>and right now, in the afternoon edition, forecasters now warning of an explosive fire growth in southern california as another round of high winds and low humidity are creating a recipe for disaster.

good afternoon, i'm ryan yamamoto. a red flag warning has been issued in southern california. again, forecasters calling the wind event a dangerous situation, threatening to fuel the multiple fires that have already been burning for a week now in l.a. county. here's a live look at the cal fire's map. the palisades fire and eaton fire remain the focus. the smaller fires, the hurst and kenneth fire. while those are mostly out. and this is an aerial view of the aftermath in pacific palisades. after the palisades fire tore through the neighborhood, neighborhood search and rescue crews and efforts are now underway. the fire has moved east, prompting evacuation orders in brentwood and encino. about 92,000 people are currently under evacuation orders. the death toll has risen to at least 25 people killed, more than 12,000 structures, including buildings and cars, have been destroyed. the palisades fire stands nearly 24,000 acres, about 14% contained. meanwhile, the eaton fire is at 14,000 acres and is

33% contained. fire crews have managed to get the upper hand on that fire, now working on putting out hotspots. laura haefeli has the latest from los angeles. >reporter the destruction from the los angeles wildfires is extensive. today, fire crews are preparing to battle extreme wind conditions again. and while officials understand neighbors are anxious to get home, they are asking for patience as they continue to recover the remains of people who may have perished. fire crews are relentlessly attacking these blazes from the ground, and the air. even pre-treating perimeters with retardant to buy time when air crews are grounded for wind. some 5000 fire personnel are assigned to the palisades fire alone. an estimated 75% of the pacific palisades is wiped out. only scorched earth remains. it's still heartbreaking, even if your house is there to know that one of the most what i

always thought was one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in los angeles is just gone. the fires have burned around 40,000 acres so far. red flag warnings are up through wednesday, with wind gusts potentially reaching 70mph tomorrow. officials say high winds combined with low levels of humidity could cause explosive fire growth. the anticipated winds, combined with low humidities and low fuel moistures, will keep the fire threat in all of los angeles county. critical. conditions are stable enough right now that the los angeles unified school district will be reopening. most schools and offices, but athletic and outdoor activities will be limited. donation sites are growing, with many angelenos looking for ways to help. i feel so bad for the people, so just wanted to come help somebody. the outpouring of love and supplies around the city is immense. we're like, let's go help. we

have to, because we could easily be the next victims. a likely thought for many, as each sunrise reveals more destruction. charges are expected to be announced later today as law enforcement addresses looting. among those arrested, two people posing as firefighters. california's governor has called up additional national guard troops to help protect properties >so let's take a quick look at conditions down there, starting in southern california before we head to our own wind events. up here, we've been seeing wind gusts anywhere up to around 70mph just throughout this past weekend down into southern california. and now, as we take a look at the containment close to the eaton fire and all the way over to the palisades fire, the big concern for the boots on the ground with current conditions is that low relative humidity, mixed with strong winds that are lasting into this week's forecast. now they're under a red flag warning, a high wind warning and even air quality alerts are widespread throughout the los angeles basin as they're continuing to watch those winds push offshore

from higher to lower elevated areas. so it's that dry condensed air moving quickly all throughout these communities. that causes a big concern for the boots on the ground that are fighting these fires, as well as the community members, too. now we advance the clock to tuesday. we're seeing similar trends, winds still pushing offshore up to around 30, 40, even 50mph at max. we could see wind gusts close to around 70mph. and that red flag warning down there remains in effect until wednesday. now back here, the national weather service has issued a wind advisory for us locally, but it's mostly for the hills up near napa and sonoma. we could get gusts anywhere up to around 40 to 50mph. and it was a breezy morning for us here locally, all throughout the north bay and along our shoreline, too. we'll see those winds slowly die down into the overnight hours tonight, and by tomorrow morning. it's a thing of the past. we have a beautiful week ahead of us. more on that coming up in a bit for now. over to you, ryan. >all right. thanks, jeff. well, the wildfires in southern california have us all acknowledging the elephant in the room. will insurance companies abandon homeowners in california? there's a major concern that the massive

devastation could push insurance companies over the brink. experts already estimate the fires to be the most expensive in california history, with damages up to $150 billion. jpmorgan chase says insured losses could pass $20 billion. that's more expensive than the 2018 camp fire that destroyed about 11,000 homes. but before these fires struck, thousands of policies in the pacific palisades and altadena neighborhoods were canceled, leaving homeowners scrambling. some were able to get the state's fair plan, which is expensive and does not offer as much coverage. some had no coverage at all. governor newsom spoke about the paths forward. >a lot of people inherited homes or were working class. what do you what about people who didn't have insurance? and that's >i mean, and that's going to be the most difficult and challenging thing. and that's where fema comes in. that's where the sba comes in. that's where the state of california comes in. that's where the federal government comes in. that's where philanthropy comes in. people have lost their lives. they've lost their businesses. they've lost hope.

