ad lib live picture-- christmas in the pa it is friday morning. we made it. we have to make it through, taking a live look outside and maybe christmas in the park is in the plan for the weekend. it's a cold start. hoping for a nice finish. good morning, thank you for joining us, i'm laura garcia. >> we are going to start with weather. it is a spare the air day. it is chewy out there. >> all because of the wildfires smoke coming up from southern california. even though it's cold outside, no wood burning as we are going to have moderate air qualities. limit your time outside especially if you have breathing problems. this is for the whole bay area. right now, the temperatures are one degree above freezing in

fairfield. it's 41 in san jose and palo alto. 37 in morgan hill. through the day, it warms up. we are in the upper 60s to low 70s for the bay area. mike is tracking details on the bay bridge. >> something. we know it's a big rig. look at the speed sensors, they are moving around the bay. we expect friday to start lighter. we look at eastbound 80. the lower deck moves smoothly until the treasure island off ramp. reports of a big rig blocking that off ramp. it's been there since 2:30. then another report came up. checking with chp to sort out what the status is. the exit may be an issue getting out from san francisco. i'm going to track that. the light volume is no problem. back to you. thank you, mike. we are keeping our eye on southern california with developing news.

strong winds cause concern. those wildfires continue to grow. they are live pictures from the thomas fire in ventura county. you can see it glowing as we look at the fire fighting efforts. footage showing the dangers they are facing. again, the thomas fire on the ground. the flames shooting out of the house there. >> the thomas fire one of six massive fires burning at this hour from san diego to ventura. southern california on fire this morning. all the fires burned more than 140,000 acres so far and 200,000 people have evacuated. 500 structures destroyed, many are homes. there's more danger ahead. a red flag warning in effect through the weekend. jodi hernandez has been on the front lines of the thomas fire all week. she has more from ojai. >> reporter: the fire shows no sign of slowing down. we are here in ojai valley, where you can see the fire fight

is in full force and seems like this could be seen throughout the ojai valley. at this point, firefighters have no idea when they will get a handle on it. the relentless thomas fire has firefighters waging battle for the fourth straight night. >> the last 36 hours, there's been a real increase in fire activity to the north, the east, the south of ojai. >> reporter: the unpredictable winds are fanning the flames, pushing them toward homes. protecting a spanish estate called ojai vista farms known for the tranquil environment, but not right now. from the road below, residents have been nervously watching. now the red flag warning has been extended through sunday. >> it's been exhausting. right now, we are tired. i have been up pretty much for

three days straight. >> i have been here 20-something years. i'm from back east. if this was a blizzard, i would know what to do. fires are unpredictable and frightening. >> reporter: frightening is right. 50,000 people remain evacuated. the red flag warning has been extended through sunday. that means extreme fire danger through the weekend. in ventura county, jodi hernandez, "today in the bay." >> we had a lot of support when the north bay wildfires erupted. southern california needs our help. if you would like to help the victims of the fires, we have made it easy. go to our website, www.nbcbayarea.com, click on a link on our home page. >> this morning, police are looking at how a patient from a psychiatric hospital went out and on a dangerous escape. the man seen in this video was under a 72 hour psychiatric hold

in john george hospital. he tried to carjack two cars at a nearby hospital, assaulting a teen and elderly man in the process. then he started running across highway 580 and eventually clipped by a car. suffering minor injuries, officers arrested him. police have not identified that patient. the coroner is examining a woman's body found naked. a bicyclist discovered the body. that's all detectives know at this point. a coroner will determine if there was foul play involved. gilroy police say this man is armed and dangerous. this is jay vasquez. a suspect in the deadly shooting of another man last week. gilroy's first homicide of the year. investigators believe the crime is gang related. if you have information, call gilroy pd.

>> it is 4:35. bart says it is on track to run almost entirely on renewable energy. examiner reports new plans for wind and solar energy agreement. 90% of the energy bart uses will be from renew able resources by 2021. whole foods goes budget. where they opened a bargain store in the bay area. the first such store in the region. 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.

an unusual takeover robbey. security is tightening at the popular gilroy outlets after an unusual takeover robbery. >> a man backed up to the back door of lane bryant u called the phone saying he was a u.p.s. driver. they opened the door and he threatened the employees with a gun. locked them in a bathroom and took cash from the register. how the suspect made sure the workers stayed out of the way. >> he pushed the filing cabinet in front of the door, said he was sorry, have a merry christmas. they are looking for seven suspects that smashed the front door of the sun glass hut, grabbed the items and left. >> going to bring prices down at the pricey whole foods after buying the grocery chain. look at this. the grand opening of whole foods 365 store in concord. it is the company's first budget grocery store in the bay area.

