yourself and each other. good night. the wildfires in southern

california turned deadly. more than 1000 structures destroyed, countless injuries and communities ravaged by flames. tens of thousands ordered to evacuate. good afternoon, everyone. i'm janelle wang. welcome to nbc bay area news at 4:30. we're going to begin with the absolute devastation in the l.a. area this afternoon. the biggest city in california, now completely surrounded by fire. and the situation has turned deadly. at least five people confirmed dead, many more injured, including a firefighter, because of these four major wildfires burning right now, whipped up by those notorious santa ana winds, the largest of the two of these for the palisades fire in pacific palisades. and then there's the eaton fire burning in altadena and the pasadena area, turning entire neighborhoods into ash and the woodley and hurst fires burning just north of there. and this is what fire crews are up

against. those winds whipping and spreading, those hot embers and devastating communities. the palisades fire has grown to more than 15,000 acres. it is still 0% contained. officials believe more than 1000 buildings and homes have already been destroyed, and those numbers are expected to climb. and the fires are putting a major strain on the city's water system, using up to more than 3 million gallons in just 15 hours. some of the fire hydrants running dry because of decreased pressure to the east. the eaton fire, which sparked last night. the l.a. county sheriff says the five deaths are all from this wildfire, and dozens who did not evacuate in time have been injured. this fire has burned more than 10,000 acres. it, too, is 0% contained. the fire chief says more than 100 structures there have been destroyed, admitting that they just do not

have enough manpower for an emergency of this size. a group of neighbors worked to stop the flames from spreading between homes as they waited for fire crews to arrive. i've watched shows where you see all these burned houses, and then one standing out that didn't get burned, and you wonder how well i think our neighbors helped us. our higher power helped us out with that. and the l.a. county fire department helped us out with that. president biden in southern california today approving a major disaster declaration for the area, clearing the way for federal funds and resources to be used in recovery efforts. and fema has approved a grant to reimburse the state for its firefighting costs. both the president and governor newsom were briefed on the situation at a firehouse in santa monica today. and take a live look. right now you can see all the smoke. thick, black smoke billowing in los angeles county. bay area firefighters, along

with the california national guard and federal resources all have been called in to the l.a. area to help. that includes air tankers and federal firefighting helicopters. red flag conditions remain in the forecast until tomorrow, and nbc's brittany hope is in pacific palisades, near the famed getty museum, and she has more. we're reporting here in the pacific palisades, specifically the neighborhood that is just west of the getty villa where flames got dangerously close. we want to show you this home right now. we've been watching this home slowly burn for the past four hours or so. you can see that front door is gone. the garage door is gone. everything that's inside is completely destroyed because the winds are so powerful, and you can probably see and hear them now. a lot of embers have been jumping to different homes in this neighborhood. again, just west of the getty villa, we're seeing 50, 50, 50% of homes that

somehow have been saved, 50% of homes that are destroyed, and in some cases it's every other. so we're going to wrap you around this corner right here in a line is 3 to 4 homes that are destroyed with fallen trees. and although these are all flattened, there's a lot of hotspots, which is why we have seen fire engines and water tenders and ground crews here in thiseighborhood because of those winds. if one of those sparks picks up, that is when the fire could spread to other homes below. this is a perfect example actually right here. and we've been watching this little hotspot for about 20 minutes or so. it may look small, but it can't deceive you in situations like this. we've gone through this almost this entire neighborhood here, just north and just west of the getty villa, that iconic art museum that at this point is still standing. and we can tell you

this neighborhood has been decimated. and with these winds not stopping, it's going to be a long day night overnight into tomorrow and the coming days ahead. when you're dealing with so much fuel, so many chemicals and so many destroyed structures, many of which are homes, it's a huge issue for fire crews who have already been on the fire line more than 24 hours. resources are spread thin. thousands are evacuated. that's what we're seeing here in the pacific palisades. brittany, hope back to you. you can hear her labored breathing. the smoke is so terrible down there. and what she's talking about, those embers, like it could be on a hillside away, but just one big gust. those embers could fly and set another neighborhood on fire. these dangerous winds. been there for a couple of days now. when are we going to see them? calm down. well, you know, looking at the current wind map right now, i think if you have friends or family down there, a little sigh of relief is the fact that we're not tracking winds up to 100mph. but we still again have those fires burning

