>> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is "today in the bay". >> good morning. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm kris sanchez. laura garcia-cannon is off today. >> and firefighters are battling a fire at a lumberyard. this is near the intersection of oakland road and commercial street. we'll go right to bob redell who

is live at the scene. >> firefighters believe this fire is suspicious, frankly because of the time it burned, in the middle of the night. it's not the a-1 lumber shop that burned, it's a pallet factory. you can see what firefighters were up against when they arrived around 2:00 this morning. there were stacks upon stacks of those wooden pallets. they had flames extended upwards of 35 to 40 feet. in the second alarm i mentioned, they called them in to protect the interiors.

there might have been some, tension to some cars, possibly ten cars nearby that were destroyed but other than that, contained this one area. >> it was the little piece when is they cut the wood, the leftovers. that's what started the fire. the next thing you know, the whole thing caught on fire and then it was a whole mess. >> and one problem with wood i don't know pallets catching fire is that namely they're very flammable but they contain a lot of oxygen in between the stacks. that's one reason why the fires burn so big and so hot. the fire department not sure what started this fire. they point out that it was locked and they had to force entry to get in there. the problem now that they face is the overhaul, meaning they have to go through and make sure they have the fire completely out. because they have so much debris and a large pile of it, they're

talking about bringing in a tractor to dig through that and make sure there's nothing in there that will start up again. they say they'll be out here for a few hours. meantime oakland will be shut down because they have a fire line. >> watching for hot spots for a while. thanks, bob. >> and to the latest of a developing story along the pacific coastline. tourists and locals are now emerges to see the damage. even though odile weakened overnight, it uprooted trees, smashed shop windows. >> now the focus is shifting to another form that could affect

the same area later this week. meteorologist rob mayeda is watching both of them. >> the winds weaken but the rain really not letting up. that moisture now redirects into southern arizona where during the day today we'll likely pick up 3 to maybe 6 inches of rain coming down, especially for areas near tucson and we could see showers into parts of southern california. but we now have a new tropical storm here to the west, polo, approaching cabo san lucas, so the same area could get hit again. >> thank you very much, rob. the airport in cabo san lucas

remains closed. we talked to a man whose sister is stranded there with friends. >> there's no running water. they're staying in the ballrooms and also the conference rooms. >> we're told if she and her friends cannot get out of there, her husband is ready to drive an estimated 20 hours to mexico to drive and pick them up. >> doesn't be surprised to see a pickett line at the golden gate bridge today. workers unthreatening to go on strike today. the sticking point here, rising health care premiums for employees. that strike starts at 6:00 a.m. and will last until 3:30 this

afternoon. they have said today's strike will not impact traffic on the bridge or ferry service, but it will be during crunch time. let's bring in traffic reporter mike inouye. >> it shouldn't affect the ferry service or the golden gate transit service. i moved our camera off of 101 here. i'm looking above the road for smoke but we cannot see it. i'm talking about the fire that was reported live. this is the overpass, the cameraman says it is an issue. haven't heard anything regarding on or off ramps. that dot right there near oakland and commercial or oakland and mabrey, those are

the intersections involved right now. the rest of traffic moving very smoothly, over there by valley fair and santana row. just some crews over there in oakland but no closures for the freeway. they're all open. >> bicyclists across the state will get a little more protection today in the form of a new law that will affect drivers as well. drivers must give cyclists a three-foot buffer zone and if there isn't enough space to pass safely, a car must slow down and drive behind until there is enough space. drivers face a $35 fine but with court costs, the bill could likely cost $200 for each offense. 24 other states have similar

laws. >>. >> health officials and volunteers will begin walking the streets of napa to talk to as many residents as possible about the damage done in the earthquake, assessing needs including counseling and stress reduction to housing and referrals for services. the volunteers have been trained and everybody taking part will be wearing badges and vests. >> two more high school football players are being investigated for hazing and are accused of holding down the player and shaving part of his head.

there could be other arrests. >> happening right now, crews are working to protect what is left of the tiny town of weed. there are images of the fires when it was at its peak. >> it's only about 15% contained. crews met late yesterday

afternoon near fairfield to gear up and help fight the king fire in el dorado county. they are arriving on the front line of the king fire today. this picture was taken shortly before they left. the fire doubled yesterday to almost 8,600 acres. this fire is burning u and down steep hillsides, making it difficult to battle from the ground. the pollock pines fire is only slightly contained.

