>> and they're not just battling flames but also exhaustion. firefighters in the north bay talk about being pushed to the max as help finally begins to arrive. meanwhile, that fire close to becoming the largest in state history as most people are preparing to evacuate at this hour. the news starts right now. we're on a bit early tonight because of nhl playoffs. good afternoon. i'm garvin thomas. >> i'm terry mcsweeney. worsening air quality around the bay area today. you probably noticed as fires continue to burn. now crews are racing to control as much of the flames as they can before more troubling weather moves in. our skyranger was just over the collection of fires up in the north bay. this is near lake berryessa. you can see some of the destruction this fire has left behind. four people have died in the lnu complex fire. at 314,000 acres, it is now the second largest fire in state history. a slice of good news, it's 15% contained, but crews have not announced if they've gained any

ground today. >> now, along the coast, overnight fog helped firefighters finally gain some ground on the czu complex fire. that's the one burning in san mateo and santa cruz county. here's a look at what crews are up against. flames have scorched some 63,000 acres, containment is at 5%, up from 2% last night. an update is set for 6:00. we will stream that for you on nbcbayarea.com. this map shows you where the fires are burning. nearly 670,000 acres burning in our region alone. 1 million acres statewide. >> from the fire lines to evacuations to the threat of wind and lightning, we are covering the fires from all angles. we begin our coverage with nbc bay area's roz plater in santa cruz county with more on the firefight there. >> reporter: cal fire says it has more resources on the way, more crews, more equipment. and in one ben lomond neighborhood, they say they need more help.

>> it's as simple as that, getting down to the work. >> reporter: mark showing us how he and his neighbors have been using hand tools to help protect their homes. >> we've saved a lodge. we've saved about 20-something cabins over here. right now we're trying to save this house up here. >> reporter: and he says they haven't seen a fire crew since yesterday. >> i know they're at their limit, so everybody's doing what they can do. >> reporter: at a morning briefing, cal fire said it has more than 1,100 personnel battling the massive czu lightning complex fire but is on tap to get extra help. >> we do have out of state resources assigned and coming to this incident. >> reporter: we spotted southern california crews trying to protect this home in the brookdale neighborhood off highway 9. but people who live in this mountain community are still worried. many spent the night trying to save their homes any way they could, and there are already painful reminders of how devastating the fire has been. one of hendricks' neighbors

tweeted at governor newsom to send in the national guard. >> but, yeah, we'll take the national guard. have a few guys come up here, 10 or 20. we could save another 20 houses up here. >> reporter: in ben lomond, i'm roz plater, nbc bay area news. in the north bay, exhaustion becoming a major concern for crews as we have been reporting, many firefighters are spending 48 hours on the fire line, usually they spend 24. cal fire says there should be 3,000 firefighters in the lnu fire alone. instead they're forced to battle the flames with only half that many. >> so we continue to ask for help and more help comes in. but you're right. 48 hours, 72 hours these folks have been on the line. they need the rest, and we're trying to get that for them. it's very important we take care of these firefighters. >> cal fire says firefighters from ten other states and two other countries are coming to california to provide help and relief for those firefighters. now, one of the fires making up the lnu fire, that crews are

most concerned about, is the wall bridge fire burning near guerneville and healdsburg. this time-lapse video shows flames raging overnight. more evacuations have been ordered. nbc bay area's pete suratos joins us live from windsor with more. pete. >> reporter: that's right, garvin. we have a number of evacuation warnings and evacuation orders in place as a result of the wall bridge fire. in fact, we're standing here in this windsor neighborhood off of windsor river road. this is just under an evacuation warning, but just west of us, there actually is an evacuation order in place. but folks in this neighborhood, despite it being a warning, aren't taking any chances. in fact, here's some video of one man we spoke to. he was packing up earlier. looking on this block now, it looks like he was able to finally pack up and leave. he's leaving to be with some family in the rohnert park area. >> he says he actually moved to this side of windsor after he had to evacuate on the other side of town last year when he was dealing with the kincade

fire. now, despite the move to this location, he's once again evacuating. >>i >> i thought this was going to come in october or something like that. this is really early. the weather has been crazy, man. we're living in weird times right now, man. five years back, there was no fires every year, and now it seems like every year is record fires every year. >> reporter: now, the wall bridge fire is a part of that lnu complex, and currently it's at more than 50,000 acres. but cal fire says we're going to keep a close eye on these conditions before deciding on any more evacuation orders or warnings throughout this area. >> keeping an eye on the conditions. what exactly is cal fire saying about what they expect as far as changes? >> reporter: yeah, garvin. i actually got a chance to speak with cal fire not too long ago, and they tell me that the winds are shifting for the first time when it comes to the wall bridge fire. they're saying it is shifting northeast, so that is big news

