wildfires across highways into amazing video as people were trying to escape these flames. home as residents drive through the flames to escape. that's right. thousands of people are under >> i've never experienced evacuation orders right now. anything like this before. i've been freelancing for three years now, shooting breaking the flames spreading at a rapid pace as strong winds pick up. news. it's probably the biggest fire i've documented yet. it might sound a little crazy but -- i don't know. it's just very -- there's no a desperate situation on the words to put to what i'm seeing here. ground. >> a 23rd straight spare the air >> yeah, i can imagine. i can imagine. i mean, and the thing is that alert. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now. dry, hot, windy conditions out there, these flames can take a turn at any time. i know you're remaining safe. you're within the lines of where good wednesday morning. you need to be, but just i'm marcus washingt experiencing it for people as morning commute in just a bit. well it's pretty amazing. >> yeah, and if you want me to go into detail about how fast this fire is moving, it's like another spare the a winds a

two miles from 162 at bald creek starting to calm down after high wind gusts yesterday as we take a look at current wind speeds at road. now i'm back on 162 just because the fire is moving really fast within the last 30 minutes. five to seven and highs that will reach into the low 90s for it's a pretty crazy experience the inland and east bay and some being out here. >> very intense. we appreciate you bringing us low 70s near the coastline and those pictures. of course, your safety is what is of utmost importance to us as what we are expecting moving into the weekend coming up in a few minutes. well. stay safe out there, jonathan riv rivas, a freelance reporter, capturing these amazing pick mike, how is it looking for the commute? a smooth drive around the terse f pictures for us. our hearts go out to them. perimeter of the bay. the big concern the crash at the the rest of us in the bay area dublin interchange for west 580 affected by these fires in which is now clear. somewhat of a sense because of smoky conditions out there. this is really tough because i know all of us like to go outside, like to exercise and highway 84 picked up more keep active but it's so smoky traffic as folks make the cut through. still slow south 880 heading through down town. out there. it is smoky and it's not good to be outside even doing

yard work or spending a few and the metering lights are on. extra minutes out there because back to you. news, all of all of the smoke and ash that we have coming in. i want to loop this satellite imagery back 18 hours where we can see the fires and the smoke coming directly into parts of the fires burning and the impact the bay area as well as the on air quality. we have team coverage starting central valley due to the with "today in the bay's" kris northerly wind we've had and sanchez tracking the developments in butte county caused the bear fire to explode. where we've seen some pretty frightening video overnight of people trying to evacuate. this has been going on and started to change direction and worsened in those areas which was our biggest fear. >> reporter: you can see in the video homes burning in the area another round of unhealthy air quality today. of bear creek north of oroville. we talked to a man who drove a fiery route to escape those flames hot enough that they peeled the paint and melted parts of his car. what we are seeing happen with the pyrocumulus clouds it goes

really high up into the >> smoke inhalation. atmosphere and can travel it was so fast it sounded like a jet plane. there was fire 360 degrees hundreds of miles. around me. it leaves the sky ominous looking with the brownish orange color surrounding the sun and so as that moves away from us, it it was incredible. unbelievable. i can't believe i made it out. can travel very far away from where the actual fire is and >> reporter: that is just a shocking experience. those smoke particles from the the evacuation route was fiery large fires can rise well above and smoky for a lot of evacuees the surface up over 20,000 feet. who had to get out of oroville and the surrounding area. so that's what we see happen with these fires. you can see how the wind is it's still going to be a warm howling and whipping that fire day, but we're making progress along the hillside from the towards some cooler bidwell bridge vista point. temperatures. we're in the low 90s for today. on the map on your screen you can see where the fire is oakland will reach 82 degrees. burning this is an evacuation 89 in san jose and 85 today in area that extends to the town of santa rosa. as we go through the forecast paradise where we know so many the winds are also expected to people lost their homes and lost weaken. we do still have another nour their lives. the fire is spreading unchecked and a half of this red flag along highway 162, the oroquincy warning for parts of the north bay and our east bay hills. highway. firefighters are working but are it looks like it's not as windy

