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now at 11:00, multiple fire storms. destroying entire neighborhoods. how people took matters in their own hands to keep the flames at bay. >> my whole life. >> everything was in there. we lost everything. >> we hear from people who lost everything and for those that stuck it out to lend a hand. >> for kpix5, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hello, i'm sara donchey for

the second night in a row, parts of california look like a hellscape. multiple times we heard from fire officials, seasoned journalists. long time residents. that they have never seen anything like this. multiple fires including a few new ones are burning across la county. these are pictures of another fire that popped up a little while ago in the hollywood hills. the sunset fire. just above a very densely populated area. there were mandatory evacuations in this area. another fire broke out in the hills of studio city. this is about five miles or so from the fire we showed you in the hollywood hills. flames engulfed multiple homes. one of them collapsed on live television. just unbelievable. the palisades fire is still

burning. it has burned almost 16,000 acres and hundreds of homes. they are tallying up the damage and the number will surely climb. the eaton fire has taken entire blocks in both altadena and pasadena where not just homes burned but businesses like a bank, a martial art studio. a supermarket. gas station. schools, much more. it burned almost 11,000 acres and is still zero percent contained tonight. multiple times we saw people standing there in awe watching their homes burn including a 91-year-old man who lived in his home six decades. >> i am going to break down again. that's the way i feel. it's my whole life. >> everything was in there. we lost everything. >> reporters and photographers jumped in to help including a

crew from our la station who helped save a woman's pet chickens. >> we are trying to save some chicken ins the backyard from the lady sobs outside. we know the home right next to this is on fire and she was very concerned. she has ducks back here. she has some other pets. now we are just at the chicken coop with the camera on the ground. we are grabbing the last of the chickens. putting them into a trash bin and carrying them out to her waiting suv. >> many of them working all day and night going from one fire to the next one. fire departments from all across the bay area and out of state are in the la area to help out. marin, san jose. contra costa, san francisco, alameda county. oakland and santa rosa have all

sent firefighters. katie, this was miraculous, firefighters could not be everywhere at once. >> reporter: no, definitely not. that is exactly why you are talking about all of this mutual aid that is coming down from the bay area. and from other states. that's because there were just so many fires, firefighters couldn't get to them all so neighbors took matters into their own hands though they were supposed to have evacuated. dragging garbage cans full of water to their house. that is what jose and his brother did all night. >> i decided to stay at my house. >> reporter: they created their own bucket brigade using water from the hydrants when they were still working an the garden hose. it wasn't long before they saw smoke coming from a house done the street and the bucket brigade sprang back into action. loading a

wheelbarrow full of water and pushing it to where they saul the smoke. another person was able to flag down a passing engine and firefighters from la county were able to assess the situation. >> we'll come back. >> reporter: a few minutes later after filling the 500-gallon tank on their engine, the crew was able to put out the fire in a tree behind the garage. >> there was fire here. we didn't want it to catch the whole structure on fire. >> how much is water an issue now for you guys? >> it's a little bit of an issue right now. everything north of here. in the hydrants, they are all dry. so we have to head a little bit south which is alarming. we will be doing something like this. we might run out of water and we have to leave. come back. try to get another rig there. with water. so it is a little bit of an

issue. >> reporter: now as for the priorities overnight tonight, winds are a little bit calmer and firefighters are saying there is destruction, absolutely all over this area. we are actually standing in front of what used to be an aldi grocery storement it is no morement. elliot middle school, same thing. it is basically a total loss. the goal is to use the resources they do have to try to stop any new spot fires that pop up to try to save the homes and buildings that are still here. and just do whatever they can in those overnight hours taking advantage of those calmer winds and getting some containment lines. >> thank you katie. reporting live from altadena, los angeles county. paul, on a personal note, i lived very, very close to where she was standing. my son's day care was there. i did aural my errands there. it was surreal to see this

happening somewhere i have been so many times. it is just that feeling for so many people. this is just one area. so much of the los angeles area has burned. >> and so many people who lived there never thought the fire would climb that far, that close to the coast. the fire crews have their work cut out for them. the good news is that some of the smaller fires, they are managing to get some containment. they are having some success getting progress on the newer fires. they will have their work cut out. the winds are not done. for moment, they have weakened just a little bit. but the swirl to the south of southern california is still there and it will squeeze the atmosphere. it has weakened the past several hours but it is there.