for them as far as battling this fire or containing this fire. they said the areas they're going to focus on are west of healdsburg and also along dry creek valley. those are the areas of concern heading into this afternoon as well as this evening. but he did point out, cal fire, that there have been a number of air drops in the area so apparently they were anticipating this type of movement when it comes to those winds. >> pete suratos, thank you very much. air quality continues to be a big concern for just about everybody in the bay area, and you're looking at why. a live look from our cameras in san jose, and emeryville. wow, it is really bad on the emeryville camera. this map shows air quality in the bay area. this is yesterday morning. most of the region in the moderate range. not good but not terrible. today, though, look at this. most of the bay area now red. that's unhealthy air quality. that's not the only with these fires. let's bring in vianey arana, who is tracking it all for us. bad air is one thing, but now

we've got more lightning coming in? >> yeah, the possibility of more lightning and another round of fast-moving thunderstorms. and when we see that happening, that could also mean the potential for locally gusty conditions as those storms continue to move through. so right now we've been talking about that air quality. it's about 82 degrees in san jose. i want to show you this quick look at that air quality index. it shows you sort of the color range. notice how san jose right now probably one of the worst air qualities. i even saw some numbers over the 300 mark in that purple range, at 255 in san jose. we are expecting changes heading into tomorrow. satellite radar, it may look calm right now. but i want to zoom it out so i can point your attention towards the south. you can see that churning that. that is what was hurricane genevieve. that low pressure system, remnants are going to be pushing from the south up to the north, and that plume of moisture is what's going to drive the potential for those thunderstorms for tomorrow, which is why that original fire

watch from this morning was upgraded to a red flag warning starting at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow, impacting us really for the next couple of days. i'll go into more detail coming up in my full forecast. terry. >> vianey, thank you very much. we have dramatic video to show you of a rescue in marin county. this time it was firefighters themselves in need of help. two firefighters battling the woodward fire were trapped on a ridgeline with the fire advancing and winds starting to gust around 8:00 last night. the fire is burning in point reyes national seashore. the sonoma county sheriff's department said its henry 1 helicopter, the only chopper in the region capable of doing this kind of rescue at night. now, listening to the tape, you can hear urgency in the tactical flight officer's voices as he tells firefighters they need to do exactly as he says and leave their packs behind. the fire is just over the ridge. the crew was able to lift all three to safety at the same time. the woodward fire has burned more than 2,200 acres, and it is 5% contained. people in san jose, morgan

hill, and gilroy continue to closely watch the scu complex fire. it is now the third largest in the history of california. nbc bay area's christie smith has been speaking with firefighters and neighbors and joins us live from morgan hill with more on that story. christie. >> reporter: well, cal fire tells us that overnight humidity levels were good, at least at the lower elevations, but it stayed warm and dry at the higher elevations. now, today we talked with people who are under evacuation warnings and those who weren't but maybe live in the general area. either way, people told us they did have a plan to go. >> before they kind of made us a warning -- >> reporter: in the jackson oaks neighbor, john and leslie have been checking the latest fire information for the hills above morgan hill. their neighborhood remains under an evacuation warning, and they're ready. >> documents like certain personal belongings that you really wouldn't want to lose. right now we currently have them

in our car, so if we really need to leave, it's already packed and we're ready to go. >> we also have a first aid kit on hand, water, and then just some -- what is it? canned food just in case. >> reporter: from their hill, they can see smoke in the distance. elsewhere skies are hazy. >> that fire has been stopped by this dozer line right here, and predominantly the winds are traveling this way right now. >> reporter: mitch matlow is working for cal fire and had maps of the fires that make up the scu lightning complex. he answered questions for neighbors in east san jose and let them know about concerns this weekend. >> tomorrow we are expecting a change in wind directions and the potential for dry lightning. >> reporter: jerry is not in an evacuation area but keeps up with the latest information from home and stops by. >> we're trying to understand do we still need to be on alert, or are we out of the woods yet? >> reporter: now, it is a

warning again for jackson oaks, but people were encouraged to consider leaving because basically there is just one exit. and, again, firefighters say they are keeping an eye on the weather, on the wind. reporting live in morgan hill, christie smith, nbc bay area news. governor newsom visiting volunteers in vacaville earlier today. the world central kitchen is helping feed firefighters, first responders, and evacuees. the governor posted this video to his twitter account a few hours ago and he is saying, quote, seeing the volunteers here filled me with nothing but hope. new at 4:00, the cow palace is being turned into an evacuation center for animals. the peninsula humane society is fin finding shelter. the cow palace is one of several facilities they've secured for this massive effort. it's not just pets being housed there. wildlife displaced by the fire also getting care. basically any animal rescued from the fire zone is heading to the cow palace.

