. >> concern over pedestrian safety in san francisco taking center stage. people are demanding action after three deadly collisions involving pedestrians since new year's eve. tonight the police commission and members of the board of supervisors will talk about the incidents as well as enforcement and prosecution. walk sf says last year 21 pedestrians and four cyclists were killed in the city. the safety group is urging city

leaders to adopt a plan called vision zero which aims to eliminate traffic deaths in ten years. mayor ed lee also announced his own pedestrian safety campaign. >> some mountain view police officers will soon be spending evenings at 49er games. the city council approved an agreement that allows off-duty officers to moonlight at levi stadium. they will be paid by santa clara and the city will also provide training, uniforms and vehicles. but officers who are moonlighting are going to have to use their own protective equipment issued by their own departments. >> 4:37. now to the 49ers. it's no secret there is no love between the 49ers and the seahawks. >> comcast sports net andrea is in seattle where the seahawks are gearing up for an intense game. >> reporter: how fun is this going to be sunday between two teams that share a lot of animosity and a lot of history. richard sherman characterized it, it's intense like, not hate,

everything will be left on the field. >> there is no love lost, no love found. that's all. it's going to be intense, physical, it's going to be -- it's -- there's not i don't know if there are hand shakes. there will be passion, there will be dislike, strong dislike but there will be intensity. it's playoff football. so even if we weren't two teams that are familiar with each other, playoff football, there's going to be a lot of chipiness and a hard fought game. i think we can bully whoever we want to bully if you want to put it that way. it's about us. it's about -- you have a mind-set of you're not going to let anything get in your way, you're determined, nothing, you know. you step over and keep going. >> this is a very intense matchup anyway. regardless of who you are playing or where it comes from because it's championship time. so i think everybody's going to be at the edge. we need to do a job of taking care of business.

it's an issue that we deal with every week so this isn't new to deal with this week. >> reporter: a lot has been made of the seahawks' struggling passing game. since the loss to san francisco at candlestick, russell wilson has only thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions. wilson says his confidence never waiverered and he is going to look to be more accurate on sunday. >> the question this morning is do you bleed red and gold? here is your chance to prove it. a concord tattoo artist is offering to ink up diehard fans with the 49ers logo for $49. they are fans, they say they offer the deal through the super bowl because they are confident the niners are going to be there in the super bowl. they are going to bring home their sixth championship. stay with nbc bay area for continuing coverage of the niners quest. join us saturday night for a

9ers special. we'll break down the match-up and joined by our nfl insiders saturday night, 6:30, nbc bay area. >> we're going to have to check terry's biceps. >> i don't know there is room for another tattoo. >> you know, you could go for the muscle shirt today if you were interested in that sort of thing. mike inouye, i know you like a little cross talk. 46 degrees. century link field. i can't believe how close we're getting. a little chilly there, a little rain, not much even in seattle. they are not getting the rain that they are used to. in the bay area it has been so dry, we're coming off of a record day. temperatures at the airport, 73 degrees, that's a new all-time record for the entire month of january. and downtown san francisco got up to 78 degrees yesterday. south san jose hit 73, santa cruz was the winner at 80 degrees. 77 degrees, so tod w

seeing a little bit of a change. you'll notice that by the wind. they are not shooting directly offshore at this point. as our winds shift a little for today we're going to see our temperatures drop off a touch. but we're fair game for records. not just today, all weekend long. here is san jose. nice pretty start. you can see the lights twinkling. it's not a spare the air day. and temperatures are going to rise into the 70s again. make sure, two different parts of the day. it was almost balmy at my house yesterday. i don't know about you but pretty arm. i didn't use the a.c., i really wanted to. >> might bust out the tube top. looking to the high rise of the foster city side. traffic flowing smoothly. not a lot of wind. we'll look at the map and see the span. 92 across the water moves, so does 84. to the peninsula, and we're looking south bound 280 as you approach sand hill road. an injured deer limping around

the roadway. one driver called that in. maybe send somebody out to help the deer. i'll let you know if they have to do a traffic break. look at these crews on the map. the biggest slowing we see, a couple of lanes blocked southbound 680 as you approach h hosstetter. the rest of the area no major issues. the bay bridge toll plaza, light volume now. watch this being a thursday. back to you. >> thanks a lot. still ahead on "today in the bay," a scathing new report puts the blame on the state department for the deaths of four americans in benghazi. >> plus, a special honor for the two men who saved the life of this little puppy that was just tossed in the trash.