the winds are going to increase again. take a look. we will track the hour by hour wind gusts. they are not nearly as strong as they were earlier in the day. they will pick up as we head toward sunrise. the stronger gusts will make it more widespread. talking about the potential for 70 plus mile-per-hour wind gusts. especially in the higher elevations. 30 to 50 mile-per-hour gusts. that is strong enough with all the dry vegetation and the ongoing fires to allow those containment lines to be breached and for fires to spread out more. the winds will continue. winds offshore. then another burst of offshore winds. let's return to the floor map. it was in the worst

category. extremely critical. this was categorized as one level lower. it will not be extremely critical. so not much in the way of good news for those folks in southern california. what they need is some rain. >> paul, thank you very much for that update. important for all of us who have family down in southern california. right now, the mission is all about getting the fires out. once firefighters do that, the people who lost their homes will have to deal with a frustrating new reality. recovery. something we know all about here in the bay area. it can be long and maddening. a long process. take the survivors of the 2018 campfire in paradise for example. they have been missing out on the settlement money because of a tax law that has only recently

been corrected. john ramos explains. >> reporter: kim was ready to start work when at 7:15, she saw smoke in the distance turning from white to red to black. as the campfire barreled into paradise. >> we left by 8:45. we were told by 9:00, our house was burned. >> reporter: like everyone else, kim faced a harrowing trip out of town. the flames turning the morning sun into the darkst of nights. her family survivorred but her home and virtually everything she owned was in ashes. that's when the uncertainty set in. >> i knew i could get us a house built. and i knew i could get us beds but i didn't know if i could get us chairs, couch, silver wear. i didn't know if i would have enough money. >> reporter: most of the town was wiped out and because pg&e was found liable for the fire, a $10 billion trust fund was

established to help the victims rebuild. >> then we found out we had to pay the taxes on it. that was really painful because it felt like now somebody took something else away from us. that's all we had left. >> reporter: in any settlement, a significant portion of the award is paid to the attorneys handling the case. but in 2018, the same year as the campfire, the trump administration removed attorneys fees as a tax exempt expense. meaning wild fire victims were having to pay taxes on money they weren't even getting. >> they are now having to pay 5, 10, 15, $20,000 on a settlement of $50,000. we have others who paid taxes on attorney fees of $300,000. which was ridiculous. >> reporter: john connect is a

professional tax preparer who has lately become a bit of a hero to his neighbors for helping them navigate the system. because last month, president biden signed a bill into law that would eliminate the double taxation and it does more than that. it will actually refund the taxes that people have paid because of the settlement. >> we have about 3500 amended tax returns that we'll be doing for our clients. that will recover about 28 to $30 million back into their pockets. they paid taxes on $110 million from the fire victims trust. >> that they should not have had to pay? >> they should not have had to pay. now these people can finish planning what they want to do. some of them have held off rebuilding because they didn't know how much they were going to get. right? and so, now that they know and now that this money is coming back, they will be able to go forward with

their next step in their life. >> reporter: the money will be appreciated but closure may be harder to find. >> it is still just as hard today isn't it? >> you have to keep going on. you know? >> it is something the people of southern california have yet to deal with but in time they will understand what the survivors of paradise have lived with the last six years. a developing story in santa rosa where four people were found dead in a senior mobile home community. our andrea nakano has the latest on that. >> reporter: valley vista mobile home community is for those 55 and over. jerry moved here last july. >> it was just a shock. so quiet out here. >> reporter: it is an extremely safe neighborhood. but it is not the first time she has seen police respond to her

