tv News at 5pm FOX August 24, 2010 4:00pm-5:00pm PST
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picture let's bring in our chief meteorologist bill martin. as you read this picture, what do you see here from mount diablo. >> the first thing you mentioned, reports of the signs, and reports of visibility. the smoke is everywhere. now that's a sign that there's not a lot of wind. on a day like today where we have record heat, a heat advisory in the area, the air is sinking. it's coming from the upper atmosphere. there's not a lot of wind in the atmosphere. as we look at these picture, gasia mentioned it's on the south eastern side of mount diablo. from the base of the mountain,
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you can see what's happening. it's burning up the mountain. it's going to climb up the hill to look for oxygen. there's not a lot of roads in this area. there are road dirts. i've been up in the mountain, in this area, and there are not a lot of roads. and back to the wind, -- and back to the smoke, it's not heading down. and what they use is fuel sticks. they wet them in the morning and they weigh them.
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then in the evening they weigh them again. every stick of brush and most of the bushes out here are very, very tender dry. or extremely dry, and of course humidity as i mentioned earlier, 10, nine, 8%. temperature 108 degrees. what is the good news? there's no wind. that's really good news. the temperature is a big deal, the humidity is a big deal. when you're not dealing with 20, 40-mile an hour winds that is helpful. visibility is going to be an issue. >> okay, bill we're going to get back to you in a moment. but we have beth kline with us on the phone. what's the situation in your perspective. >> there's at least five trucks down there. there's a couple of rangers. the fire is out after curry mountain. there's power lines down but they seem to be under control. it's in the beginning stages
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right now. >> how about buildings, is it close to any building? >> the way i understand, it's just down in the canyon. so it should just be grass fire and the chaparal. >> how about roads, is this an area where firefighters can get to or are they just going to depend on the helicopters. >> they are going to depend on the helicopters. >> is this sort of off the beaten path. >> it would be an area that people are enjoying, but due to the heat today we've had very low attendance in the park today. so i don't imagine anybody is out there. >> is the park still open or are you going to close the park as a result of this fire. >> we're in the process of closing the park right now. >> the entire park? >> yes. >> from your perspective. no structures are threatened but some power lines have been burned.
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and this is a very difficult area for firefighters to get to. have you seen any helicopters in the area? i haven't seen any fly by in our picture here. are there any firefighters helicopters in the area? >> i heard one go by five minutes ago. firefighters can drive up to . but the canyon is a steep trek down. they can get close to the fire, but i think when it comes to putting it out, they're going to use the helicopters. >> you're in the process of closing the park. meaning no one can get to this part of the park. >> no one can enter the park at all. >> so if you had thoughts about it, stay away from the area. >> i know the fire just started a short time ago, but are you getting any sense of all from firefighters as to how fast it is spreading, whether they are
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having serious difficulty putting it out? >> it's a big jumble of traffic throughout the radio. but as far as containing it, i don't know right now? >> any idea on what started it? >> no idea on what started it. >> beth kline, just to recap here. what we're looking at here is a three alarm fire that is burning in the curry mountain area of the mount diablo. there are some struck which ares in the area. but according to what ms.kline just told us, no structures are being threatened. they are in the process of bringing in helicopters. >> as the sun goes down it's still beginning to be 85 degrees. and the humidity will probably not recover much. humidity is really the issue out there today. as i point out, there's not a
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lot of wind. the fire is spreading with the topagraphy. that's the real issue, and the thing as i look at the pictures with you guys, we're looking at them live from chopper two, we have the spare the air day. they do that because the air as i mentioned is sinking. and all the smoke is caught. for helicopters or drops from airplanes, i'm concerned that they are having some issues. it's going to be very smokey out there. it's not dispersing. >> bill, can i ask you real quick, as far as people who live in that area, danville, the community surrounding mount diablo. when you see the fact that the smoke isn't really going any
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where, stay inside? >> it's wood smoke, it's like a campfire. it's not good to breathe but nothing toxic. that's a tough one. you don't want to breathe a lot of smoke. but that's a good point you bring up. as this smoke settles down, that's what we're going to see. this smoke is going to sit right down. so in the communities of black hawk and san ramon. you are going to notice the air quality hit. nothing toxic but you don't want to drink a lot of wood smoke. >> thanks so much. that's from our meteorologist bill martin. we're keeping our eye on this breaking news. it is a fire in mount diablo in contra costa county. we'll keep monitoring the story. we'll bring you an update within the next 10 minutes. the record high temperatures today are also causing serious concerns. both in a senior living complex and on bart. in some cases drastically slowing the trains. john fowler beginning our coverage now with details on that power outage, john.