now, these fires of course have forced thousands of people out of their homes and that includes my family. so what do you have to do if you're going to evacuate? well, i've broken it down in a two-minute video. we've posted if on our website, nbcbayarea.com. if you think you know everything you need to know about evacuations, check out garvin's post. up next, protecting homes from more than just the flames. why this man is not evacuating his neighborhood. and people were told to stay away, so did they? we check out the coast.

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we want to show you another view from our nbc bay area sky ranger. it's over the lnu complex fire. it's up in the north bay. you're looking at places where there used to be homes. the fire is burning in napa, sonoma, solano counties. this is from near lake berryessa. the fire that was known as the hennessey fire ripped through neighborhoods there. it's part of that entire

complex. the lnu complex fire has burned some 314,000 acres, and it is 15% contained. as firefighters work tirelessly around the clock to put out the flames, some people are taking matters into their own hands to protect their homes and neighborhoods. this is will cook. he lives in boulder creek, where flames from the czu fire have destroyed homes and forced mass evacuations. he says he's been keeping an eye on hot spots and doing what he can to put them out. one challenge he's running into, there aren't any fire hydrants near him, so he's using water from a nearby creek to put out the flames. cook is also worried about looters coming into the abandoned area. >> there is also a potential for looting, and our presence here for myself and for my other neighbors is kind of an important thing. we look out for each other. >> cook says he hasn't seen any looters in his neighborhood, but just yesterday santa cruz county deputies announced they have made five looting arrests.

over on the coast, people headed to the beach in half moon bay despite those beaches being closed. take a look at the crowd. a lot of people doing it. san mateo county leaders urged visitors to please stay away, hoping to prevent problems on evacuation routes, give first responders a little bit more room. but as you can see, folks showed up today in half moon bay, hoping to beat the heat and the poor air quality. the county sheriff's department is not enforcing the closures because they don't have any officers to spare. these fires, they aren't just forcing people out of their homes. the neighborhood this mountain lion ended up in along with a new wawarning.

check this out. a surveillance camera caught this mountain lion wandering in a san bruno neighborhood. this happened about 2:00 yesterday morning. you can see the big cat just hanging around someone's driveway. san bruno says the fires are forcing mountain lions and other

animals to leave their usual habitats. making sure a historic northern california observatory remains safe during these fires. you can see san luis obispo fire crews continuing to mop up hot spots after the main scu fire front burned right around the lick observatory. this is of course to keep those hot spots from flaring back up. here is also a look from above. the lick observatory, you can see the smoke right in the background of it. the observatory still there. it's 133 years old. okay. it seems like many of the firefighters across the region have caught a break with the weather the past couple of days, but we want to bring vianey arana in right now because i know there are questions about what the next few days are going to look like and what that means for these fires. vianey? >> hey there, garvin. one of our biggest concerns is going to be heading into tomorrow. a red flag warning has been issued, and we are tracking this very closely. let's take a look right now over san francisco. i want to show you this because you can sort of see the

combination of clouds, some smoke in the area. it's about 66 degrees right now. wind speeds there at about 16 miles per hour. meanwhile this is a shot from healdsburg when one of the first initial fires started yesterday. we're seeing poor air quality throughout the entire bay area. current temperatures in the 80s and upper 90s in areas like concord, 97, livermore, 97 degrees. it's still hot out there but now we're going to start to feel that humidity. your hour by hour outlook heading into tonight. smoky skies, increasing high clouds. then the threat, if you notice, in the outlook, it doesn't really show much in the way of rain. well, that's because as this inches closer and as it approaches, the models sort of having a hard time picking up on some of that moisture. we're going to be seeing how it approaches. our best bet will always be to take a look as it's making its approach and also taking a look at satellite radar. right now you can see.