with that big threat of embers tonight. so i want to get you close up here into those conditions, and we can show you what's happening with the wind speeds. and as we talked about the top two fires, at least the largest ones that are burning right now is the palisades fire. also, the eaton canyon fire near altadena. so wind gusts on the palisades fire right now 20 to 45. about 12 hours ago, we still had wind gusts up to 80 90mph. so yes, still extremely windy, but not as bad as it was overnight. it will be a little bit of help here for firefighters, but this is still just an extreme effort here to try to make any kind of forward progress here as we head through tonight. currently 62 humidity here at 22%. we'll take you over here to the eaton canyon. fire winds 15 to 35mph. last night they had winds up to 90mph here. so wind speeds also down in this location. the way the winds blowing, it looks like it would

stay up along this ridge line here north of pasadena. alhambra. also back here, north of glendale, if it were to go that far. so we're still looking at some extremely ferocious winds here tonight. generally lower elevations anywhere from 20 to about 40. but some of the mountains still could get 50 to 60 mile per hour gusts. as we head through tomorrow morning. winds calm down a little bit here for the lower elevations, but we're still in that 40 to 50 mile per hour range in the mountains. we likely could stay with that here as we head through the day tomorrow. at least some of those on and off gusts. so right now, the red flag fire warning in effect until 6 p.m. friday. it's been extended with gusts maybe up to about 70. still sustained wind 20 to 50, and still no big rain chances next two weeks. and speaking of rain, look at this. since october the 1st, when the rain season started, only 16 hundredths of an inch of rain we normally should have in that area 4.68in. so the dry

conditions no doubt helping to fuel this along with that wind. i've got more checks of the weather coming up in about ten minutes. okay. thank you so much, jeff. and what is so devastating are these heavy winds, these gusty winds, a lot of air support. they can't fly. it's too dangerous. so they need as many boots on the ground. and local firefighters are on their way to help. ian cull joins us now with the efforts there. and there are dozens of bay area firefighters heading down there. yeah, and i'm not sure i've seen a response like this to just a single series of fires. and our crews are not the only ones rushing south. officials in la say that they've asked for mutual aid from washington, oregon and nevada as well. that's in addition to all the departments from all over the bay area, including and other parts of northern california. some are already there. many more started heading out today. those include firefighters from san jose, san francisco, oakland, along with berkeley, hayward, marin, gilroy, just to name a few. we were there as a combined crew from san jose, sunnyvale and santa clara county loaded up to head south, and the total number of south bay firefighters dispatched to the

socal fires is now at 46. this is an example of us, the state, helping each other out in a time we have everything that we need to be self-sufficient for 72 hours, and also to camp out in the dirt if we need to, depending on where the fire front is. even with all these firefighters and resources from our local fire stations heading down south, are there any risks to these local stations being left with less manpower? yeah, well, there's certainly some firefighters working overtime right now. but fire officials say to the public, you know, the fire stations are going to remain fully staffed. they say that there will be no impact on response levels. and alameda county deputy chief says that they plan for this. they bring in extra personnel. they have additional fire engines and truc that they can use. we also asked, what's the assessment of the fire danger right now here in the bay area? and here's what he had to say. when it comes to vegetation fires, right now, we're pretty much sitting on average for a

january. it's moist outside. we don't have a lot of wind, and relative humidity is right where it should be very different than what southern california is experiencing right now. and as for those bay area firefighters heading down to la, they expect to be there up to two weeks if needed, and you'll hear more from them coming up at six. okay, ian, thank you so much. and we will continue to bring you updates on these wildfires throughout the evening and on our website, nbcbayarea.com. and please make sure to download our app to get the latest updates sent straight to your phone. in other news now, san francisco swore in its new mayor today. daniel lowry was inaugurated as the city's 46th mayor in a ceremony at civic center plaza. i, daniel lowry, do solemnly swear. he took the oath before an outdoor crowd. every seat was taken with an overflow crowd that included former mayor willie brown standing for the entire event. among the speakers. warriors coach steve

kerr, former california surgeon general doctor nadine burke harris, and mayor lowry's wife becca. in his inaugural speech, lowry pledged to lead an efficient and transparent administration. today marks the beginning of a new era of accountability and change at city hall, one that, above all else, serves you the people of san francisco. the new mayor says his top priorities include streamlining the business approval process and dealing with the city's fentanyl crisis. he also says tough decisions have to be made to address the city's massive budget deficit, but pledged not to cut any uniformed public safety or nursing jobs. our coverage of the fires in southern california continues. speaking of warriors head coach steve kerr. he talks about the devastation, including the evacuation of his 90 year old mother, and the season is over and in the books for the