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>> reporter: right now this senior center here in vallejo is on emergency stand by as a shelter for 150 people who were trapped in the heat by a power outage. power went out before noon at the marina towers senior housing. >> there's no electricity, no air. there's people on oxygen and i imagine they are having problems. >> i'm on the 12th floor, if i want to get home, i have to walk up 12 flights of stairs. >> reporter: some residents seemed satisfies to just sit on an air conditioned bus. pg & e asked customers to limit electricity use until after 6:00 tonight. >> we don't use much any way, just the attic fan, that's it. >> reporter: poor air quality made this a spare the air day.
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gas powered lawn tools should not have been used. >> i need to work every day. >> reporter: this man just arrived from foggy ventura. >> been quite cool down south. this is one of the coolest summers on record for our area. to come here and experience this heat, it's quite warm. >> reporter: dennis bernal says he's used to the heat and knows when to quit. >> when i start getting the shakes, time to come down. haven't had that yet. >> reporter: fire officials are holding their breath. >> yes today it's one of those days we're approaching critical fire weather. >> reporter: grass and brush drying out as humidities dipped in the teens. >> the bigger fuels like the brush takes a day or two to follow it back up. >> reporter: and as we saw that fire in mount diablo that still is a big problem. the good news here at the vallejo senior center is we've
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had no reports of heat related illness. john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. communities all over the bay area opened cooling centers after the warnings. ten other centers opened this afternoon in san jose. the petaluma fire department set off the community center, solano county said they decided not to open cooling centers because the heat trend is expected to end soon. and on bart, the heat is causing the computer system to shut down. trains are running 20 minutes behind schedule. with temperatures in the triple digits, the area did break some records today. bill martin here with more on that part of the story. >> definitely a heat advisory that was in effect for today.
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due to be dropped this afternoon. but the national weather service, because of how hot it's gotten has extended the heat advisory to 8:00 this evening. these are some of the preliminary records from today. i just kind of did some quick climatology. you see what the last records were, santa rosa blowing away it's last record high temperature. mountain view 98 degrees. that was a record, san jose 102 degrees downtown. let me tell you this about san jose, when it's 102 downtown. it feels about 110 because that concrete is redirecting that heat. and we'll keep an you updated on that wildfire. there are changes coming. these are the kind of heat that could be dangerous. that's prompted many schools to
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take precautions with their athletes. yesterday players reported to the field at 6:00 in the morning. >> it just cools us down. doesn't get us all tired in the morning, more. and helps us just work harder. the football fields artificial turf heating up faster adding 10 degrees on scorching days. and as we update you on the fire happening on mount diablo, you can look at the weather where you live by going to ktvu.com. when you are there click on the weather tab on top of the page. one person is in critical condition, several others are also in the hospital after a freak accident in san francisco. it happened near san bruno avenue. a car went out of control and plowed into a group of people at a bus stop. sal castaneda is live with more. >> reporter: i want to show you this bus stop here behind me. as you can see a lot of people
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wait, and when it's a hot day they try to stand in the shade there. that's exactly what happened this morning, people had moved to the shade and that's when they were hit by an out of control vehicle. witnesses say the suv was headed right at the bus shelter before plowing into five people on the sidewalk. the crash on san bruno avenue was first reported just after 9:30 a.m. rescue crews arrived to find the gray ford explorer up on the sidewalk. at least one person was found between the suv, a parked mini van and a fence. five people were hurt. >> four people were transported with life threatening injuries, one person was transported with nonlife threatening injuries. >> reporter: several of the injured were taken to san francisco's trauma the áf hospital. he said the initial reaction was shock and anger. >> i don't know why people's reaction is like -- they don't think.
