started exactly a week ago, and it's grown to over 23,000 acres, 17% containment at this point. the burn threatening the encino and brentwood neighborhoods. now the eaton fire, a little smaller at 14,000 acres, tearing through altadena. that's north of pasadena. firefighters were able to gain some ground over the weekend and contained about 35% of it. but weather analysts predicted the santa ana winds would pick up today and fuel the flames. they did strengthen, but luckily the winds have not been as devastating as experts initially predicted. still, gusts are expected to pick up later this afternoon and into the night. meanwhile, investigators are working to pinpoint exactly how the pacific palisades firetarted. they believe the ignition point is an area called skull rock. it's a popular place to hike. federal investigators are working with local teams to check out the scene at skull rock and collect evidence, and they are looking at the possibility a small new

year's day fire in that area reignited with the gusty winds. so far, teams aren't ruling anything out. we are speaking on behalf of atf. we are coordinating with atf on the investigation and any potential prosecution. we are at the initial stages at this time, so we ask for patience as we go through this investigation. everything is on the table in terms of the investigation. the investigation is in its early stages. don't you have any number of investigations? we are investigating all the fires for potential arson, the impact of the fires across southern california has been devastating. at least 88,000 people have been evacuated. 24 people have been killed, dozens more injured or missing. now, some of that progress that the crews made overnight in advance of the expected high winds will be helping for sure. nbc's jennifer bjorklund joins us live from pacific palisades, the scene of the palisades fire. and, jennifer, there is no rest for

the weary. firefighters are on high alert today. absolutely are. and we do have one updated bit of information. janelle. jessica, we have learned that at the eaton fire, one more set of remains has been found, bringing the death toll now to 25. in all of these southern california fires, the palisades and the eaton fire. the deadly fires and the timeline also has shifted forward. the heaviest winds that we are expecting from these red flag warnings from 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow. so by this time tomorrow, we will hope that we are out of this firestorm. to say the fires burning in southern california look like scenes from a blockbuster movie. not an exaggeration, says a hollywood film cinematographer who packed up and got out of his home in mandeville canyon, adjacent to the palisades fire.

he's confident in the crews that have saved his home once already. they have hoses lined up everywhere. they have cut out the separation road from the fire so that all things to me, makes me feel so, so confident that this would be this would be a happy ending. first responders surprised to see jay leno serving up food in a region so many entertainers call home. all over southern california, people are packing up just in case. and we've been monitoring the fires and on cal fire map and also looking out over the horizon to see if we could see any smoke. and fire crews are fanned out in strike teams at the ready to prevent even more loss, which already is staggering. our goal is to address both the immediate challenges and the long term needs of those affected by these devastating events. firefighters who've been on the job for 25,

30 years to say to me that in their entire careers, they have never seen destruction like this. they have never seen when so fierce. and with the next few hours forecast could bring more of the same. and la's mayor went on to describe the winds last week to a hurricane carrying fire instead of water. and it certainly did feel that way. jessa. janelle, back to you too. okay. thank you. jennifer. let's go to our chief meteorologist, jeff ranieri. these winds have been dying down. they're picking up again. how long are these santa ana winds going to be gusting up? we'll see them through the early part of tomorrow evening. and then we'll get out of that wind, at least for right now. so as we've been talking about, we have those two large fires. we have been tracking the excellent news on both of the fires as

of this afternoon is we haven't seen much hotspotting with it. now we are getting some wind gusts, not nearly as strong as what we ha last week when those winds were up to 100, but we're seeing winds of 20 to 40. but again, new satellite data not showing much hotspotting out there at the palisades fire or right here in altadena. winds are 15 to 35mph. we also saw a third fire break out last night. it's known as the auto fire. it's between ventura and oxnard. in more of this marshy land. the vegetation is not very high. it's very low lying area. it went to about 50 acres. they are getting containment on that winds in that area about 10 to 20mph. so overall in the wind speeds tonight, we're still looking at lower elevations 15 to about 35mph in the mountains. you can see that brighter color there. that's wind gusts up to about 50. we could see some pop close to 60. and we would stay with those gusty winds into tomorrow morning, especially over the mountains. and then as

we head through tomorrow evening, also into thursday, you'll see how that wind calms down. and it's just five to about 12mph. so again, late tomorrow night and thursday that wind does get better. i'll have more checks in our forecast. plus when the wind could pick up here again in california. i'll have that update for you in about ten minutes. okay, we'll see you then. thank you very much, jeff. lawmakers, meanwhile, on capitol hill are trying to figure out how to get federal aid to people impacted by the fires faster. house speaker mike johnson answered a few questions on whether they're considering a debt ceiling. republicans say they're thinking about a few things before making any decisions, including california's leadership and whether they were complicit in the disaster. we think that's something that needs to be carefully regarded. you've heard the word conditions on aid. we're not we're not projecting in advance what this will be. first of all, you have to understand the fires are still raging and no one knows what the ultimate cost will be. it takes some time to make estimates and

