(james) breaking news we are following this morning... this morning breaking news we're following comes out of the north bay and portions of the east bay as well. several wildfires are burning right now around the bay area this morning. this is video from napa. there are also fires, we understand, burning in sonoma county, novato and as far north as clear lake. hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes. we've learned that the fire has jumped highway 101 in santa rosa near the kohls store on hopper avenue. there are as many as 15 fires burning right now in napa. people are being told to evacuate immediately. good morning.

>> we'll have team coverage all morning. >> latest video. these are images from a kron 4 viewer from santa rosa. this is in the area of mark west springs. the fire has spread toward west shiloh ridge area. we've received multiple calls of people saying they can smell smoke across the entire bay area. that smell coming from these fires burning in the north bay and we're told in the oakland hills as well. >> here is another picture from santa rosa. you can see just how large the flames are. >> we have spencer blake. can you hear us and describe what the scene is there this morning. >> reporter: yes, guys, i can hear you and i am in napa. i'm at a command center.

combined police and fire command center. it's at a shopping complex right right. it's interesting, i was here about 20 minutes ago when i was asking -- trying to get some information and one of the sheriffs deputies saying there's not a lot of active fire fighting happening right now because the fires are so big and moving so quickly. right now they're focused on evacuations. getting people away from the area who need to get to safety and at the same time they're also waiting for help. fire fighting help, police help. i've seen police vehicles from fairfield, danville, so a lot of outside agencies coming to help with road closures, we vanninguation notifications. and just like you guys were saying, the smell of smoke is -- the thickest, strongest

smell i've ever encountered when dealing with a fire. especially when i'm not even in the direct view of the fire at all right now. i'm in town and it's a very, very strong smell of smoke this morning. >> and you know i guess first reports of these fires came in the middle of the night; right? right around midnight. it was dark. i'm sure lots of firefighters were confused as to where these fires are, how big they're getting, what direction they're moving because you can't see anything. >> and i think that's part of the reason why the actual four fighting is getting organized right now between so many agencies. i've been up and down several of these highways this morning and of course you know when there's a lot of them closed but in addition to that you see fire trucks going this direction and that direction. police cars this direction, that direction. lights flashing. every street i've been on today. it is hard to tell where they're coming from, where

they're going. the wind is just howling in napa county. and has been for a while in the middle of the night. loud, strong wind gusts all night long. of course that's why it's bringing the smoke so far to so many places. you can only imagine that's going to be a nightmare for the flames. >> i completely agree with you on the wind there. we were looking at some of the readings. we had wind gusts upwards of 35 to 55 miles per hour and they get stronger the higher up in elevation you go and i've got to imagine that's the big fear. once embers get caught up in winds like that you have spot fires that start breaking out. in some cases miles from where the original fire first broke. that's got to be a real difficult situation for a lot of folks up there. >> yeah, just imagine having that knock on your door in the middle of the night when you're asleep with your family and you don't even realize what's going on. you get that knock saying you need to evacuate. that's what's happening to a lot of people this morning. and has been happening since

about midnight in napa and sonoma county. these fires really big and really a lot of effort being put into coordinating the evacuation efforts and the fire fighting efforts all at the same time. >> spencer, are residents there saying that they actually received evacuations ahead of time? like are they saying that crews gave them enough notice? when did they first get the call telling them they absolutely had to leave their homes? >> i haven't spoken with anybody directly who had to evacuate yet. however, when i was talking with the sheriff's deputy he said there were, you know, law enforcement and fire officials literally going door to door in some areas just because they needed to make sure that people were getting out. were getting to safety. that was at about -- that was before 3:00 when i was talking to him and at that point that door to door operation had been

going on, he said for over an hour. that's putting us into the 1:00 hour with a door to door operation happening. i'm still trying to kind of get my bearings just like everybody else is to figure out who is going where, where they came from and where these flames are the biggest and the worst right now. >> all right, spencer. we'll let you go so you can continue talking to fire personnel there and get a better beat on what the situation is in there front. he brought up the issue of evacuations. a lot of folks are grabbing essentials out of their houses and heading to one of those centers. >> and a lot of roads are closed too. we're talking about major stretches of freeways like 37, 101, highway 12, 128. that's a big concern for traffic as well. that fire jumped over highway 101 near santa rosa. >> so it's been a big issue for residents up there. some of those centers they're headed to right now, we have a list we put together for you.

there are evacuation centers in it nasa and sonoma counties. there's a center at 1435 north oak creek in calastoga. in santa rosa has been open to evacuees. the petaluma family center and the finley community center in santa rosa is at capacity this morning. we've heard that from there. >> neighbors are being asked to go to the santa rosa veterans memorial hall. that is located at 1351 maple avenue. there's an evacuation center at the crosswalk church. that's at 2590 first street. middletown.people with small pets can take them to the napa county animal shelter on 942 hartle court in napa. (robin) here's a look at where the fire is burning in napa. it's near atlas peak. as of last update it

had burned 200 >> what the estimated area of that fire truly is. mandatory evacuations are in effect for that portion of napa county. we'll continue to see these evacuation orders pop up as more and more areas are affected by this fire as it continues to spread. here's another look, this is in sonoma county where the fire there is burning near porter creek road. that's just east of windsor and north of santa rosa in sonoma county. we put an indicator there for you. this is just one of a handful of fires that have broken out overnight. >> fires also burning in novato. this is near highway 37 and 121, which is closed in both directions. that fire has grown to 100 acres. so far no word on evacuations, but you do not have access to

highway 37 right now between those two points. firefighters want you to stay away from the area. >> we're hearing of fires burning throughout not only the north bay but some reports of the oakland hills. we have a strong northerly wind with 16 mile-an-hour sustained winds in santa rosa. earlier in santa rosa we had wind speeds well above 20 miles per hour as well. these were sustained winds. now it the gusts are completely different story. in those situation wheres you get higher up, the gusts, as spencer was attesting to are upwards of 30, 40, 50 miles per hour at times. that can send embers far away from it the original fire and cause the spot fires. that possibly is why we have this fire near novato because that is the direction it the wind is blowing the embers from

the about santa rosa and the napa fires. i just had a reading up at the top of mount diablo of 50 mile- an-hour sustained with gusts of 75. that gives you an idea just how strong these winds are, especially higher in the hills. that's why there's a red flag warning in effect. we're seeing this morning what happens when you have winds and dry conditions like this and a fire sparks and it spreads like crazy. >> i felt the winds way out in contra costa county. when i got on the roads, there was debris all over the place. >> it was blowing. insanely strong. >> be careful driving around the bay area this morning. traffic tracker. 37 blocked off in both directions there near highway 121 east and west. so keep that in mind. you do not have access to 121 if you're coming from 37. so there is some slow traffic

approaching these closures. basically not accessible coming out of novato or highway 101. on 101 for those of you who normally travel through santa rosa and windsor. 101 is closed in both directions. southbound they have it shut down from fulton over to mark west springs. northbound they have it coned off between bicentennial and mark west springs. do expect these closures to change. as you heard from spencer, the fires are not under control. crews are still on scene. evacuations underway. these closures will not stay the same. 128, this is for folks in the calistoga area, that is blocked off. highway 12, also one of the stretches keened off this morning. 37 shut down. folks in kenwood dealing with closures too. warp springs over to arnold. follow the directions of the

crews as they divert you away from the area. >> that just makes it all the more difficult for people trying to evacuate when you have road closures. please pay attention to the chp and follow their instructions this morning. speaking of the chp as we go to break, they are reporting right now that there is a fire burning near the oakland zoo. at last check no evacuation orders yet this morning. we'll update you if that changes. we'll be right back with our continuing coverage of the wildfires burning this morning in the north bay and the east bay. we'll be right back. there

we are back. 4:14 is the time. breaking news we're following this morning, the fires burning right now in the north bay. you're looking at video from highway 12 this morning. and again, this is in sonoma county. just look at your screen. you can see the fire burning on the sides of the road. you see some emergency lights off in the distance as fire crews are on the ground trying to get a handle on not only how

to fight this fire but what is burning. it's so dark out there and the fires are spread sing fast they don't even know what the containment area is they're trying to create. >> this is insane. if you're just waking up now, even all the way to san francisco you're thinking i smell smoke, people are calling 911, they're getting flooded with calls from all over the north bay and like i said, down into san francisco. i don't know if over in the east bay where you are. >> i could smell it. it was strong as soon as i stepped out the door this morning. >> people are wondering is there a fire in my neighborhood. the fire is going on in napa and sonoma. it's also i sane because there are a lot of homes in these areas. this is a pretty densely populated area. we don't see this type of destruction this close in to san francisco, frankly, except for maybe the oakland hills fire. >> you saw in that video as the car was driving by all the embers that were raining down from the trees. we heard reports this morning of ash coming down and some people describe as looking like it was snowing outside.

they weren't sure what was going on. then they smelled the smoke and realized oh, we have a big situation here. >> i have talked to him. he's safe with his family. there are a couple of friends of his and i'm just going to give the roads on loyal valley road and the other one lives -- both of their homes are gone. from the light of day we won't know how many homes have been consumed by this fire. >> what you're looking at is live pictures from santa rosa, i believe. double check me on that, control room. it is santa rosa. we're looking at live pictures. this is the fire burning as we speak. you can see as the shot moves around of where you look, this is the overpass from 101. you can see flames in just about every direction and that glow on it the horizon. obviously this is just -- people who live in the north bay who have been through

wildfires cringe when we show pictures like this. >> this is a major -- this is the only major highway through santa rosa, petaluma, then you head up. look at the -- they just drove through neighborhoods blaring out get out, get out, get out. if you were in the mandatory evacuation zone. >> complicating matters. maybe we can bring robin into the conversation. there are a number of road closures because things are falling on to the roads. we have power lines coming down. you've got trees, our floor director this morning talked about seeing a tree that had come down this morning. he was in the oakland hills and that was from the wind. >> where are you and what do you see? >> i just got off bicentennial way. i'm on the overpass. i'm really just, i guess west of that overpass. a little bit of lay of the land. there's my van. this is the overpass. people there are heading on to

