burned like a wick, straight down the fence. >> the battle continues. firefighters are still struggling to contain the wildfires across the north bay. this morning, evacuation advisories are expanding and thousands of homes threatened. nbc bay area coverage continues now. >> good morning, i'm marcus washington. >> i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. firefighters are hoping to gain ground on the devastating wildfires raging across the north bay. conditions are expected to turn severe again later today. some of the new developments, while you were sleeping, a new evacuation advisory for what many call the heart of wine country. flames to the east of highway 29

are moving toward the napa wineries. an area where the renowned prince laundry restaurant is included in that evacuation order. so far, though, not mandatory. >> a number of fire related deaths in california is now 31, making this the deadliest week for wildfires in the state's history. the number of confirmed deaths is now 17. authorities identified some of the victims last night. here is a detailed look at the fronts firefighters are looking at for five wildfire that is burned more than 100,000 acres in three counties. >> some evacuations are being allowed to return home, there are concerns about a red flag warning later tonight and running through tomorrow. >> vianey arana kicks off team coverage with the unpredictable conditions awaiting firefighters. another red flag warning in effect later today. >> that's right.

this is a new red flag warning. we had one that expired yesterday. it became a red flag watch, now a red flag warning. the reason is the winds are expected to kick up again and bring the threat of the wildfires quickly spreading southward, expecting the dry, northerly wind. the tubbs fire, 34,000 acres. the adobe fire, over 7,000 acres, the atlas fire growing at over 40,000 acres. as of now, the threat of this spreading is going to spark up that concern, which is why the warning is in place for 5:00 p.m. tonight through 11:00 p.m. tomorrow. we are expecting the gustiest conditions, unfortunately, to be in the north bay mountains and east bay hills. with the relative low humidity, this is a concern. we are talking about all those evacuations with all those places south of all those

wildfires currently burning. i'll have an update on what to expect in terms of the wind coming up in a bit. >> thank you. 4:32 now. new this morning, this is a new tool that people in santa rosa have to see if their homes are still standing. the city of santa rosa has a new interactive satellite map of the devastated cities. we are zooming into the coffey park neighborhood to show you the damage there. a lot of folks likely doing the same. you can see the rows and rows of home that is are just gone. for your information, the red-shaded areas, not fire, but vegetation to make that distinction. we did post a link to this map online add www.nbcbayarea.com. at this moment, hundreds of firefighters are on the front line this morning. now, we are learning of the first reported injury. a helicopter rescued an injured firefighter on the top of atlas peak. the firefighter was on an atv when it rolled.

he fell off and injured his head. he is expected to make a full recovery. the town of calistoga, near the top of napa county is still not in the clear. >> it remains a ghost town. last check t tubbs fire was burning north of the downtown area on state road 29 but burning toward lake county. some folks in calistoga decided not to leave, people like greg winter that is are going to try to protect their homes by any means necessary. >> ash, but nothing ember wise. we are trying to defend the property. it's been in the family since the '70s. >> 5,000 people live in calistoga and we should get an update on the evacuations later this morning. firefighters continue to battle the stubborn flames. evacuees are allowed to return home. sadly, some of them are finding there is nothing left. there is a lot of damage and no

power in the silverado country chub neighborhood. >> jean elle is in napa with a story. >> reporter: the good news is people living near the silverado country club can come home. things are far from normal. there is a lot of fire damage. most people do not have power. some evacuees are coming home to check on their houses. many homes have smoke damage inside. you can see how the atlas peak fire just missed some homes and destroyed others nearby. people who have a house to come home to are filled with mixed emotions. >> i'm very thankful we have a house. so blessed. really hard when your neighbors are going through such a hard time. >> many residents say they won't be moving home until the power a back and smoke damage addressed. now, they are concerned about security. pg&e says there are 5,000 people in napa without power.

crews are here working to change that to bring the lights on. there is no estimate when that will happen. jean elle, nbc bay area news. >> the investigative unit shows why there is speculation the fire may have started after trees fell into power lines and transformers. now, the investigation of pg&e's tree cutting and maintenance program. they have been under fire for how they decide which trees to cut. the p.u.c. ordered pg&e to preserve all. investigative reporter, jackson bender has been looking into the story. for more information log on to our website, www.nbcbayarea.com and click on the investigative tab. there, you will find the story at the top of the page. in other breaking news, a big rig fire inside the caldecott tunnel at 12:30 this

morning. a dump truck crashed and cut fire inside the caldecott. two lanes are still closed. officials say the truck was hauling a load headed to san francisco, from concord. the fire started inside the engine. stopped to get out to inspect it and the whole truck was engulfed. fortunately, nobody was hurt. coming up, breaking news coverage continues as we have the difficult task to identify the victims of the north bay wildfires. we'll tell you of the challenges authorities are facing. who are these people?

