right now at 4:30, relief in sight in some evacuees returning home to south lake tahoe after running from the caldor fire and air quality concerns continue for parts of the bay area. we're tracking conditions in your neighborhood. plus, it's coming to an end and it is affecting millions of americans, maybe you. the benefits folks will no longer receive and how to know if you are going to be impacted. this is "today in the bay." good morning. i'm kris sanchez in for laura

and marcus this morning. lanes of eastbound 80 are open after a wrong-way driver collided with incoming traffic killing one person near the 580 interchange. calls came in about a wrong-way driver crashing head on into cars. one person was arrested an an investigation is under way. developing right now caldor fire r cal fire counts 18 wildfires burning across the state. you can see it here on your screen some of the most notable ones, the dixie fire and the caldor fire. this morning there are concerns over a new wildfire prompting evacuation orders in auburn. this is the bridge fire that started under the foresthill bridge in the auburn state recreation area. this quickly grew to 250 acres triggering an evacuation order for about 500 people. evacuation warnings have been

issued for more people there. right now the fire is still burning out of control. no reports yet of homes being destroyed. we'll hope that it stays that way. a lot of people in lake tahoe are settling in after a wild week of escaping the flames. the fire crews continue to make progress on the caldor fire. containment numbers starting to approach 50%. "today in the bay's" alyssa gourd continues our coverage from south lake tahoe. >> reporter: south lake tahoe was a ghosttown. authorities downgraded the evacuation order and cars started flooding in. >> i'm feeling happiness and joy that my house didn't burn down and we can all go back. >> reporter: most of these families had been evacuated for about a wecht. they sought shelter all over northern california and nevada. some stayed with family and friends, those who couldn't found their way to emergency shelters. >> we were told that we had to evacuate, so we evacuated a little bit more further.

and then that same day, they told us we had to evacuate again. >> reporter: as they began unpacking their bags. >> welcome home. >> reporter: they shared excitement about getting their lives started again. >> just walking around and going to the gym now. >> reporter: getting back to normal is bittersweet for some. >> happy, but at the same time, i'm sad because many people lose their house over there and there in the fire and everything lost. yeah. it's terrible for many people who lost their house. >> reporter: though the battle against the caldor fire is not over, in south lake tahoe hope remains. and cal fire says more than 40,000 people were evacuated in total due to the caldor fire. 22,000 of those were from here in south lake tahoe. i'm alyssa gourd, nbc bay area news. i want to turn to vianey who

has been tracking the conditions and the air quality here in the bay area. how are things looking? >> we are under a microclimate weather alert because of the spare the air alert that is going to remain in effect through today. we have hot inland temperatures, high pressure sitting over the bay area, going to bring temperatures up to the triple digits in the interior valleys. as far as when we might get relief from the air quality concern we've got some tropical clouds ahead, but we're still monitoring for fire danger. the reason for that is because we have a ton of dry brush, pair that up with the hot temperatures and it can really create some issues. right now the aqi index smoke outlook you can see some of the worst spots, of course, right near that fire, but we were getting periods of times where some of that smoke was coming down closer to surface level creating the unhealthy pockets of air quality, especially for the north bay through the interior. notice by tuesday we do start to catch a little bit of relief

from that smoke and also we're going to be seeing more of a cool down, but not until the end of the week. the full forecast in a few minutes. >> thank you very much. our coverage does not stop here. we can get you the latest on the caldor fire or any news by visiting us at nbcbayarea.com. all right. federal unemployment benefits have expired for millions of americans on labor day. a lot of people called it a lifeline during the pandemic. "today in the bay's" ginger saab has a look at who is affected. >> it is a dramatic change for an estimated 3 million californians. federal unemployment benefits set in place at the start of the pandemic expire this weekend. those who will be affected statewide include about a million self-employed, part-time, contract workers or gig employees who will lose benefits completely. anyone who does not qualify for state unemployment benefits and about 2 million californians who are on extended benefits, those who have completed 26 weeks or more of unemployment.