101 southbound. i'm just on the overpass here. just across the freeway there is kaiser permanente hospital. the fire is just right behind the hospital. somebody who was walking over here on the overpass, they tell me what you see there, it was a trailer home parked right in that area and that it just went up in an inferno. doesn't seem to be anything left that's jumping all the way over here. even driving up 101 northbound i could totally see ash and embers sometimes falling on the freeway. it has definitely jumped from east to west and they have major road closures off on the side here when i got off bicentennial i first went east and a lot of the roads leading up north are closed down so i came over here on the west side

of the freeway and definitely found flames here. very dangerous. people are moving out very quickly. at this point it's really kind of hard to grasp how big of an area is on fire. >> that's the thing. in the dark we can't tell what are buildings. sure looks like a lot of buildings. especially concerning is what's right there in the screen you have for us right now and that mobile home park. the question is going to be were they able to notify those people before that thing blew up. >> you said you were on the bicentennial overpass? >> that's correct. just right over the overpass. it's basically blocked off northbound on 101, they will tell you the detour off bicentennial. basically tell you to go back or away. they're trying to push people away from this whole area and trying to keep people out. >> we're just pulling up to see because it's so dark if there are a lot of neighborhoods in that area.

the hospital is going to be a huge concern. we're calling to see if their evacuations, shelter in place or what they're doing over there. sounds like where you are driving it seems like there are areas that are unsafe to drive but they haven't even gotten to them yet to cordon them off. sounds like some of the routes you took are not that safe. >> it's true. it's really fluid at this point because on my way over here, which was maybe about an hour ago. you know it seemed like i was going to be able to go further north. took my time driving up here. they closed down bicentennial way right there on the 101. they have it blocked off. you can't go north of here at all. you can see how more things are catching on fire. the glow just got bigger. it is super windy. it actually slowed my drive down here. i'm driving on a high profile vehicle and so i was getting

pushed around quite a bit. i had to slow it down. that's the biggest ebb enemy here. it's dry and windy. >> keep your shot while james is getting a look at exactly what is very near the vicinity that we're looking at right now that there's a mobile home park and several buildings. >> yeah, you talk about the mobile home park across the way. where you're looking at right now on the west side of highway 101 we have a number of businesses in front of you and just off in the distance there's a kfc, there's a trader joe. people in the area would be familiar with a lot of businesses. >> name a few of the businesses that people might know. >> craig's fire show. on fire pizza, ironically enough there. >> mobile home park is on fire. i just wanted to tell you. 30, 40 feet. >> there's someone who i'm talking to right now, guys. >> we can hear you. we can hear you. did he get out? >> yeah, there's a gentleman here. tell me that there is an

ammunition shop out there -- >> firearms. guns. it's a firearms shop. ammunition, guns, grenades all that kind of stuff for hunters and such. the php told me i got to get out of there. completely gone ablaze. they said whole place is going to blow any minute. >> okay. >> people moving up this way. >> yoli, ask him -- >> what's the name of his mobile home park? >> this place is loaded with ammunition. safest place for us to be here right now. >> oh, that place in front of her. >> police officers are coming here and trying to block off the area. i'm just going to try to bring in the side right here. >> you see all the flashes of smoke there. that's a tire shop. >> the black smoke is a tire shop.

>> mccray's tire automotive. [ overlapping speakers ] >> so here goes the tire shop right here. right next door. >> yoli, can you have him tell us about -- [ overlapping speakers ] -- >> the name of the mobile home park, when they evacuated, if he saw other people getting away. >> say that again. >> ask the gentleman the name of the mobile home park. how he was evacuated. >> how were you evacuated? did they come knocking on your door? >> my fiance and i were over at motel 6 on this side. >> hold on. i'm just going to turn on the

lights so we can see you. >> we were just staying in a hotel and the police came through and said you need to get out right away. at that point the news had gone from okay there's a fire on the hills to this side to it jumped the freeway. that's where we are. >> okay. >> you can see it's spread all over the place. this has gone crazy. >> can you hear him? >> we can hear him. yeah. yeah. we can hear him through your microphone. so did he see other people getting away and did he see the situation at that mobile home park? >> did you see other people getting away. >> the mobile park was cleared before i had a chance to check. i just found out about that a minute ago. i was running over to check on it. i was told by chp officer that everybody is out. it's a complete loss over there. all the mobile homes, fiberglass and styrofoam. >> how about the hotel he was in. >> believe it or not, that's

kaiser permanente. >> very fluid on this area. the priority for a lot of people here is even trying to figure out how big this fire is. just to try to get people out as quickly as possible and make sure people are safe at this point. >> can you have him tell us what happened to him as he was in the hotel? if the firefighters came knocking or what not and if he's from that area. >> i'm sorry, he's talking to someone right now at the moment. we'll show you over here how the blaze is bigger. hold on for a minute. >> that's okay. as we're looking off in that direction, yoli, we have been able to find that firearms store he was talking about. it's schmidt firearms.

as he said, it has everything from guns to other sorts of ammunition and that's why the chp is really concerned if that catches on fire and that ammunition does explode that's going to cause a serious situation and become incredibly dangerous. i'm sure they're going to ask you to move here shortly. >> i got to tell you, the other thing that because there are mobile homes out here and stuff, even when i first drove up i heard an explosion. that's probably because a lot it have the mobile homes have propane tanks or something like that so they could cook on. so there has been a couple of explosions. tires blowing out. that kind of stuff. i do anticipate to hear several explosions that happen and come in because it definitely happened. >> we hope he's accurate when he said they were able to evacuate that mobile home park.

my big concern right now though is just to the right of that you have kaiser permanente. this fire broke out around midnight. i have to imagine -- >> you can even see the building right there. that's kaiser permanente right there. >> okay. so the big concern is has that hospital been evacuated and has everybody who was inside gotten out because you have people that are obviously there overnight. you have people that are still in recovery and with what, four hours notice, have they been able to get everybody that was in there out safely. >> there's a real good amount of cars out there too. -- >> that's the street right here. that's not the freeway. >> what street is it? >> i'm sorry, i stand corrected. i think -- >> looks like they're closing. >> is the gentleman still next to you who was evacuated? >> no, he walked away. i can see him. hold on. i'll try to flag him down in a minute.

i kind of didn't want to peel away too much from this shot here because you can really see what an inferno it is. sounded like a gunshot but it's some kind of popping sound here. getting pretty smoky and pretty bad there. that black smoke from what that gentleman told me, that is a tire shop that is right there. then right next to that tire shop is where he says the ammunition shop is at. >> yoli -- >> you have that. you have pine road, you have the freeway and then kaiser permanente off in the distance. you can see how close the fire is to the hospital. >> this is remarkable and horrible. i've never seen anything like it with a fire burning right up to a hospital like that. like you said, we've seen right in front of your eyes that mobile home park is a big glow, completely going up in if flames. the man you talked to that ran from if the hotel and made it

away with his girlfriend. >> that fire has -- i can hear like gunshots going off. >> so it is starting to burn. [ overlapping speakers ] >> how are you? do you have a mask on? we see the wind blowing the smoke. are you okay? do you have a mask or something? >> you know what, at the moment i don't have a mask. the wind is working in my favor so it is kind of blowing the smoke away from me. so it's a bit bearable right now at the moment. you can see in what direction the wind is blowing by the smoke. so yeah, i'm not in the line of fire as far as smoke is concerned. it's okay for me. i can tell you i did drive into the kaiser permanente driveway initially and it was -- it looked like heavy, thick fog. low lying fog happens in san francisco. that's the way it was.

that's how heavy all the smoke was. even the security guard was out there he had his mask on. he had ash all over his white shirt uniform. so it's very smoky in that area. out by where i'm at on the overpass, just right here on bicentennial way, the wind is actually working in my favor of keeping me out of smoke. >> so yoli if you're just joining us is in santa rosa off 101 on bicentennial way. we've seen a mobile home park be destroyed before our eyes. those flames are starting to chew in on an ammunition shop that's loaded with munitions and weapons that yoli has started to hear popping. kaiser permanente hospital, the flames are up against that. this isn't the only fire that's burning this morning. there are fires also in napa and sonoma that have forced evacuations. one of the people evacuated

said two of his friends have lost their homes in sonoma. and james, you said there are other fires burning in other parts that aren't even connected to these. >> we had reports of fires, a possible fire. this is from the chp up near the oakland zoo. we know how deadly the oakland hills fire was all those years ago. that's the big worry every time there's another wildfire. once the winds whip up where you have 30, 40, 50 mile-an- hour gusts higher up in the hills. like the hills around sonoma and napa and santa rosa that they spread so fast. we can see the blow in the distance is that mobile home park on fire. here in the foreground you see the spot fires. all the little things burning on the frontage road. >> right, on the left right there. >> if she pans to the left you'll see the embers from the mobile home park have landed in places like mcclays tire, schmidts firearms. if that firearms store does go

up in flames there's going to be a whole secondary issue associated with that where you have bullets flying that are firing off randomly as they're being heated up by the fire. that's going to be a big concern for yoli. if that wind does change direction, you have that toxic black smoke coming up from the tire store blowing your direction. you're going to be in a world of hurt. >> i'm concerned about yoli. >> she may have to move pretty quick. >> and the cops and fire officials obviously have not evacuated yoli's direction where she is, but it is so close to the fire. they probably can't fan out fast enough to get to all of the roads that probably should be closed. she took several roads where embers were flying on to the roadway. people who were evacuating trying to get out of the name flames like that to safety. as well as evacuation centers that are set up. we have a list of those as well, that there are evacuation centers for animals. don't forget, napa and sonoma is a rural area. a lot of people have horses and large animals. on our website as well we have

not only where you can evacuate your family like the calistoga fairgrounds, but also your large animals. they have an equestrian center set up. go ahead, bring the pets. the evacuation centers because they are setting up other pet shelters for the folks who had to evacuate. look how the fire is jumping from side to side. that's why we're seeing a some know effect with roads closing. >> and visibility is an issue too. people that are driving, they can barely see. chp has specific traffic alerts in place for many of the major roads. here's a look at traffic tracker. 101 south from it fulton to mark west springs. northbound 101 bicentennial to mark west springs. if you look at the traffic sensors you can see more and more folks are hitting the road. hitting the freeways and it's

backing up traffic. also i'll zoom in over to highway 37. no access to that stretch right now. 37 is closed in both directions east and west. looking at the chp log, they're saying that lakeville highway is now closed. they'll force you to go back to highway 101. highway 12 near -- they're saying the trees are on fire. so they had to go ahead and shut it down. same story for highway 12. they have barricades set up. also for those of you traveling 101, 37, portions of 128 as well. be very careful. it is windy. there is lots of debris blowing around. once again, reduced visibility is an issue because of all the smoke blowing over those major highways. >> all right. thank you. as we continue to look at live pictures from santa rosa this morning. yoli, bravely bringing us this shot. she's off of bicentennial.