all of that, and that deliberative process will go forward. democrats are firing back, saying republican leadership is politicizing a natural disaster and threatening to punish the fire victims. we have more fire coverage throughout the newscast coming up at 530. new updates that come into our newsroom, as well as continued helping hands from a lot of people, including celebrities. on to some other news. sad and senseless. that's how vallejo police are describing the shooting that left a two year old girl critically wounded. it took place sunday evening when the toddler and her mother got caught in the crossfire of an intense gun battle. nbc bay area's jodi hernandez has more. that's what sent folks who live in vallejo's crest neighborhood, diving to the ground at about 830 sunday night as a gun battle in the street sent bullets flying. my wife started hollering, get down! down on the floor! and we were scared. it

went through my house, through the wall, into my couch. one of the bullets pierced through a wall of a family's home, narrowly missing an eight year old boy who was sitting on the sofa. the boy's mom is still shaken. it was a really close call and i still haven't, like, gathered my thoughts completely. but while it missed the boy, vallejo police say a two year old girl wasn't as lucky. the toddler and her mom were driving through the neighborhood when the gun battle started. the mother raced the critically wounded baby to the hospital. this is a sad, senseless act of violence and our officers determined to bring those responsible to justice. i'm scared because i have kids too. a bullet hit mario bernal's truck parked outside his home. he says the neighborhood has gotten so dangerous, he keeps his kids inside all the time. now he got the bullet hole right here. and this man's truck was shot up, too. he was in southern california helping fire victims when his wife called. terrified.

well, i was talking to her. that's when we heard the shots. and i was like, just getting to get to the floor. folks here say they're heartbroken for the toddler and her family and say they're tired of living in fear. they want the violence to stop. if these kids need to shoot, then they can go down to the local recruiter and we can get them a job in afghanistan and they can shoot all day. in vallejo. jodi hernandez, nbc, bay area news. let's take you to san francisco, where doctor jill biden made what may end up being one of her final public speeches as first lady. she arrived last night at sfo for a three day visit. this afternoon, she spoke at the jp morgan healthcare conference at the west saint at the saint francis. in her speech, mrs. biden discussed the importance of advancing women's health research and innovation. she is expected to attend that conference tomorrow as well. another school district is considering shutting down schools to balance the budget. that includes the franklin-mckinley school district in san jose, but one of

the schools on the chopping block is named after captain jason dahl, one of the heroic pilots of nine over 11. and that has added a new level of anger and frustration to the discussion. here's nbc bay area's damian trujillo. parents will hold a huge rally here before school. they say they understand the need to close some schools, but they argue this is not the one. a captain's hat and welcome you to the lobby of jason m dahl elementary in san jose. this is where captain dahl attended school when he was a little boy, the place many say he first discovered his love for flying. captain dahl's parents ran our pta. captain dahl was piloting united flight 93 on september 11th, 2001, when terrorists overtook it and aimed it toward the u.s. capitol. ultimately, the crew and passengers fought back, forcing the plane to crash into a field in shanksville, pennsylvania. that's when hillsdale elementary became captain jason m dahl elementary in the pilot's honor.

but now, dahl elementary is one of five schools on a list of potential closure in san jose's franklin mckinley school district. this is the only school that's been named after a hero, right? especially someone who passed away on such an historic day for us. and so to have to close the school would just break our hearts. for parent charmaine pollack, it's even more personal because of her two foster children. dahl is what's known as a trauma skilled school. the boys have emotional and trauma prior to me taking care of them, and they have come a long way within the last year. bottom line, with the district losing 40% of its student body since 2011, cuts are necessary. but in a statement, the district said no final decision has been made. but if captain jason m dahl elementary is selected for closure, we remain deeply committed to honoring and celebrating the legacy of captain dahl, a hero who will always hold a special place in

our community. still tonight, emotions remain high at a school named for a san jose native many see as an american hero. damian trujillo nbc, bay area news. still ahead, a bay congressman wants neighborhoods to be better prepared for natural disasters. the action that eric swalwell is taking. and a south bay teenager is using his tech skills to help those impacted by the southern california wildfires. the way he's reaching so many looking for valuable information. and a gorgeous sunset out here from our walnut creek camera looking back towards concord. i'll show you what we can expect as we head through tomorrow and the next several days. also, when more california wind could be