not commanding the fire. area.nds will shift from the this is federal land. the u.s. forestry department is taking the lead. look at the time lapse we put together using a pg&e camera. it will cool off just a few more degrees heading to the end of this is just to show you how the week for our inland areas. mike, you've been tracking fast that fire grew over just 12 several issues especially moving through the east bay and hours' time. tri-valleys. also alarming the satellite imagery shows the fires burning we have a couple focus to the southwest and even as fast as the fires already moving there are embers flying out issues. ahead of the fire setting fires a look at the maps this is getting worse. as it goes. now the fire is part of the we have a traffic alert issued for highway 24. north complex which is 58,000 through the caldecott tunnel, this crash westbound 24, two fires. resources are stretched very left lanes are blocked and that thin. we have fires burning around the will constrict traffic flow bay area. heading down past highway 13. we know there are fires burning to our north and south. 880 southbound still that crew there and they're very late to the north there's a really big fire burning just north of picking up. that is why we have a lot more the california border near slowing than you would expect for 880 down to 29 starting back ashland, oregon. and so when the state tries to at 7th. ask for additional resources the tri-valley recovers to the from out of state, we don't foe dublin interchange.

what we'll get because everyone is battling flames up and down that's good news. the west coast. the only other note there the south bay peninsula moves in san jose, kris sanchez, smoothly. no major problems. back to you. >> thanks, mike. "today in the bay." as the sun starts to come up in the next hour you'll see a lot of that smoke from oroville are you ready for some and other fires settling into the bay area. football and some changes? now todar you can have your beer what's p "today in the bay's" bob redell is live for us in livermore "monday night football" to throw where people are waking up with ash on their cars this morning out the may book for its theme and you as well. song. plus, nbc bay area responds. >> reporter: a medical student bob? >> reporter: i had a small film has a health emergency of its own and learns how frustrating of ash. you can still see it if you get hospital billing can be. the right angle. i'm consumer investigator chris you'll see the little flurries of ash. chmura next. this is from the bear fire burning in oroville. you have to look at the light. not something i'm seeing with the naked eye but with a great lens and great photographer, there it is. another spare the air day. the previous record was 14

consecutive days in 2018 during the campfire. the bay area air quality management district said this stretch of bad air is not the worst in terms of severity but definitely in terms of longevity. you will want to limit your time outdoors. exercise in the morning when the ozone levels are lower. >> you could feel it in the air. the sore throat, the nose. you get stuffy and clogged up. hopefully it will go away soon. >> just plug through it. >> reporter: this hot, dry weather has our local fire departments on guard. last night engine 24 of the oakland fire department patrolled the hills to keep an eye out for any wildfires. they're worried because of the elevated fire activity. at this time last year the state had just under 5,000 fires which burned about 118,000 acres. look at what's going on right

now. we have 7,600 fires destroying 2.3 million acres. alameda county firefighter pointed out they are already stretched thin. they still have the dry month of september which we just started and october to get through. right now humidity levels are at 9% to 10%. that's not good. reporting live in livermore, bob redell, "today in the bay." as you well know, bob, red flag warnings in effect near fresno as the creek fire burns out of control. it has already burned more than 152,000 acres. this is the wildfire we brought you yesterday in breaking news we've been following more than 200 people have already been rescued from the fire zone by helicopter. ken oliver was hiking when he saw the plumes of smoke on sunday. he and two bay area friends hiked as fast as possible to the vermilion valley resort at lake edison. that's where they and about 50 other hikers started sheltering.