the overpaz other 101 -- overpass over 101. that giant glow is a noble home park that has gone up in flames. to the right of that is kaiser permanente where every now and then when she pans over we can see the parking lot is on fire. a lot of that greenery that flanks the parking lot is on fire. the buildings of kaiser permanente off in the distance with the glow coming from various windows. our hope is everybody in that hospital was safely evacuated. they didn't have much time. this fire broke out roughly around midnight this morning. here we are at 4:30 and evacuation orders are going out far and wide. yoli, if you can hear me, pan to the left. over 101 the fire has hopped and is now burning several businesses on the west side of highway 101. this is schmidts firearm. every now and then yoli says she can hear pops. possibly some of that ammunition going up in flames. there's craig's party store.

we have tire and automotive. surely some tires on fire this morning. we have another mobile home park too not door from where that fire is currently burning. >> it's sort of behind what we're looking at here. i also want to let you know that kaiser permanente, which is surrounded by flames has been evacuated. >> it has. okay. >> we're hoping everybody got out safely. they did evacuate the hospital. we in the light of day, which is still how far away till sunrise, are going to see i think many, many structures, homes, businesses burned in just this fire in santa rosa. in addition our cameras are now out on the other fire where the evacuations are happening to grand, large scale neighborhoods in napa and sonoma as well. >> sunrise i think isn't until 7:13. we're a good two and a half hours still before it's going to be bright enough for firefighters to see where all this is burning and how big

this fire actually is. >> that's the worst thing about this. that and the wind. the wind and the darkness that's making this so difficult and the fact it's hopping from place to place. they can't see that until they get reports so they can't get out ahead of time. you don't know which way the flames are going to hop to. with the wind going, then, you know a fire may break out in a neighborhood they haven't already gone through and said please evacuate. >> that makes it all the more difficult for first responders trying to get the word out for people in the path of the fire to get out of the way. the path keeps changing and growing in all directions. the map on the left shows you the direction the winds are blowing and the current sustained wind speeds. 22 in napa. and they will continue to grow. in fact, the strongest of the winds we're going to have today will be during the morning hours. it'll calm down during the afternoon. between now and then we have a her cue leian task for firefighters to stay ahead of these howling winds, which at

times as you head higher in the hills will gust 30, 40, 50 miles per hour. that will quickly spread fire faster than firefighters can keep up with it. >> some kids have today off as an in service day. it's also columbus day. sonoma had school. however they've just canceled all schools. sonoma schools are canceled today. here's the thing too. a lot of people who were unaware of this right now. so they're sleeping. if you have friends that live in the napa, sonoma, santa rosa area and you're up and watching, you may want to call them if their neighborhood is anywhere downwind, if it's a concern at all. because what i'd be concerned about is i'm sleeping, i don't know what's going on and i know that the areas that were really at risk they they were driving through and blaring out you need toe vacuate. if something pops up a enthey

can't get ahead of it. they can barely keep up with the road closures. i think we're seeing kaiser permanente right now. has been evacuated. we just found out that they were able to evacuate. now i'm getting word they're still evacuating. huge process to evacuate this hospital. i've just never seen anything like it where a hospital is at risk of burning down. >> i think i see firefighters in the parking lot now of kaiser. if you'll pan to the right. looks like they're on scene to try to keep the flames back. >> you can hear the sirens. you can see the flashing lights over there. this is kaiser permanente. the fire getting close to the building. you can see some flashing lights there. right in between the trees there and through the smoke and fire. i know you see more blinking lights here. you have all emergency vehicles going over toward the kaiser

permanente building trying to protect that, i'm sure. even though we did see that i did evacuate that. it's getting worse. i just heard a couple other explosions. there goes an ambulance off bicentennial way. in any case, i heard more explosions. my guess and this is only a guess that some of the propane tanks that people use to cook, that's where the mobile home park is at. i keep on seeing a couple explosions here and there and flare ups here and there. at the same time you still have the fire kind of spreading and surrounding the kaiser permanente building and so it seems like they're really trying to put efforts in trying to save that building just by all the flashing lights and sirens i hear. >> as we look in that direction at the glowing horizon, i should point out that right behind you is a giant community right around bicentennial park less than a mile away and in the direction the wind is

blowing. i would not be surprised and maybe it's already happened that police may start evacuating that area. we have a lot of homes. talking about hundreds of homes. this is a giant neighborhood right behind you. >> give kind of the border streets there. >> butte drive, russell avenue, plumeria drive. any community along bicentennial park. the vintage ridge apartment homes. all these areas are in the direction that this fire is spreading, in the direction that the wind is blowing. >> as we look at the camera it's blowing away. you can tell that by the thick smoke. those are all the neighborhoods behind the shopping plaza and the ammunition shop. >> i don't know if you've been able to see much activity to your left of the communities in if the path of the fire as they continue to march in your direction. although thankfully right now the winds are blowing the smoke away from you. the general direction of the fire is heading towards you.

>> hold on for a minute. were you in that area where you got -- did you get evacuated, sir? >> no. i work for a company. i'm seeing what's going on. >> okay. >> they're evacuating everybody from everywhere. >> hold on for a second. >> this is kron 4. we're on live television. you're working here. >> running the area, yes. >> what did you get told? >> they're evacuating everybody from fallon grove above this area and towards the windsor area. they're evacuating everybody over there right now at this moment. >> did he tell you he was at the jail? >> you were where? where do you work? >> i just work down the street. >> at the jail? >> yeah. i'm a bail agent. >> so you're a bail agent. okay. -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> how about the prisoners there? are they evacuating them as well? >> nobody at this moment. >> do you see any fire around the jail? >> not at this moment.

just around this area at the moment. >> thank you very much. so the jail still not being evacuated. but they are evacuating people north of bicentennial way all in this area and as you mentioned before, you said the fire is coming in my direction but right now the wind seems to be blowing east or northeast you can kind of tell by the smoke going in that direction. at the moment i seem to be in a safe place relatively speaking. it does seem a lot more activity is going on. tension and pressure is definitely going on with some residents here. i just saw an altercation happen between just somebody who probably lived at one of the mobile parks getting upset with another media station here and was very, you know, very irate i guess about us

reporting this. people are scared, they're worried, they're angry, they're confused and a lot of people have had to just run out. i know when i stopped for gas that there was a couple that were asking oh is this safeway open. i hear the safeway is open 24 hours. yeah, we're just coming from santa rosa and they said their apartment had to get evacuated right away. they were just in shorts, t- shirt and a backpack. just like a flash of light over here. i'm going to walk over. not sure. [ overlapping speakers ] >> i let the people know out there, we're just trying to help. by us being able to explain exactly what is burning and what has burned so far and where the fire is moving and

get witness accounts we're just trying to help. a lot of people are just waking up and don't even know about this huge fire. not only where you are in santa rosa but we know it's already chewed through neighborhoods in calistoga. apparently i'm seeing reports of people treated for burns. there are mandatory evacuations there. we have winds. napa, sonoma. various areas through wine country are under evacuation right now. >> just to give people perspective. you talked to that gentleman who talked about he works at the jail down the way. so back up just a little bit, point your camera back towards kaiser, if you would. and you are on bicentennial; right? show us bicentennial. >> that's correct. this is bicentennial right here. right here. >> exactly right. [ overlapping speakers ] >> where those cars are going they're entering the freeway. >> right. >> right where your camera is

pointed just off in that direction that's where the sonoma county sheriff's office is, the main office, the courthouse, the jailhouse. so they're not too far away from kaiser. kaiser is just to the left. the officers are just on the other side of bicentennial. >> that's correct. they're basically just an overpass away. yes, it is kind of coming down this way. it seemed to have calmed down a little bit right over here in front of kaiser permanente. you can see how there's less smoke. you still see a lot of flashing lights. firefighters probably really jumped on this whole area just to try to save the building from here and as we heard also two people have been evacuated from kaiser permanente. it seems like it's calmed down. you can see how you don't see the same flames you saw maybe 10 minutes ago. it looks like they're at least being able to save this building for the moment smoke

just got worse over here on this other side. you can see black smoke over there. it's gotten really quite, quite -- you can see so much material just burning that it's -- the black smoke a lot of times indicate tires. probably cars that were parked there. who knows. the tires on somement mobile homes and that kind of stuff is everybody is probably being burnt down to the ground. >> as you keep that shot for us, yoli, just off to your right we have kaiser and will tran is on location right now. he's just made it over to kaiser hospital. let's see where they are in that process. will, can you hear me? >> yes, i can see ambulances pulling up to the front right now. they're pulling people out on their beds. there are a lot of police officers here at the health facility. i'm right in front of the kaiser building and it is an eerie sight because on the backside of kaiser you can see

the blow of the fire behind it. it's well lit at this location. breathing is very difficult. i see a lot of people being wheeled out by their family members as well as nurses, anybody who can help somebody out is. lots of ambulances pulling in as well. there's a lot of frenzy, chaos. you can see fire trucks and police officers just sprinting across santa rosa, down 101. i saw as far down as novato. as far as kaiser, people are pulling in, family members. a lot of personal vehicles are coming in after they found out the news. i'll try to find out why kaiser. i would mathematical obviously it's for their safety. but why it's not safer for them to be inside kaiser at this time as opposed to being out. >> well, maybe you can't tell.