longer be receiving the additional $300 a week in federal aid. former edd director michael burnic says considering how many people in the state remain unemployed this will be a huge change. >> what's different today that i see is that the return to work is much more hesitant part of that is health concern, child care and reconsidering their occupations. >> reporter: more than 20 states voluntarily ended their benefits months ago hoping to get more people back into the workforce. >> the number of job seekers has picked up. >> reporter: it doesn't mean everyone will get back to work right away. >> we are hoping that this will help kickstart many aspects of the labor market to bring the job seekers back. >> reporter: nonetheless the turning point in benefits is something businesses in san francisco are looking forward to. restaffing has been the biggest

challenge in bernal heights. >> we send them letters, e-mails, asking them to come back, but we didn't get any response. nobody called back at all. >> reporter: in san francisco, ginger saab nbc bay area news. >> interesting labor day for sure. another sign expanded el fresco dining is here to stay here in california. another sign. a new bill is awaiting the governor's signature to assist restaurant recovery. it will grant a one-year grace period for restaurants relying on the expanded outdoor service. the extension would start once the current emergency order is lifted and allows restaurants to apply for permanent outdoor expansion. san francisco state senator scott weiner is one of the bill's co-authors. developing news this morning, tens of thousands of people are still without power one week after hurricane ida made land fall in louisiana. meantime in new york, cleanup is also under way.

governor kathy hochul signing an expedited major disaster declaration that provides funds for temporarycounseling, unemployment assistance for people directly affected. >> i want to be targeted, bring all the resources to bear to help these people who now need help getting their lives back in order. what i'm requesting from the president is what is known as not just the public assistance but the individual assistance. that will give direct money for people to rebuild their homes. >> currently new york sustained more than $50 million in damages to public property and infrastructure and at least 1200 homes have been damaged in those storms. altogether the northeast has seen 50 storm-related deaths. we want to get a look at the weather once again with meteorologist vianey arana. lovely saying that. >> we're going to be seeing a little bit of a hot day. a lot depending on where you are. you can either go to the coastline and get relief but in areas like san jose, south bay,

inland areas we're talking 90s in the forecast, even a couple triple digits. live look over san jose, another hazy afternoon if you're around the coast. we will see some of that fog mixing with some of the smoke. clouds at times and take a look, we've got these spare the air alert in place and we're going to be seeing 70s and 80s right around the bay right here, but if you look at south bay, 90 degrees in san jose, triple digits in antioch. 101. livermore 100. concord 98 through napa because of the high pressure and right now, it does look like that high pressure is going to be lingering just a little bit longer than we thought into the middle of the workweek so we will see what happens there. i'll have another look at that in just a few minutes. let's get a quick check of traffic. i did pop up the traffic map and i saw this accident pop up just now in mountain view. i'll see what that's about. as far as the earlier crash, the deadly crash within the early

hours, no sigalert of that canceled. could see a residual delay through there. our drive times are moving nicely. there was slowing along 580. i see that has also cleared. a quick check of your east bay drive times, westbound 80 from highway 4 to the bay bridge, you're only looking at 13 minutes. kris? >> thank you, vianey. coming up on "today in the bay," shutting schools down. as covid surges, more are being forced to learn from home once again. the number of schools heading back to distance learning. and they're dads, not one, but two babies. we'll introduce you to pete buttigieg's twins. the bay bridge toll plaza, there was a deadly crash on i-80 not far from there. things are moving smoothly now and should not impact your commute or holiday plans. happy labor day. we'll be right back.

good morning. it is 4:43. a spare the air is in effect because of the poor air quality. hazy skies in san jose. 64 degrees. temperature trend, bumping up into the 70s by your lunch hour. it's going to jump into the 90. be careful out there. hot day ahead. let's get a check of how your traffic conditions are doing. south bay drive times moving along quite nicely north bay 101 from 85, 19 minutes, 280 from