>> hopefully our weather conditions will allow for lower fire danger here since there are so many others around the state. rob mayeda has a look at that. >> in the sierra hills they'll be battling the king fire today. coming up on thursday, we could see a chance of showers. some fog at times on the coast, some misty skies on the hill tops. increasing high clouds, not from tropical storm odile. this is a weather system that's off to our west here that is pulling in moisture north of hawaii. that will bring us a chance of seeing showers late tomorrow into thursday. today near 80 degrees again around san jose. mid 70s out toward oakland, santa rosa and out toward the

tri-valley should see temperatures in the 80s and out toward the tri-valley thursday may see cold. >> fingers are crossed. it is 4:42 on your tuesday morning. he has been convicted of homicide but it may not stop hem from trying to qualify for the olympics. the curious twist in the story of the blade runner, oscar pistorius. >> and technology to keep an eye on the big cats. >> and the drinks are on the house. where you can score a free cup of coffee today.

the nato-led coalition in that afghanistan has not released the nationality of the troops that were killed and wounded. there have been unconfirmed

reports that they were americans and at least four were americans. >> and the names of the jonestown massacre were found inside a funeral home, 38 sets of remains were found, 7 sets are sill unidentified. many who died in the jonestown massacre were from the bay area. >> the next time you see oscar pistorius, he could be trying out for the olympics. he will be sentenced next month after being found guilty of negligent homicide last week for shooting and killing his girl

friend reeva steenkamp. pistorius was also cleared to run while he was on trial but chose to focus on the court proceedings. >> congress continues to raise questions over mass of recalls of general motors faulty ignition switches. many of us are very curious, hampton, of what they've found. >> reporter: it turns out there's a house committee report that says federal regulators had ample evidence to identify the ignition switch problem in gm cars as early as 2007. the switches are linked to 19 deaths and the national highway safety administration dismissed the information. david friedman criticizes gm for

not promptly reporting and recalling car and is working with the automaker to -- the internet, social media and biotech stocks led to the decline in the market. the nasdaq falling 48 points to close at 4518. nasa is expected to announce the winner of the contract for the next generation capsule or space taxi to ferry astronauts to the international space station. they will likely make the announcement this afternoon. the wall street journal reports boeing will probably beat out two smaller rivals. spacex is run by elon musk and sierra nevada.

boeing is seen as the least risky option because it has a longstanding relationship with nasa. some early headlines. back to you. have a good day. >> disappointing news for the bay area. thank you, hampton. >> if you'd like a little bit of caffeine this morning and you'd like to get it for free, mcdnl mcdonald's is giving you a free small coffee the entire month. it's part of a sip and tell campaign where they share their most embarrassing moments on twitter. >> what's your embarrassing coffee moment? >> if these walls could talk. i don't know where i'm going that but i just wanted to say that. >> rob, do you have an embarrassing comment? >> we do drink a lot of coffee here.

looking first at san francisco, a high of about 70 degrees. over toward san jose, a high of 80. fairly comfortable weather today as we watch south of the trop ex. tropical storm odile now, it's looking more and more like most of the moisture will result into southern arizona and we could see budding rain as it continues to weaken and head off toward california. the shower chances we've been tracking, it doesn't look like most of that moisture will continue to head off to south and east of the bay area and you'll see 4 to 6 inches of rein near tucson. what's interesting is the weather system that's off to the west, it's this system here that is going to approach the bay area during the day tomorrow and in the the chances of showers will increase late tomorrow on into thursday. a closer look from what we're expecting here, wednesday and

thursday, enough rain to wet the ground. it will be a welcome sign to see ne rain in september. today close to 70 in san francisco, should see numbers in the low 80s around santa rosa and mid 80 as around the tri-valley today. wednesday night and thursday, a sneak preview of your forecast shows summer heat coming back, 90s for the tri-valley saturday and union. >> thanks, rob. another shark sighting put people on alert in santa clara county. seabright beach was closed this weekend. a surfer said a great white took

a bite out of his surf board. >> the county will install 100 motion sensor cameras to help them get a better idea of wildlife hot spots and wildlife relationship and could be used for land manage mbt. >> yes. the live look past fremont. the build has already started a little farther east. we'll show you the rest of that coming up. at 1-800-dentist, we're about one thing.

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a mysterious light in the early morning sky last week has finally been explained. strange lights streaked across the sky on friday morning. the mystery lit up social media as well with guesses.

it was a test missile from southern california. >> and the she taxi map is targeting women in new york who would prefer to have a woman driver. less than 3% of drivers are women. they will be wearing pink scarves to help them be identified. >> hmm. i don't mind the guys picking me up. >> i feel like when we see mike, he's not going to be wearing a pink scarf. i don't know about a she driver, how about a taxshe. i'm going to trademark that. you can get over to south 101

and use 10 to get over. the dublin here, all the way to the right, a typical pattern as construction crews have cleared from the area. no problem in oakland, a little cruise drive there and emeryville will get busy as it's tuesday. >> 4:57 on a tuesday. the 49ers will talk about getting their patrons out of the parking lot faster, but it could create another problem. >> and an elderly couple was actually robbed twice.

tracking breaking news, a

major fire at a lumberyard. bob redell is on scene. >> plus, why you'll want to be extra careful when you're passing a cyclist. >> and watch as you're passing each other. this is a smooth drive across the san mateo bridge but we'll talk about how that fire is affecting your drive through san jose. >> and fog-free conditions right now. still tracking the chance of seeing some rare september rain showers. your microclimate forecast is still ahead. >> let's get things started on the right note this morning. a live picture of the bay bridge all lit up, folks in these early morning hours going back and forth between the east bay and the city. this is tuesday, september 16th and you are watching "today in the bay." >> announcer: from nbc bay area, this is