will, as we're looking from a distance the flames look extremely close to the building. can you tell that from where you are? >> absolutely. i mean the building is not on fire but just if you put them side by side i can see the bright glow, the orange glow on the other side of kaiser. it's almost like you're looking at a building and on the backside of the building it is glowing because of the night sky, the fire is well lit in this location. so they're probably being preemptive worrying about it's better to evacuate now than as opposed to the fire being so close. at that time you can imagine breathing will be even that much more difficult and the chaos even more so i would imagine they're being preemptive now. there are plenty of ambulances in front trying to get people away from this location. >> thanks a lot t will. we'll talk to yoli now. she has a public information officer. there he is. we're looking at the shot with the fire behind us.

yoli. >> yes, i'm sorry, sir. can you give me your name and title? >> jonathan cox, battalion chief of cal fire. >> can you tell us the chief with kaiser permanente? >> there are some evacuations in progress. essentially what we have right now is a dynamic situation with a fast moving fire with this wind event we're having right now. the priority of all fire agencies and responders right now is to save lives and to evacuate people. that's our number one priority, getting out and getting the people out of harms way. this fire is moving incredibly fast. it's come over from the napa county side of cubs lane and is really dynamic and it's, you know we're looking at highway 101 right now in santa rosa and the fire is still making a hard push. get out immediately and to heed all warning by law enforcement officials to get out of harms way. we're really in the mode of life safety and getting people out of their homes and where

they're at. >> it's even kind of hard to grasp how far this fire has extended. do you have an idea? >> i don't want to estimate. we're 5 or 10 miles plus in a few hours. the winds have just been outrageous tonight. essentially we are in a mode of saving lives and getting people out of harms way at the moment. >> any other agencies outside of you guys coming up to help? >> there's a mull by dued of agencies here right now. there's agencies from throughout northern california responding to this and other fires in the area. it's one team, one fight right now. it's making sure everybody is safe and getting containment on this fire. >> anyone hurt at this moment? >> it's too early. literally we're in the initial stage of this. the initial attack. and we're really trying to get people out of harms way. [ overlapping speakers ] >> is he driving through neighborhoods with a bull horn? what have they done so far? >> so you know like back here is a mobile home. did you have to go with a bull horn, did you go door to door? >> law enforcement officials

have been out there door to door with sirens, with their loud speakers. as you can hear there's multiple resources coming in here. this is wind driven. it's making a hard push. >> ask him if he knows what direction it's going. >> if you see fire, you feel like you're in danger, evacuate immediately. if you get told by law enforcement officials to leave t heed their barning. this is the real deal. [ overlapping speakers ] >> fire is coming at a southwesterly direction at the moment in towards santa rosa. >> heading towards santa rosa. >> heading towards town. >> santa rosa is pretty big. so, i mean, can you say maybe a quarter of the town -- >> you know, i don't want to say. you can see behind us it's jumped highway highway 101 on the north side of santa rosa.

it's a substantial area being affected right now. >> thank you, sir. >> so that's basically the assessment in a nutshell is that if you see it to get out of harms way and this is no joke, these winds are really bad. >> is that ash? in your shot. >> that is ash. >> ash is raining down. >> that was. that was. if i put the light on sometimes you'll see them coming down and stuff. right now another big building is just on fire. that's -- you can see it right there. >> oh my gosh i do see that. >> just burning down. it's like a candle. >> it is a large building. that's not a home, is it? that's industrial. >> that looks like a large building. i couldn't tell you what it was before because it was in the dark and the smoke was covering up things. but you definitely see it now and it's burning down. >> yeah, see that's going to be the issue. he was talking about with the winds, it's not just that the winds are causing fire to chew

ground in front of it. they're lighting these roofs on fire. >> it's hard to understand that why did all these fires break out at the same time. maybe they didn't. maybe like you said one started the other. >> that's why when we have a red flag warning and high fire danger, all it takes is one fire. >> we don't know if it started in sonoma, napa, if santa rosa, which one. >> embers get tossed in strong winds in all directions or at least the direction that wind is blowing. when they land they start spot fires. that's what makes it tough for firefighters. you have the main fire you're trying to fight. you have embers landing and starting fires in other areas and now you have to scramble resources to try to take those down. >> now they're thinking this

one started over in napa county and spread to there. it is started at highway 28 in napa county, the embers could have spread over to this one to the santa rosa fire. we have also the sonoma fire, a lot of people live up in the hills above the town square. i know they've been evacuated. we know that homes have burnt down in sonoma. we know that from make who evacuated with his family. two homes at least are gone. they're just completely gone. the problem is a lot of families, if they've been asleep and haven't heard the evacuation order. what we just understood from that fire official is they have sirens blaring through the neighborhoods on the bull horns and at the door. >> anybody who enjoyed a weekend at the wine country knows the roads get sparse. they get windy. a lot of folks enjoy living in the north bay because they have

isolation. that makes it even tougher for firefighters and police to get the word out because people are so spread out. in cases there are only one or two roads in and out of some of these communities. when you have road closures, it makes it harder for people with once they get word to get out. >> the word came out first about midnight. that's when we think the first fire broke out around midnight. it's hard to tell which fire started first. then to santa rosa where we're really seeing because it's so much more densely pop lated with homes and businesses, the hospital. that's where we're really seeing a lot of the structures. out in sonoma and napa, it's more rural and a lot of people are trying to get their pets out. >> that i have livestock to worry about. >> some have to get horses and whole ranches outs. we have will tran on the ground

in front of kaiser hospital. you see a glow of fire. people being wheeled into ambulances, on to personal cars. that's happening right now as we speak. we do know that that mobile home park behind where yoli has been shooting that's been aglow all morning, that's a total loss. we think it was evacuated ahead of time. we heard they made the evacuation call. we're hoping they got out okay from there. >> we haven't had a commercial break in about 45 minutes so we'll take a quick one. we'll be back with our on going coverage of this breaking news story. major wildfires bushing right now in the north bay.

fire in callistoga ( will ) this is the bay area's news station , kron4 starts now with breaking news. >> morning everybody . it is 5:00. major fires burning right now across the north bay.>> this

shot is coming from bicentennial road in santa rosa. this is a mobile home park that has gone up in flames. several other structures have burned. there is concern about an ammunition shop. we also have boots on the ground at the kaiser permanente hospital which is being evacuated as we speak. people are getting out of the high rice into ambulances and stretchers.>> in addition to these fires in santa rosa we have a number in the napa valley and sonoma valley. this is part of our team coverage. spencer blake is at the command center and we will check in with him momentarily.

>> we just found out that sutter santa rosa regional hospital has been added to the evacuation list. sirens have been sounding since midnight with police going through neighborhoods getting people out. we want to go live and talk to yoli . i can see the ash raining down on you, are you okay and can you breed all right? >> i am okay and in and okay area. you can see this wind bellowing on the other side of highway 101. things have improved a bit by

kaiser permanente. for now it is safe. we do know that it was evacuated. there are still some cars and emergency vehicles there. i am on bicentennial way. we have seen police officers going back and forth in this area. this is towards range avenue and bicentennial way.>> i live down the street, that's correct. i'm trying to pack up all my stuff. this is crazy. extracted somebody tell you to evacuate? >> no. but this is crazy.

please pray for the residence in sonoma county. this is crazy. that building is kfc and trader joe's. it's no longer there. there is a high school down there. this is crazy. ambulances and emergency vehicles trying to help us. now we are completely blocked off and we can go home.>> you can see police officers going back and forth. increased police presence in the last five minutes at bicentennial way. northbound 101 is closed off.

all the roads going north are also closed off. the priority at this point is to get people out of harm's way. they are trying to save lives this morning. if you get a knock on the door and hear sirens that say evacuate, comply. this is a fast raging fire in santa rosa.>> we can see the fire on the east side of the freeway. can you point your camera in the opposite direction? keep going to the left, keep going to the left. [ overlapping speakers ] i saw some more light that way when

you were talking with that gentleman. >> right there. between the trees. this fire is jumping . it has jumped 101 from neighborhood to neighborhood. winds are gusting in excess of 40 miles per hour. >> yes. in the east bay they had sustained winds of 75. firefighters are desperately trying to get people out of harms way before they can even start the process to try to tackle the fire itself. >> this is santa rosa. we have reporters in napa, sonoma, and calistoga. spencer blake is on the phone. where are you exactly?>> reporter: i am in napa

approaching the atlas peak fire. there are a lot of closures. i am looking at a red glow in the sky. you know underneath the thick layer of smoke there are huge flames. there are police and fire vehicles blocking off the road. i am about a quarter-mile away from atlas peak road. flames threatening the silverado country club. many people were evacuated. many people were in town visiting for conferences and staying at the club. they were evacuated and sent to another hotel. after that, they got evacuated a second time. people talked about flames and

numbers jumping into their backyards -- and embers jumping into their backyards as they were leaving. emergency responders are gathering resources around the bay area to work on this. the glow in the sky is amazing. a huge swath behind the trees. i can only imagine how big those flames are underneath that smoke. my throat is getting a little bit sore now. the smell of smoke is very thick everywhere you go. >> because of gusting and sustained winds. our studio smell smoky here in san francisco. this fire -- actually multiple

fires causing issues with the smoke. as you can see, this fire has jumped from sonoma and napa over into santa rosa. evacuations are underway. is this new video? calistoga. we have seen fires burning close to the san francisco area. the oakland firestorms were residential and this is calistoga. let's go to will for more about what's going on over at kaiser hospital. we see the city buses being filled up with patients.>>

reporter: absolutely. ambulances can only take a certain amount of people. take a look at this video that i sent into the newsroom. this was from about 10 minutes ago. many people are getting phone calls in the middle of the night. they are rushing to the scene. whatever they have available to them they are rushing to kaiser permanente. now authorities have brought in buses to assist, removing people. these appear to be noncritical patients, meaning they don't necessarily need any equipment attached to them. there are a lot of people in the lobby of kaiser permanente.

