the cab driver told us he picked up the man but didn't suspect anything was wrong. he could only provide a brief description. >> looked around 35, 38 years old. he was a tourist from europe. >> reporter: he told police the man was with two other men. he says he drove the men from the gallery to pier 33 on the waterfront. >> it's very unusual to have someone walk into an art gallery just walk in and grab the painting and walk out. i don't know if this was targeted or if it was a random act. >> reporter: now this art gallery is at the corner of geary and paul. you can see the picasso the áf poster there, describing some very expensive art work. he was wearing a dark jacket, a white shirt, dark jeans or pants. he was also wearing loafers with no sox and dark rimmed glasses. if you've seen this man or know anything about this heist, to

give them a call. live in san francisco, sal castaneda, ktvu. tonight a bay area coast guard team has joined an all out search for a missing man. they went overboard after their boat capsized. >> reporter: police are working hard on this. friends are headed down to mexico, they plan to spread this flier around. today the coast guard stepped up its goal for the search too. a coast guard hercules crew took off from sa sacramento racing to mexico. >> no one knows exactly who got off where, who got off with who. there was no time to put a life jacket on for some people. >> reporter: fred hahn is the

son of law of lee. lee helped organized the annual fishing trip and is among those who have not been found. >> they are saturating the water with air, planes, boats. >> reporter: mexican authorities say 37 people who were on the sunken boat have been accounted for. friends confirm les yee did not survive. now more than 100 volunteers have teamed with the mexican navy and the coast guard who believe there's still good reason to be optimistic that the missing men can be found alive. >> visibility, weather, conditions, air temperature, water temperature is ideal for survivability. >> reporter: this poster contains the names and photos of the missing including batista who's wife told can, tvu just how tough the waiting game has become. >> very difficult. it's just very, very hard. it gets harder as time goes on. >> reporter: the coast guard told me that c130 plane should

be wrapping it up plane at least for today right about now. we're also learning more about the company that owned this boat, that chartered this fishing trip, we'll have that for you tonight at 6:00. reports are pending on the body of a woman who was recovered on mount shasta. the pair got caught in a snow -- the woman complained of blurred vision, exhaustion and disorientation and stopped breathing. investigators say fireworks have not been ruled out as they look for the cause of a fire in east oakland. residents report hearing fireworks close to pidas company. the flames were reported just after 5:00 p.m. today. up to 10 vehicles were destroyed and damaged. no structures burned but it was a close call. >> the main threat was the cars were burning quickly and we're trying to contain it and there was an apartment building to the right of it that was fairly close that we didn't want to

catch on fire. >> officials say one firefighters hurt his back while responding to the fire and was treated by a doctor. 4th of july activities also kept firefighters busy in contra costa county. crews rushed to a fire in bay point between two homeless. the second just about 30 minutes later near port chicago highway and driftwood drive also happened near railroad tracks. officials suspect fireworks but so far no official cause. firefighters were caused to a one alarm fire in brent wood. the single fire damaged two homes on traditional way. a bar-b-que grill between those homes may be to cause. a man was severely injured by illegal fireworks. officers say they do not know what type of explosive caused the injury. a dead body found at an

abandoned building is now at the center of a police investigation. the body was discovered on monument boulevard and detroit avenue. police have not identified the victim but a homeless woman in the area told us she is startled by the news because the victim could be someone she knows. >> it's a lot of homeless going on around in this area and they look for places like vacant houses or vacant buildings and stuff and go in there and live in there just to get out of the heat. >> police say they have no leads in the case but thus far have made no arrest. police believe four shootings over the weekend could be connected. three men were killed, three others wounded. they happened over a three hour span and within 4 miles of each other. bailey and duncan were killed in woodson. police are still working to determine a link between the shootings, so far no arrests

hav arrests -- have been made. a florida jury found casey anthony not guilty of murdering her daughter. >> reporter: casey anthony pronounced not guilty. it was a moment that stunned the courtroom. >> as to the charge of first degree murder, verdict as to count one we the jury find the defendant not guilty. >> reporter: but the jury's surprising verdict didn't stop there. at the count of aggravated child abuse. >> not guilty. >> and on the count of aggravated murder of a child,. >> not guilty. >> reporter: florida mom casey

