>> it is these days that we're at most risk for a devastating fire. >> reporter: marin county fire brought an extra fire fight firefighterss and additional rescue workers. one of the few fires of note took place in late june. but that fire was kept small. now the fire conditions are more severe and that is typical. calfire says of the 20 most devastating wildfires in california history. 16 out of the 20 took place in september, october or november. >> we can compare this to august, september, the burning conditions are very strong right now. >> reporter: chris avina is a fire chief, he says in three days the air tankers based here

were to be redeployed for the season. but now the mission is extended due to the significant fire danger. >> this is our peak time and this is when we need to not let our guard down because the fuels are still very dry. >> reporter: so far fortunately these air tankers have remained parked here today. there has been no need for air tankers. in sonoma county, ken pritchett. for more on the conditions now, we want to check in with our chief meteorologist bill martin. >> this red flag warning should be expected in october. did not materialize tonight, we did have big winds but the big winds just did not happen so that's good news. things are changing around. you can see that fog sitting up the bay area. that will help firefighters out. we have a spare the air day

again today. there's a big cool down coming up. and you can always track the latest weather information online, just go to ktvu.com and click on the weather tab. hundreds of nurses walked off their jobs today at children's hospital oakland. they say they've been working now without a contract since mid-july. and tonight they're hoping to send a powerful message to hospital management, ktvu's christien kafton is in oakland now with details on what patients can expect now. >> reporter: you can see they are here for the long haul. you'll be able to see striking nurses, there is some hospital security there as well. today is the first day of a three day strike. nurses from children's hospital and research center oakland are walking the picket line over health care benefits. rodney campbell brought his 4- year-old son this morning, he

sympathizing with the nurses but wants the best care for his son. >> that does scare me. >> reporter: martha cool has been an oncology nurse here for eight years and says she had to walk out. >> it's always a difficult decision for nurses when we have to strike. and we only do it when we've been pushed as far as we've been by our employer. >> reporter: the hospital says with the current economy it needs to control costs and is offering nurses several options. the strike forced the hospital to cut the number of scheduled surgeries in half. delaying elective procedures but still operating on urgent and emergency patients. >> our leadership team went through the schedule. they really reviewed what children need to have their surgery at this time and that's who we're focusing on.

>> reporter: our cameras were granted access inside the hospital where we found the williams family. ty williams says the strike has not affected his daughter's care. >> they called me yesterday and asked if i would like to reschedule. and i said no problem. >> reporter: no word on when nurses and administrators will return to the bargaining table. we're live in oakland. christien kafton ktvu news. crews are just to pull up 33 miners who've been trapped under ground for 69 days. john fowler is in our newsroom now with details. >> reporter: the first of these miners are expected out this evening, no miner has ever survived so deep, so long. let's take a look at live pictures of the mine rescue. it's near the city of copiapo, chile. technicians are now finishing

the final test of the mining capsule nicknamed phoenix. here it is just 25 minutes ago, engineers sent the 25-inch diameter capsule empty for the last time. the first miner out is to be father of two florencio avalos. picked to be first pause he's a skilled engineer in case anything goes wrong. you may remember that miners have been trapped since it gaved on august 5th. it was feared all had perished. food and water kept them alive for the last 69 days. once on the surface, miners are to meet with relatives then go to a light dimmed hospital for care. several of the miners have potentially critical conditions. this dramatic rescue has captured the attention of people worldwide. they expect several miners rescued tonight, but it'll take about 36 hours to remove them all. you can watch a live streaming feed on our website ktvu.com.

reporting live, health an science editor, john fowler. pg & e says it's making changes in the wake of last month's pipe explosion. today say said they are making changes that will keep the disaster from happening again. >> we will rise to new and higher levels than they had previously identified and considered to be adequate. >> reporter: the five point plan will focus on modernizing the pipeline structure, investing in diagnostic tools, reviewing safety and training practices and improving public awareness. the mayor clean up phase in san bruno is officially over now. city leaders scooped up the last charred debris in the heart of the crest moore neighborhood in a symbolic mood. there is still a lot of work to be done. a number of agencies will now