welcome back everyone. good thursday morning. it's 4:45. a new report blames the death of four americans in the 2012 attack on the american embassy in benghazi on the state department. the report backs up what an independent review panel found last year, that the state department ignored warnings and did not provide adequate security. it also says the department had evidence that militants were

planning an attack on the consulate. the report also argues intelligence officials were slow to correct the assertion that blamed the attack on protesters and critics insist that story was deliberate. >> this is the greatest cover-up in history. politically inspired, no doubt about that. >> there was no specific threat indicating an attack was coming. >> the committee places blame on former secretary of state hillary clinton. chris stevens who died in the attack was a bay area native. >> officials in new jersey will neat talk about forming a special committee look into the george washington bridge scandal around chris christie. they would explore last december's decision to shut several lanes of the bridge and create a process for issuing subpoenas, a new nbc news poll shows americans are largely giving christie the benefit of the doubt. almost 70% of people surveyed said the story has not changed their opinion of christie.

44% say they think he is telling the truth about not knowing that his administration was closing the lanes to get back at a political opponent. as a precaution citibank will replace all debit cards for that and the rest of the news before the bell let's go to courtney reagan in new jersey. >> good morning. futures are lower after stocks rallied on wednesday. the s&p 500 posting its first record close of the year on the nasdaq with the best two-day gain in three months. investors reacting to positive earnings from bank of america and decent data. we get reports today on consumer prices, unemployment and housing as well as earnings from citigroup, goldman sachs better than expected results. the dow rising, the nasdaq up 31 to 4214. citigroup will replace all debit cards affected by the massive data breach at target as a

precaution. reports say citi didn't replace them sooner because it didn't want to cause a disruption during the holidays. jpmorgan said it would give new cards quickly. there is a management shake-up at yahoo!. the chief operating officer is leaving after about a year on the job. and yahoo! isn't giving a reason. a memo to staffers suggests he was fired. decastro was brought over from google. reports say they clashed and yahoo! sales have continued to struggle. a little bit of gossip around that story. >> checking in with christina. everyone is talking about the weather. >> the buzz. >> really is and it's funny when we're talking about our weekend coming up now, yes indeed it is friday eve. and usually this time of year we're sending people to tahoe.

likely down to monterey. not only 70 degrees, we're talking about big waves headed our way. we'll talk about that coming up. we're starting out in the 40s and temperatures are going to be cooler. i was able to take your numbers down a touch. as our wind direction is shifting. we have an area of low pressure riding to the north. it's going to boost the jet stream down south far enough to where we are going to get a little relief from this ridge of high pressure. it will break it down. this is what we're working with. still have that high fire danger. wouldn't be surprised to see this red flag warning to send it further to the 3:00, 4:00 hour of the day. winds are going to be pretty strong. gusts 10 to 20 miles per hour. humidity 5 to 20%. a lot of dry brush. this is for the higher elevations but you know it's dry across the greater bay area. we need to be on the best of our fire safety. through the changes headed our way. record warmth continues for today. we get into your friday, we're so close now. hazy sunshine. it stays warm.