the energy conscious people among us say small actions can add up to something... humongous. a little thing here. a little thing there. starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. who are all these caretakers, advocates too? turns out, it's californians it's me and it's you. don't stop now, it's easy to add to the routine. join energy upgrade california and do your thing.

you )re watching today in the by -- on this friday morning. welcome back. the time, 4:40. you are watching "today in the bay" this friday morning. the week may be coming to an end, but the heart ache is just beginning. our breaking news coverage of the deadly north bay wildfires continue now. the fires started sunday night. here we have, five days later and still talking about the flames spreading. devastation is hard to comprehend. >> much of what we see will be repaired and rebuilt. one permanent part of all of this will always be the tremendous loss of life. "today in the bay's", garvin thomas reports on the gut wrenching part of this tragedy. >> reporter: there is a time in every disaster when the numbers turn into names. >> we have a total of 17 fatalities now. that's our count. >> reporter: the sheriff reading off the names of ten of sonoma

county's confirmed 17 victims. >> lynn anderson powell. >> reporter: though, nothing more than names, ages and hometowns were shared. a picture of the victim and their discovery began to emerge. most were found in their homes. one beside their vehicle. all were older. the youngest, 57. the oldest, 95. some were not easy to identify. the devastation of these fires was often absolute leaving little behind. >> we were able to get identification in some of those cases by medical device. so, the hip implant, for example, has a serial number on it. when you find the ashes, you can use that to identify person. >> reporter: as for those still missing, that number remains in the hundreds. the sheriff is confident most of those will turn up safely. he certainly does not want to read many more names.

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. coming up on "today in the bay," vianey arana is in fair kari hall tracking the wind conditions in the north bay and the forecast for the weekend. >> it will be breezy, raising a big concern into tonight. specifically, into the overnight hours. that red flag warning kicks in at 5:00 p.m. we'll have a break down of when to see the strongest winds just after the break. i'll give you the latest options for the north bay fire zone. we are looking over here off the maze. a truck fire, a dump truck fire closed the caldecott tunnel. we'll give you the latest on that as well. ♪ ooh ooh ooh. ♪ making it ♪ thick, carved turkey breast. the autumn carved turkey is back for a limited time at subway. so much turkey.

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♪ making it ♪ thick, carved turkey breast. the autumn carved turkey is back for a limited time at subway. so much turkey. right now - hundds 4:45. our coverage of the deadly north bay fire continues. right now, hundreds of firefighters and crews including inmates are on the front line trying to contain these flames. many are concerned the winds will pick back up. we will check in with vianey arana on the conditions in a bit. >> messages of hope when things seemed so dark. posters and images like this one popping up throughout the fire zone. this one in sonoma says it love in the air is thicker than the smoke. the #sonomaproud. this one, police badge is all that retired santa rosa police officer had left after flames destroyed his home. so many officers and

firefighters lost their homes in these fires as well. the police department sharing this picture with #santarosa, strong. this may be the biggest symbol of hope. the american flag with promises of better days ahead. >> nice to see those images to provide hope. >> folks are looking forward, but can't seem to look forward enough because it's not even out. >> we are looking at already another red flag warning today? >> yeah. it's going to be another dangerous situation. the wind gusts are expected to kick in overnight again. much like it initially started last weekend when the fires broke out when people were sleeping. that's when we are expecting to see the gustiest of the conditions. we'll take you tlau time line of that and look ahead. right now, a number of active fires still burning, unfortunately, at this hour.

tubbs fire at just over 34,000 acres. pocket fire, over 8,000 acres. adobe fire, over 7,000 acres. the atlas fire over 40,000 acres. now, right now that threat is still there and the winds are fairly calm now that humidity recovered overnight. as we go into the later portion of tonight and saturday morning, we are going to kick up that big concern yet again because the winds, once again, blowing from the north/northeast is going to bring the possibility of spreading the fires south. that is why a red flag warning was issued and kicked in. last night a watch, now a warning. the gustest of the conditions in the mountains and east bay hills once again between 30 and 40 miles per hour. let's talk about that time line. the peak wind gusts nice and calm. perfect timing as of now for the kind of firefighters to get ahead of this because it will stay fairly calm.

unfortunately, as we fast forward through the night hours, take a look at 9:30. the winds picking up in fairfield at 16 miles per hour. this is where i have the biggest concern at 2:00 a.m. saturday morning, look alt these wind gusts. napa, once again, 30 miles per hour. fairfield, 34 miles per hour. even in santa rosa. it will stay that way through saturday, which is why the temperature trend is nice and cool. but, on saturday morning, we are expecting warmer conditions. unfortunately, that's where the air is going to be. a dangerous situation for the next several days. we are looking ahead at a little recovery as we head into the next seven days. that is because we are tracking the chance of seeing rain, much needed rain ahead on a thursday. let's go ahead and get a check of traffic with mike. >> all right, i want to take you right to this. this is a fire, but not in the wildfire zone. this is the tunnel.