49ers. so it's time to start looking ahead to the 2025 team. our anthony flores fills us in on some changes already being made, and what team leaders are saying about brock purdy's

a live picture from the pacific palisades area, where you can see the home. just the outline structures, multiple homes, all reduced to ash. as flames continue to burn, there four major fires burning in southern california, all erupting in the past 24 30 hours or so since since yesterday morning, schools have actually suffered significant damage as well. and firefighters are dealing with low pressure from fire hydrants and they are pulling water out of reserve tanks faster than it can be replenished. san francisco based airbnb is working to offer temporary housing to those affected. now

we want to go above. this is some of the view from a flight into southern california this morning. air quality around la has reached hazardous levels and those close to the fire reporting bright orange skies. people being asked to stay inside and wear a mask if they do need to go outside. and heartbreaking video on the ground shows a baby deer searching for safety in the smoke filled, filling streets in altadena. animal groups are urging people in the area to bring their pets inside and to give fleeing wildlife a safe path, to a safe path to pass through, and to consider leaving out water as they may be scared and exhausted. those fires are hitting close to home for warriors head coach steve kerr. you know, my mom lives in pacific palisades. she had to evacuate. everett dayton on our staff. you know, he grew up in pacific palisades. his, from what i gather, his family home is lost. and everything i'm

seeing and reading is just terrifying. what's happening down there? kerr's mother, anne, is 90 years old. she's one of tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate their homes. we here at nbc bay area, have sent multiple crews to southern california to help cover these wildfires. and one of them is our own velena jones, who drove down i-5 this afternoon and is now in la. hi, everyone. velena jones here with photojournalist edwin alvarado. we are just now getting into the los angeles area here to cover the devastating wildfires that are impacting this community. as we were on our way down to los angeles, we saw several cal fire vehicles from northern california coming down to help in this firefight. we also know that there are several bay area local fire departments that have been deployed down here as well. to help, i want you to take a look at what we're seeing right now. we just got off the five and you can see this dark cloud of smoke just totally

encompassing the los angeles community. if you take a look, you can see the wind as the palm trees are blowing in the wind. the wind has been a major factor in this. we will be here for the remainder of the week giving you live updates. stay tuned. thank you velena. stay safe. now here in the bay area we did see some gusty winds. nothing like what they're experiencing down in southern california. the winds up here did topple some trees and utility poles. this is video from alameda. this tree toppled over on union street near central avenue. the homeowner says two of his vehicles were damaged and another area utility crews are now trying to restore power after a pole fell along clement street. the power there has now been restored. just such a difference between southern california and here in northern california. we've had some rain. we're actually above average. they are way below average in our winds. we haven't had that many dangerorous wind red flag warnings. we did have a wind advisory, but that's since expired. and tt rely is the big difference. i mean, we've

seen several inches of rain here throughout the bay area over the past couple of months, where they've only seen less than a quarter of an inch. so we would have been under a red flag fire warnings. but because of that recent rain, that's the only reason why we are not. winds are starting to calm down. we'll get you a closer look at that microclimate forecast and what we see happening for us. and you'll see the only spot here with winds that are noteworthy is mount saint helena, still clocking in here out of the north at 30mph. all other locations five to about 15. so it was certainly very bumpy early this morning with a lot of gusts. if you're at 500ft and above, between 50 and 60mph, a little bit scary. but again, thankfully all of that is behind us and hopefully you don't have too much damage to clean up fro. right here in san jose, 68 degrees under mostly sunny skies. a little bit of a breeze here out of the northwest at ten. we have some 50s coming in as we roll through tonight down here across concord. also sunny skies and 65 notices. some chilly forty's rolling in at

nine, ten and 11:00. and across san francisco, 64 degrees right now. and those 50s rolling in as we head into later on this evening. now we are going to be under some mostly clear s skies this evening, also into tomorrow, as we'll start it off with temperatures in the 40s, daytime highs coming in like this on your thursday forecast 69 in napa, 67 in concord, upper 60s right there in the south bay. we're going to talk more about our long range forecast and what's happening with our rain chances coming up at 5:00 tonight. we'll also have more checks down here in southern california on those wind speeds and these red flag fire warnings again, i'll see you in about ten minutes. see you in a bit. thank you. jeff. let's talk about sports now. and the 49ers. they are not wasting any time sulking over a disappointing season. they are already making moves, hoping to fix the problems that derailed their super bowl aspirations. let's bring in our anthony flores who is at team headquarters today. and anthony, what did the team's top brass have to say about the upcoming season? well, nextt season, lookinback at last last