after thick smoke delayed rescue attempts they woke up to the sound of helicopters yesterday morning. >> you don't know how quick lip it's coming up the hill and you also don't know if the smoke will get worse again, if the helicopters are not going to be in southern oregon a fast able to land to take you out. moving fire that's once in a >> luckily he made it out. generation. this is video about ten miles so did an opera singer rescued from the california border. the fire is moving towards by guardsmen and glenn to fre o fresno. today pg&e will begin restoring power to 170,000 medford and at least 30,000 acres have burned. that part of oregon, like northern california, now dealing customers who lost service due with extremely dry conditions to power shutoffs. about 22,000 north bay customers and strong winds that we've seen here as well. lost poweres yrday morning. some took matters into their own nbc bay area responds to a hands, purchased generators. pg&e says barring any san jose medical school student. complications all customers >> that's right. he asked consumer investigator should have their power back by chris chmura and his team to 7:00 p.m. help him pg&e is waiting for the winds to billing problem. die down before starting to restore the power. >> reporter: good wednesday morning. and speaking of those when steven lamb becomes a

doctor he'll have firsthand winds -- >> i know we're all -- sympathy for any patient whose bill goes haywire. here is what happened. last year he had to go to the e.r. when he was discharged steven says the hospital billed him >> those winds are what we've $550 for a deposit and told him been thinking about, kari, because that can really tribu they would reimburse him when his health insurance paid. contribute and even break down but, after six months of back the power lines. and forth with the hospital, right. we did have a very strong wind steven still hadn't gotten his deposit back. yesterday coming in from the here is what he told us. north. as we look at how that's carried i aspire to become a a lot of smoke into the bay area compassionate and caring hospitalist physician, and i am you can tell that northerly wind very disappointed in how the pushing the smoke straight south health care system is treating no the central valley and some me as a consumer. of that coming into parts of our we asked the hospital to take a east bay. as we look at our air quality look. it did and a few days later numbers this morning some of the steven got a check for $550. worst of the air quality is now in the east bay as we look at if you're asked to pay a deposit livermore and concord, some for a medical procedure we recommend using a credit card. unhealthy air quality starting out and then looking at san make sure you get a printed receipt that states you are due francisco as we also see some of a refund after your insurance that coming in further from the pays. keep it and keep tabs. north and other spots are then if theor you can dispute the charge with your credit card better. we'll talk more about this and our cooler temperatures ahead. company. that step will probably get the attention of the hospital

finance department and hopefully mike, how is it looking for the trigger a refund. have a great wednesday. early morning commute? >> most of the east bay and >> you, too, chris. tri-valley, oakland 880 on the maps, you see how slow it is. 6:27. coming up next, flames we still have an overnight road crew. raging out of control at this hour. they're causing slowing. windy conditions are pushing the wildfire closer to homes. people literally running for their lives overnight. an update on the desperate situation straight ahead. plus, a planned power if it's a good option, take it. outage. what we just found out in the last 15 minutes about why people circling highway 24 we just learned about a crash with without power in the north bay b.a.r.t. police arriving to help might have to wait even longer. out. information is breaking right now. we'll talk about it when we return. the bay bridge toll plaza metering lights are on. that's not a headline because of the other two issues, recovery for dublin, the crash did clear near the interchange. coming up on "today in the bay," the stock market hit really hard yesterday. we're expecting better days today.

let's take you out to the futures board where the stocks are trading higher ahead of the open. plus, we continue to follow breaking news this morning. the bear fire in butte county exploding in size overnight sending people running for their lives. we'll continue to follow the latest on that story and much more straight ahead for you. experience the ultimate sports hub. jean, did you know geico is now offering an extra 15% credit on car and motorcycle policies? that's great! that's 15% on top of what geico could already save you. so what are you waiting for? john stamos to knit you a scarf? all finished, jean. enjoy! thank you. leck pattern enjoy! with a reverse garter stitch. no big deal. is your hair this soft?

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ask. shop. discover at your local xfinity store today. follow the teams you love. and, even get notifications with breaking news alerts and more. so you'll never miss an update. breaking right now at 6:30. with the xfinity sports zonew, easy, awesome. tens of thousands trying to click, call or visit a store for details. escape those flames. the fire explodes in butte county blowing into homes and neighborhoods. the dramatic new video and an update on the tough conditions firefighters are facing. lights, by and large, don't work. and we don't have tv. >> and power still out for many people in the north bay. an update on the time line of when the power is expected to be restored. "today in the bay" continues right now. and a very good morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. mike is keeping his eye on that commute. first meteorologist kari hall with a look at the forecast and those wind gusts that we are expecting throughout the bay area.

