back to our extended coverage of the wine country wildfires... the destruction continues in the north bay and the weather is going to be a huge concern today... right now: there are at least 17 active fires across northern california. here's a look at the biggest ones burning right now... it's a grim picture as we learn more about the extent of the disaster so far... 17 people are now confirmed dead. crews are making a little bit of progress.. the largest fire.. the atlas.. is 3-percent contained. 2 other big fires in the area are now one-percent contained. new mandatory evacuation orders were issued just about an hour ago in the city of calistoga for people north of grant street. and weather conditions are causing concern all over napa and solano counties as the atlas fire continues to burn.

jessica flores joins us live, with the latest on that fire. here's a photo of the first two fire victims - authorities have identified.

authorities have identified. they are 100- year-old charles rippey and his 98- year-old wife sara. their son gave us a sense - of his father's final moments.

"we can see by how... no way he would have left. " and in napa county - ambulances were on hand as the largest veterans' home in the united states - was evacuated last night. 900 residents and 400 staff at the california veterans home in yountville were moved - as a precaution. one of those fires is tearing through parts of glen ellen... near the napa- sonoma county border. joe vazquez was there as people grabbed their things and got out... sot: it's a little surreal. track: along highway 12 in glen ellen -- an orange glow on the ridge marks a sudden change. ryan smith / glen ellen ryan: we've been watching it for a couple of days ...

- at dozens of schools in the north bay. every school in napa valley unified will remain closed. calistoga unified is also on the list of closures. it includes: santa rosa city district... santa rosa junior college. and sonoma state university. tens of thousands of people - still without power tonight. p-g and e says .. 75-thousand customers .. at last check. the majority of them are in santa rosa.. 50-thousand. and napa.. 15- thousand. it could be a while, before investigators know how all these wildfires started. heavy wind was certainly a factor in spreading the flames. but as k-p-i-x five's mark sayre reports from santa rosa...

finding the initial source of the fires will be more difficult. calfire emphasized that nobody will be allowed back into the evacuated areas until it is completely safe to do so. there is also concern about more predicted high winds. (( nats of meeting)) as hundreds looked onâ calfire and other agencies briefed residents on the status of the fires and help that is

people affected by the fires... can contact the american red cross.

the phone number is 1-800- red-cross... and the web address is "red cross dot org." information on other ways to donate is available at "c-b-s-s-f dot com." let's get a look at weather and traffic. here's neda iranpour time is 4: air quality is a huge concern across the bay area as the fires

continue to burn...

when we could see an improvement.

♪ monster check?nt to doa yes. no monsters. ♪ how about the drawer? ♪ no monsters. nightly monster checks are how grant makes home his. and homegoods

is what makes it all possible. amazing finds. always great prices. make home yours. country is prompting new evacuations. the atlas fire now covers 25- thousand acres. it's straddling napa county.. and solano county .. where people are being told to get out. the fire has jumped to wooden valley road and is moving southeast. not far from vacaville.. the flames are moving so fast... some ranchers have to cut fences down to move their cattle.. the c-h-p is helping them get to safer areas. in mendocino county -- a deadly wildfire has consumed 21- thousand acres. cell service is out in much of the area, and people feel cut off. susie steimle is in redwood valley: 50 homes, 40 structures, 3 lives, all taken by wildfire in mendocino county. this disaster isn't garnering as much

forestville. the fires are sending up giant plumes of smoke over the north bay -- and affecting the air quality all over the bay area. and kpix 5's christin ayers reports: it could go from bad.. to even worse. tonight health officials are saying the air quality is the worst they've seen in at least a decade, and not just in the

time is 4: federal help is on the way for

those areas dealing with the wildfires in wine country... what the major disaster declaration means for california.

president trump has approved a major disaster declaration for california. k-p-i-x five political reporter melissa caen has more, on what can be expected from that declaration. [sot- mark neveau, markneveau.com] sxs-mark-neveau-2-caen- mistrot-hfr(1) 1:44 this is monumental, unprecedented - i would say this is something firefighters won't see in not just one lifetime, but two lifetimes. veteran fema coordinator and fire fighter mark neveau has made disaster zones his life's workâbut he is still stunned

mendocino county... bringing the total to three, at this point. cal fire says the "redwood" and "potter" fires have burned a combined 26-thousand acres... with just five percent containment. evacuation centers are set up at ukiah and willits high schools. evacuation orders are in effect for... the potter valley neighborhood... the redwood valley community... and the "golden rule" community. the sheriff's department is using its "reverse 9-1-1" system, radio and social media to get information out. kpix 5's wilson walker was our first reporter to make it to the fire zone. he got to the napa-sonoma county border about midnight on sunday, a couple hours after the first

fire broke out. the landscape in that area has changed dramatically since then.. wilson shows us what it looks like now. "walked outside and everything was on fire" that fire would eventually march down the hill towards rebecca rowan's home. >> reporter: a far larger concern the family home of three generations. >> because the wind was coming straight from up there, to this house. >> reporter: but the family wasn't around to watch the fire sweep through here. they were just trying to get out of the way. >> trees were falling on our car. the wind was just like a hurricane. it was chaos. >> reporter: it wasn't just people. on sunday night we ran into a caravan of rescuers desperately

trying to reach this farm in hopes of saving 25 horses. stuck in the path of that fire. >> the flames were already across. they were coming across. we thought we were positive that we were going to lose everything. >> reporter: so with a team of volunteers, lisa had 20 minutes to rescue those 25 horses. >> nobody panicked. everybody just knew what to do. >> reporter: unfortunately, they only had trailer space for 20. >> probably the hardest thing to be in business for 35 years and tell a client, i'm sorry, we can't get your horse in. we prayed when we got back, and we did, they were here in the barn. >> built the business in 1995 and built the winery in 2003. >> reporter: the sign itself was on fire so the owner was more than surprised to find this. >> nothing else even got touched besides this one corner. >> reporter: saved from a hill of flames on which it