sudden arrival of hot weather ignites the season. good evening everyone i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. calfire tells us about 375 acres have burned since this fire was first reported at 4:00 this afternoon. the fire is burning just outside the boundaries of mount diablo state park. now let's bring in a map.

it's burning along morgan territory road. this is a rugged and remote area about eight to 10 miles south of clayton. the fire right now is 50% contained. however the aerial fight has stopped since the sun went down. there are some home, ranches andout buildings in the area. one home was threatened but saved. there are no evacuation orders. the terrain is mostly grass. >> pretty much throughout the night and through the morning. we have more crews coming over to have relief grews coming in to relieve the rues that are on scene. >> reporter: several hundred firefighters are on the lines tonight.they tell us a downed power line most likely sparked this fire.

wind áf one positive for firefighters, winds are light. pg & e tell us that 57 customers are without power near mount diablo they lost their electricity at 3:45 this afternoon. at this point there's no estimate on when they might get their lights back. residents near the fire are without power. >> the transformer popped, then the fire trucks just started rolling in. >> my daughter brought me out a generator. so we're just going to plug in our refrigerator into that generator and we're good. today was a spare the air day in the bay area and the

smoke from that fire only made matters worse. tomorrow though is not a spare the air day. the conditions should improve. now here's a photo e-mailed to us. it was taken saturday and shows a view. now take a look at this photo, the view is obscured completely by smoke. if you have any photos you would like to e-mail us, please send them to us on photos @ ktvu.com. this is a day of record heat with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees. the temperature hit 102 degrees at a high. but we by begin with bill

martin on the record temperatures today. >> the hottest day of the year. 103 at 106 in santa rosa. we head to san jose area, 102 degrees in downtown san jose. look at some more temperatures throughout the bay area, it was hot. the national weather service has dropped the heat advisory. they've put pit it up again. bart is feeling the heat as high temperatures this afternoon caused the computer system to overheat. trains that usually travel at 60 miles per hour had the to go under manual control at 25 miles per hour. bart reported delays of up to 20 minutes on most lines and the problems that started this afternoon are still going on

now. >> the computer equipment is not talking to the operations control center, letting the operations control folks know that there's a train in the area. because the computers aren't working. they're overheating. >> so bart has to stop all of its planes because it doesn't know precisely where they are all are. the air-conditioning in some bart cars shuts down when temperatures reach 90 degrees so that those air-conditioning does not overheat. it was so hot, two of the libraries shut down. state health regulations require that. the onset of he's high temperatures had some cities

scrambling to open cooling centers today. lloyd lacuesta joins us. >> reporter: san jose is cooling down tonight from a record setting day of extreme heat. as of an hour ago, children were still playing in the fountains in downtown san jose in balmy warm weather. the mercury shot up to 102 degrees today shattering a record of 92 degrees set 51 years ago. >> it was a lot harder than yesterday and i can see that we really kept them cool and inside lots of water but i didn't know we made it to 102. temperatures had dropped below double digits but it was still hot. bad enough that the city designated cooling centers

today. it's the second time of the year that the city has designated cooling centers for people come out of the heat. >> pretty warm, that's why we rather have somebody pay the air-conditioning bill. >> we go shopping at the mall, go to the movies, stuff like that. >> reporter: this man's wife is nine months preg pregnant. >> it's been okay all summer until today. that's why we stayed inside. >> reporter: we did find one man who said he preferred heat over air-conditioning. >> once in a while i go out and warm up my blood a little bit because sometimes the air- conditioning is way too cold. >> reporter: i talked to a san jose official and she says they will decide tomorrow whether the cooling centers will be open

tomorrow. lloyd lacuesta, ktvu channel 2 news. ocean beach was the place to be to beat the heat in san francisco, it was only about 80 degrees today. most days you need at least a jacket at the beach as those winds whip across the water but not so today. back now to that wildfire at the mount diablo park. we're going to continue to cover the fire and bring you the latest information. or you can go to ktvu.com and go to the weather section. two of the five people hit by a run away suv are fighting for their lives. and there's word that the driver of that suv was not

licensed. the suv driver told officers that she lost control when the vehicle lost power. investigators will try to determine if a mechanical failure did in fact, cause the accident. all of the victims were taken to the hospital. two of them with life threatening injuries, the other three with less severe injuries. the driver was sited and released. home sales in the bay area dropped sharply last month to the lowest july levels in 16 years according to mda data quick. the drop was due in part of the end of the federal tax credit. tom vacar has our report. >> reporter: the constantinos