take that up a little bit higher. you should feel that, like, right back here. oh, yeah, i felt that! good, that is so much better than last week. thanks, i've been doing 'em every night while i'm watching tv. - oh, what are you watching? it's a mystery. high quality care that meets you where you are. those attending president elect donald trump's inaugurion next monday. we're talking about tesla's elon musk, meta's mark zuckerberg and amazon's jeff bezos. that's according to someone involved in planning the inauguration. musk obviously is not a surprise. the president elect already appointed him to

chair a new efficiency department. musk, the worlds richest man, also donated more than a quarter billion dollars to trump's presidential campaign. both bezos and zuckerberg have donated $1 million to trump's inauguration fund. the president elect has previously accused zuckerberg's company, meta, of silencing conservative voices on its facebook and instagram pages. last week, as you know, meta founder announced plans to end professional paid fact checking on instagram and facebook, citing a shifting political landscape. a california lawmaker is looking to help communities get ahead of the next natural disaster. east bay congressman eric swalwell announced a new bill today called the preventing our next natural disaster act. if approved, it would make changes to the way fema operates and boosts the agency's budget. congressman swalwell says the bill would also provide funding to communities that are most vulnerable to natural disasters to help them better prepare for increasing threats. a south bay 16 year old says he couldn't sit

on the sidelines as wildfires ripped through southern california. he put his own tech skills to work to create a website to help fire victims move forward. it's a story you'll see only on nbc bay area. marianne favro joins us from cupertino with more. ruben vargas is a junior here at cupertino high school. he just launched his website yesterday. he says he wanted to give fire victims one place to go to access all the services they need. after days of watching images of flames spreading in southern california and the devastation the infernos left behind, 16 year old cupertino high school student ruben varghese knew he wanted to help, so he turned to what he knows and worked nonstop over two days to create this website. save dash l a.org. i wanted to make it so if you wanted to help or if you needed help, it could all be in one website and one stop shop for fire survivors. the

website provides everything from recovery centers to links to state and federal agencies, even information on where to turn for help if you lost your job because of the fires. the site also has information for people wanting to donate cash, supplies or help in other ways. for example, you can volunteer your house for shelter if someone's house got burned down. ruben says he spent hours researching and vetting the agencies on his website. he says he doesn't personally know any fire victims, but is concerned about fellow volleyball players he knows in the area. so i just want the people who got victimized by these fires to have some sort of home and shelter and some way of living in this hard time. in cupertino, marianne favro nbc, bay area news. how much time do we have? okay, let's get a check of our forecast here. jeff, no sign of any rain in our near future. yeah, it really looks dry as we

head through the next two weeks. we're just kind of stuck in this same pattern. so i'v've got some more looks here at what we can expect when it comes to our temperatures for tomorrow. we are looking at another chilly start and also a look at our wind forecast, because we may be getting into another wind event beyond what we're seeing in southern california right now. i know it's the last thing we all want to hear, but i'll get you those updatates. we'll take you outside right now to san jose. currently, 60 degrees and very calm winds out of the north northwest here only at three miles per hour. we're going to dip it down here to some chilly 40s. once we hit 10:00 tonight. so as we roll through tomorrow morning's forecast, we will have some isolated 30s. but i don't think there's any way with the pattern that's setting up that we would get to the freezing mark and below. just know that. but we will see this area of high pressure keeping the storm track way off to the north and those windy conditions remaining in southern california through tomorrow's forecast. so as we get you going out the door for tomorrow morning, you'll see temperatures down here into the 30s for the tri-valley. that's

going to be one of the spots with some of the chilliest weather peninsula here at 40. south bay at 42 also have some 40s here in san francisco, east bay at 39, and coming in with a cold 38 in the north bay. but we should be on a pretty good climb by the afternoon. you'll see what i mean down here across the south bay. we're actually going to get close to 70 degrees tomorrow for several spots here, from san jose to milpitas, all the way down towards morgan hill and gilroy. so just looking at a beautiful afternoon out here across the bay. 65 in oakland, vallejo 64 down there to livermore, coming in at 63 out across the peninsula, 62 in daly city down to palo alto, 64 also looking at light winds out of the north here at three half moon bay, 60 up to san francisco, 64 here in the mission. and we'll move it off to wine country. looking at those mid 60s here, santa rosa, sonoma and napa. so when it comes to those winds in southern california, if you missed our earlier updates, we still have red flag fire warnings. in effect. the timeline has been