neighbor's house. >> they have been there a couple of times. they just pulled up and went in. >> reporter: this time, santa rosa police arrived at the monarch court home 3:00 in the afternoon. police say they knew something was wrong and forced themselves in. that's when they found four people dead inside. investigators were asked by a worried relative to check in on the residence. >> we do know it was several days based on the information from the reporting party who had not heard from at least two of the individuals. >> reporter: sergeant patricia says investigators are in the process of figuring out what happened. at this point, she couldn't release the ages, names, and the relationship of the four victims. police do say all of the victims are adults. residents have been shaken by this incident. but they have been assured by police that they are not in any danger. >> i did ask one police

officer. i said, you know, okay. i understand it is bad. i said are we in danger? he goes no. >> reporter: santa rosa police say these types of incidents are extremely rare. just to give you some perspective. the city only had two homicide ins 2024. coming up, the fire ins southern california have caused mass devastation. but they have also brought out the best in people. how one man stepped up to help a total stranger.

heidi covey: so, i have an eye disease that causes blindness. i have moments where i get a little bit sad because i just can't see things that i used to. dr. stanley taught me to trust in the lord even when you don't want to. god is such a faithful father. nothing that happens to us isn't without his eye upon it.

it has been a heavy day. we have been watching people down in southern california lose everything they own. in the middle of all the chaos, there have been nice moments. while covering the eaton fire, an la news crew came across someone trying to help anyone he could. >> i have two scared little dogs here. this is denise. she is a grandmother. she is trying to get out. she unfortunately, she just left her apartment here this morning in altadena. and her daughter and granddaughter have not been able to come. sir, are you driving her? >> i have a truck full of palettes of water for the city. for the fire department. i

can't get to the location because of the power lines are down. we are waiting for a new address to take it. >> to try to get firefighters water. >> to try to get water for them. sorry, i'm just shook up. it is horrible. >> he will take care of denise. that would be great. okay. thank you sir. >> the flames have been moving quickly. no matter where, which fire we are talking about. this is time lapse video of the eatton fire starting to spread. it took a little over an hour for the smoke and the flames to completely take over the camera which you see there at the end. >> first alert weather. powered by kia. learn more at kia.com. there have been a chorus of

voices talking about the extreme fire behavior we have seen. >> yeah. and it's a combination of factors. the lack of rain. this is the second driest stretch of weather on record. the rainy season last year to get the vegetation to grow. it takes one spark for everything to go badly. and we have to worry about air quality as well. let's look at the satellite perspective for earlier in the day. there was a stripe of cloud cover reaching out over the pacific. that shows up in bright white. in the dollar shade of gray, that is the smoke being produced by all the fires in southern california. and they have been producing a lot of smoke. a lot of it has been blowing out over the

pacific. air quality will be a distinct concern. the forecast models, we will focus on the next 24 hours. the smoke plumes drifting around. when it is purple that is when the air quality is just hazardous. think of things burning in the fires in southern california. some of them will make the air quality that much worse. until the fire is extinguished they will be producing plenty of smoke once the danger of new fires does subside. what they need is rain. the six to ten

day outlook from the climate prediction center is dry. in southern california, some of the forecast models are trying to sneak showers into the los angeles area by late next week. it is still several days away. but it also shows drier conditions for us. does at least show some signs if not optimism, at least less pessimism for southern california. maybe they can get a little bit of moisture from mother nature. our rain forecast will be pretty sparse the next couple of weeks. maybe a shower chance here or there. temperature ins the 40s at the moment. there will be some of it by early tomorrow morn but it will not be a huge factor. as we go through the day tomorrow, we will see temperatures warming up quickly. mostly in the 40s not dropping too far from where they are now. most of us will end up in the 60s . close to 70 degrees in san jose. but for most of the bay area, in that middle portion of the 60s .