but, are things really cheaper? how much is a gallon of milk? you tell us. >> let us know. coming up on "today in the bay." >> we are going to have a look at the forecast with kari. another chilly start, but don't start a fire. >> don't do that. we'll have warming temperatures through the day. a live look outside at christmas in the park. coming from santa clara to christmas in the park, look at these temperatures in the mid-60s. by early afternoon, it will be nice. let's talk about the weekend on the other side of the break. look, we are looking across the other side of the bay. the taillights move smoothly across the bridge. i have issues for both directions across the bay bridge. we'll have that coming up.

good morning, i'm landon dowdy, live at cnbc headquarters. wall street could end on a high note. yump is in the green this morning after they struck a deal to create a smoother path for britain to exit the european union. the dow broke a two-day losing streak. they are awaiting november jobs. it's expected to show a hiring

increase. the dow raising 70 points to 24,211, the naz back up 36 to 6812. launch a subscription music service. warner music signed on. youtube is in talks with sony and universal and independent labels. they will join a very crowded market with the likes of apple, spotify and others. youtube has an ad free service, which offers exclusive content. hilton will start smart hotel rooms. you can check in, choose a room, open your door with an app based digital key with the honors app. you can control the lights, blinds and thermostat from your phone and control the remote. future plans include voice commands for room controls and a way to upload and display your

own art work. >> cool. >> that is cool. >> i can control the light in my sister's room at my dad's house. awesome. legos taking over. this is lego real. the show starts today, runs through the weekend at the museum of american heritage in palo alto. $3 to get in. take the kids, they would love this. >> are the trains made out of legos? >> yeah. >> i tell people about it every year and i forget what weekend it is. thank goodness. >> this weekend. >> all right. >> but you can't touch anything? >> they are not a lego build, they are a lego look. >> my son would go crazy. i can't go. >> if they are looking that way, sometimes -- >> they should have a play area. maybe they do. >> maybe so. we are all trying to find things to do this weekend. it's going to be nice once these temperatures warm up.

it is cold now. we are having to bundle up to stay warm. 41 degrees right now in san jose. we have some spots that dipped back into the 30s. let's take a look at the high temperaturings that make it feel warmer. as we are going to have our high in east san jose, up to 67 degrees. the seven day forecast on the bottom of the screen. 64 degrees in walnut creek and 65 in oakland and hayward. san mateo, 64 degrees. san francisco, up to 66 in the mission district and north bay, highs there in the upper 60s by this afternoon. 65 degrees in navato. christmas in the park, we are talking a cold start. as you are getting dressed, wear layers once again. it's a good one if you have a scarf and a warm coat. then, later on today, you'll be taking off the layers once we make it to the upper 60s and low 70s. light, long sleeves, lightweight

and pants would be a good choice once again this afternoon. so, let's talk about what the weather set up is right now. we still have a large area of high pressure. it's kept us dry throughout the week, windy in southern california and we will still see more of that for the weekend. so, really unusual that we are going to continue on with beach weather for the weekend. low 70s in santa cruz all weekend long. san francisco, 60s and mostly sunny skies. no rain in the seven day forecast, everyone through the end of next week. it may be the end of the month before we see showers once the high pressure moves. i'll keep you up to date on that. mike, you are tracking two issues? >> two things for chp and we have the ongoing closure for lane 14, one of those cash lanes. we have seen this be the pattern all week. this happened last saturday, of course. it will remain closed off the

880. there's the cash lane back up on the right. let's take you to the map. one of the issues on the bay bridge will be getting out of san francisco. eastbound 80 toward treasure island, reports of a disabled vehicle on the off ramp. a bigger issue trying to move the remaining vehicle from the treasure island gate. i'm not sure of the status of the off ramp. it's open. we don't know if there's vehicles on the shoulder. updates from chp once they give that information. getting into san francisco, the westbound commute. an issue, far left lane. reports of another incident there. a minor crash. again, we are tracking that. we are tracking the rest of the bay. no other issues besides the two on the bay bridge. the lanes appear to be moving smoothly over the water. watch for flashing lights. back to you. >> thanks so much. 4:48. a follow up for you. learning troubling details about

a gas leak that led to an explosion in san francisco. happened in burn el heights a week ago. the leak starpted in a pipeline that is no longer part of the utilities functional system. pg&e has a system for measuring line pressure and flow. it was not triggered in this case. it will have more answers in weeks. silicon valley and san francisco tech companies will not just be hiring catering services, but models for their holiday party. model agencies are sending good looking young women to tech parties this year. companies are paying up to $200 per hour per model. this is happening, yes, in 2017. the job is chat up party goers. they deny them if they request