the rig, itsz. it was carrying, basically a dump truck carrying the cargo. see the damage. they had to close eastbound highway 24. the caldecott from oakland to aredskin da as they put the fire out. now, they have to clean that up. as we look at the map, we have eastbound highway 24 from highway 15 being cleared up. the sweeper trucks are cleaning up. we have one eastbound lane. the earlier slowing fluctuating entering the tunnel. westbound toward san francisco, that operates normal. that's okay. we will track it closely. i-80 remains open coming through the fairfield area. no problems on the freeway. look at all the fire zones and the evacuations we talked about. stay out of the evacuation zones. those continue with the closures. if you don't have business going into the area, stay out.

the transit agencies continue to change what they are able to provide for people trying to get around the area. sonoma county transit bringing limited operation yesterday, completely shut down the rest of the agencies are standard. santa rosa city bus, the vine service and smart train offering limited service through at least sunday. back to you. >> thanks, mike. 4:50. would an emergency notification system helped with evacuations in sonoma county? the question a lot of people are asking. they opted not to use a widespread message to go to cell phones when raging wildfires approached homes. they used a dichb system. the county says this move could have caused panic for people not in danger and created gridlock. some residents complained they never got emergency warnings. no word if those who died in the fire received notification or not. the insurance claims are rolling in for burned homes in

the north bay. state farm tells us, it's received 2,000 homeowner insurance claims and 900 autoclaims. agents are helping customers at some evacuation centers like the findlay community center in santa rosa. they are advising anyone evacuated to keep receipts for living expenses during the evacuation because they can be reimbursed. >> concerns disaster relief could be delayed compared to the response for other natural disasters. >> tamela harris is looking at speeding up the response. >> it's tragic. people are losing their homes with very little notice. it is historic. >> reporter: is the federal response, right now, what it

should be? >> i'm doing an assessment of that. i am concerned we have not, we need a smarter system that unlocked the federal dollars quicker, so that the states especially who deal with fire danger as opposed to other natural disasters can have the relief and not have to continuely request it. >> senator harris says she is troubled by president trump's budget cost that slashes fema's funding by $600 million. now, a live look at washington, d.c., where president trump is promising to start the clock on a controversial plan to kill the iran nuclear deal. the president, today, later is expected to say that he will not certify that iran is holding up its end of the deal on the next steps after that are still uncertain. president trump previously slammed the deal with iran, calling it completely drawn. if he does follow through on

that plan, it would trigger a 60-day countdown for congress to make the next move. his own staff seems to disagree with the idea, including chief of staff, john kelly. >> the deal that was struck under the previous administration is a deal that in the median and long term will protect america. >> many believe the end result would further isolate america from its allies. iran leaders say if the deal fails, the u.s. would lose global credibility. next on "today in the bay," the fight for canyon bridge can reopen today. it's been completely rebuilt after it was damaged last winter. even though you can use the bridge, you won't get very far. we'll tell you about another problem down the road. first, happening now, a 3.0 earthquake hit gilroy around 4:15 this morning. no reports of injuries or damage. plus, the u.s. and canadian

family rescueed from the taliban left pakistan. officials have not said where they were heading. they were kidnapped in 2012. they had their three children while in captivity. morning..

all the smoke from the north bay wire 4:56. a live look at sfo this morning. all that smoke from the north bay wildfires impacting the airport. more than 100 flights were canceled because of low visibility. as of today, make sure you check

your flight status ahead of time. new video into the news room, napa police are looking for these three men who robbed a cvs store. it happened wednesday evening at the cvs and transit street. the men stole about $4,000 of items from the store. officers think they were involved in a similar robbery attempt at cvs in el dorado. the bridge in big sir is expected to reopen. caltrains says they will open today as crews work around the clock to make repairs. the $24 million bridge repair, one that was damaged by the mudslides during the intense rain earlier this year. the old bridge was demolished in march. highway 1 is still blocked 30 miles south of the new bridge because of another slide. a new road is being built or built on top of the slide and is expected to open next summer.

>> it was a long summer this summer without visiting big sir. missed it. coming up on "today in the bay," vianey arana is tracking a red flag warning tonight. >> overnight, the cooler temperatures and recovery did help. temperatures remained fairly cool in napa at about 35 degrees. however, that red flag warning will kick in tonight. i'm talk about the breakdown of the wind speeds in a bit. as we look at the north bay, of course we are tracking the vicinity of the wildfire and tracking the garbage truck fire in the caldecott. good progrisz. we may have clearing. we'll update that, coming up. hours for firefighters in the

north bay.. and the danger isn another gruelling 24 hours for firefighters in the north bay and the danger is far from over. flames continue to spread in napa, sonoma, solano counties as crews continue to struggle to get ground on the stubborn wildfires. overnight, a new evacuation advisory in napa county as the escalating threat to more homes and world famous wineries continue this morning. nbc's coverage of the wildfires continues now. thank you for joining us on this friday morning. i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. this is the deadliest week for wildfires in history. firefighters are masking a full on or making a