this is a live look at at satellite radar. over san francisco, it looks quiet now but the tension is going to be focused where you can see that system churning there. that is what was hurricane genevieve, and the remnants, that moisture from that low pressure system are what's going to be impacting us here in the bay area. a quick little explainer on what we're talking about when if comes to the isolated thunderstorm chance. we've got a low pressure coming in from the south and a high pressure system just to oreaur east. the interaction between these two is moving unstable air over california, and that warm moisture is what drives the possibility of thunderstorms and dry lightning. dry lightning is when you see lightning but not a lot of rain associated with it. if we do end up seeing some possible rain, it's going to be more focused towards just south of us overall. the red flag warning will kick in at 5:00 a.m. starting tomorrow, and that's because right now the chance for fast-moving thunderstorms may lack rain initially but again that dry lightning is going to be the biggest threat because as these storms move, the concern

is the erratic winds as well. very unpredictable because of how isolated they are. so there's really no direct way to pinpoint exactly where we'll see it until it makes its arrival. we can sort of make its movements and see how it's forming but overall the temperatures for tomorrow are going to be in the 80s and the 90s. you're going to feel that humidity. you're going to feel that tropical sort of forecast much like what we felt last sunday. as far as i had a couple of viewers ask me if it was going to be the same as last weekend. you can never be too prepared so a couple of things to keep at the forefront of your mind. be ready to leave at a moment's notice. have an emergency kit ready. be ready should there be any form of power outages. we want to make sure everybody is prepared. the seven-day forecast looks pretty active. through tomorrow, the biggest impact will start right around tomorrow morning through about monday morning where thunderstorms will be possible. then we get another round of seeing more rain possibility heading into tuesday morning with a morning chance. things start to sort of calm

down heading into tuesday afternoon, and then we'll finally get a break from a little bit of this, you know, weather madness heading into wednesday and thursday. so al lot to unpack. >> vianey, thanks very much. let's hope those raindrops come down monday and tuesday and help out those firefighters. we'll be back in two mininutes. - - [narrator]r] did you just reweward yourseself

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action today aimed at saving the u.s. postal system. nearly 700 rallies were planned across the country. now, there were small protests outside post offices in the bay area. this is in the castro. a couple people said we're going to participate, and they did. the house bill now heads to the senate where it has practically zero chance of passing. we'll have a final check of the all-important weather forecast with vianey after the break. we made usaa insurance for veterans like liz and mike. anan army famimily who is alwayays at the r ready. so w when they g got a a little sururprise... twtwo!? ...they y didn't pananic. they gotot a bigger r car for r their soon-to-o-be-bigger r family. afteter shoppingng around for insusurance, they c called usaaaa - who helpeded find thee righght coveragege for themm and even s some much-neededed savings.s. that was t the easy papart. usaa i insurance i is made the way liliz and mikeke need -

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another look at these fires burning across the bay area. this is from the czu fire raging in san mateo and santa cruz counties. flames have scorched some 63,000 acres. containment stands at 5%, up from just 2% last night. an update is set for 6:00. we'll stream it for you on nbcbayarea.com and bring you the latest after the hockey game. before we go, let's check in one more time with vianey and see what she's got. anything new on the potential lightning strikes? >> well, you know, terry, i

think the number one thing to keep in mind is that right now it looks like the biggest impacts are going to be heading into sunday morning and over the next couple of days following that. that's that red flag warning that will take effect starting at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. the main impact is going to be erratic gusty winds at times, fast-moving thunderstorms with the potential for dry lightning. it may lack rain initially, but we're monitoring sort of that moisture plume, which of course rain at this time would be very much needed. but then that would then bring a new sort of problem with the potential to see possible minor debris flows down in southern california and along some of the coastlines right now. it looks like we're going to see for the most part dry lightning potential. again, main impact sunday into monday morning with another chance of seeing thunderstorm activity heading into tuesday. a lot to unwrap here. i'll send it back to you. >> thank you so much. thank you all for staying with us. hockey is next. we will be back at 8:00. >> as always, you can get the very latest updates on the fires on our website and on our nbc

bay area apps. see you after the game. . nbc sports, home of the olympic games, the nhl, the indianapolis 500, the tour championship, and prime time's number one show, sunday night football, only on nbc. welcome to edmonton alberta, canada, on a 69 degree saturday evening. the dallas stars fresh off a 4-2 first round victory over the calgary flames the colorado avalanche needed only five games to defeat the arizona coyotes. game one tonight in edmonton, but first, to the hond