condensed a little bit. so this right now is in effect until 6 p.m. tomorrow. we may get in on some gusts up to 70 in the mountains, but that looks to be the max of it. again, not nearly as strong, thankfully, as what we had last week. but here's the thing we may get into another round of wind next monday and tuesday. it's just starting to come on the different forecast models, so i wanted to make sure to get out ahead of this and what you'll see in southern california. again, t this is for next monday. we could get wind gusts in the mountains going up to maybe about 50 and 20 to 35. in the lower elevations. it's another dry santa ana wind event with winds coming out of the north and the east. this may also pop up our wind here in the bay area, 20 to 50 in the mountains. lower elevations 15 to about 37mph. now, what i'll say on this, this far out is with wind forecast here. if we see just a subtle change. i mean, if the system we're tracking moves 50 to 100 miles,

that's all it takes. when you're dealing with wind one way or the other, this wind may not be as strong. but again, we're watching that wind chance here as we head into next monday's forecast. otherwise, weekend is shaping up nice here. temps in the 50s in san francisco with a mix of sun and clouds and across the inland valleys. 60s that's going to be the mainstay through the next several days. we'll take more looks at the rain pattern. i have that for you coming up at 530 tonight. okay, great. thanks, jeff. all right. well, coming up, meta is slashing jobs. the amount of people being cut by the tech giant. as zuckerberg says, he's

(vo) with fargo, your virtual assistant from wells fargo, you can access your fico® score in a snap. (daughter) what i would give to be able to make art on this scale! (dad) you will one day. but it's equally important for you to be thinking

about your future... building credit— (daughter) dad... fargo, what's my fico® score? (d) wow... it's a work of art. (vo) do you fargo? (daughter) that was corny, but i'll take it. (vo) you can. visit wellsfargo.com/getfargo. i don't ever see anyone coming out to maintenance anything, so it's very scary for me because i have everything i love in this home. so, we've now implemented drone technology. how is that safe for me? it enhances the inspection, so it allows us to see things faster. your safety is the most important, and if you're feeling unsafe, that's not okay. it doesn't feel like that in our hearts. i mean, it's worrisome. [dog barks] [dog barks] cnbc has confirmed. the menlo

park based tech firm is cutting 5% of its workforce. that's about 3600 employees. in an internal memo, ceo mark zuckerberg told employees the company's lowest performers would be let go. he also said 2025 would be, quote, an intense year. these new cuts are meta's largest layoffs since eliminating 21,000 jobs, nearly a quarter of its workforce back in 2022 and 2023. meta has more than 72,000 employees worldwide. united states final 2024 budget report is out, and it shows that the u.s. government is deeper in the red. treasury department released the report today showing that between october and december of 2024, the budget deficit was about $700 billion, 200 billion more than it was in 2023. the report says rising costs, increased spending and declining tax revenue for that deficit increase. the national debt, by the way, has now surpassed $36 trillion. however, markets were mixed across the

major indexes today because of a key inflation report came in lighter than expected. the dow jumped 221. the s&p went up by six, but the tech heavy nasdaq dropped 43 points. a special celebration for

lunar new year with a new stamp. it's the snake stamp and it was unveiled today in boston. it features a snake, flowers and paper lanterns. dancers were also on hand to perform a traditional chine dragon dance. those born in the year of the snake, the sixth sign of the chinese zodiac, are said to be quiet, wise and deep thinking. who do we know? my cousin is a snake. okay, but now everybody knows her age because i'm a rat. and you can figure it out. do the math. i know every 12 years, so. okay. don't forget, you can watch our newscast 24/7 on pluto and other streaming platforms. raj mathai joins us now with what's coming up next at 530. here's what we're working on. south bay social workers say they are stretched thin, and it could lead to dangerous consequences for kids and families. the mistakes they're trying to avoid while demanding more help. also, we continue our investigation into california's

next generation 911 network. the new information we're uncovering about the system that has been suspended and could have been in use when fires broke out in southern california. and we're less than a week until president trump's inauguration, his controversial choice for defense secretary got a grilling on capitol hill. as mr. trump looks to get his cabinet nominees approved. welcome back. the news at 530 starts right now. thanks for joining us on this tuesday i'm janelle wang. and i'm raj mathai. here's a sobering warning. social workers in the south bay are saying staffing levels are so low that local families are at risk. tonight, they're pointing to a case where an infant died due to fentanyl poisoning. as an example of why they need more resources and quickly. nbc's ian cull explains santa clara county employees were greeted by a rally of social workers as they walked into work this morning. tho