season, a very disappointing with their six and 11 start. so they fired their defensive coordinator nick sorensen, let's say demoted because they want to keep him on staff, which would be very interesting. he is no longer the defensive coordinator, but kyle shanahan says he loves him, respects him as a coach, but they just weren't able to produce the way they needed to with him as defensive coordinator, hoping he stays on staff. he's got a big decision to make for himself with his family. i asked kyle, isn't that going to be a little bit strange and how challenging will that be? he said, i don't know, i've never had to be. i've never been in that position before. so nick sorensen has a decision to make. they also fired their special teams coordinator, brian schneider. a special teams was, to put it mildly, terrible this season for the niners. they were struggling in the kicking game. of course their kicker got hurt, their punter got hurt, but they had several breakdowns. so they're trying to find the right coaches in and get them going back in the right direction. okay. let's talk about the quarterback brock purdy. what are they saying about him. is he still a question mark or do they still

fully support their quarterback? the biggest news out of today's press conference was the fact that they are committed to brock purdy moving forward. there is no doubt about it. so if you have questions, should they pay him? is he worth it? it doesn't matter what you think. it doesn't matter what i think. what kyle shanahan, who is in charge john lynch, they both support brock purdy. kyle shanahan called him a stud and says i expect him to be my quarterback as long as i'm here with the 49ers, the endorsement doesn't get any bigger or better than that. a lot of injuries this past season. how do they need to bounce back? besides healthy players? yeah. well, they they were devastated by injuries. but you can't use that as an excuse because the detroit lions actually had more players on injured reserve than the 49ers this season. and the nfc runs through detroit. so they played well. but they've got to address a lot of issues. the injuries, but also players like nick bosa didn't really live up. deebo samuel didn't live up to their billing. so the number one issue they got to figure out first, get everyone healthy, figure out who they want to

bring back. they said deebo samuel, even though he's a high priced player who had a down year, is coming back next season. he's on the roster. they're not in the habit of getting rid of good players and they still consider him a good player. if i was looking at the 49ers, my number one concern would be christian mccaffrey, he said on monday. i'm healthy. i'll be ready to go. but you've got to figure out. in kyle shanahan's offense, it all spins off that running back and they're dynamic. when christian mccaffrey is healthy ts year jordan mason ran the ball very well. but once they got in the red zone they couldn't score touchdowns. so my number one concern wouldd be is christian mccaffrey healthy for next season. and then everything else you figure out they need offensive line. they need defensive line help for bosa. they need players in the defensive secondary. so they've got a lot of work to do because jon lynn said it. it's no fun being out of the tournament, not in the playoffs. and we don't want to be back here next year. a lot of moves in the offseason for sure. for them, they need to make them. yes, anthony thank you. you bet. let's talk about the nba. the all star game coming to the bay area next

month. and we now know some of the big name music acts perfmingor

an uber teaming up to make travel easier. skymiles members using uber's ride or food delivery services can earn delta flight miles beginning this spring. by linking accounts, customers can earn a mile for every dollar spent on uber airport rides. additional miles can be earned through premium rides, reserve trips, and uber eats food deliveries. it was already exciting news for bay area sports fans. now, music fans should get excited too. that's because dj zedd and grammy award winning duo the chainsmokers will perform at nba all star weekend. it kicks off february 14th at chase center. zedd will kick off this weekend, the weekend with a concert at pier 48. then there will be a dunk contest, the three point contest, celebrity game and

more. it all leads up to the signature nba all star game on sunday, february 16th at chase center. after the game, chainsmokers will close the weekend with a final concert. that's going to be so much fun. that's going to do it for us at 430. a lot more news in the next hour. jessica and kyra are working on the 5:00 newscast. they'll join you in

destruction and desperation from 1 to 4. multiple fires now burning in southern california, leveling entire neighborhoods. we have team coverage throughout this newscast. also turning to artificial intelligence to help fight those fires, the way the new technology is now helping. and it's inauguration day for san francisco's new mayor. the eventful day as danielle lowery leads the city into a new era.

good evening. the news at five starts right now. thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre. and i'm kira klapper devastation in california's largest and most populous city, los angeles, surrounded by fire tonight. at least five people have been killed, and tens of thousands of acres have burned, fueled by those infamous santa ana winds. at least six fires ignited since yesterday, but four of them are considered major, forcing more than 80,000 people from their homes. the largest two, the palisades fire in pacific palisades and the eaton fire in altadena. there's also the woodley and the hearst fires. those are burning just north of there. in pacific palisades, entire blocks have been turned to ash. more than 1000 structures have been destroyed, many of them homes. and these are just preliminary numbers. the fire is also putting a major strain on the city's water system, using more than 3 million gallons in just 15 hours. all right,