nurses helping as much as they can. a lot of police officers at the scene as well. now it looks like things are picking up. many people need to understand and they are getting the word, rushing to kaiser to assist. buses are loading up and one bus is almost full. these people will be taken to a nearby evacuation center . it looks like lots going on. kaiser permanente filled with cars. i hear sirens, ambulances, police vehicles, fire trucks. this is all over santa rosa. one police officer said to another "i will see you later.

take care out there." people are being evacuated before it is too late and before the fire gets too close to this building. >> that is incredible video, will, seeing these patients being placed on buses. imagine all the things that happen in a hospital. many people are in recovery after surgery. people have just given birth. babies in the prenatal care unit. everybody being carefully taken out. great video that you sent in. a big effort right there trying to get as many people to safely -- safety as quickly as possible.>> and we have video coming in now from calistoga.

these are are all areas with separate fires that are wind driven. embers landing in different places. the fires jumping highway 101. this is calistoga. in santa rosa we have seen several businesses and a mobile home park catch fire. buildings going up in flames on the left and calistoga.>> road closures are hampering efforts to try to get out of some of these areas. this fire is right up against the roadway. you can see that in the video on the left. that is making it more difficult for people to get out when police say it is time to go. >> yes, i am monitoring traffic

on highway 101. this is 101 and highway 12 in santa rosa. you can see all those brake lights right there. everybody is jumping on the freeway and it is bumper-to- bumper in the southbound direction coming out of fulton and santa rosa. many people are trying to head south into novato. south 101 from fulton all the way down to novato is backed up. if you take highway 37, it is blocked off in both directions. i also got word that lakeview highway is also close between highway 37 and stagecoach . it is hard to see with reduced visibility and high winds.

lots of debris on the roads. closures may be extended on 37 from 101 all the way over to the 85. that is a big closure on 37.>> and we will have live report coming from that area soon.>> on the right-hand side, you see these wind whipped flames. the firefighter said it's moving in a southwest direction. >> yes, from the upper right corner of the screen to the lower last corner you can see that the winds have increased. into the hills on either side of santa rosa, winds gusting 30- 40 miles per hour.

strong enough to send embers flying for miles. they start spot fires. on the right side of the weather map you can see napa with 14 miles per hour winds. at last count, 10 fires burning in napa and sonoma valley.>> we have a lot of evacuations underway right now. many people who live in santa rosa will find they are out of a home. and entire mobile home park has burned down. these are evacuations. everything in the middle of the red area is where they evacuated. many businesses have been burned, a kfc and a trader joe's we have been told.

and we have been told they are evacuating prisoners from the jail. also evacuating patients from the kaiser permanente. look at these surreal pictures of people coming out in hospital gowns and being evacuated into ambulances, buses, private vehicles. another hospital in the area has also been evacuated -- or is underway right now. schools have been canceled. in nampa, calistoga and sonoma counties, evacuations are underway. people are being evacuated from major hotels. >> how scary is this for those patients at kaiser permanente. and for everybody else in the

area of the evacuation zone. now let's go back out live to yoli . extracted you here anymore popping from the ammunition store? >> reporter: i did not. there is a white light in this area and that gives me an indication that emergency vehicles are in the area fighting the fire. i'm sure that was a main concern for anybody who lives around here. they are familiar with the shopping mall and familiar with that ammunition store. but i want to show you, over the last 15 minutes, people are stopping on the bicentennial

overpass. many realized they cannot get to their homes. all of the roads are blocked off going up north. others are keeping a watch like lee. he lives two blocks away. i was trying to check if i needed to evacuate. i am sure it will happen sooner or later. there is a new fire. >> reporter: and that is the glow that we saw past the trees. you can see that area right there. it is glowing. that is the area that is kind of brand-new.

one gentleman said he heard about a fire around 10 or 11. and add 1:00 a.m. is when this fire got out of control and jumped highway 101 and heading into santa rosa. that is why you see many people just standing by. they are keeping a watch out in case they have to evacuate. if they do tell you to evacuate, please listen and follow directions. this fire is out of control. now they are just trying to get people out of harms way. kaiser permanente is being

evacuated. it was very much in jeopardy half an hour ago. firefighters stopped it from catching fire. but look at this, very close, over the hill with the billowing smoke from the mobile home park. at this point, it looks like that mobile home park is burning down to the ground. >> if you have a loved one in the area and they are on the go, if you have been evacuated, just get in the car and leave. people have their phones with them. you can go to the website and

get a list of evacuations centers. we have massive evacuations happening. be sure to go to kron4.com for the listings. we will take a quick break and be right back.

we are continuing our coverage of a massive number of fires that are hitting nampa, calistoga, santa rosa. >> a number of evacuations are in effect. mark is joining us on the phone this morning. he has had to leave his home

with his family. >> reporter: good morning. we had to evacuate at 2:30 a.m. this morning when the sheriff was in the neighborhood. we had wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. we went outside and there was fire on the ridge. we have a lot of friends in that area. you could see the fires coming down from the glen ellen area. also fires in the west to the diamond bay area. another fire burning down to the south in the southern part of sonoma by broadway. we know that the hotel there was evacuated and it was nearly full. the smell of smoke is very

thick. in the meantime we helped a friend evacuate. the smell of smoke makes you joke when you step outside. fires are burning everywhere. >> thank you, mark danon . when you are the person being evacuated, how weird and scary was that? were you prepared for something like that?>> reporter: we were evacuated when we first bought the house 10 years ago and then one more time since then. the scary thing with all of this is the wind from 500-1000 feet the winds are really howling. trees are down. power lines are coming down and hitting trees.

the winds are blowing and a lot of these embers are traveling for miles and starting new fires. i see a red glow in all directions when i turn around. this fire could be five or six miles away but one massive gust of wind could bring it close to my location. we are at a friends house right now but we are prepared to evacuate from here if we need to. >> yes, very impressive winds the higher you go. 50 miles per hour on top of mount diablo, gusting up to 75 miles per hour. >> reporter: we had very strong wind gusts, up to 50 miles per hour at our house. nampa valley schools are closed

today. you can see smoke in the town of sonoma, the western ridge and also the eastern ridge. and then to the north coming down from glenallen. fire in all directions. >> yes, the winds are whipping these winds up. you have to see this, mark, we have video of kaiser permanente in santa rosa that is being evacuated. we have two hospitals now being evacuated. people are coming outside in their hospital gowns, with walkers and oxygen. they are being transported out on city buses. the fire was burning very close to kaiser permanente. there is also an ammunition shop in that area.

once we see first light, we will see more and more damage, i think. mark danon talked about his friends looking up at the ridge on fire, knowing that they lost their homes. >> reporter: yes, i have several friends that are concerned. you can hear the winds howling again. when the sun comes up we hope that the winds will calm down a bit. >> also, the area you live in, spotted with homes and winding roads. it may be difficult for people to get out. >> reporter: exactly. that is part of the danger. that is why the sheriff's office is going around

neighborhoods announcing for people to get out. we have our escape route planned. that is why we came down to the town of sonoma now. the sheriff's office was in my neighborhood making announcements asking everyone to leave. >> you think you are ready for something like that. we say time and again when we cover fires, make sure you know what to take at the ready. but when you only have a matter of minutes it does make you decide what is really important for you.>> reporter: yes, we grabbed what we could. most importantly, we are alive and okay. that is what is the most important thing to remember. everything else is just

material.>> yes, i think we will be horrified by this devastation of us fires win the sun comes up. >> reporter: i will check back in with you in a little bit. >> yes, go ahead. we have heard our reporters talking about the silverado hotel being evacuated and then they go to another hotel and they are evacuated a second time. schools are closed. in a number of different places, nampa, calistoga, santa rosa , all affected. we think this fire started before midnight with one fire and it increased by embers and

what we know our strong winds.>> another mandatory evacuation in the area east of altman road. you are being told to leave immediately. 1351 maple avenue is the newest evacuation center. if you can make it to the santa rosa fairgrounds, they will take animals and care for them until the all clear has been given for you.>> the left-hand side was highway 37. this is novato looking north. that is what mark was talking about. look at that line of fire.

many, many people live in this area. many towns full of communities that are just waking up this morning to this site of smoke. our primary live shot has been provided by yoli .>>, yes, let's go out to yoli again . many people have stopped by to talk to her from time to time. >> reporter: that is correct, james. terry sweeney is here with me. he was looking for his brother here earlier. did you get a hold of him? >> yes. he told me that they were

having trouble trying to evacuate . it was chaos in the area.>> please pray for santa rosa. >> reporter: how did they get him to evacuate? did they knock on his door? >> i am not sure. he called my parents. i heard it on the news when i woke up and i rushed over here to try to help him out.>> reporter: they probably turned you away. >> absolutely. the roads are closed. i live south of here and now i cannot get back home. they have so many road closures.