our microclimate continues yeah, we did have high winds during the overnight hours and and still a high fire danger. now the winds are calming down, in san jose we're thankful for some really great news and the winds have become more light and the cooler temperatures that will be coming in today. variable as we look at the wind in campbell starting out with direction and the speed in miles low 60s and low 80s by this per hour mostly at five to seven afternoon. especially in parts of the north we'll talk air quality, our temperatures and a look ahead to bay. as we look at our temperatures the weekend coming up in a few this morning as you head out the minutes. door a little are we're thankful for some recovery and a live look west the mid-80s by early in the 580 moving much better than it afternoon, but we're still was a few minutes ago. dealing with a lot of smoke. still tapping the brakes around we'll talk more about that in a few minimum. el charo but better after a mike has been watching several issues for the commute. crash cleared. the bay bridge toll plaza still yeah, kari, one of them is has some backups. this red box over my shoulder. more slowing for oakland coming we'll take you full screen for the map and highway 24 where chp up. and good morning and a very happy wednesday to you. issues that traffic alert still. it looks like it's going to be a two of your four lanes are better day on the hard to imagi blocked. that westbound commute direction much worse. markets plunged yes. over to fish ranch road will bog you down out of the caldecott tunnel for the second morning in the dow fell more than 600 a row. this crash has minor injuries.

point, about 2.25%. they're waiting for tow trucks. the nasdaq is in correction territory. that is when the index falls better than 10%. still very slow through oakland. tech stocks were particularly the crew has not cleared at 23rd hard hit. that's why the nasdaq got hit so off the nimitz. hard. but nobody had more of a back to you. thanks so much, mike. horrible, no good, very bad day by our count already more than than tesla. 20 major fires burning up and investors hoped tesla would be down california. included in the s&p 500 index yesterday governor newsom which would force some money announced more than 2 million managers to buy tesla stock, but acres have burned already this year. they found out that was not we have live team coverage on going to be the case. the fires and the power shutoffs that are going on right now to and they found that out on try to prevent even more friday so investors had problems. three-day week to stew on the let's check in with "today in the bay's" kris sanchez tracking news. add to that the news gm would developments this morning on the fire that is burning through butte county up in oroville. make a tesla xcompetitor and by a lot of people evacuating the time tuesday rolled around tesla was down hard falling more there, kris. than any other single day in the >> reporter: yeah, you heard kari talk about those strong red company's history, down better flag winds and that wind is than 20%. the u.s. military released pushing the fire so fast that some of the evacuees had to guidance for soldiers and drive through smoke and flames airmen, marines and sailors, explaining they will have to to get out and, in fact, you take president trump's payroll will hear from a man who said to

us he thought he was going to tax holiday. we've talked in the past about die. >> the fire over the ridge and how private companies probably won't do this. you neither gain nor lose money. it was huge. you have more money in your there was nothing i could do. paycheck now, you pay it back it was too late to leave. later and that's the concern, people will not save the money it was coming on me so fast. and get hit with an unexpected i had to go no a sheet metal tax bill. and apple will hold a virtual event on september 15th. shop on the property and virtual obviously because of everything burnt to the ground except for the shop with me in covid. september is usually when apple announces updates to their it. >> the bear fire already claimed phones, but we will understand this is about more watches and homes. we don't have official ipads. confirmation of that, but if you i think we're getting used to look at the video you can this virtual thing. probably confirm that for both political conventions were largely virtual. yourself. it's hard to look at. those homes burning in the area >> so true. of bear creek. >> interesting to see how this is north of oroville. everyone has adjusted really. the evacuation route was fiery >> thanks, scott. and smoky for those who had to >> very well. 6:16 for you this morning. get out. you can see the wind whipping we're following breaking news. the fire burning the hillside the fast moving wildfire from the bidwell bridge vista threatening homes near oroville. this is the bear fire overnight. point. on the map you can see where the fire is burning. thousands more people forced out the evacuation zone extending

