homeless . good evening.

i'm ann notarangelo. at least six bay area families are homeless for the holidays after a fire broke out around 11:00 this morning at the complex on shore point court in alameda. don knapp is in alameda with a little girl's quick thinking alerted a fire department. >> reporter: firefighters have had the fire under control since early today. residents have spent the entire day dealing with aftermath and trying to figure out what to do next. it was about 11:00 a.m. when people heard sirens and watched fire spread rapidly through this apartment complex. this home video shows smoke billowing from the shore point buildings near crown beach. 7-year-old natalie johnson, daughter of the building manager, took charge. >> me and my mom heard a fire alarm in our house and then she told me -- she gave me her phone and told me to run downstairs into the office. so i ran down in the office and then when i was running down into the office, i saw a bunch

of smoke. so then i decided to call 911, because it seemed like it was a fire. >> reporter: at least 10 engines and dozens of firefighters responded. there were two rescues of residents from balconies. according to the division chief darren olson-- >> two floors, six units that were occupied, and six families that are now displaced. >> reporter: brother and sister kale and casey jinks ran out of their buildings. >> we grabbed our pets and came outside. there was all this smoke in the exit way. we tried to walk out, like coughing, able to get down and we saw the fire on the other side of the building. >> it's something you never expect to be in. it's very scary, but we're just praying that everyone's okay in our apartment building and animals and all. >> reporter: like many who live in bay area cities, many hear fire sirens all the time, not realizing it would come so close to home. >> just a few days before christmas, what a tragedy. it was horrible.

>> reporter: there were no injuries to residents or firefighters. besides those living in the six heavily damaged units, there are rough days ahead for everyone else here. >> there are an additional 12 units affected by the fire and there may be up to 663 units displaced because the electricity for the entire building, it's probably going to be off tonight. >> reporter: the red cross says residents here have renters insurance, which will probably take care of their needs for apartments or hotels until they can do something about their place. but he said for the other folks, the red cross will take care of them. reporting live, don knapp, cbs 5. >> thanks, don. recent setbacks can't dampen the holiday spirit on berkeley's telegraph avenue. the street's annual holiday street fair went on on schedule, despite a fire in the area. the area was once a commercial center, but business has been slow lately. the area has been declared a disaster zone in order to qualify for federal funds.

southern california motorists are breathing a side of relief tonight. a major los angeles area freeway has reopened. crews worked around the clock to demolish part of a pomona freeway overpass. a tanker truck carrying 8800 gallons of gasoline caught fire wednesday, damaging the structure. a woman suspected of stealing gold chains from kids is under arrest in san jose. sandra elizabeth vails questions is being held on $100,000 bail. she went to three elementary schools during school hours during october and november. she allegedly gained the victims' trust by pretending to be a family friend, then persuaded them to let her take their necklaces. sometimes they were replaced with cheap imitations. a 30-pound projectile blasted through their neighborhood. today, community members confronted television producers and law enforcement officials about the incident. anne mackovic on how they

responded. >> i am still amazed that it did what it did. >> reporter: that's the executive producer of the show mythbusters at a community meeting about the wayward cannon ball that shot through this dublin neighborhood on december 6. >> it was an accident. >> reporter: explain that to these people. >> we could have been talking about something very different. we could have been talking about the death of my kids or somebody else's kids. >> reporter: this was some of the damage left from the 30-pound softball-size softball, doing an experiment at the alameda county bomb range, intending to shoot it through water, walls and into the hillside. >> it skipped off the hill, which they did not anticipate. it skipped twice, and that caused it to project into the air. >> reporter: and into this neighborhood, passing through this home, hitting another home and finally landing in this mini van a few hundred yards away. >> the reality is, this is not a freak accident. this is a foreseeable event that

a cannon ball can go amok in a neighborhood. records mythbusters has been using the county's bomb range for years and have shot several cannons. but the cannon that shot this ball was home made, which was part of the stunt. >> the judgment that was used to conduct this stunt. >> fully understand why people are greatly concerned about it, but equally, i do think we have very, very high standards of safety on the show. >> reporter: for now, the bomb range is closed. >> we can reassure them this type of thing will never happen again. >> reporter: but since mythbusters pays the county thousands of dollars to use the range, they are not counting out the partnership just yet. >> the tax implications on the citizens of alameda county. >> reporter: after the meeting, mythbusters gave out free hamburgers and fries to anyone who attended, an attempt to mend fences that might have been broken. but many of the people that attended were walking away with something else. >> with a lot of concern. >> reporter: in dublin, anne mackovic, cbs 5. other bay area headlines,