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>> reporter: the driver a 25- year-old woman was distraught but not injured. police say she was cooperative with investigators. robert espinosa came home to find his mini van with major front end damage. >> of course i felt bad because i spent a lot of money for this car. >> reporter: but he says he feels lucky that his family members who sometimes use the bus stop were not hurt. police have inpounded the vehicle and will check it for any mechanical problems. >> it might take several weeks to several months, depending on what they find in the vehicle and what tests need to be done. >> reporter: four are listed in serious condition. live in san francisco, sal castaneda, ktvu channel 2 news. back to our breaking news. there is a fire burning in
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mount diablo. we're talking about contra costa county. and we will remind you that the mount diablo park is being closed. these are areas not accessible by car, if people were to go in it wouldn't be an easy drive. there are a couple of main roads up the mountain but this is not in that area. we're talking about curry canyon, morgan territory road. we're told by the contra costa fire department this fire has grown to 3 acres. there are three factors, two of which are working against firefighters. it is very dry, very hot, but as our chief meteorologist bill martin just explained for us and will explain in the future again, there is not a lot of wind which is why we see that firefighters may not be battling what we could consider a triple threat. >> joining us on the phone is ken mcgeaver. how big is the fire, how fast
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is it spreading and are any homes in the area being threatened? >> there is dry grass, there are some structures, we're not sure how many structures are being threatened right now. we're trying to account for that. it has the potential to go a little larger because of the area that it's in. >> what are you using the fight the fire right now. have you called in aerial helicopters here? >> yes. we actually on the fire right now we have one air attack, we have four air tankers, we have two helicopters, and we ordered two type one, which are the heavy air tankers and another
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two type two helicopters. those are on order. we have a helicopter with the heletac crew. we have four dozers, we have a total of 20 engines both local, government and calfire. we have four crews with four strike teams of crews on route. and we have two water tenders, there's about seven over head batallion chiefs on it. one thing that i want to get out since we're on the radio is we are closing morgan territory road. so we want people to stay off of morgan territory. we're going to close it on both ends of morgan territory. >> you are closing morgan territory road, we know mount diablo state park is also in the process of being closed. >> affirmative. >> can we go back a couple of minutes. when you say you are trying to
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discover structures being threatened. are we talking about homes, sheds or outbuildings, what's in danger here? >> it could be a combination of homes and outbuildings. we don't have a good outlook on everything since the fire just started. >> are you getting any sense at all on how long it might take to surround this fire? >> at this time, we are just beginning the process, but we hope with what we have at scene and what we have coming in we'll be able to contain it at least by tonight, hopefully. >> we've been saying in the past, this summer has been so cool, i've heard people say, it's almost lucky we made it this far in the summer without something like this happening. if you can speak to now the fuel that's on the ground, what does that mean to what you're dealing with there right now? >> right now it's in the
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mixture of just brush and grass. and of course we had a lot more rain this year and a lot more growth. but that fuel is dried out. and that's just going to feed the fire even more. >> is there any indication on whether specifically it started and what may have caused it? >> right now the cause is under investigation. >> and do you have any sense of specifically where it started? >> like i said, the cause is under investigation. we need to find out where it started so we can begin the investigation process. >> okay, are we in a situation where campfires, etc. were not allowed in the area? is there already a ban on that, could that be one possibility? >> could you repeat that question. >> i was wondering if campfires allowed on mount diablo state park or is this a situation where they were banned before this happened. >> what, fires? >> yeah, if someone were to be
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there camping or recreating, bar-b-qing in the area. was that allowed or not. >> with these fire danger day, i would doubt that they would allow any open burning. >> all right, that's what we thought but we wanted to leave it to you. >> i would think they closed any open fire. >> the headline right now, the fire has burned about 100 acres. it is spreading at a moderate rate according to mr. mcgeaver. they have a lot of help on the scene. more air attacks are in route. more air carriers, the water carriers are on route as well to help battle that fire. they hope to have it contained sometime soon. the cause is under investigation, there is a possibility that there maybe some homes threatened. this is a very rural area in mount diablo and there are some structures in the area and it's unclear at this point how many
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of them may be threatened. but it may be safe to say that at least some of them could be threatened by this fire right now. >> again, mount diablo state park itself is closed. we just learned that officials are closing morgan territory road as well. as we keep watching these live pictures coming to us from news chopper two, again we are talking about a grass fire in mount diablo. we spoke to our chief meteorologist a moment ago, and he described the fire conditions that the firefighters are facing. and he's talking about the terrain that is making it difficult. you can't just walk into this area. >> there are ways to get into this area, trails and roads. but it's like getting into the area it's remote. it's like the gentleman was saying, they're going to use helicopters to battle the fire.