and we've got to restore the hope and then restore their lives and businesses and opportunities. >well, other headlines around the bay area. heads up for commuters. bart scheduled changes today. bart will implement adjustments to accommodate the construction of a new train control system. departure times may shift, so be sure to check the updated schedule before heading out. and also a heads up. late night yellow service yellow line service will be impacted, terminating at sfo instead of millbrae. after 9 p.m.. commuters will need to transfer at sfo. these changes will continue as that new system is phased in. in berkeley, a community worked together to preserve their apartment for affordable housing. the building on california street became vacant after the owner died. that's when tenants came together to find a buyer to keep it available for low income families. still ahead at noon and streaming on cbs news bay area how bay area fire departments are learning from the devastation in southern california to check on their own preparedness. let's give

you a live look outside before we head to the break. the transamerica building standing nice and tall. on this monday,

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gold bond. well, the fires in los angeles have bay area fire departments taking a closer look at their own preparation. berkeley fire officials tell our amanda hari. we have already faced some massive destructive wildfires like the 1991 oakland hills firestorm. now it's time to get

ready for the next one. >as multiple fires continue to burn in the los angeles area, local fire municipalities are trying to learn from the tragedy. and if we didn't do that, i think it would be criminal. like we have to learn. we're always learning. berkeley fire chief david sprague penned a letter to the community in the berkeley scanner to recognize what is going on, try to inspire hope and acknowledge that there are more mitigation efforts that can help the community protect itself from a mega fire. we know it can happen here. climate change has only made it. made it more likely. both chief sprague and emil carstensen, who lives near the berkeley hills, vividly remember the oakland hills firestorm of 1991. it was very apocalyptic, and i feel like having experienced that, i know the graphic feeling, the the tragic feeling of all that, how things can change within a, you know, in a

moment's notice. kasten says he walked outside on that day, and there was ash in his front yard. the sky was black. >he >>still lives in the same home he did in 1991, and the fire risk is always on his mind, especially as he grows increasingly concerned about insurance rates going up and possibly being dropped from his coverage. where are we headed? why aren't we making fire risk and fire safety a priority? more of a priority. chief sprague is trying to do just that, and he's encouraging the community to embrace scientifically proven strategies to safeguard people and their structures. the first thing he's asking people to do is to make sure they have a plan to leave their homes in the berkeley hills. in the case of extreme fire events, the streets are narrow and it will be impossible to move everyone out at the last moment. when we issue preemptive advisory to leave early. when fire weather is known to be or forecasted, we really need

people to take that seriously and consider leaving the hills so we can reduce the number of people that are left to evacuate. he's also asking people to establish a zone zero buffer around their home, creating a defensible space so firefighters can protect >it. >>and finally, invest time and money in improvements that will harden your home against embers. we have to double down and we have to prepare because it's not a it's it's a matter of when, not if. >and back to our first alert weather. right now let's give you a live look outside as we kind of look out at the valley right there, and you can see our camera kind of shaking right there. so let's check in with meteorologist jessica. so, jess, we're going to have our own little wind event up here. >yeah. now, not all of us are under a wind advisory right now issued by the national weather service. but some of us are up in the north bay. the rest of us will actually. all of us are still dealing with blue skies widespread throughout the bay. and that's going to be the trend for us as we head into the afternoon and evening hours tonight. clear conditions throughout all the bay area, but some of us up in the north bay, if you're just tuning in now, are under a wind

advisory. this is going to last until 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. widespread throughout the hills of napa and sonoma, stretching over into communities close to solano county. even we're seeing wind gusts up to around 35 to 40mph. now, this is in live time. i mean, all the way over into half moon bay. we're also dealing with those gusty conditions, too, and we're noticing those offshore winds really dry us up. this is kind of changing our relative humidity right now. it's a lot lower compared to where we should be for this time of year, and we're continuing to watch those offshore winds stay strong until our forecasted hours tomorrow morning. that's when it starts to die down. now, the other big weather story for us. it's not just for us here locally, but widespread throughout the state of california. the climate prediction center is showing drier than normal conditions for all the west coast. what does that mean for us? well, as we take a look at the next seven days, it's going to be a dry setup for us throughout the rest of this week heading into this weekend. so, hey, if you're heading up to the sierra tahoe area this weekend, dry conditions to get up there on the roads, which is good news, but no fresh powder, which means good okay conditions. now