have to decide what to do with a pile of dirt from the crater. burned trees will be cleared and many homes have yet to be fixed. the san bruno city council is meeting tonight to discuss what to do next to rebuild that burned out neighborhood. a federal judge in california issued a worldwide injunction today ordering the military to stop enforcing it's don't ask don't tell. the landmark ruling ends the military's controversial 17- year-old ban on openly gay troops. u.s. departments of justice attorneys have 60 days to appeal if they decide to do so. meantime the u.s. justice department has taken the steps to defend the marriage act. that's the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman. the doj is appealing rulings by a massachusetts judge who called the judge

unconstitutional for denying federal benefits to gay married couple. president obama has said he would like to see the ruling repealed. -- to exclusively support state parks. so what are the pros and cons of this proposition? for some answers we go to consumer editor tom vacar. >> reporter: frank, take a look. this is an open gate here. while it is legally required to pay $6 not one of the many cars that went through paid it. the question is, will waiving those fees and entry fees and just saving the parks be enough incentive for folks to vote for prop 21? >> go to lock ranch at mount diablo state park, one a vast

recreation center wasting away. the parks are so under staffed many use the honor system to collect fees. the entire park system is in shambles. ron brown, executive director of save mount diablo is a supporter of prop one. >> it has been under funded by the state legislature. allowing a huge asset for the state of california to go into decay. >> reporter: david kline a spokesman for the tax payers association, a mayor opponent of prop 21. >> the parks are very important but we think they should be budgeted as part of the state prop act and not have a specific tax dedicated to that expenditure. >> the existing park funds might be shifted elsewhere. so it'll be just a big shell game where we're paying a new tax and not getting additional

services. >> the moneys will no longer be allocated for state parks. >> reporter: what did state visitors we talked to today say? >> anything we can do to keep the parks of california. >> it seems to me it wouldn't get lost in the mix. >> reporter: of course overnight camping fees would remain in effect, but the parks probably would have a much better financial footing. tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. fresh off last night's dramatic win over atlanta, they now face a tough series against the philadelphia phillies. which fan is willing to pay the $10,000 price for bleacher

seats offered by one selling. mayor newsom says the city really scores big with all the exposure on tv. >> you can't ask for anything more, if you're a convention or visitors bureau, you can't afford that kind of advertising. >> the java hut expects a huge influx of business. they've even bought a new flat screen tv for the series. if you would like more information on the race for the pennant, go to ktvu.com. you will find the entire play off schedule and we've been posting giant fan photos. just look for the giants tab on the front page. her life was cut short by a hit and run driver. tonight, what was found at that site that sent some into tears. straight ahead, we'll tell you what gubernatorial candidate was detained earlier tonight.

stock markets closed up today. the notes revealed that the central bank plans to take many more action to stimulate the economy. that news sent the dow jones up 10 points, the nasdaq rose 15. intel is celebrating better than expected third quarter sales. intel is benefits from mobile devices and corporate retooling of equipment. the company made almost $3 billion in net profits in just the third quarter. that's up 59% from a year ago. intel predicts their numbers

will rise in the final quarter. in just about 15 minutes, meg whitman and jerry brown will square off in their final debate before the election. tonight's debate is being held at dominican university in san rafael. that's where mike mibach is, here is back with more. >> reporter: right now people are starting to get settled inside the auditorium. behind me, you can see 100 or so protesters, they've been here since about mid-afternoon. in all about 775 ticketed guests are inside the auditorium here in on campus. one person who is not inside is the green party candidate who was taken away by security just about 30 minutes ago. >> reporter: corralled inside a pen is green party candidate laura wells and a few of her supporters. >> it's been billed as the green debate, where's the green party candidate. >> when the green party is not

at the table, californians are not at the table. >> of all years when you talk to people, they are upset with both of the choices that they've been offered in the debates. and both the democrats and the republicans which i've started to call the titanic parties. >> reporter: one person who will be inside the auditorium, tina rugiero. >> a lot of people, myself included are torn and are going into tonight looking for direction one way or the other. >> reporter: rugiero hopes the debate will explore new ground. >> reporter: yet some protesters outside the debate hope whitman's firing of her illegal housekeeper resurfaces. and another debate, jerry brown's staff member using a sexist comment against whitman. >> i hope they don't focus on

all the dirty stuff that comes out now. >> reporter: security officials who hauled away green party candidate laura wells declined to tell us why they did soful wells tell us that she did not do anything. saying that she just wants to debate. live tonight here in san rafael, mike mibach, ktvu news. an intersection where a little girl was killed in a hit and run accident is a little safer tonight. a new traffic signal was activated today near frick middle school. 11-year-old alana williams was killed at that intersection almost a year ago. the traffic signal was put on the fast track in a bus stop was relocated because of pressure from the community.