101 to 85 only eight minutes. kris. >> thank you. turning back to our coverage of the pandemic and a new survey that finds 1,000 schools in 35 states have been forced to suspend in-person learning outright because of covid cases according to a new york-based data service that's tracking k through 12 school reopening trends. schools listed in the company's tracker have closed from anywhere from one day to several weeks. we are tracking all of the covid cases in our bay area school district. you can head to nbcbayarea.com and click on the covid-19 dashboard link at the top of our trending bar. and jaclyn jackson the wife of the reverend jesse jackson is out of the hospital after treated for covid. she was released on friday following weeks of care. this comes after both she and her husband were hospitalized after a breakthrough case. according to their son the reverend jackson tested negative

for the virus. he has been moved to a rehabilitation center to undergo therapy for his parkinson's disease. over the weekend transportation secretary pete buttigieg announced he an his husband became parents rg showing a black and white photo of he and his husband holding the twins. they are delighted to welcome their daughter and son. still ahead, smoke and haze lingering in the bay area but for how long? vianey is tracking these unhealthy air conditions. >> that's the reason why unfortunately we remain under a spare the air alert. temperatures today are going to warm up rather quickly. we have the high pressure which is going to keep these warm and hot 100s around for at least the next couple days. i'll have a full forecast with the breakdown coming up in a few minutes. let's get a quick check of how your traffic is doing. drive times for the bridge not too bad. westbound 80 towards the bay bridge seven minutes, westbound

92 towards the san mateo 12 minutes. no major delays to report at this hour. stay with us. plus, marking 20 years since 9/11 this week. we'll show you how one east bay town plans to honor the lives lost on that fateful day.

just about ten minutes to 5:00 this morning. why are you up? are you headed out to the beach? putting something on the smoker?

it is labor day after all.t wal morning and we're chatting with. it was a busy weekend. lots of folks in napa for bottlerock and other plans, vianey. >> that's the thing, is that whenever we have spare the air alert in place, we always like to tell folks to limit outdoor activity but not to drive, which is a little tough to do on a long holiday weekend. let's talk about the impacts of all this and what we're monitoring. those are some of the spots that are going to be warm today in the 90s, even triple digits for the afternoon and let's talk about that smoke because we are under a spare the air alert in effect through today. we might see that, hopefully, but could see that extended. so far just through today. we have the smoke that's moving from those fires to our north, pushing south into the bay area. so if you notice in the index up here it goes from hazy to unhealthy. the worst air quality still sits further up north right near

those fires, but we're going to be dealing with those hazy conditions at times with some pockets of unhealthy air quality in through the east bay and through portions of the north bay. now in addition to the smoke being a factor, it's going to be warm. let's get right to those temperatures. as you head out the door, definitely don't need a sweater. we've got 60s and 70s on the map. 4:50 a.m. 24-hour temperature difference, about three degrees warmer in san jose and we are monitoring the winds. now thankfully winds aren't going to be a factor because there's so much dry brush out there paired up with warm temperatures, even though there's no winds, it's still a concern for fire danger. hayward 80, antioch, 101. could be cloudy at times, fog around the coastline, might mix in with haze. if you're thinking there's no wind, why does it matter if it's hot outside? well all of that dry brush out there, reminder, we're still in an exceptional drought which is the worst in the index category

for drought conditions. about 47% of the state of california to be exact. something to keep in mind there. as far as the extended outlook, tropical clouds are on the way. this could bring some relief in the form of clearing for some of that smoke that we've been seeing and also a shower chance to our east late into the week which means near the sierra. for now a closer look at your seven-day forecast in san francisco. 70s. we're going to keep the 70s on the map until thursday. some bit of cooling into friday, saturday and sunday and inland temperatures stick to those 90s at least through the rest of the workweek. let's get a quick check of how those traffic conditions are doing because we have been monitoring what was looking like a fender-bender at mountain view. happy to say no major accident there so i haven't seen any delays reported through the south bay or the north bay or the tri-valley for that matter. let's see how the bridge drive times are doing. 4:51. i think you can get an extra cup of coffee.