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we have heat, we have humidity that is bad. but you know what, we don't have wind. and that is good. you can see he was relatively relaxed and i suspect that's because this is a terrain driven fire. it's not good but because the winds are in the five to 10 miles per hour range, this thing is not a blow torch. as we often see in the bay area this time of year with the diablo winds and even the on shore winds that can create winds in this area, the winds are not a player. what is a player is the extremely wet winter that we did have. we had rainfall accumulations in this region, 140% of average. that created a lot of growth. in the cool summer we've had as well. there's a lot more weed, a lot more wild oak growing in these fields and growing longer. i would suspect that firefighters are up against double the low brush, not trees now, but the brush and the wild growth out here. almost double what you would
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expect this time of year. you see what this smoke is doing, it's sitting down. that's because the air is sinking. as it sinks it warms. it's also capping this smoke into a narrow layer. we call it the boundary layer but it's capping it so that the weather in this area is an issue. i imagine for firefighters in the aircraft, i am not a pilot, but i've got to believe that is an issue when you get poor visibility. >> you do get a sense of just how difficult it might be to fight this fire. you can see one firefighters there on the ground. i know they do have aircraft in the area but i haven't seen any flying through our picture. >> by this point we would see a few helicopters. there's no one on the ground. it's at the base of mount diablo so we're not up at 3,000, we're not up at 2,000
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feet. we're down 500 feet something like that. so it's not climbing up the side of the mountain. this is some terrain as you head toward the mountain. if you're familiar with this area out by black hawk and san ramon these rolling hills. this is one of the bigger canyons so it is steep and it is an issue. but it's not actually on mount diablo proper. >> thank you, bill martin, our chiefmeteorologist. we will continue to check with him. and a fire is burning west of los angeles. calfire says about 20 structures are threatened. the number of evacuations is not yet known. so far at least 750 acres have burned. the fire broke out early this afternoon and there is no word on the cause or an estimate of containment. but you see the relationship there between some of the
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buildings and where the fire is. the, marin county fire department closed a road for a little over an hour to fight a small fire. california once again loses out on federal race to the top money for education. but some say that's a good thing. great for pedestrians, not so great for motorists. we're finding out who's now asked to be on the look out for bay area students who cut class. california schools lose out on $700 million, but see which bay area schools are now set to receive $45 million any way. tonight on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00, complete bay area news coverage. droiiiid.
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schools throughout california have lost out for hundreds of millions of the dollars from the federal government. still some schools say in their opinion, that's actually good news. and ktvu's ken pritchett is live tonight in san francisco to explain why, ken. >> frank, san francisco was one of the largest schools in california that helped write the application in competing for more than $8 million in federal race to the top money in education. today, nine states were selected and california once again lost out. >> any student who fails the parking period, must do what? >> reporter: $700 million would have gone to california schools had the golden state been selected for race to the top. >> obviously we're extremely disappointed that we weren't one of the states selected in
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this round. >> reporter: san francisco's richard ranson says that it will be several weeks before san san francisco find out why california was not chosen. california federation of teachers vice president kathy campbell says race to the top provided very little money compared to the risk of significant penalties leveled on under performing schools. >> it involves firing the principal and half the staff. closing the school. >> reporter: campbell says far more important than millions of the dollars of race to the top is millions of the dollars at risk with the budget. teachers are wondering if they will get paid and school districts cannot plan for the year ahead. >> it's kind of like cooking without the cook book. you don't know what you're going to have at the end. >> reporter: the san francisco
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school district anticipated the budget stalemate and it budgeted ahead and cut $114 million from the school budget. and it shortened the school year by four days by using furloughs. the district does not anticipate making any add additional cuts this year. and now back to our breaking news. there is a fire burning and we know right now that at least 100 acres have burned. you are looking live from news chopper two at the area of the fire. it's in the curry village area. specifically authorities in the area are closing morgan territory road and the state park itself is closed as well. curry canyon, forgive me. we do not know how this fire started but we do know that more than 100 acres have burned. we did speak with an official from calfire who detailed a long list of resources dedicated to fighting this fire. most of these resources coming from the air, as you can tell by looking at this picture, the
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terrain there is very difficult. perhaps a the air is the best way for them to get a handle on this. >> burned 100 acres. there are some buildings in the area and it's not clear whether any of them are threatened. there may be the possibility that some of them are threatened. there you see one of the air drops. we were talking to a gentleman, mr. mcgever he was telling us that among other things they have two helicopters working to fight these flames. four bulldozers, 20 engines and four air strikers are on route. when you look at these pictures, you don't see very many people on the ground there. part of the reason is that this fire is spread over 100 acres. this is very difficult terrain. there are not many roads in the