anthony -- but the identities of the deciding jurors so far a mystery. giving them the option to contact the media on their own. >> the 12 jurors have declined to talk to you. >> reporter: the defense team said this is what justice looks like. >> you cannot convict someone until they've had their day in court. >> reporter: casey anthony will be back here in court thursday morning for sentencing on four counts of lying to police. each one carries a maximum of one year in jail. in orlando, jessica stone, fox news. ktvu viewers weighed in on the verdict on our facebook page. sarah sparks wrote this is disturbing, my stomach just aches. we know you did it casey. and monica hagey turned her attention to the jury in the

case saying there probably wasn't much deliberation, merely a lose consensus. they wanted to go home and get on with their lives. tell us what you think, go to ktvu on facebook. just look under networking on the home page. the state assembly today passed a landmark bill that would require california schools to include history lessons about the gay community. it would require california schools to teach students about figures who contributed to the lbpg community. bay area activists aboard a boat are no closer to their goal tonight. the captain of the audacity tried to leave greece but was stopped by the coast guard.

last year, a similar flotila was blocked by officials. prisoner advocates in the bay area said today an inmate hunger strike has spread throughout the state. inmates in the shoe at pelican bay started their hunger strike last week to protest what they say are inhumane conditions. inmates at a half dozen other prisons are also refusing to eat in support of the pelican strike. since july 1, 5 inmates at various times have refused to eat their state issued food. the department of corrections also says it is reviewing the prisoners grievances. the british girl is lashing out for allegedly hacking into the girl's phone messages. >> their family is completely horrified. they thought this was all over. they lost their daughter.

and then >> britain's news of the world is known for its lurid photos and headlines, but they were shocked, she was abducted and killed back in 2002. tom vacar joins us now with why high profile cases like this one has people calling for better internet security and regulations, tom. >> reporter: another awful case of hacking. in fact, websites and servers just like these are constantly under the big hack attack. the british tabloid news of the world has just been accused of hacking into a murdered teenage girls voice mail. that led her family to wonder if she was still alive and hampered police. >> if that is true this is a truly dreadful act. >> we are all completely appalled and totally shocked by

it. we're determined to get to the bottom of this. >> reporter: someone hacked into fox news twitter account and falsely twitted to thousands that president obama had been assassinated. >> there were countless others who just retwitted the message because the twitter feed asked them to retwitt. >> reporter: a recent play station act was devastated. >> 77 million users with all their information got who knows how many credit cards. >> reporter: coyas was contacted by chase bank where she has no account. >> why should i even have an account with chase. if this bank doesn't know who it is that they need to notify. >> reporter: elenore mills covers hacking measures for sena. >> companies need to secure their websites and pass their systems. so much personal data is out there and there's consequences when people get hacked. >> reporter: including possible new harsh regulations and fines for websites that lose personal

data. reporting live, consumer editor tom vacar. a woman's attempt to break her husband out of jail ended up landing her in jail too. when you see the picture we're about to show you you'll know why. mexican police released these pictures of the incident. they say they noticed maria arona leaving the main entrance of a mexican jail looking kind of nervous with an extra bulky rolling suitcase. well look inside, they found her husband inmate juan tijerina. tijerina was immediately returned to his cell, his wife was also detained. why doesn't san francisco turn empty buildings into housing? so why doesn't it? the story coming up in two minutes. it's mild along the coast, inland hotter than yesterday but we do have some relief in site and there's a sign there, coming up how much cooler we expect to be by tomorrow. it's really delicious, mom.

it's not too well done? nope. but it is a job well done. what are you reading, sweetie? her diary. when you're done, i'd love some feedback. sure. your mom and i read that thing cover-to-cover. loved it. thanks. would you mind if i cut the lawn this weekend? only if you let me talk to your mother on the phone for hours on end. done. [ male announcer ] u-verse brings peace to the family. at&t u-verse lets you record four shows at once from any room and play them back on any tv. get u-verse tv for only $29 a month for 6 months. in the network, everyone can get along. get u-verse tv for only $29 a month for 6 months. denny's new tour of america menu. 50 star cuisine. the new tour of america menu. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. america's diner is always open.