have a piece of heaven in heavenly dc -r dc the -- the price for the home has already been reduced twice. >> it can't be slashed because the money they will get to live won't be enough. >> inventory levels have skyrocketed 12.5 months of inventory. >> that's the highest inventory level in more than a decade. even though interest rates are at record lows. >> interest rating could be zero and people will not buy home s if they don't have job, they will not buy homes if they

don't feel their job is stable. >> reporter: banks are going to have to be realistic about who they're going to finance. other wise the stall could last indefinitely. i'm consumer editor tom vacar. a reported month to month 27% drop in home sales across the country triggered a sell off across the country today. the dow briefly fell back below 12%. it did recover some but it was still done about 133 points. changing coming to a gas station near you. those hanley little latches we use so we're not stuck at the pump are being taken away. and president is to fire all his economic team. that's what republicans are calling for. bill martin is back in a

few minutes with tomorrow's forecast. the news continues in 90 seconds.

here's another look live at that wildfire burning east of mount diablo. if you are just joining us, calfire says 375 acres have burned. right now this fire is 50% contained. ficials at mount diablo park say they plan to close the park

this evening. to word if the park will be reopened tomorrow. the state fire marshall has ordered some 3,000 gas stations to remove latches at the pump because the gas could splatter. ktvu's debra villalone live in san francisco with our report. >> reporter: it's happened five times at this engle station this summer. the person removes the latch and gas is already splashing out, on them. >> a lot of people have gotten gas on them. >> reporter: the gas station even caught it on camera. a woman was soaked after removing the latch from the gas

pump. the situation was more serious in oxnard, where the gas went into the woman's eyes. the osseneti had a big problem. the state is ordering the latches removed as a fire hazard. but the latches are a convenience allowing customers to escape the fumes, check on the kids, do other things while they fuel up. >> i figured the less amount of time i need to be holding the pump the better, the cleaner. >> a little better on my hands, i don't have to be stabding out here holding this pump more than i have to. >> from 40,000 to $70,000 for this system that they required

us back in april to put in. now this is happening? >> reporter: she also fears without a latch, people will stick anything in the handle. >> customers will not stand there. they will find a way to keep it on the on position. i understand people are putting quarters in, lighters which is so unsafe. a cigarette lighter? >> reporter: state regulators after seeing the surveillance video are now working on the company on a permanent fix. in the meantime, the latches have to go. debra villalon earthquake, ktvu news. a plane crash in the nepal that killed 14 people is being felt here in the bay area. the small plane was on its way to the everest region. kendra fallon was on board.

she was only 18 years old. >> she wanted to work for peace, she wanted to work for justice. it defined everything about it. she was in nepal teaching at a the orphanage before coming back to school. the obama administration will appeal a judge's decision that blocks the use of federal fund for embryonic stem cell research. the justice department says it will file its appeal this week. groups that oppose the destruction of embryos for stem cell research praised yesterday's court decision. with just 18 years to go before elections, republicans are on the attack. the focus, the economy.

a republicans say the president who was elected to improve the economy has only made things worse. randy shandobil reports. >> reporter: red alert for democrats this election year, most people we talked to today even in the liberal bay area say president obama has not done enough to turn around the economy. >> i hate to say something bad about him, but we're in terrible trouble. >> we should be doing more. >> reporter: tapping into voter frustration, republican john banner who would replace nancy pelosi as speaks of the house if republicans win control. >> we're broke. >> reporter: banner says the president has had more than half a year to improve the economy and has failed. the writing is on the wall, says baner. it's time to fire the obama

administration. >> the president should fire his economic team? very constructive advice and we thank the leader for that. >> biden says the stimulus package has created jobs. he blames president bush and republicans for triggering the recession. >> mr. baner is nostalgic for those good old days, but the american public is not. >> reporter: democrats say they need more time. at least they've kept it from getting worse. >> the problem is the fact that the economy is still not good. it's in fact, very, very weak at best. >> reporter: is it rude for john baner to call on the president to fire cabinet members, unprecedented?

not necessarily. democrats when they were out on power frequently called for president bush to fire his secretary, rumsfeld. we want to remind you about an upcoming debate, the first face off will happen september 5 right here on ktvu. it'll be very hot inland, cooler coast. the extended forecast calls for a cooling trend. these are the forecast overnight lows. 69 in oakland, 64 in fairfield, downtown san francisco low 60s. the forecast highs tomorrow. look for the white, those are your 100s. we're going to see them in lots of inland bay valleys. temperatures around 101, 102, the rest of the bay area a bit cooler along the coast but still very warm. a heat advisory in effect for

tomorrow. a former santa cruz resident returned home to become the first man to swim across monterey bay. buckner bay returned the swim this morning, he did have to put a wet suit about an hour in because the jelly fish were biting him. swimmer cindy cleveland is the only other person to swim monterey bay, she did that back in 1980. she is vowing to continue her fight. a murder case here at the alameda county courthouse resumes tomorrow morning. we'll tell you how a young survivor of a violent car crash is doing tonight.