>> reporter: thank you so much. again this is bicentennial way. you can see all of the ash in the air. many people are stopping right here on the overpass looking at the fire. some people were evacuated. others trying to gauge whether they should self evacuate. others are curious to see how raging this fire is. we have been there since four clock this morning. this fire started before that. but it has been relentless. it has not stopped. billows of smoke and fire. we are not too far from kaiser permanente. it seems to be clear.

for now. 15 to 20 minutes ago, the ridge behind it was flaring up. now ambers and smoke. on the top of the hilltop there were large flames going on. now i think they have gotten those under control a bit . it looks like they are trying to pinpoint certain buildings. on the other side of 101 you have a shopping mall that had an ammunition store. they made sure that did not catch on fire. the fire seem to have reached that ammunition store because i heard gunshots a few hours ago.

but it seems they have put out that fire and prevented any further damage in the area. trader joe's and kfc, i've been told, have been burned down to the ground in a strip mall. still hearing a lot of sirens, fire engines and police officers driving by on bicentennial way. very hard to keep track of where this fire will go next. one thing we do know . it is going in a northwest direction. many of these people that i talked to live may be south of where the fire is hitting

next.>> show me again that white smoke near the firearms building. you mentioned the trader joe's and strip mall on fire. that borders up along a mobile home park. that mobile home park possibly caught fire this morning. trader joe's is only a stones throw away from that mobile home park. it would not surprise me if some of that smoke that is lit up is the mobile home park.>> reporter: james, someone came up to me and said the other mobile home park is on fire. i have not seen it, but others are telling me it is on fire and people are being told to

evacuate.>> two mobile home parks and a shopping center in the area, on both sides of 101 now, in that area. this fire sweeping through sonoma and napa as well. and also two hospitals in the area have been evacuated. >> as these fires continue to jump roads they are causing road closures. >> reporter: evacuees are dealing with dangerous driving conditions and major delays. highway 37 highlighted in purple is completely closed now in both directions from the

novato said at the 101 split all the way over to the 80 split. this is causing major problems as people are trying to head south on 101 and also on 80. 80 is back up from 29 over to 780. power poles are on fire and leaning over the freeways and roadways. dangerous driving conditions in santa rosa near barbara tears harper -- near harper. many caltrans workers responding are delayed because they are trying to evacuate their own homes and families.

the police department is asking for volunteers if you are safe and you can assist. they are very shorthanded right now. all santa rosa public transit services have been canceled for today. >> yes. they are trying to get families to safety. on our website we have all of the evacuation centers listed at kron4.com . the most surreal shot we had came from will, patients being evacuated onto city buses at kaiser permanente.>> reporter: i have seen a few more buses pull into kaiser permanente and a few

others leaving. they are not waiting for a full bus anymore. if it is at half capacity they are getting these patients to the nearest facility for assistance. noncritical patients are being to san rafael kaiser permanente. this is video that i shot 15 minutes ago. you can see the bus pulling into kaiser permanente. when i arrived at 4:20, there were many ambulances curbside. also a lot of family members coming here to take their loved ones away from kaiser permanente. but that was not fast enough because they can carry as many as a bus. close to 5:00, we noticed buses

starting to pull in. they are slowly bringing out these patients. they walk slowly, are older and more fragile. police officers and nurses were walking side-by-side with the patient's in order to get them into the ambulance as quickly and safely as possible. right now, i don't see any other bosses pulling in. they did a lot, very fast, and very little time with the private vehicles and ambulances . it looks like most of the heavy lifting is over for now. this kaiser building is not on

fire but you can see a glow on the backside of the building. that is why they decided to evacuate these patients right now before it was too late when and if the fire gets too close for comfort. back to you guys. >> thank you. the mobile home park shares a backside with kaiser permanente. and that mobile home park has burned down. that is why they were being cautious. santa rosa regional hospital is also being evacuated. that is the second hospital now . >> we do know that this fire has spread to multiple areas. nampa and sonoma, calistoga, santa rosa.

a lot of people in a lot of directions this morning. many were awoken by sirens or players telling them to get up. areas on the highway are jammed. this is a shot of 101 where the fire jumped. multiple buildings have gone up in flames just in the last hour and a half that we have been on air. >> yes. our internal system alert have been going off. if you are in a evacuation center, protect yourself, your family and your pets. and if you feel it is safe go ahead and use your cell phone in our mobile app. that way we can share with you a lot of these ground shots.

just tap that button and continue on with your evacuation process. >> now this is calistoga on the left. structures are going up in flames. multiple structures burned in calistoga, nampa and santa rosa. they believe this began in nampa and quickly spread with strong winds. powerlines are taking downed trees. we have seen fires in many areas. it is almost a half circle direction of the north bay, the fire ring. >> this shows you the direction of the fire and the winds. santa rosa 20 miles per hour

right now. downtown proper napa or in the hills, winds up to 50 miles per hour at times. mark is and sonoma valley and he mentioned 50 miles per hour wind gusts up in the hills.>> he had to wake his family up at 2:30 when the officials came through telling people to evacuate. so he went to a house of a friend. now they are getting ready to vacate again. we have evacuation centers listed on our website at kron4.com . those are safe. there are also evacuation centers set up for animals.

this is a large building, in the industrial area. not far from the mobile home park that went up in flames this morning. when the sons comes up -- when the sunshine comes up, we will start to see the damage. we have crews from all over northern california that have descended upon these areas, nampa, calistoga, santa rosa . >> again, we have the evacuation centers listed on our website at kron4.com . the sonoma county fairgrounds has been opened up to animals. bring them there if you have to evacuate and someone can take care of your pet until you are given the green light. this morning yoli talked about

how quickly this fire was spreading, including two this ammunition store. firefighters are working desperately to protect this building. >> take a look at those fresh flames. what is that, yoli , do you know? >> they say that as part of the shopping mall. but people here on the bridge say there is a gas station in that area as well. you can see fire trucks on this other end. and also, i see more engines on the other side as well.

you can see the flashing lights right there which is an indication of fire trucks. >> [ overlapping speakers ] those are fresh flames.>> reporter: yes, somebody said that could be the kmart store. that is a big building. and these flames are pretty fresh happening right now. like i said, people told me there is a gas station in the area. now we see more fire trucks going in that direction. many resources focusing in that area right now.>> [ overlapping speakers ] that is industrial

drive and there is a shell station and a 76 on the corner of cleveland avenue. >> what is amazing is that this broke out overnight. it's good because nobody is at work or shopping yet but it is terrible for all of the neighborhoods and homes because of those people sleeping inside. and the idea that there are so many fires burning that resources are stretched to the limit. by all accounts, these fires are in varying sizes.>> reporter: i was going to say, it's not only bouncing

everywhere but i have been in this one location since 4:00 a.m.. and since that time i have seen flareup after flareup. so it is trying to burn everything around it. i can pan it over to highway 101 and we see fresh fire here as well. >> yes.>> reporter: something comes down and something else catches on fire. let's give credit to the residents in the area. this telephone pole was on fire. you can see some of the embers right there. some people drove up in a car and pulled out their extinguisher, trying to extinguish the fire themselves

with a fire extinguisher. that was a great idea because of that poll would've caught on fire, it would have tipped over. some citizens trying to help where they can. for the most part, the fire department telling people if you feel threatened, to get out of there. and if firefighters come up to you or shot out of a bullhorn or knock on your door and ask you to comply, please do so. this fire is very unpredictable. i will show you another area . it may be difficult to see, but you see this big dark cloud of smoke? you can see a lot of dark clouds. people tell me that is another neighborhood. i am not very familiar with the

roads but they are saying piner and coffee is that area. now officials are starting to block those roads in that area and telling people to evacuate. so it does seem to be heading in a western direction. at this point they are trying to tell people to just get out. they are trying to pinpoint and focus on saving lives, getting people out of harm's way.>> thank you, yoli . she's been out there since 4 a.m.. >> yes. a lumber liquidators in that area as well on piner. we will be right back after this break.

we are back. time now is 5:55. this is the big problem this morning, fires across the north bay. blowing embers because of strong winds, causing fires that are jumping roads. this is in the sonoma valley. >> buildings have been lost. shopping centers, mobile home parks, businesses and homes affect -- affected this morning. this north bay fire is raging in many different areas and different towns including

nampa, calistoga, santa rosa . we will continue our live team coverage of the north bay fires in just a few minutes.

this is the bay area's news station , kron4 starts now with breaking news. continuing coverage of the wildfires moving through napa and sonoma valleys . >> we have live coverage in santa rosa. will is in napa and yoli standing by giving us this live shot on bicentennial way near the overpass of 101. near the kaiser permanente location. yoli, give us the latest.

>> reporter: i am talking to desmond who lives in a neighborhood close to here?>> yes. they are telling everyone to evacuate. they had cops going around and telling everyone to evacuate by bullhorn. i work at a hospital. they said any employees that were able to come into work, -- [ indiscernible ] i got a text message to come into work if your family is okay. i will take my son with me to work today.>> reporter: thank

you, desmond. be careful out there. surrounding neighborhoods are being evacuated. his neighborhood is just south of here. about five blocks away, they are now asking that neighborhood to evacuate. thank you, again, desmond. i am here on bicentennial way. i am hearing a lot of police sirens going back and forth now. the fire started on the east side of highway 101 and jumped over to the west side overnight. police say a kmart could be on fire right now.

there are two gas stations in the area as well. to the left, this glow is over where some of the shopping malls are at including trader joe's and an ammunition shop. this big glow is in the back and that is northwest of santa rosa. that seems to be the new hotspot. this is why there are so many people on bicentennial way. they have either been evacuated, or they are looking at and assessing whether they should evacuate. many people taking pictures. across the street many cars

parked on the side of bicentennial way. they wonder like we do what will happen. many sirens going off. some neighborhoods are being evacuated at this moment.>> yoli, show us kaiser. -- i mean will, show us kaiser and the update.>> reporter: the urgency is over now. i do not see any more city buses pulling into kaiser permanente. this is video that i shot earlier showing the buses and private citizens pulling in to assist. they have either family members or friends at kaiser permanente

and they came to assist getting people out of the facility. kaiser permanente is not on fire but they are doing this as a precaution. they don't want it to become too dangerous or too hectic to evacuate these patients because many are older and fragile. the critical patients are being taken to a hospital in the santa rosa area to continue treatment. noncritical patients are being driven to the kaiser permanente in the san rafael area. over the past 15 minutes or so i hear a lot of ambulances.