the investigation into the bird killing spree in concord has finally led to an arrest. and the suspect is a teenager. police say about 24 geese and ducks were shot and killed with pellets or stroll caliber bullets. the shootings happened between late october and early december. police arrested a 17-year-old suspect yesterday. dozens of motorcycle riders delivering gifts for children at a peninsula hospital today. members of the golden gate harley owners group escorted santa to the san mateo medical center. they brought hundreds of presents along with them. an estimated 6000 children will receive care at the hospital and its clinics this holiday season. oakland shoppers received a holiday gift today. free parking. it's part of a plan to encourage people to support the city's local merchants. parking will also be free next saturday, but officials will still enforce the two-hour time limit. well, it's not your typical

occupy rally. what demonstrators are protesting and supporting in this bay area gathering. >> some of the soldiers knew well in advance. i knew six days in advance. why bay area soldiers are leaving home for the holidays. once again, mostly clear and cool across the bay area this weekend. looks like this pattern will likely continue, right through your christmas holiday, as this cool and dry weather is going to be with us for a while. i'll have the forecast for you, coming up in just a few minutes.

the u-s geological survey says it struck 3- m . 2.9 earthquake shook sonoma county today. the u.s. geological survey says it struck 3 miles north-northwest of santa rosa around 8:30 this morning. it had a depth of 3 miles. the usgs said nearly 400 people reported feeling the shaking. demonstrators meted in the east bay today. occupy concord held a rally in order to show support for returning veterans. attendees also protested funding of what they describe as a

military industrial complex. antiwar activist cindy sheehan, whose son was killed in iraq, was among the speakers at today's event. >> if we start to really work locally to make our communities and our families and our neighborhoods stronger, then i think that will take power and money away from the 1%. >> supporters of the open carry movement also attended today's event, wearing their guns over their shoulders and on their hips. occupy protesters asked them to leave, saying they didn't support their cause. the war in iraq is officially over, but some bay area military personnel are heading to the middle east tonight. 16 members of the 481st transportation company based on merit island are on their way to kuwait. they will help bring back the equipment used to fight the war. >> we'll move it to bahrain, qatar, wherever, wherever they

need it to go. a lot of it will be shipped out from there to other places. >> the troops boarded a bus bound for sfo this morning. the patriot guard riders escorted them from vallejo to the airport. the deployment is expected to last one year. the senate has confirmed a former stanford professor as the new ambassador to russia. michael mcfall is regarded as one of the leading experts on u.s. and russian relations. he was a campaign advisor to president obama on russia and eurasia before moving to the national security council to become the president's chief russian advisor. well, he rang his way into the record books. the hardships this bay area bell ringer endured for his good deed. . no umbrellas needed this weekend. is that going to change before christmas? your pinpoint forecast, just ahead.

keurig has a wide variety of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. because it is.

so, open your eyes and check out your new living room! [ gasps ] honey, the tv's over there! yep, we got you the new at&t u-verse wireless receiver so you can put your tv pretty much anywhere you want. and that stand... anywhere? like, we can put it over there? and that coffee... or we could t it on the patio for watching the game with the guys. or in the kitchen? but, these curtains are... i can't believe you moved the tv. it's like a whole new living room. it actually is a whole new living room.

[ male announcer ] the new wireless receiver, only from at&t. now get u-verse with dvr at the lowest price ever. at&t. he didn't just break the world record. he shattered it. butch soriano started ringing alvation army bell . he didn't just break the world record. he shatted it. he started ring the salvation army bell thursday morning at 9:00. he kept ringing after he broke the 36-hour record and he finally stopped this morning after 51 hours. soriano said he's tired and hungry. >> i'm past the point of

starvation, because i haven't eaten in 48 hours, but it's all, it's all, you know, for the benefit of the people in the community and the city of san francisco, those that are going to be without for christmas. >> butch stood the entire time. he got a 10-minute bathroom break every 4 hours. incredible. well, there may not be much snow in the mountains, but this weekend you can find it much closer to home. the city of san francisco built a snow park in civic center plaza, part of the mayor's season of giving campaign. visitors are encouraged to donate nonperishable food items. the children's snow park will be open from 6:00 to 10:00 tomorrow. >> that's the only sight of snow we've had in the bay area. any precipitation in the forecast at all? >> none even showing up on thed horizon. we could get used to this. great shopping weekend, as we continue dry and mild across the bay. looking for patchy fog to move in from the delta in the early

morning hours. otherwise, mostly sunny, haze out there. slightly cooler, with cool and dry conditions continuing through the christmas holiday. no rain and/or snow on the horizon at this time, as we see temperatures tonight, chilling into the mid to low 30s across the interior. fog through the delta here. otherwise, around the bay, looking for upper 30s, low 40s to prevail into the mid-40s. back to the beach, very clear and cool throughout next several days. air quality will take a hit tomorrow. spare the air alert essentially at the north bay here, very stagnant weather pattern. underneath this high pressure zone, clear with a bit of an offshore breeze across the region. notice the storm track, to the far south, a few weak disturbances moving into southern california and the