>> ♪ it's so hard to say goodbye. dozens of people came together in san francisco's ocean view neighborhood with two purposes in mind. one was to mourn the death of a 19-year-old man last week. another was to demand that san francisco provide more services to youth. for too lounge city officials have ignored their neighborhoods. during the summit which ends tomorrow, law enforcement experts are sharing strategies that have dramatically reduced gang violence in some cities such as salinas. last year a special joint effort by local state and federal authorities led to a dramatic drop in gang related homicides in that city.

in a sacramentotoday,, officials say a mexican drug cartel ran the gang. the sacramento sheriff says the drugs would have been worth $200 million on the streets. ronny doitch says today the lawsuit filed against jerry brown is political. the lawsuit accused doitch of misleading customer. doicht insisted her firm has saved taxpayers tens of millions of the dollars. pierce says she will take her kaáeus case to the supreme

court. her decision comes after an appeals court. senator john mccain handedly won his reelection. early in the campaign, it appeared that mccain may have been trailing. and tomorrow republican candidate for governor of california megawhitman will be appearing here on ktvu on mornings on 2. we'll be talking to her about her race against democrat jerry brown. the man who served as richard nixon's last attorney general during the water gate

scandal died today. william saxbie was 80 years old. saxbie was known as a republican maverick. he once called the nixon administration one of the most inept in history. straight ahead, we'll bring you up to date on that wildfire that has burning tonight east of mount diablo. plus triple digit heat and the dangers of dehydration. what some people are doing to keep people cool. >> so, ah, your seat good?

got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.

the latest now on that wildfire burning in contra costa county, these are live pictures of the flames in the foothills just east of mount diablo. as of right now 375 acres have

burned. the fire is now 50% contained. one home was threatened by fire crews flames from reaching it. 60pg & e customers near by all without electricity during this hour. the heat advisory has been extended to include tomorrow. in san jose tomorrow, downtown it's going ton downright hot. daytime high around 85 degrees. very hot throughout the bay area, slightly cooler coast side. firefighters in southern california are also battling flames and triple digit temperatures. for a time, 50 to 60 homes were threatened by a fire there. evacuation orders were lifted. the fires near the town of labeck along interstate 5 about 60 miles northwest of los angeles. a huge dc10 air tanker is being used to drop retardant. the fire broke out shortly

after noon today. but after nighttime, humidity levels had risen and that helped slow the fire. so far it has burned 1,500 acres. a lot of people looked for ways to beat the heat. jana katsuyama shows us what many people did to stay cool. the scorching sun had many people slipping in the water to beat the heat. children and their parents were trying to keep cool. >> we're hitting over 100 for the summer, which is great. we waited for a long time and finally it broke and we got hot weather. >> reporter: as the temperatures rose into the triple digits -- >> drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. >> reporter: staff reminded swimmers about the danger of

dehydration. >> we got plenty of gatorades and water. >> reporter: cooling centers across the region were open. at the freemont cooling center, they were playing a little hawaii music. >> i think it's very hot but it's very cool here. i want to have my shawl in here because it's so cold inside here. >> reporter: staff said they had more seniors visit here for lunch or just to stay cool. >> on a hot day like today we do end up with a lot of people. because they don't want to cook at home, they don't want to heat up their house at all. >> reporter: physicians say staying cool is critical for the elderly, people with chronic illness or the very young who are vulnerable to dehydration. >> it's very critical. people have associated deaths to heat stroke.

>> reporter: anyone who experiences symptoms of heat illness should receive help immediately. many of these centers plan to be open again tomorrow. reporting from freemont,jana katsuyama. and chief meteorologist bill martin will be back with the five day forecast coming up in about 10 minutes. you can also get the latest forecast for the area where you live at ktvu.com. in napa this was day one of a presbyterian trial of a deacon. she has admitted to marrying

several same-sex couples. a six member panel will design if spar violated the rule. she could be suspended even though she is currently retired. just a full day and a year after a car crash killed a woman's daughter and injured her son. the man responsible is going on trial for the charge. and it reveals a controversial police practice. ken wayne is live with our report. >> reporter: for outside observers, what happens in this alameda county courthouse tomorrow is another hearing and another long legal process of yet another oakland murder case. 27-year-old steven joe reed is facing murder charges for killing a woman in a car crash as he fled police in west oakland last year. tonight the child who was with his mother in that crash faces a long road to recovery. >> he took somebody's life and