of their homes. almost to the town of paradise laura? where so many people lost their >> and the photographer who shot most of those dramatic images is lives and homes just a few years ago. the fire is spreading unchecked jonathan rivas. he works as a freelance along 162 which is highway. photographer with nbc bay area, cal fire firefighters working and he's joining us now. thank you so much. with heavy equipment. because this is federal land the tell us, really describe to people because, you know, we forestry department is taking the led on this. bring them the pictures, but lock at the time lapse, this is you're there living through this a pg&e camera we condensed so as people are trying to evacuate, jonathan. what was it like? you could see how fast the fire grew over just 12 satellite im >> it's just been really hot. this fire keeps pushing me away shows the fire is burning to the southwest but the fire is also from the town of bear creek throwing out embers. where i'm at right now and it's so things are burning ahead of just really hot right now and the fire. the bear fire is part of the i kind of north complex which is now glad no one is out here 58,000 acres. the north fire is 37% contained and resources are stretched very thin. as we all know there are so many fires burning in our state and now there is a really big fire burning just north of the california border near ashland, oregon, that will tax the

resources that often california asks for from out of state. we'll track the latest for you and bring you the latest at 6:55. >> thanks so much, kris. we have new developments this morning in the last few minimum just coming in to our newsroom regarding the north bay power shutoffs. residents are waking up with the idea power will be restored later today. now we're learning that may all change. we want to check in with "today in the bay's" cierra johnson this morning up in calistoga with the late-breaking development for us. cierra, i understand it has to do with all the smoke pouring in from places like oroville? >> reporter: exactly. as kris mentioned there are so many fires burning, if you're anywhere in the bay you can see the ash coming down and the smoke in the sky. pg&e is saying it's that smoke that could possibly delay restoration for some customers here in calistoga, napa and sonoma county. helicopters are used to check those lines.

if those helicopters can't get up, that could cause a delay in service. now it was initially the threat of strong winds that prompted that psps watch. the strong winds and sweltering temperatures initiated that watch. the customers were notified two days ahead and 23,000 customers impacted. now if those helicopters are able to get up nearly 3,000 pg&e workers will inspect 11,000 miles worth of de-energized transmission lines. for local businesses that are shut down right now they're really relig ying on generatorst it won't help with the internet connection. take a listen to what a local pizza shop owner had to say about being in the midst of this psps watch. >> it affects our phone calls and ability to take orders over the phone and delivery apps.

our customers are definitely feeling that. >> reporter: and while this is good news for those wait iing t have service restored, it is contingent on what crews can see. if the smoke is too thick, they will not go up another caveat and it will take longer for those crews to make those repairs. we're still in a bit of a holding pattern as we're able to see if those choppers can go up and if any of the lines were damaged from the strong winds the area experienced. cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thank you, cierra. >> those wind conditions because the fires are still burning so rapidly, kari.

there are a couple of large fires pushing smoke southward because of the northerly wind. so that may be an issue as we see more of that smoke. i'm taking it back and looping it 18 hours so we can see yesterday how intense that smoke was and it does continue for this morning. once we get sunrise a clear picture. as we deal with smoke we'll monitor the air quality. mike, how is it looking for the commute? we'll show you the maps overall, no major problems. the tri-valley does see more build as the traffic flow builds for southbound 680 coming off the dublin interchange after a great recovery and that means good recovery but 84 still shows more traffic. highway 24 clear of all lanes and that's great news as folks come out of the caldecott tunnel

and over to oakland. the bad news south 880 still slows because of the construction zone. back to you. the bay area continues to set records and not in a good way. smoke from all of those fires impacting air quality and how experts are recommending you stay safe. 55 days until election day. plus, we'll take you out to the big board. a terrible day on wall street yesterday. the dow down better than 600 points yesterday. a little bit of recovery this morning. it was just a get together with friends. no big deal. everybody felt fine. but now im super sick. everyone is sick.

i just wish we had been more careful. it would have been easier than this. so wear a mask. do what you can outside. stay six feet apart. because some things you just can't take back. do your part to lower the risk.