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area. a lot of trees, brush, but not a lot of access. this is causing some issues and why they are dependent on the attack from above with the helicopters and the air tankers. and they're hoping here to possibly have this fire contained by someti tonight. the weather, it is very hot out there, perhaps over 100 degrees in some parts. as you can see with the smoke, it's pretty much going straight up. that is good news for firefighters. >> speaking of people, there are some structures thaare threatened. but when we try to get an idea, homes, outbuildings, barns, what's in this area we weren't given a definitive answer. this is more fire retardant being dropped there on the flames. when we talk about who or what is in the area, it's mostly brush, but it's dry brush. calfire is in the process of
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closing morgan territory road. again the state park itself is closed as well. this is something that calfire is putting a lot of resources on. we've also seen sort of scattered fires, i know there was a smaller fire we just talked about up in mount tam. conditions very different than what we've been talking about. conditions at 108 degrees. you know humidity in the single digits as far as percents go. so that is not good news but again frank the fact that there is not a lot of wind. sometimes you see this fire and the wind is blowing sideways. if you're able to get a larger picture of what's happening, you will be able to see this giant plume flying away from. we were able to take a larger view of what happened here. we are able to see it all sitting there and going up slightly. and bill was talking about the fact that the air is actually sinking. when you talk about those conditions, i'm sure that is one of the things firefighters don't have to worry about when it comes to wind. but again, this is when you
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talk about heat and humidity, that is bad news for them. >> we should mention that the town of clayton is not far from this fire. but from what we understand, the fire is burning away from clayton. at this point, there's not a whole lot of concern about the buildings, the homes in clayton or any evacuations or anything of that nature. they hope to have this fire again as we mentioned contained possibly sometime by tonight. but this is one of the worse things that can happen here. this is what we worry about when we get these hot temperatures bill. all summer we haven't been talking about fires at all. as soon as it gets hot, we get a fire. >> often times in the summer, fire is the story. that's how california goes. it's a dry summer, wet winter. it's a mediterranean climate. we have been below average all summer. we had a very heavy rain season. as long as i can remember in
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this market, i can't remember a year where we've had so much cool weather. as soon as you get hot look what happened. both of you mentioned the lack of wind. this has to be good for firefighters that it's not a torch. >> thanks, bill. we're going to check back in with you as we continue to follow this breaking news. more on that coming up in just a moment.
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and is spreading at a moderate rate. firefighters hope to have it possibly contained sometime later on tonight. we believe that there might be some structures threatened. but this is a very rural area and firefighters aren't exactly sure at this time, there's a lot of activity here from firefighters and helicopters and planes in the air battling this fire as we get new information we will bring it to you during the course of this newscast and ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. now to the bay where a napa reverend who is now retired is accused of violating doctrine by conducting more than 16 gay weddings. ktvu rob roth is live in napa with developments there, rob. >> reporter: gasia, the first day of the disciplinary hearing here inside this presbyterian
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church has just concluded. reverend bar says she did marry 16 same-sex couples during the time california law legalized same-sex marriage. but that she is not guilty of violating presbyterian church doctrine. >> nobody is second class to god. >> reporter: an army of supporters are attending bar's disciplinary hearing. >> is that choice you make of a person who you will not leave. >> reporter: 11 of the couples spar married are all testifying about what marriage means to them. >> the church at the very heart is inclusive in accepting and it will get there. >> reporter: spar is appearing before a six member panel of presbyterian pastors and elders. >> we must not call it
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marriage. that is the bright line that is the judicial permission that the general assembly has drawn and which still remains in effect. >> these couples came and they asked reverend spar to celebrate their marriages with them, and reverend spar said, yes. that is what is at issue in this case. >> reporter: spar was acquitted by the church of presiding same- sex marriages before some say on a technicality. if four of the six members of the panel find her guilty she could be suspended from pastoral duty although spar is now retired. >> no, i always think it's an amazing opportunity to open people's hearts and minds. >> reporter: the losing side can appeal to a higher governing body of the church. the hearings are expected to last at least until thursday. and reverend spar plans to take the stand. rob roth, ktvu news. we're continuing to follow that fire that is burning out
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there in the area? >> yes, we live in relation city wide two blocks from the entrance to curry creek. >> how close are the flames to you? >> they are not very close now. because you go up curry creek and it's a long narrow road. but there's a will the of homes, trailers and ranches up there and hopefully they're not in jeopardy. >> have you heard at this point or seen anybody evacuating? >> not at this point. but there are a lot of fire trucks and you know police and they have closed morgan territory from what i understand at marsh creek. >> can you talk about the conditions there. we heard the temperatures are there over 100 degrees, any wind at all? >> there's not much wind, and seems to be going the other way. which tends to be dangerous, but i don't know because i'm not up there. but when you go over curry creek, it goes over mount