cleavage. abaloan fish sg shut down. it's after a majority of them were found dead or starving. sea urchins wiping out the supply. it will take years for the abaloan to recover. the ban will have a big impact. fans are comparing 49ers quarterback to a football legend. is it too early? hear what he has to say about it. coming up, nbc bay area responds. >> the salesman says buying instead of leasing will cost less. why did she pay more? i'm chris chmura. nbc bay area responds, next. hollywood director brian singer is dee nearbying sexual allegations. accused of raping a 17-year-old.

he was fired as the director about a bioptic about queen. 1.2 million people in savannah are one step away from famine. the report says by next year, half of the country's population will be reliant on emergency food aid. we'll be back in two minutes with more news.

her hair's a hot mess. her eyes are like... "oh, i'm late for work. i have to go." your dunkin' doesn't make you, you, but it helps. dunkin' donuts coffee. pick some up where you buy groceries.

mateo bridge on this friday welcome back to "today in the bay" on this friday morning. checking traffic on the san mateo bridge this friday morning. it's flowing along. people up and out the door. mike inouye will join us with a complete look at all the bay area traffic roadways. it's coming up at the top of the hour. nbc bay area responds to a

concord woman who says she was sold a cell phone plan. who hasn't heard that one before? >> the plan saved her nothing. instead, it cost her more. we made calls to help out. leasing four cell phones for her family. she says sprint told her she could lower her bill if she bought the phones instead of leasing them. she said, okay. why not? when she got her next bill, it ha had gone up. she asked sprint why. they said she had to pay a monthly subsidy fee for buying the phone. she challenged the fee. sprint didn't budge. she requested our assistance. when we asked sprint about her account and the subsidy fee, it cleared things upright away. she says sprint told her that subsidy fee was a mistake and

recalculated the bill. in a statement, sprint apologized for her inconvenience and miscommunication. sprint said we are grateful she chose to stay with sprint and we have successfully resolved the issue. if you have a consumer complaint, call us, 888-996-tips or log on to www.nbcbayarea.com/responds. >> thank you, chris. bart coming to san jose. aboveground and under ground. several agencies have begun the process for how deep the tunnelling should go and whether it would hurt bart on the surface. they would like a single, deeper tunnel. >> when the street is going to be such a mess like that, nobody going to get out of their offices and come and eat. >> the two sides are negotiating which agency is going to get to make the call. dta is responsible for building

it, bart will maintain and operate it. the goal for completion remains 2026. jimmy started. joe montana started in 150 and won four super bowls. >> keeping fans from comparing the two, jimmy g. now called jimmy cool as in joe cool. he was asked about the comparison and puts brakes on such talk. >> i try not to listen to the outside stuff. we are both italian, we have that in common. >> he will get a chance to impress fans sunday. the 49ers play houston sunday. >> he's modest. coming up next on "today in the bay," another cold start to the morning. >> cold morning, but already heating up as we get a look at all the people out there, heading out the door this morning. i want to show you the

temperatures in oakland. 44 degrees to start at 8:00. rising into the upper 60s in some parts of the bay area. looking at today's forecast, 70 degrees in half-moon bay. we'll talk about the weekend and what's ahead, coming up next. we are looking at a smooth drive. here is fremont. no problems southbound 880 would be the headlights here coming past tesla and the truck scale. the northbound side, an issue farther up in oakland and an update for the bay bridge, coming up. wildfires raging across southern california. it's not just homes, horses were trapped in the flames. the loss for horses and ranchers. the live look outside in san rafael. this is certainly not san rafael. we have had our fair share of those fires. that's the big "s" curve. hang in there, the weekend is coming.

a live look outside at san a very happy friday to you. good morning to you. a look outside at san francisco where it is a spare the air day and, in fact, will be all weekend. happy friday, nonetheless.

i'm scott mcgrew. marcus washington has the day off. >> i'm laura garcia. >> we are going to have another morning with 30s and low 40s as you get ready to head out the door, once again, a spare the air alert day. that continues through monday. we will have moderate air quality into the wildfires. you have probably seen the orange/pink hugh hews to the skies. looking at 33 degrees in fairfield and 40 in oakland. san francisco, upper 40s. by noon, milder. we'll talk about what's ahead for the weekend, coming up. mike is giving us better news out of san francisco. >> out of san francisco, the lower deck of the bay bridge, no slowing. no problem at the treasure island off