desert southwest where they are seeing snow into las vegas and across arizona. no snow for the sierra, nor any in the forecast at this point. again, that high pressure system is blocking any moisture from making its way to the coast and creating a very stagnant air pattern. so once again, air quality will be -- taking a look at those rainfall numbers to date, here's where we stand, about 6 inches in the north bay, 2 to 3 inches elsewhere around the bay. hopefully it will be a wet spring so we can play catchup here. temperatures tomorrow in the upper 50s to low 60s, which is where we'll hover pretty much through the week in the low 60s for the warmer locations. as we take a look at the five-day forecast, we see lots of sunshine with, again, mild temperatures continuing into and through the weekend. a few clouds showing up come midweek, but overall, looks like great football weather out there for the weekend. right now, here's kim to tell us

all about spoforts r sports. after the clippers dominated the headlines all week, the lakers answered back by signing a former warrior. and an east bay cinderella team tries to cap off its perfect season with a state title. sports is next.

even they were a little surprised that they made it all the division thre . the team was picked to finish last in the dfal this season, so even they were

surprised they made it all to the division 3 state title game. >> there was always that when are we going to believe it's really happening? each week, kids come off the field, how did we do that? i think every playoff game, kids walked off the field saying how did we beat that team? hoping to put an exclamation point on their cinderella season, taking on washington union, quarterback looks like he's going to be stopped, but spun around by the defender and breaks free for the touchdown. washington union takes the 14-0 lead. final minute, down 21-10, stevens rolls out and fires a strike, great job keeping his feet inbounds. the touchdown makes it a 5-point game, but washington union would recover and hang on to win 21-16. still, a great season for camp olinda, as they finish 14-1. last night, bellerman and santa margarita, down 36-30,

incredible catch keeping the drive alive. bellerman would take a 37-36 lead, but santa margarita answered right back. stanton keeps it himself on 4th and goal with 16 seconds remaining. he accounted for 6 touchdowns. 42-37 for the d-1 state title. the famous idaho potato bowl in boise. ohio trailing utah state 23-17 in the final seconds. the fake run up the middle, bouncing to the outside, diving in for the game-winning touchdown. bob cats beat the aggies 24-23 for their first bowl win in school history. president obama has plenty to worry about during his time in the oval office, but there has been one major issue he's yet to address. >> we should be creating a

playoff system. eight teams. that would be three rounds to determine a national champion. it would add three extra weeks to the season. you can trim back on the regular season. i don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. so i'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. i think it's the right thing to do. >> those that want a playoff are still waiting for obama to get involved, take boise state, for example, ranked 7th. but instead of being part of an eight-team playoff, they are playing in the mako bowl. >> i'm really tired of the bcs name. >> i don't know who it makes sense to. i haven't heard anybody going, hey, this is pretty good. everybody goes, this is really bad. >> playoffs? >> everybody's frustrated. nobody really knows what to do anymore. it doesn't make sense to anybody. i don't think anyone's happy anyway. >> are you kidding me? playoffs? >> the whole thing needs to be changed.

there's no question about it. speaking of playoffs, raiders are on the outside looking in, with three weeks to go. they are one game behind the broncos in the afc west and one game behind the jets for the final wild card spot. >> comes down to a three-game season pretty much. we need to go and win these last three games. we've got no other choice. they are three winnable games. we're going to go into the last part of the season with the mindset that every game is a must-win. the raiders and broncos both play two of their final three games at home. denver's toughest test will be sunday against the patriots, a game that won't be televised on cbs 5, because the raiders are on fox. sorry, tim tebow fans. lakers were hoping to make a big splash by trading chris paul or dwight howard. instead, they will have to settle for former warrior troy murphy to a one-year deal. celtics forward jeff green will miss the entire season

after doctors detected an acor particular annuerism. 25-year-old green will undergo heart surgery next month. as a result of the failed physical, boston voided his one-year $9 million contract. women's basketball. berkeley, 14th ranked ohio state beat cal 77-75 to snap the bears' five-game winning streak. finally, florida knocked down a bunch of threes today, but none worth as much as this one. the gator fan hits from half court to win $25,000, and of course how else would he celebrate besides tebowing? tim tebow fever. you can't go 5 minutes without talking about him. >> thank you, kim. pressure from federal prosecutors forcing the close sure of a bay area pot club.

what the dispensary is doing for customers on this day. and hollywood is taking action to the cell phone. a movie made entirely on a cell phone. the quality is astounding. those stories and more tonight at 10:00. rest of the weekend looks dry? >> dry, and next weekend. >> waiting for something to change. that's going to do it for us. see you again at 11:00. news and weather on cbs sf.com. good night.

>> announcer: the following program is sponsored by operation smile. every year, hundreds of thousands of children are born with cleft lip and or cleft palate. >> dr. bill magee: why should any child, anywhere on this planet, have to live a life of misery.