right now at 6:42 the sun is rising but thick smoke across the bay area. another day of orangish, brownish skies across much of our microclimates. we'll talk about our temperatures coming up in a few min minutes. highway 24 we see recovery looking to the caldecott, just after that caldecott the crash has cleared. construction for the nimitz causing this big jam. the bay bridge metering lights are still on out of oakland. thank you, kari and mike. today marks ten years, since the day that forever changed san

bruno when a gas line pipeline ruptured and wiped out an entire neighborhood. sadly eight people died. more than 50 were injured. dozens of homes destroyed. i remember it so well. ultimately pg&e was convicted on criminal charges. now to our coronavirus coverage. santa clara county has moved to the next tier on the covid monitoring list. it now is facing less restrictions in the red level. this is along with san francisco and napa counties. nail salons and body waxing salons can reopen, tattoo parlors, and gyms at 10% capacity, zoos, aquariums at 25% capacity all indoors. blossom nail will sanitize partition booths after every customer and at the end of each day. the county is not allowing restaurants to resume any indoor

dining. >> to decision 2020. joe biden heading to the key state of michigan. the president gets new legal defense. >> scott mcgrew is here to update us on the race. we're talking 55 days away. until november 3rd. certainly we can vote earlier than that. we're going to remind you a lot over the next many days that we may not know who is president on november 3rd and that will be okay. the big news out of washington has to do with e. jean carroll, the newspaper columnist who accuses president trump of raping her in the '90s. trump said she was a liar. so carroll sued him for defamation. trump telling "the hill" newspaper i'll say it with great respect, number one, she's not my type. number two, it never happened. totally lying. i don't know anything about her. it's that accusation about lying that landed the president back

in court. because the president made that accusation while he was president it should be the u.s. government and the u.s. taxpayer who defend the president against the defamation claim in court and not the president's personal lawyers. it is an extremely unusual move by the justice department. president trump wrapped up a rally where he said if california's kamala harris ever became president it would be an insult to americans. >> nobody likes her. she could never be the first woman president. she could never be. that would be an insult to our country. >> the thing is people de her. more people like her than dislike her. it's something that only she can claim, not pence, not trump, not biden. they are all net negative on the

likability polls. senator harris is taking some heat for something show said on sunday's cnn's "state of the union" that she would not necessarily take a coronavirus vaccine if she was suspicious of the motives behind the relows. >> i will say that i would not trust donald trump and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about. i will not take his word for it. he wants us to inject bleach. no, i will not take his word. >> but the biden/harris effort to spread anti-vaccine conspiracy theories only because they know we are close to putting it out and we're going to get it out fast. >> a short time ago central command said it would reduce the number of u.s. troops in iraq by half. we'll be talking about that on

twitter. you can find me ther there @scottmcgrew. >> thank you very much, scott. if you're not talking politics these days you're probably talking about all the smoke across the bay area, all that haze out there from all the fires not to mention the falling ash. a live look at conditions from cord.t creek to fremont today. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live in livermore where people are waking up with ash on their cars and another warning to stay inside, bob. >> reporter: i had a film of ash on my car. this is livermore, the tri-valley. this is from the bear fire in oroville. you can see it will be a bad air today. the 23rd one in a row.

they say this stretch of bad air isn't the worst in severity but in terms of longevity. the previous record was 14 consecutive days in 2018 during the campfire. you will want to limit your time outdoors. you want to do that in the morning when the ozone levels are lower. >> to limit my construction worker guys. you may have to shut them down today. what the air quality is. if it's unhealthy i can't have them working outside. >> a little allergy from it but plug through it. >> reporter: our local fire departments are on guard. the oakland fire department was patrolling the hills to keep an eye out for wildfires. they're worried because throughout the state right now they are saying alameda county fire are 9% to 12%.