police officers chris crossing the area. the urgency as far as this evacuation for maybe two hours is calming down now. for about 15 seconds it did go dark at kaiser permanente. that was at the parking facility. after that something kicked in. perhaps a generator and the light started flickering back on.>> thank you, will. if you are just waking up, parts of santa rosa have been evacuated. cross creek road, saint andrews

drive. mendocino heights. hopper avenue to the north and south of coffee lane and barns road. all of the people east of fulton road. all of those areas are affected by the fires burning there right now. new mandatory evacuations for santa rosa area east of fulton road between guerneville road and river road. if you are in this area, you need to leave immediately. >> this is burning in napa and sonoma valleys as well . let's go to spencer blake next for a look at those conditions. >> reporter: check out these flames behind me. i have been breathing through this scarf because the smoke is so thick. everywhere you go there are

roads close. firefighters are working on efforts to evacuate people to safety right now. after that they will coordinate the agencies coming to assist. again, this is a look right now at the fire at atlas peak in napa. this cause the evacuation of silverado country club. people saw embers dropping into their backyards as they were waking up this morning.>> it was coming towards the house and you could see condominiums going up. you could see trees on fire. a house on the corner was also in flames. behind us, you could see more

flames. two of my neighbors' homes were engulfed in flames.>> and this is a look at calistoga. a woman was fleeing this wildfire and shot this video of buildings going up in flames. you can see those flames on the side of the road as she drove out of this dangerous area this morning. take a look at this. driving through to get to safety. this is something that is happening very close. we don't often see this in the san francisco area. we usually see the hills burning but not these heavily populated areas. we are hoping people are safe.

many people are being evacuated. we will not know for another hour what it looks like until sunrise. a stream of lights as people try to head out and evacuate. this is new video in of someone driving through calistoga.>> very dangerous. downed trees and downed power lines. leaning over and in danger. we have many many closures in place throughout the north bay. for those working in santa rosa, all light rail services have been canceled. here is the traffic tracker. you can see a mad -- to get out

of the north bay . it is gridlocked right now from santa roma down to the marin county line. they are diverting traffic off the freeway. they will take you off south 101 at fulton. going north, they take you off at bicentennial. and this is 37. everything you see highlighted in purple on highway 37 is closed. this is the 101 split, shut down in both directions, 101 and 80. highway 12 from arnold over to warm springs is shut down. also portions of 121. there is debris flying all over

the road so be careful of that. powerlines down as well. heavy smoke . it looks like fog. they are dealing with reduced visibility. so be extra careful. we are dealing with poor air quality right now. if you are watching this broadcast, close your doors and windows, try to limit your out door activity. especially if you have asthma. >> yes, you can smell that smoke. even here in san francisco and the east bay you can smell it. >> it is incredible. anything but a normal day in the entire north bay. the smoke is very thick. multiple fires are burning, driven by gusting winds this

morning. this fire started before midnight. many people have been affected including napa, calistoga, santa rosa . no schools are open in napa and sonoma valleys . two hospitals in santa rosa have been evacuated. we are seeing fresh flames. live team coverage continues in a few minutes. more new

welcome back to our live team coverage of the north bay firestorm. multiple fires throughout napa and sonoma valleys . we are talking about the towns of napa, calistoga, santa rosa . this is one building we saw burn down in front of us this

morning. two hospitals in santa rosa safely evacuated this morning, sauter and kaiser permanente.>> spencer blake was in napa moments ago. let's go to the area identified by this red line. anybody inside the red line area needs to evacuate now. 101 is jammed up as people are trying to evacuate. >> we do know that the glow we saw a earlier this morning were two mobile home parks on either side of 101 going up in flames this morning. this is what is happening as

winds up to 40-50 miles per hour were whipping the flames and carrying these embers miles away. that is why we have seen multiple fires break out.>> earlier, in the last hour, we spoke with mark danon . he and his family were under the mandatory evacuation orders in sonoma. they are now sheltering with friends nearby. we hope to talk to him again in a few moments. he is part of the example that these homeowners have. the glow of fire inching towards many homes. >> that was a look from highway 37 northward in novato. you can see the mountain and ridgeline with a glow of

flames. and you see many people who live down by santa rosa. highway 37 is affected. some of the most dramatic video we have seen is the video from will in santa rosa. as you look at the live shot on the right, let's take a look of will of the evacuation happening in the middle of the night of kaiser permanente . it was a surreal site as you saw people in hospital gowns with walkers being loaded onto city buses and taken to safety because those flames came dangerously close. on the right now, a live shot. on the left, that was the

evacuation.>> and yoli, that fire you are showing us is the reason why kaiser had to be evacuated this morning. >> reporter: that is correct, james. you can see this right here. another building on fire. i hear sirens and police cars going by quickly. firefighters are working on this fire. there was and ammunition shop in the area and they have put resources in the area. it has calmed down a little bit but it still looks very severe. you have and ammunition shop in the area and firefighters. they are trying to get people

out of harms way. but there are certain areas that they are focusing on. there is a k-mart over there and also two gas stations. pretty rampant fire in this area. you can see the firefighters out there. it is pretty severe. there is a big ball of fire over in that area . it is very intense. this reminds me of that shot from "gone with the wind" with all that fire. that is what you see here on both sides of the freeway, just fire raging on both sides of

the freeway. i will take this off my shoulder and i will show you kaiser permanente. bear with me. you can see kaiser permanente right over here and the fire just right behind the hospital. for now, the hospital seems to be okay. you can see all the cop cars and fire engines going back and forth in the area. right over on bicentennial way off of 101. many emergency vehicles in the area because of the surrounding fires. they are just trying to get a handle on it and to get people out of harms way.

>> thank you, yoli . fire everywhere. you smell smoke everywhere . it is because of the incredible winds that we have this morning. when one fire breaks out, in napa, and it spread all the way over here. this has mushroom to more than 20,000 acres. >> and this is a very rough estimate from firefighters. we are less than one hour away from sunshine. 20,000 acres and this broke out at midnight.>> and the number of structures, buildings, businesses, mobile homes that have burned, countless.

right now we want to hit the napa part of this fire. we will go from santa rosa to napa. so let's talk to spencer blake.>> reporter: there is a cal fire station on highway 121, i believe it is also called monticello. just a little ways away from atlas speak. i can see the red glow in the sky. you can see the flames at the top of the peak. i was talking to a volunteer who came to the fire station to help out. he was talking about how intense that fire was and the

glow. all around me you can here the cracking and the boom of what must've been massive branches or tree trunks snapping or exploding while on fire. the ash was coming down like smoke -- snowflakes. [ indiscernible -- audio cutting out ]>> we just lost spencer. but the ash and the smoke is the story all the way down to san francisco. 911 was getting calls all over the bay area this morning because people thought there were fires that far out. on the left i think that is calistoga . it is amazing to

see these structures burned down before our eyes. the scary thing is you have people sleeping who had to be evacuated in the middle of the night.>> yes, and you know many folks up there love the rural nature of that part of the bay area. so getting to those homes on those winding roads and many canyons was difficult for police to get the word out to everybody to get out as fast as possible. we have a number of locations where people are headed for those evacuations now. these fire are spread now, 10 fires or more now. many in northern santa rosa right now. firefighters heading in all directions this morning. we spoke to the fire chief

battalion. he told us the response was impressive from all over california. hopefully they will arrive quickly to assist. right now, no control. >> we know that all of the schools in napa and sonoma valleys are closed today. there is a full list of shelters for you one hour website at kron4.com . if you have friends or family, i will name some streets for you in santa rosa. new mandatory evacuations for santa rosa area east of fulton road between guerneville road and river road. if you are in this area, you need to leave immediately. mountain grove neighborhood.

pine road and guerneville road as well. and kaiser permanente hospital was evacuated and there may still be some evacuations there. in napa, the wooden valley area. mandatory evacuations along old sonoma road. many hotels in this wine country area have been evacuated. also evacuations in effect in sonoma.>> it is sad to say but there are a number of residents

who have done this before. but even then it still comes as a shock to people. this broke out at midnight when people were fast asleep. awaking to loudspeakers from police alerting the neighborhood that they need to get out. we heard from residents south of santa rosa who have been told to evacuate. everything to the north is just a glow with fire this morning.>> in novato we have a shot looking to the north on highway 37. you can see that entire glowing ridgeline. more than 10 or 12 fires right

now. >> right now i am on highway 101 at bicentennial. they just move the shutdown sections further to the south. so there is no one on the northbound lane of highway 101 right now where i am standing. the chp moving people back moments ago. if you look behind me, smoke burning on both sides of the freeway. to my left, you can see big plumes of fire occasionally. it's coming up from the other side of the overpass. it looks like the size of a two or three story building from here.

black smoke is billowing out. i am told this area is mainly industrial. i've been told there is a furniture store, a tire shop. i'm not exactly sure what is burning but it is burning right next to the freeway off of southbound 101 near bicentennial . i can also see fires burning on the east side of 101 as well . it is a very chaotic situation right now. it smells because of the heavy smoke in the air . it is almost mowing -- almost snowing because of all the ash in the air. >> you drove north on 101 to get to your location?>>

reporter: exactly.>> [ overlapping speakers ] how was traffic ?>> reporter: the traffic heading south looked like the height of the commute. it was packed. i pulled over at a gas station on my way up and that was full of people evacuating and trying to get out. >> so strange at 5:00 a.m. to see highway 101 packed. tell us about your drive and seeing the smoke and the red glare.>> reporter: you can see it behind me, the orange glow in the background. i feel like you could see it all the way from san rafael. i saw the fire burning near

highway 37. it's quite the site to see even at 6:30 in the morning. a lot of smoke in the sky.>> thank you, maureen. we do have crews posted at all of us fires which are wind whipped fires, spreading them for miles this morning.>> we will get to robin in a second. before we do that, let's hop back to yoli . i believe will is that her location now. are things in order in kaiser now?>> reporter: i moved over from kaiser now to meet up with

yoli . that is where i was and i was telling you about the glow on the other side of the building. it looks like it is marching towards kaiser permanente. you can see the sky, and it is orange. this is the overpass over 101. many people pulled over to see exactly what's going on. many people evacuated as well. let me try to talk to someone here. nevermind. we will talk to some others. excuse me ma'am, can meet at -- can you tell me your name? >> my name is carly and i live in santa rosa -- >> [ bleep ]>> back to you

guys.>> the highway is completely shut down. and dangerous. roads are close -- closed because of the debris. power poles and trees are coming down. the traffic tracker is looking at the heavy traffic because of the closures. this is all the way down to the marin county line. a special traffic alert in place. you have to get off at the fulton exit of 101. right now, just a long line of slow traffic of people heading

into novato and trying to get out of that area. 37 is also shut down between lakeville and 121. those closures have been extended. right now everything you see highlighted in purple is completely shut down. on the nevada side at 101. and also on the 80 said. 80 westbound from 29 over to the split, a long line of traffic. with 37 closed you will have to use 80 up to five 80 -- 580. for people who live in santa rosa, all light rail service has been canceled.