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diablo and over the side of mount diablo. >> there are farms in the area, homes. >> there are homes in the area, cabins and trailers and a couple of ranches up there. >> is it hard to get up there? >> it's one road going up there. it's barely two lanes but it is a country road going up there. >> so at this point, have you packed up anything or do you feel? >> not at this point but i think we're thinking of it. my husband is getting the hose out. we have animals and things to get out. but we're just going to wait and see. i'm not going to say, it's not down here far enough but i'm hoping they'll take care of it. >> have firefighters stopped and said anything to you at all. >> not at this point, but it's because curry creek is a long road going up there. i'm not sure in relation where this is. >> have you seen helicopters
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and planes. >> yes, there's been a lot of helicopters and planes and a loft of traffic on the road. >> can you tell us how it might have started. >> i am not sure because it's a very long road. >> have you seen anybody coming down the hill with their cars packed up with belongings? >> not at this point, but we're a little farther down the road. if they started to do it they are just starting. because this fire just hit instantly. >> any estimate at all, just a ballpark figure of how many homes and ranches and what not would be up there? maybe a couple of hundred? >> i would say maybe 50, maybe that's pushing it. there's a lot of cabins and trailers. some nicer homes up in that area. >> definitely a very rural area. >> it is very rural. beautiful and very rural but a spot that's going to be tough
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to get out of. >> cindy we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. we hope you stay safe out there. >> thank you, and we hope everybody in that area is safe too. >> this is a fire that's burning out of the control at the you are curry canyon area in the base of mount diablo. it has burned about 100 acres now. they have a lot of fire fighting am apparatus the in place. they're hoping to have this contained sometime later tonight. the national association of realtors reported today the figures of sales of homes just fell off a cliff this month. that's the lowest level of home sales in 15 years the largest month to month sales drop going back to 1968. ktvu's consumer editor tom
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vacar is here now with more, tom. >> california used to be exempt from such downturns but today even the most desirable places are feeling pain once unknown. the costantinos have a beautiful home on peacock gap, a slice of heaven in heavenly marin. but it's been on sale since last year and the buying season is done again. the the price of the home has before listen cut twice. there are homes for sale everywhere in marin. san francisco based truli a.com
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follows home prices nationwide. >> when 5.5 or six months of inventory is what we would like to see. >> reporter: even though interest rates are at record lows. >> interest rates will be zero and people will not buy homes if they don't have jobs. they will not buy homes if they don't feel their job is stable and secure. >> reporter: cancellation of the home buyers tax credit ended the boom. nelson says there's a bigger problem. >> high unemployment levels and unemployment levels that just don't seem to be changing very much as the months go on really have pressed pause on the real estate market recovery. >> reporter: now as bad as these numbers are, they don't really begin to touch what the banks are mostly silent about. that is the vast inventory, a vast inventory of repossessed homes that they hold and simply refuse to put on the mark. that could depress the market for a long long time to come.
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i'm consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu news. we'll be back after a short break. great for pedestrians, not so great for motorists. also at 6:00, we're finding out who now is being asked to be on the look out for bay area students who cut class. plus california schools lose out on $700 million. but see which bay area schools are now set to receive $45 million any way. tonight on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. complete bay area coverage.
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coming up at 6:00, we'll have continuing coverage of that fire that bill was just talking about there near mount diablo. julie haener is in the newsroom with a look at the other stories we're working on. also at 6:00, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. more on that freak accident tonight that sent several people to the hospital with life threatening injuries. this is a sapling on what's considering to be one of the most celebrated trees in the world. it's about to be planted right here in the bay area. it would have been worth $200 million on the streets. well tell you what -- we'll tell you what authorities found during a drug bust. >> julie, thank you. we'll be back next with more news at 6:00. u owi stgoth n csechkint al?ye cckhiou
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more live pictures now of that fire that is burning near the base of mount diablo specifically in the curry canyon area. it is a very rural area, from what we understand we just talked to a woman who lived in the area a moment ago. she was saying that up in the hills where this fire is burning, there may be about 50 homes. we don't know whether they are threatened but we're going to continue covering this story and have more for you coming up
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breaking news, this is a live look from chopper 2. as a wild fire burns out of control in contra costa county. good evening everyone i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. we have more now on that breaking news coming out of the east bay where fire has charred more than 100 acres just east of mount diablo state park. the grass fire is burning out of control and is threatening ranches, homes and trailers about five miles south of clayton. as you can see there is a lot of smoke in the area. you can see a line of flames in the distance. again, calfire says at this point the fire has burned more than 100 acres and officials tell us they are in the process of in
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