bob redell, "today in the bay." another spare the air alert. we've seen a lot of smoke coming in and it's coming from those fires just to the north of us. traveling from north to south you see that big snowstorm in parts of colorado, this is part of the same system that's producing strong winds here in the bay area. another fire to the north pushing some smoke in so that's the reason why we have those orange skies. looking just southeast of oroville, how ominous this looks. it's bright orange and they have

these huge billows of smoke clouds coming through across those areas and you know this air is so toxic right now. it's really not safe to breathe in and that's what we're seeing this morning as we cannot see the sunrise just yet. our air quality will remain unhealthy throughout today. these clouds go really high in the atmosphere and this is all of the fire and the smoke that goes beyond what we see here. they can travel hundreds of mills away. that's the reason we do have ash falling this morning and it can go as high as 20,000 feet in the atmosphere. our temperatures are coming down. we're still looking at low 90s in the inland east bay. our winds will start to calm down, will shift direction and we see it from a northerly wind

to a southerly wind how that impacts our air quality throughout the day. mike, you have several issues you've been tracking. >> we will see more traffic flow as folks are getting over there. on the maps highway 24 and west 80. highway 24 is clear at fish ranch road. now all these folks bogged down, slowing out of miraga and into orinda. much more traffic heading south. still delayed but that should recover quickly. a smoother drive but slow out of the dublin grade because of early slowing through the castro valley y. back to you.

a big change coming to "monday night football." hank williams jr.'s theme song will no longer open the show. it's called "all my rowdy friends are here on monday night." i'm guessing you've probably heard that before. they feel it won't resonate while teams are playing in a mostly empty stadium. a new version of little richard's song "rip it up" performed by butcher brown. 6:53 right now. up next on "today in the bay," a quick look at our top stories including an update on breaking news all morning long. a wildfire destroying homes. the latest on the desperate situation now under way with people evacuating. you're watching "today in the bay."

welcome back. breaking news on this wednesday morning. a massive wildfire exploding overnight in butte county. >> kris sanchez is monitoring those developments. kris? >> reporter: yes. the wind is whipping that bear fire near oroville so hard, so fast some evacuees had to drive through flames just to get out.

>> i thought i was going to die if not the fire then the smoke inhalation. it was so fast it sounded like a jet plane. >> reporter: homes destroyed north of oroville and look at the evacuation route. the wind pushing flames up the hillside near the bidwell bridge point. fire spreading unchecked along highway 162. you'll see cal fire firefighters working that fire. in a time lapse we took from a pg&e camera you can see how fast that fire grew over just 12 hours' time. kari is tracking wind that will not give a break today. >> reporter: i'm kre aircierra .

a little bit of good news. pg&e saying they will begin the inspection of de-energized lines. there is a caveat. if it's too smoky it would be too dangerous for the choppers to go up. pg&e wanting people to know there could be a delay in restoration because of that. also if they are able to go up and find there's damage to those lines that could cause another delay. 23,000 customers without power. right now it's a waiting game. we're waiting for day break to see if the skies are clear enough for the choppers to go up. we have to keep talking about the weather conditions because they're changing so rapidly. still unhealthy and dangerous at times. yeah, we've seen a strong northerly wind today that will

turn from the south and so that may impact our air quality as the day goes along. temperatures still warm in the inland valleys reaching into the mid-90s. you can see how it cools down as we go to the end of the week, early next week. san francisco mid-70s today but 60s for the weekend. mike, how is that skrupdate on commute? kari, we're in recovery mode. we have recovery here at west 24, the earlier traffic alert cleared from all lanes at fish ranch road. still cloear out of the caldecott. south 880 also cleared. the construction crew is late picking up but have completely cleared the lanes of the nimitz and a little slowing for the castro valley we'll bring youery much. thanks going to do it for us this morning. >> we want to give you a live lock across the bay area, all of

unhealthy air quality conditions out there for us. of course we'll keep moving through this wednesday morning for you. thanks so much for beginning your morning here with us. i hope you have a great one. good morning. perfect storm. california. in oregon 80,000 people forced to evacuate. once in a generation fires ripping through homes and small towns leaving devastation in their wake. we're live with the latest. on hold. a crucial coronavirus vaccine

trial stopped abruptly because of a patient illness. >> we don't want to watch these trials.