highway 12 shutdown as well between arnold and warm springs. and they are getting calls about car fires but they cannot respond because they are busy dealing with wildfires. a very dangerous situation. >> let me mention to you some evacuation shelters being set up. if you don't already have a place to go there is a center in napa and sonoma valleys also the calistoga county fairgrounds. they accept livestock and large animals. the finley community center as well in santa rosa.

we are told that one is at capacity but if you have nowhere else to go head over there and they will help you out and find a space for you. the sonoma valley high school is also an evacuation center.>> napa and sonoma valleys schools are closed. back to this live shot. we have already seen to mobile home fark -- two mobile home parks going up in flames.>> reporter: this is near a gas station and ammunition shop. you can see that it is burning out of control. firefighters are attempting to get to it but they are having

little effect. i was at kaiser permanente not far from here and i kept hearing explosions and pops. firefighters are making sure that it doesn't spread from this location. i will show you the traffic and how bad things are at this time. i will move the camera over and you can see the area on fire. powerlines are running near it. at kaiser permanente, the lights were flicking on and off. this is why they had to evacuate the patient's. they wanted to evacuate before it would get to dangerous to do so. that's why they started doing so at around 3:30 a.m..

they used city buses, ambulances, people with private vehicles taking their family members. a very striking location here at highway 101. people are asking each other questions. many simply don't know the fate of their home. i tried to talk to you earlier. what is your name? >> carly hartman. i was staying at my boyfriends house. my friend got an evacuation notice. my home is close to hers. so i came up here to grab anything i could in order to get back to my boyfriends house. we went to my house and drove around. it is really close to my friend's home. >> my home is good so far.

>> reporter: what did you guys grab? >> passports, ids, medical information, pictures, clothing for a week. >> reporter: were you home at the time? >> yes. the smoke was inside my home. my husband heard people yelling outside and that is what woke us up at 2:00 a.m. i was able to see the glow when i left.>> reporter: i am glad everything is okay. police officers are in the area. 101 southbound, i do see some headlights going through. you can here ambulances in the

background rushing to the scene. i have not heard of any deaths or injuries at this point. but the morning sky is orange. breathing is difficult. the winds have died down it looks like. dead center of your screen, you can see the fire. it would not surprise me if power has been either knocked out -- i just heard that the transformer blew out. some places are dark. you can see this building that is raging out of control. it looks like the smoke is going away from us, fortunately. but you can definitely smell us. i have had friends text me from

san francisco and they say breathing in those areas is difficult as well. traffic moving very slow in this area. when i left kaiser permanente, it looked like they had most of the patients evacuated. they are taking noncritical patients to kaiser permanente in san rafael and critical patients to other hospitals in the santa rosa area but not in the direct line of fire. back to you guys.>> thank you. we have team coverage. spencer blake is in napa. and jeff pierce is also

standing by on the phone for us. describe what you are seeing. >> reporter: i am between young field and the silverado trail. looking here -- this entire ridge east of the silverado trail looks to be about a mile long, this fire, and some of the most dramatic flames that i have seen in years. the wind is blowing and kicking this up. every now and then you see huge flares coming up. pretty dramatic here in young's field.

this is east of the silverado trail overlooking the napa valley.>> part of the problem is the combination of fuel in the hills. thank you, jeff, for that live report.>> this is a north bay firestorm. this started with a windstorm that blew the embers miles and miles away, breaking out separate fires. maybe up to a different -- maybe up to 12 fires at the same time. earlier, two hospitals were

evacuated. >> with these fires breaking out, we have police and fire fanning out in all directions. they are trying to warn everybody in the area to get out. robin is here with part of our team coverage. >> we are talking about city streets and major freeway shut down in the north bay. these closures will be subject to change. i will try my best to keep on top of that. do expect to see heavier traffic leaving the north bay on the 80. people are evacuating. closures are in place. at last check the special traffic alert for santa rosa is

in place. 101 closed in both directions at river road. you will be forced off at the fulton exit. everybody packing up and heading south and heading into novato and petaluma . 37 is closed this morning. you may have to use 80 or 580 as an alternate. 580 west is just crawling right now from the split through vallejo. more closures include lakeville highway and 121. no axis at 128.

silverado trail is closed down. also portions of 29 and 121. and all light rail service completely canceled today in santa rosa. that includes the smart train as well. once again, several traffic alerts in place. i will stay on top of that for you and pass those along as i receive any more closures. dangerous driving conditions with a lot of debris blowing around. >> very smoky this morning. even inside our studio. many people have been calling 911 because of all of the smoke in the area. also fires in napa and sonoma valleys as well.

>> yes, spencer blake has an update for us from napa. we understand that the fire may have started their first. what are you seeing currently?>> it would not surprise me if that is the case. you can see embers jumping from atlas peak which is the origination of this fire that i have been following. i am back at the command center but along 121, i saw several police cars getting people to evacuate. telling people to leave. these fires are everywhere. i'm talking to a family who

lives on 121. they got evacuated and came into town. they have a 90-year-old mother in santa rosa that is about to be evacuated. they also have children who are away on vacation and their home is in circle oaks, in the fire zone danger. people in different parts of the bay area and multiple members are being evacuated because of how far these fires have spread.>> tell us about what you saw when you were driving around.>> reporter: as i got closer to atlas peak, things got thicker. i saw a fire truck that was pulling up closer to the fire. when you look in the headlights

you could see all the particulates floating in the air. there is so much smoke in the air. it is very thick. i was shooting reports from earlier this morning with the fire at a safe distance in the background. but i had to and my report earlier than anticipated because embers started coming in my direction and i wanted to be safe.>> and we see you trying to mask your mouth from that smoke heading in your direction.>> reporter: cars are going in all directions this morning. it is interesting because so many roads are closed.

maybe they are leaving or being involved with police or fire. i still think there is a lot of confusion, people are not sure where to go. some people are just dying to find some information. [ indiscernible ] a lot of traffic despite those road closures. not stop and go traffic or anything but i should say a lot of cars on the road.>> thank you, very much. the wind whipped embers are the problem, like he talked about.>> if we could bring up the bay bridge approach camera or the toll plaza, i want to show you what is going out

there. now that is sunrise cutting through the smoke. you will be noticing that the second you leave your house. so be prepared. if you have asthma or difficulty breathing, limit your time outside today. the smoke is have re--- is very heavy everywhere. >> coming up, our team coverage continues of the north bay firestorm.

( robin ) we are back, time now is 6:53. on the left-hand side, that is our tower cam looking down over san francisco, and that is all smoke from the north bay firestorm.>> and that is

happening up in santa rosa. >> you can kind of make out the lights of the bay bridge. but that is all we can make out as we look across downtown to the financial district. >> it seems incredible that a dozen fires so far away has everyone in the bay area breathing through this thick smoke. the winds have been falling from the north. extremely strong and caring the smoke all the way down here. the wind is carrying the embers and that is what is lighting all of these spot fires. this started out as a fire on atlas peak and it has now

spread. >> a dozen different fires and more than 20,000 acres on fire now. grass, trees, homes, and businesses are going up before our eyes. on the right-hand side, they are concerned about this potentially explosive fire because of an ammunition store. we have already seen two mobile home parks go up in flames. also shopping centers. >> this is on the northern edge of santa rosa . it is marching towards the heart of the city and that is why evacuation orders are in in fact. that includes kaiser permanente. they were evacuating patients very carefully four hours this

morning because there was a large fire that erupted at the mobile home park which backs right up to kaiser permanente . it was a big effort to get that done.>> also sought her santa rosa was evacuated. people taken to other locations including going down south to san rafael. many evacuations are underway. some evacuation centers are full. we will go through a list of those. we do have those on our website as well. in napa go to the napa valley college jim. -- college gym. also citrus clover fairgrounds.>> more on the

north bay firestorm with team coverage coming in just a few minutes. [burker] at farmers, we've seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. even a "red-hot mascot." [mascot] hey-ooo! whoop, whoop! [crowd 1] hey, you're on fire! [mascot] you bet i am! [crowd 2] dude, you're on fire! [mascot] oh, yeah! [crowd 3] no, you're on fire! look behind you. [mascot] i'm cool. i'm cool. [burke] that's one way to fire up the crowd. but we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ advil liqui-gels minis. our first concentrated pill that rushes powerful relief. a small new size that's fast, cause it's liquid. woohoo! you'll ask, what pain? new advil liqui-gels minis. fortified.tored. replenished. emerge everyday with emergen-c

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kron 4 news starts with breaking news. >> the breaking news this morning is the wild fire. the wild fire storm raging across the north bay. sending thousands out of their homes and rushing to evacuation shelters as this fire is burning. >> how incredible is it that we are weaking up to sunlight right now? we are beginning to see the skies are blue. but this looks like total darkness. >> this is a live shot. >> this is a live shot. it still looks like 4:00 in the morning when we went on the air and the north bay fire storm