a plan to privatetize security may be headed to -- the plan is strongly opposed by city unions. city all insiders say the measure will probably be voted down by supervisors on july 19th. also in san francisco, there are hundreds of empty buildings and some want to know why they are not being used to house the thousands of homeless in the city. rob roth tells us that city leaders say, it's more complicated than you might think. rob-- >> reporter: frank, police have removed the people who spent the night in this abandoned hotel at 20th and mission streets demanding the city convert abandoned properties into homeless housing. they left peacefully when police came this morning. among them was this woman. >> saw a great deal of the

fireworks from the roof. >> reporter: but she says their organization homes not jails did not occupy the building just to look at fireworks. san francisco has approximately 300 empty buildings according to last year's census report including this one on mason street. it also has about 6,000 chronically homeless people sleeping on the streets. >> if there's a political will on the part of the city to turn housing over to foreign homeless people, then we wouldn't have the situation that we're facing. >> reporter: but the city says it's more complicated than merely having political will. >> typically those are buildings that are not stable. that may have lead paint in them, that the property owner may be not around, we're not able to locate them. so it's much more difficult than anyone wants it to be. >> reporter: this building was

turned into veteran housing. but that's a city owned building. >> they may have restrictions from the rent board. and you just can't easily make a private building available for public occupation. >> we just need to keep the pressure on and take it to the next step until every man, woman and child in san francisco has a place to call home. >> reporter: homelessness is yet to become the mayor political issue that it was in past mayoral elections but it's still early. reporting live, rob roth, ktvu news. coming up at 6:15, thieves target an east bay homeless center. the item that thieves got away with that is hampering their efforts today. >> advocates say the legislation would protect the public from excessive rate hikes. opponents say assembly bill 52 would limit access to care and

that it fails to fix the underlying problems that are driving up the insurance rates. a state senate economy are expected to vote on this bill tomorrow. city officials have placed a ban on all sprouts grown in israel. investigators believe 6,000- tons of the small seeds may be contaminated and sold throughout europe over the last two years. the governor of montana today asked people who live downstream from a crude oil spill to report any oil sheen. the governor says that oil from a broken exxon pipeline has now traveled hundreds of mile from the yellow river in montana. it contaminated farm and grazing land. let's talk a little bit about our weather now. another beautiful day, bill is off tonight, rosemary is

filling in. how does it feel outside. >> reporter: it's nice in some, a scorcher in others. you know who you are if you're in the 90s. you can see the outer richmond area looks like maybe outer sunset as well as golden gate. a little pocket of low cloud cover over you pacifica. then it scoots down into areas right around half-moon bay almost reaching santa cruz but not just yet. we're still watching a northwesterly ridge so we're not expecting this cloud duct to move in too quickly. it'll be back with us tomorrow and tomorrow morning. the winds any where from 10 to 15 miles per hour. san jose reporting 10, livermore reporting 12 at this time. san francisco at the airport always a little bit breezier 16 miles per hour. that primarily west and northwest. temperatures still quite hot out there in some spots, 97 in

concord, 97 livermore. 98 in hayward. then take a look at the warm spots. 83 san rafael, 87 in santa rosa as i mentioned a few moments ago some of our in inland spots warmer than what we saw yesterday. we've been tracking some monsoonal threats, we haven't seen much yet. we're not looking at a whole lot but you may see that in the afternoon. let's talk about tomorrow, because we do have changes in store for some people, that's a big relief. we will wake up with patchy fog, partly cloudy skies for the afternoon. our temperatures expected to fall any where from four to 8 degrees. in the bay area, widespread 50s right along the coastline. 70s along the areas of san francisco into oakland as well as down into mountain view and then our inland spots, back into the 80s and 90s. but again not quite as hot.

and this will be the trend that we see as we move into the weekend. when we come back we'll take a look at those lows. homeowners in one bay area county catch a break. plus the president puts pressure on congress. how he plans to bring together lawmakers lost in a tax debate in washington. new at 6:00, a tourist attraction turns into a newsom. >> 6:00 in the morning crowing. then a drowning on the russian river raises concerns about rivers all across california, where rescues over this holiday weekend were frequent. tonight on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00.