by the weekend we will see some cooling but we have big waves on the way. and those evening clouds will return so significant cooling at the coast. i'll talk more about that coming up. i can't wait to show your video. >> fantastic. today two san francisco workers who saved a puppy will be honored by city leaders. they found the puppy on a conveyor belt, apparently thrown away. animal care and control says gem has come a long way but still in foster care receiving medical treatment. gem is going to be at tonight's event. she will be up for adoption as soon as she fully recovers and so far authorities not able to track down her owner. >> i'm sure she will go into a whole lots of love. >> still ahead on "today in the bay," oscar nominations announced this morning. we'll have a sneak peek. >> plus, a change, the 49ers

head coach jim harbaugh's signature look coming up. >> oh, no. we'll find out. looking toward fremont, a smooth drive. no changes here. we'll talk about what's going on east.

welcome back everybody. 4:53, looking out at the bay

bridge. a gorgeous shot. i am certainly glad they spent what, $6 billion on that new section. it looks fantastic. isn't that what it's all about? it's a beautiful thing. the vta is holding a second open house in san jose to talk about adding an express lane to highway 85. the vta plans to add an express lane between san jose and mountain view. carpool driver can use it for free. solo drivers pay a fee. the open house will be today at the sam brianne branch library at 6:00. >> that will be something people will be interested in. >> especially mike inouye. >> especially mike. >> i'm on it. our family in mountain view, traffic, really has boosted. here we're looking toward dublin. you can see at the bottom this is 580 coming toward us, westbound, that's the volume of traffic we see. we'll show you a better view

later on. there is the drive past that into livermore, no delays over toward the dublin interchange. a smooth drive for 680 into sunol and pleasanton. approaching the bay bridge, light, the arrow pointing to the right. slowing for eastbound 24 heading toward the caldecott. we'll watch that probably a few more cars, making the data changed there as well as eastbound highway 4, we saw this crop up. starting to cleave up so may abslower moving truck heading away from interstate 80 off of the carquinez bridge. up in vallejo still the construction going on. highway 12. back to you. >> oscar nominations for 2014 announced in less than an hour. >> among the favorites, "12 years a slave," and "the wolf of wall street," "nebraska" and "american hustle." expected to receive nods, bruce dern, leonardo dicaprio and

sandra bullock. ellen degeneres who has a show here, 4:00. >> 49ers head coach knows a happy wife is a happy life. >> all it takes in this case is make a minor wardrobe change. take a listen. >> the levis and the nike and the dickey makes a flat khaki so happy wife, happy life. >> during the 49ers news conference yesterday harbaugh said he plans to change from pleated khakis to flat front. not asking much. this after his wife sarah expressed her dislike for her husband's sense of style during a radio interview. she said she tried to get rid of the pleated pants last year. she threw them away. he went out and bought a bunch for $8 at a pair at a walmart. there is a picture. he is a bargain shopper. >> that's respectable. >> know what is he likes. >> while most 49ers fans despise

the seahawks two might have more in common. pete carroll from san francisco and a member of the hall of fame at red wood high school running back marshawn lynch is an oakland native attending cal. richard sherman arcably the best quarterback in the nfl played for jim harbaugh at stanford and seahawks owner paul allen now has ties to the bay area, his investment firm opened an office in palo alto and he just bought a house in atherton. >> one big happy family. we follow breaking news. a teen air lifted to a hospital after his clothes catch fire. what we've just learned about the bizarre incident coming up in a live report.

breaking news. an east bay teenager flown to a burn unit after catching fire outside a b.a.r.t. station. the details of what police call a freak accident. >> as we follow the 49ers' quest

for six, jim harbaugh reveal what is he would be willing to give up for a chance to play on sunday. >> our january beach weather continues. temperatures in the 40s, we're headed toward the 70s yet again today. a couple of 80s out there as well. and now we're going to add big waves to the equation. your full forecast in moments. >> goodness. big changes there. not so bad here on the roadways, it's pretty calm. road crews but i'll tell about the latest for the incident on 280. >> a live look outside right now at the golden gate bridge. and this is the kind of shot that puts a smile on mike inouye's face. there is nothing going on there. it's a gorgeous day on the way though. it is thursday, january 16th and this is "today in the bay." >> good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm terry mcsweeney.