these numbers are a good five to ten degrees above average. not a whole lot of variation until you look to the north bay. right along the coast, only 59 degrees for high temperature in bodega bay. nice to see at least a little variation. seven day forecast does not mix things up a little bit or at all. temperatures will retreat to closer to average by sunday through the middle of next week. but that is really the only change. that is still three to five degrees above normal. a lot of sunshine. a little fog. that's the only cloud cover. the only moisture we will see. we'll keep looking for the next rain chance, but it is a long way off for our part of california. >> it is very unfortunate in some ways. >> at least we had some already. i wish we could donate some. it was a changing of the

guard, the swearing in of the new mayor. daniel lurie. >> emergency ordinances will allow us to further surge resources and bypass the bureaucratic hurdles standing in the way of tackling this crisis. >> lurie, a philanthropist enters the highest rank of city government with no political experience and he inherit it is city's $850 million budget deficit. straight ahead in sports, the two men who matter put the 49ers 2025 season to rest. do they give us a peek at what the future holds? and a pretty nice gig. covered my school virginia. and the cal bears.

heidi covey: so, i have an eye disease that causes blindness. i have moments where i get a little bit sad because i just can't see things that i used to. dr. stanley taught me to trust in the lord even when you don't want to. god is such a faithful father. nothing that happens to us isn't without his eye upon it. nfl up top. the 49er head

coach kyle shanahan and john lynch bid au revoir to the season with their final meet the press today. they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2020. >> we don't plan on being in this place. don't like it. it's terrible to sit home and watch something that you expect yourself to be in the tournament. >> reporter: one of the casualties of the niners 6-7 season was nick sorenson who is out as defensive coordinator after one season. the next hire will be the team's fourth defensive coordinator in as many seasons. >> as hard as it is for me to come to this conclusion, but i feel will are options out there that could be better. >> reporter: item number one, when san francisco's off season to do list, is the contract extension for brock perdy who is the team's franchise quarterback. >> i think what we know about brock is he is our guy. we have

interest in brock being around here for a long time. >> brock is the leader of the team. i have loved these three years with brock. capable of winning a super bowl with him. we just almost did. college basketball night in berkeley. it's been a while since i covered my school. virginia. burr this iteration of the atlantic coast conference has given me a shot. i said i was going to have to be switzerland. unbiased. i don't know what he told the bears at halftime. but they came out in attack mode. andre finished the night with 23 points. the cavaliers had no answers for big old joshua olijosef. 30 points inside. uva traveled 2800 miles and had no legs at the end. cal won its

first acc game. 75-61. keep your eye on number 42. maxine reno against virginia tech. the acc scoring leader. this part of a second half, 22-9 cardinal run to win the game. there was a photo bombing kid that grabbed a few minutes of fame in a post game interview. >> what's your name? >> i'm isaac. >> what did you think of the game today? >> it was great. you did awesome. >> what about the team? >> the team did very well. they played together very well. >> are you going to be a big supporter this year? >> yes. >> that kid will be the man when he goes back to school and his parents better save that video for the rehearsal dinner years from now. >> why wasn't he more nervous? he was very calm like he had been doing it for years. got to

watch out. all right vern, thank you. keeping an eye on the wild fires burning in southern california. we'll have an update on

a last check on the larger wild fires burning in southern california. the eaton fire, 11,000 acres, the palisades. >> these are several hours old. cal fire has a lot of stuff to do other than keep the website updated. it is tragic. >> it is tragic. >> and not to mention, whatever else may come overnight. i wanted to ask you about the winds. the wind haves been a big concern. how are those going to look? >> the next few hours they will remain acceptable. the fire, the aircraft with night vision capability will be flying the next several hours but they will pick up again tomorrow and the gustiest conditions will be sunrise through the afternoon. but they have been able to get the air crews up there. making some drops on these fires. and it makes a difference.

yesterday, they were just getting people out. now they can do a little something about it. >> containment very low tonight. thank you so much for watching. the late show with stephen colbert is next. ♪♪ >> we understand. >> we understand the feelings of embarrassment of failing teeth and tooth loss. >> we understand the pain of not being able to chew or feeling confident smiling. >> we understand the challenges with dentures and other non-permanent solutions. >> we understand that more than 120 systemic diseases originate in the mouth. >> from diabetes to heart disease, the risk of stroke to arthritis. >> we understand that better oral health can lead to better overall health. >> we understand that you want to invest in your best self. >> and we understand what it