the tiburon city council will take up a smoking measure. council members will decide whether to ban smoking in public buildings. there is good news and bad news for marin county officials. 27% of county's homes have lost value. that will give a property tax break to 21,600 homeowners. that's even more of a drop than last year when 21% of the counties residents qualified for a tax reduction. most marin properties will actually see a boost in property value and in taxes next time around. president obama today invited congressional leaders to the white house to try to resolve the looming debt ceiling problem. >> it's my hope that everybody is going to leave their ultimatums at the door. that we'll all leave our

political rhetoric at the door and that we're going to do what's best for our economic and best for our people. >> reporter: the president says he hopes to make a deal with the debt limit. he wants to eliminate tax breaks and deductions for the wealthy. republicans have declined any move. congress faces an august 2nd deadline to raise the trillion dollar debt ceiling or risk a government default. one controversial plan to help reduce the debt is raising big concerns in the debt ceiling. lobbyist says if cuts are approved there could be mass lay offs and program cuts at hospitals in the united states. >> you don't want to go there, if at all possible, you want to deal with administrative systems, but at some point the cuts are going to get real enough that we're going to have to look at staffs or even programs. >> reporter: one group, americans for prosperity says the government no longer has

the funds to keep all of the promises it has made. coming up at 5:45 we break down the worldwide implications of the default by the united states. and tell you why one expert says it could plunge the global economy into a financial free fall. audio tapes paint a vivid picture of what happened during sunday night's b.a.r.t. police shooting. the count down is down to the end of the shuttle program. coming up we'll introduce you to two men, two bay area men and tell you the role they're playing in this week's historic flight.

we have breaking news happening in the east bay right now. our news chopper two is just arriving on the scene of a grass fire. this is happening just off of

interstate 580, east of livermore, west of tracy in the alta mar area. our news chopper just arrived at the scene to bring us these pictures. at this point what we know is the fire is still burning and there's no containment. you see a lot of burned house to the left of the screen. then you can make the yellow grass on the right hand side. that's basically what there is in this area. it is not a heavily populated area by any means. a lot of people when you think about altta mont pass think about those windmills on those rolling hills that's what you have here. you can see a large patch of burned grass and a lot of dry yellow grass around it. we just heard from our meteorologist rosemary orozco and told us that temperatures in this area are in the 90s. so it's hot here. humidity at this point is fairly low.

she says it's not critically low. the firefighters have that to their advantage. but what the main problem here is the terrain, those rolling hills and all that dry grass. we haven't had a fire in this area in quite a long time so frank you can understand there's a lot of fuel there ready to burn. >> it also looks at the lower part of the screen there, you can see power lines and that fire is burning. it appears toward those fire lines so that can certainly be a problem as well. just to recap here, this fire has burned about 200 acres, absolutely no containment so far. we have news chopper 2 overhead. we will keep you posted on this. we are continue to work to get you more information and as we do we will bring it to you. the final shuttle flight is scheduled for this saturday morning weather permitted. it is the end of an era.

maureen naylor has the story. >> reporter: today we spoke to the father of this bay area astronaut and also to a professor. shuttle atlantis is set to launch friday morning marking the last launch. >> it was oversold, at one time they said it would operate once a week. the most it ever flew was seven times in one year. >> reporter: the former nasa aims director says while the shuttle launched the hubble and built the international space station it's time to move on. >> good astronaut friendover minest said while you're going around the earth you're exploring the first 30 times but after that you're not exploring, you're just going around in circles. >> reporter: hubble overlooked at the program.

>> it is high risk, aging and very expensive. should be recertified or replaced. >> reporter: 40-year-old san carlos native rex walhite will be one of four astronauts on the last flight. he has gone on two prior shuttle missions. >> i'm proud of him. him to be no fear. he's a good man. >> reporter: all shuttle commanders train on a vertical motion simulator at nasa aims. it will now be used for other training and no jobs will be eliminated. a lot of people are expected to launch the live broadcast of the final shuttle launch here at the visitor center: nasa's next focus will be mars. maureen naylor, ktvu news. a new lawsuit involving last month's deadly amtrak train near reno is putting part of the blame on amtrak. the train was on its way to emeryville when it was struck by a truck killing six people including a bus driver.

an amtrak attendant says survivors had to double back past dead bodies and jump out a window because of a locked baggage door. amtrak has claimed negligence by the trucking company. san francisco fire officials now say a three alarm apartment fire in the city's mission district caused $9.5 million in damage. we first brought you this story as it was happening. three buildings were damaged in the fire displacing 26 people. investigators have not determined the cause of the fire but say it is considered accidental. details, the chaotic moments of that b.a.r.t. officer shooting. and david christianson is here with audio recordings of that night.