as we make our way all the way over into the bay, notice our inland forecast in the bay forecast are very similar. those blue skies you see behind me, that's going to be the trend for us all week long, with daytime highs sitting in the mid to low 60s, and then suddenly we crank it even cooler. we're going to be talking about upper 50s as we head into this weekend. with that morning fog rolling its way in and creeping out by the afternoon hours each day as we head into friday, saturday, and sunday and cooler weather accompanying that too. so the big weather story for us right now, at least as we head into the afternoon hours today, has to do with these clear skies, but gusty conditions. the winds die down for us here locally as we head into our forecast tomorrow with beautiful skies and clear conditions as we wrap up this week. back to you, ryan. >all right. thanks, jess. well, two san francisco police officers were taken to the hospital after an early morning chase ended in a crash. this happened in the portola neighborhood. police say the officers were trying to pull a vehicle over that was wanted for reckless driving the day before. during the pursuit, the suspect's car collided with a pole and the police car crashed

into a building at san bruno and paul avenues. two suspects were taken into custody and police found a gun at the scene. the two officers are expected to be okay. coming up next, tips on how to buy a home this new year.

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ask your gastroenterologist well, if you're planning on buying a new home in 2025, there are steps you can take right now to prepare for that opportunity. gianfranco spoke with a seasoned real estate agent who shared her insight on navigating the home buying process when it comes to affordability and securing insurance. >elaine petech understands that purchasing a home can be a daunting task. the bay area is definitely a tough market with low inventory. there are fewer properties and a lot of multiple interested buyers with concerns about insurance and affordability. the process may seem out of reach for some. one significant concern for home

buyers is insurance. a lot of the insurance companies have moved out of california, although i've heard two insurance agents tell me recently that they're starting to come back in to california. so that's a little bit of a positive note. elaine advises taking proactive steps to protect yourself in case a sale falls through due to insurance issues. because we understand that some homes are not as insurable as others. there's actually a new box on your purchase agreement that has a contingency that you can get out of your contract, potentially get out of your contract. if you can't find insurance on your home. understanding the requirements and making sure you're covered can save you from unexpected hurdles. for homeowners, keeping your property free of debris is essential, particularly if you live in a fire prone area. you want to keep your home well maintained, especially with all these wildfires that are going on. insurance companies are looking for, vegetation. so if you have trees that are hanging over

your roof line, if your house is not maintained, like maybe a cracked driveway, you want to keep those things updated. insurance companies now are doing drive bys and using drones to make sure that your house is maintained. also, maintaining a safe and clean environment can not only protect your home, but also give you peace of mind. elaine also highlighted the importance of being ready to act when the right opportunity arises. she suggests doing thorough research on financing and working with local lenders who are familiar with the bay area market. because every lender has different programs, different criteria that they lend with, so you might qualify for a lower rate with this person, but you might get a higher, purchase power with another lender. and what should you expect for the real estate market in 2025? the biggest factor affecting home prices is typically interest rates. and most people feel that interest rates are going to stay in the high sixes to low sevens. there's not going to be a big drop this coming year. we are entering the spring market, so

i believe there are going to be a lot more serious sellers thinking about downsizing, upgrading, job changes, and so that will bring more inventory on the market, which will help our buyers. now, unfortunately, there are a couple of wild cards. there's the potential tariffs or the threat of deportation, which might, affect our economy this coming year. while the market can be competitive here in the bay area, patience and preparation can be the key to finding the right home. >elaine also says that despite the potential hurdles homebuyers might face, california remains a very active real estate market with plenty of inventory and price points. and it's not just people in southern california that need help with the wildfires. thousands of animals have also been impacted. coming up, we're going to show you how bay area animal shelters have already jumped in to help our neighbors down south. >can you work with a cinco de mayo gas buddy?

>well, coming up at 430, we're bringing you the very latest with the southern california wildfires right now, with more extreme winds expected. we'll be speaking with a reporter who's on the ground that story. much more coming up at 430. and as those fires continue to rage in southern california, we're aware of not only the impact on people, but pets as well. bay area animal rescue groups hope to help, volunteer, hope to help. and volunteers at muttville senior dog rescue in san francisco have been deployed to los angeles county to help with shelters that have been impacted by the fires. muttville will help relieve overcrowded shelters in pasadena by bringing back dogs that were up for adoption before the wildfires and taking down donations from across the bay area that poured into the shelter when they issued the call for help >papers, potty pads, anything that can help make it a little bit easier for a dog who's been scared and going through, as much as their

owners have their guardians. we had 300 inquiries right away. what can i do? what can i help with? >but because of the wildfires, the pasadena humane society had 300 displaced dogs come in within 2 to 3 days. and the work for muttville is far from over. they'll be sending more volunteers in the coming days and weeks, and there are a number of ways that you can help and get involved to help the victims as well. just head to redcross.org, slash cbs to donate. you can also call one 800 red cross or text red cross to 90999 to make a $10 donation. well, that's it for the afternoon edition. remember, we're streaming 24 over seven on the free cbs news app. our next newscast is at 430 with anne makovec. i'll see you back here at five. have a great afternoon.

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