really damaged many i son, so yes, yes i want him to do the time for the crime. >> reporter: burgess is the father of 2-year-old nauri who nearly died in that crash. >> just praying and praying that it keeps getting better. >> reporter: reed ran a stop sign while fleeing police and ran into the car owned by nauri's mother. the crash raised questions about police pursuits in residential neighborhoods. nauri was pulled from the car clinging to life. >> at first they said he would not speak. but he's starting to improve. >> reporter: today nauri appears to be the picture of health. while he can go down a slide, it's not clear if he will ever

be able to walk. he still has a feeding tube in his stomach and a shun in the back of his head. he expect his young son will continue to beat expectations. >> he's a miracle, he's a blessing. i thank the lord, i thank all the dollars at children's hospital for the effort they put in to save my son's life. meantime steven reed faces murder, gross vehicle manslaughter and felony evading arrest charges, he is being held without bail. live in oakland, ken wayne, ktvu channel 2 news. coming up how the fine for a ticket that many drivers in california have received may be reduced by more than $200. and a change in the time allowed to cross streets at traffic lights, what new standards mean for pedestrians

and drivers. and the efforts to free 24 trapped miners. it's an effort that could take months.

a grove of redwood trees is gone in sonoma county and marijuana growers are being blamed. the sheriff's office says the growers put a dam across trees. the tallest tree had grown to about 60 feet, 103 pot plants were found there. u.s. forest workers found the plants while conducts a study

of the grove winery. and the supervisor said proposition 19 could cause problems for the county's social services because they are already stretch thin

dealing with residents who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. the supervisors also said prop 19 conflicts with federal law that makes marijuana illegal. in news of the world tonight in china, officials said that a passenger plane crashed and caught fire today while trying to land at a fog surrounded airport in the north eastern part of that country. chinese media are reports that 100 people died but 54 others were injured mostly suffering broken bones. one passenger said there was heavy turbulence as the plane landed. the militants are members of an insurgent group who has tied to al-qaida. yesterday the group warned that a massive war is coming. and in chile, new drilling which i equipment was brought in today to help in the rescue of 30 miners trapped under ground in a copper mine. the miners appear to be doing well. they are now receiving emergency supplies, but they have not been told as yet that it may take up to four months to get them out of that mine. the attorney general of 18 states are demanding that craigslist remove it adult services section. they say that craigslist has failed to remove their adult services ads. craigslist did not say if the adult services sections would be removed. a partnership between yahoo and microsoft has come to an end. yahoo will be able to reduce expenses. the partnership could challenge google's dominance of online advertising. new federal standards will give pedestrians more time to

cross the street at traffic lights. the standards require cities to add seconds to accommodate the nation's aging population. that will mean that drivers will have to sit longer at red lights. however some cities have installed sensors to change the light when the last pedestrian has finished walking. those sensors cost $25,000 a piece. that's the problem, they maybe too expensive for some communities. a popular driving maneuver caused as a california stop could cause drivers less. the fine has been reduced down to $114. the legislature has raised the fine for that maneuver when it raised fines for running or not stopping on red. it gave anne frank home in

hiding. coming up next, a young offshoot of a chestnut tree flour ribs flourishes in the bay area. and our chief meteorologist bill martin is working on the forecast for the bay area. he'll be back in just a few minutes. woman: did you bring the camera phone? man: i did. do you wanna go first? i've been waiting for this all day. ok, this is from... aunt stacey. introducing chase quickdeposit. just photograph the front and back of your check

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strong winds blew over one of the most celebrated trees in the world today. it's the tree that anne frank looked over when hiding from nazi. the tree was diseased, but sapling were taken from the tree. one of the sapling is right here in the bay area. >> it was basically a stick with bare leaves on it.