don't worry about having to take it to go. drive times, westbound 80 towards the bay bridge, seven minutes, no metering lights just yet. saturday a somber day of reflection for america, marks 20 years since the 9/11 attacks forever changes our country. a service will be held at the flight 93 them yal in union city. organizers want to keep it small and brief because of covid concerns so there will be a moment of silence at 10:03 when flight 93 crashed into a pennsylvania field. a lot of people grew up and lived here in the bay area including the pilot. the plane was headed to san francisco. we spoke with our aviation consultant mike mccarron who was working at sfo that day. >> we had never planned for anything like this. we had an emergency plan about three inches thick that covered crashes and hijackings and bombings and earthquakes, nothing such as this. we took bits and pieces of the plan and cobbled something

together. no one knew what to do that day, no one was trained what to do that day, but we all knew what to do when the time came. >> 43 people were on board flight 93. we will complete coverage saturday here on nbc bay area. and house democrats will vote on legislation aimed at stopping other states from implementing anti-abortion legislation after the country's most restrictive abortion law went into effect in texas last week. the women's health protection act aims to protect health care providers' abilities to deliver broig services free from restrictions. nancy pelosi saying a democratic bill would be brought before the house after september 20th when the recess is set to end. president biden is pledging a whole of government push asking the health and justice departments to ask what can be done at the federal level as well. coming up on "today in the bay," giving a helping hand or in this case a helping paw.

two orphaned bear cubs rescued in central california. their bittersweet story coming up next. first, nbc bay area and telemundo 48 are honoring local animal heros for the clear the shelters positively good awards. go to nbcbayarea.com/positively good to learn more and submit your nominee today. happening now, stanford university dealing with a resident assistance strike this labor day. according to the school's paper the r.a.s want stanford to provide a virtual training, pay increase and more involvement in university decisions and a change in stanford's alcohol and drug policy. in an e-mail cited in the paper a university official tells organizing groups it does not take their concerns lightly and plans to consider discussions over those issues but does not plan to change its drug and alcohol policy. classes are set to get underway for students at stanford on september 20th.

trending this morning, caring for two young ones, but only until they are old enough to survive on their own. in this case, we are talking about two abandoned bear cubs that fish and wildlife workers spotted in the national forest in california. after they realized they were too young to go at it alone rangers brought them to a wildlife center near san diego. they will be cared for there and give a skill set to survive back into the wild free. coming up on "today in the bay," crews gaining ground on the caldor fire. the threat is lingering overhead. live at 5:00 on the latest overnight developments and vianey is keeping her eyes on the air quality index.

and they voted to strike but kept working. when can we expect workers at oracle park to protest formally. what they're demanding from the giants.

right now at 5:00, a new turning point in the battle against the caldor fire. many evacuations lifted and more residents begin returning to south lake tahoe. coming up, the latest on the efforts to contain it.

>> more air quality concerns as smoke continues to blow and billow into the bay area. we are tracking the unhealthy air quality in your neighborhood. plus labor day covid concerns as cases continue to surge, experts weigh in on what you need to do to stay safe moving forward. this is "today in the bay." and a good morning on this labor day. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm kris sanchez, laura has the week off. developing this morning, good news on the frontlines of the caldor fire burning near lake tahoe, but in the bay area, smoke from the wildfires across the region continue to be unhealthy for some neighborhoods. >> air district leaders are extending the bay area spare the air alert at least through today. "today in the bay's" bob redell is live in the east bay. talk to us about this extension, why? >> good morning to you, marcus and kris. a few reasons why it is going to be hotter today, especially in

the inland valleys w