today's event brought many people out, including alan's family who broke into tears. but today was bittersweet because alan's killer has not been found yet. to make matters worse, debris blocked a broken gas pipe. four units were badly damaged. the red cross is now helping ten tenants. on to our weather now, i live up in the oakland hill where is that fire was. i tell you, toáepd it sure felt like fire weather up there. >> this time of year really feels like that. at the higher elevations, about 50 feet, 1,000 feet the winds are stronger. this is not howling and there's no relation to what we're

seeing today at the los cados fire. the winds will pick up again tonight. they'll start to come offshore. those strong winds favor the east bay hills. the red flag warning stays in effect again tonight through tomorrow morning when winds could get back up to 35, 40 miles per hour. high temperatures were up there. remember we had the records, 105, 103, 93 in napa. still hot out there as we move into the middle of october. we have temperatures above the average. but not unexpected, there's fire danger, red flag warnings, not unexpected. we're prized we haven't had more red flag warnings today. the winds will ramp up late tonight then again 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 in the morning, they may get gusting. overnight lows mild. 60 in morgan hill, 61 in san jose. a mild night, warm in your house as you try to sleep. reds representing 90s. fill into the bay, fog working

it's way into the coast. that fog is going to take the reds. the 90s are going to push them east. that is your thursday forecast. the fog comes up the coast, the air moves in, the fire danger goes down. and so do the temperatures, not cold, just cooler than it has been. so things are changing, but not until thursday, friday, saturday and into sunday when that fog returns in earnest. another warm day, i mentioned we had a couple of records at oakland airport and san francisco airport sunday. tomorrow will be just darn near hot. >> thanks, bill. a team of biologists are trying to figure out what's killing dozens of sea gulls in san francisco. so far 65 dead birds have been

found over the past year. scattered around a 3-acre area near pier 94 south of cesar chavez street. some birds had feathered covered in animal grease. biologists think that some of the birds may be getting into containers that processes animal fats and bones so that it can be used for soap and cosmetics. coming up, we're going to show you new farmers markets are sprouting in the bay area. they are in places you would never expect to see them.

finding fresh produce for sale in some oakland neighborhoods are almost impossible. so the oakland school district is opening afternoon school farmers markets right on campus. >> we feel it's important to have this for our families and communities. so many of our families live in oakland where it's food desert, where there's no access for the produce. mark ibanez joins us now.

sports, the giants still riding high. getting ready for this weekend's play off action. >> i'm sure it was a great ride back from atlanta. back in georgia, they put those foam tamahawks away for the winter. and the giants with three wins. rookie madison bumgartner. nobody prouder than his dad kevin who traveled 260 miles from hickory, north carolina to see his son not only pitch in the play offs but do it against the braves his childhood team. >> oh it's incredible. you know, i remember when he was 8 years old he said he wanted to play for the braves and pitch for bobby cox. bobby cox is still here for a little while. >> did you see this day ever coming? >> yes, and no. i mean, you know he planned on

it forever. but prepared for it but it's always still, you have to have a million things lined up just perfect and it just so happened to be that way. it's a dream come true. >> you've switched. you went from being a braves fan to a giants fan really quick. look at you, you have all the gear. >> that's right, i didn't take the tamahawk when they gave it to me at the gate. and tampa caught napping right there. and right now it is texas 2-1 over tampa in the decisive game five in that series to see who gets thrown to the yankees for the american league title. that's the sporting life at

this hour. we'll give you full highlights of that ball game. bumgartners dad. great interview. and supporters around in nation are calling it a landmark legal decisionful coming up on tv 36, a judge puts a halt to the u.s. military's 17 year old ban for openly gay soldiers. that is our news for tonight. i'm julie haener. >> and i'm frank somerville. have a good night.