>> reporter: that was back in december when the root cutting arrived in a cardboard tube. now the head of landscaping says the chestnut tree has grown a foot. >> i always check on it. even when i go on vacation i have to think about it. >> reporter: he has time to think about it. the tree will be in quarantine for three years. that's to make sure it doesn't have one of the diseases that infected the mother tree. >> this is where the anne frank sapling will be planted. >> reporter: this university was chosen because of the holocaust memorial and 80 years of teachings. >> right here is my mother. >> reporter: just as anne frank

and her mother and father died in a concentration camp. >> everyone though the tree has fallen down now, and that we had already gotten a sapling from it, indicates to me, it's supposed to happen. >> reporter: in the two years anne frank and her family hid from the nazi's in amsterdam, she wrote in her diary that this chestnut tree gave her hope for the future and its growth. >> if we don't learn from its past, we are doomed to repeat it and we're repeating it. >> reporter: now this sapling will grow into a tree and teach many generations. pw market is closing six stores.

two in san jose and one in coupe cupertino and castro valley will remain open. ike's place was supposed to close today but it found new light at least for now. a judge issued an eviction notice. but the judge reportedly discovered that the wrong name was on that notice. ike's owner expects the food fight to resume. it is still very warm out there tonight, it's going to be a hot one. tomorrow inland again. we got a lot of records today. we talked about those. here's something you don't see every day. san francisco 84 degrees downtown at this time of night. let's go out to the avenues, 72 degrees in the outer sunset, out in the outer richmond 72 degrees. temperatures out in st. francis 74 degrees.

things aren't changing a bit. it's going to be slightly cool tomorrow. but the heat remains inland. so this cooling trend, well today 105 in many places will start tomorrow and continue in a major way thursday, friday and saturday. tomorrow you will notice it but not as much. instead of 80s coast side we'll see lots of upper 70s. tomorrow. around the bay, lots of mid- 80s, when you pop over the hill they start to go up. temperatures are back into the triple digits easily. it is a triple valley for inland bay valleys, not for the coast. this low pressure comes back. this is one that's been with us all summer. it moves back in, the fall comes back. we're going to see very cool temperatures as we move into the weekend. so a big change over what we saw today and what we will see tomorrow as we move into the

weekend. forecast highs, clear lake 102, 96 in napa. the bay area air quality did not issue a spare the air day but it easily could have for tomorrow. 102 in pittsburgh, 103 in antioch. then look at san leandro and the áf alameda, you're going to get a little bit of a sea breeze and it's going to cool the city at the shore. a little bit of cooling, not a lot. then much warmer as you get down to the hills. a little cooling tomorrow especially coast, bay side and the peninsula. downright hot inland. fire danger high of course. it is going to cool down quiet a bit, not cold but more like what we've seen this summer. today, major major warm up. it was hot. police in pacifica are reporting two arrests following a recent shooting and robbery. we told you about it last friday night when two men

robbed a shell station on hickey boulevard. the clerk working at the station suffered multiple wounds. additional arrests are expected as the investigation pleads. ucla researchers says the a grim sign of the economy. one in four californians had no health insurance during at least part of last year. the county by county study indip cates almost 8.5 million state residents had no health plan. the percentage of those residents was up in every county. shasta county had the highest percentage without coverage while san mateo had the lowest. >> just about half of californias get their coverage through employer based insurance. when the economy is bad and

people lose their jobs, the health insurance goes with it. >> the new health care reform law will allow people to retain their coverage if they become unemployed. but that does not kick in until 2014. boy the giants have been scoring as of late. mark is next with sports. south of laredo, there's a place...

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a. sports director mark ibanez is with us tonight. >> and it would have taken them three weeks to score 27 runs but that's their output in just the last two months. hot fun in the summer fun out there at the ballpark. most everybody on the act. the the giants had already scored seven runs adding to it juan uribe with a shot he knows he's got. two run shot, his 16th of the year. you want to see a swing, of beauty. buster posey dead center field with two men on, three run homer, he has 10 already. 1-5 at that point. pablo is back, shots to deep

right center. pablo is 3-5 with 5 rbis. and andre, three more hits for him. this is a shot that's going to end in a double and two more rbis. giants win it 16-5. padres keep their lead over the west. but the wild card picture is looking a lot better for san francisco, the the phillies ryan howard, he had a reason to get irritated in the extra innings against houston, he has a pitch called strike three and says something that gets him in immediate ejection. howard was 0-7 tonight with five strike outs. and the astros beat philly in the 16th. it was a rookie by the name of chris johnson with an rbi singling. the giants are now tied with

philadelphia for the wild card lead. and millions of bugs completely out of control at the ball yard tonight out there. have a look at the infestation. they are called migens. coach stevenson absolutely miserable. cocoa crisp a couple of minutes later, his ticket of the year. and cust his tenth. gio gonzalez was excellent on the mound for the a's. keep that bug spray coming, and gonzalez gets his 11th win. and golden state is already promoting their team as the team now. the championships start next

saturday. that's the sporting life. >> all right, mark, thank you. >> and that is our report for tonight. i'm julie haener. >> i'm frank somerville. have a good evening everyone. >> good night.