>> reporter: we obtained those recordings of what was going on here at the b.a.r.t. station. the recordings paint a vivid picture. it started with a radio report of an apparently intoxicated man on platform one. >> there's a guy with some alcohol, he's still. he's moving around a lot. >> reporter: two unidentified b.a.r.t. officers responded. within a minute the man had been shot. >> shots fired. officer involved shooting. >> reporter: b.a.r.t. police say the man threatened officers with a bottle and a knife. the operations control center moved fast to shutdown the station. >> 1043, all trains running through civic center do not stop at civic center. >> b.a.r.t. officers aided by san francisco police rushed to corral witnesses as tensions rose inside civic center station. >> we're getting a crowd in the

area. >> reporter: b.a.r.t. deputy police chief daniel hartwick today said investigators moved quickly to the officers. >> the officers were removed from the scene and went to the san francisco police department and were isolated at the police department and spoke with detectives from both agencies. >> the san francisco medical examiner this afternoon told us they've identified the dead man describe as a while male between 30 and 50 years old but they're not releasing his name until they can notify his family. david stevenson, ktvu channel 2 news. the bay area radio preacher who predicted the world would end is recovering from a stroke. his daughter says her father recently moved from a hospital to a skilled nursing facility to understood go rehabilitation. campings family network is working to replace his show.

it's still unclear if that show will return. our news chopper two is over the scene of an out of control gas fire happening in the far east bay. when we come back, we have new information on this breaking news, the resources being used to fight it. and also one expert says it could be a financial armageddon. we break it down and see why the collapse of the financial center could bring worldwide havoc. it's really delicious, mom.

it's not too well done? nope. but it is a job well done. what are you reading, sweetie? her diary. when you're done, i'd love some feedback. sure. your mom and i read that thing cover-to-cover. loved it. thanks. would you mind if i cut the lawn this weekend? only if you let me talk to your mother on the phone for hours on end. done. [ male announcer ] u-verse brings peace to the family. at&t u-verse lets you record four shows at once from any room and play them back on any tv. get u-verse tv for only $29 a month for 6 months. in the network, everyone can get along.

more live coverage on the breaking news here, news chopper 2 over head of a fire that is burning out of control right now in the far eastern part of the bay area. alameda county particularly. this is north of patterson, west of tracy just off of 580 between 205 and i5. it is an area where you can see there are not a lot of homes just a lot of dry grass and this fire is burning out of control right now. they are really bringing in a lot of equipment to try to deal with this. what we understand, we just got information three helicopters, four tankers and four fire trucks are fighting this fire. we will continue to follow this and bring you more information

as soon as we get it. californians installed 47- kilowatts of solar energy equipment. net flicks is heading south. the unline movie rental company will offer its live streaming to mexico and the caribbean. the move is the company's largest expansion. the news sent the company's stock soring ending the day at $290 per share. google and microsoft are being sued over their street level mapping service. a louisiana company transscenic claims google infringe on its patent. those internet services allow

people to see foot level. we reached to google , and got no comment. and bradford street is the most tilted paveed thoroughfare in the world. broadford has an incline of 41 degrees over 30 feet. if the street were longer a car would go from zero to 60 in seven seconds. stay with us, we'll be right back. new at 6:00, a tourist attraction turns into a nuisance. >> 3:00 in the morning crowing. >> the famous feather flock taking over a california mission town. >> a drowning on the russian river raises concerns about rivers all across california. where rescues over the holiday weekend were frequent. tonight on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00.

a new new study baby area researchers are finding new looks at autism. the results show genetics only account for 38% of risk of autism. while environmental factor make up 62% of the risk. similar studies suggest autism is inheritable. the clock is ticking and if a deal isn't struck very soon some say the nation, possibly the globe could be pushed into a new financial crisis. consumer editor tom vacar explains how it would happen. >> august 2 is a real firm date. that the point and time we have to start making choices about which debts we pay. >> reporter: the first big

crack comes in about 10 days. >> the rating agencies are going to put the u.s. on public notice of a potential downgrade. >> reporter: conly says the u.s. will continue to pay its bond and foreign debt but social security payments, veteran's benefits and other things might be deferred. >> the rating agencies will view that failure to pay the government's obligation as a default too. that will hurt the credit of uncle sam's treasuries. >> american banks and insurance companies and pension funds, and state funds, anyone that holds treasuries all of a sudden finds their balance sheets virtually worthless, because they're not tradeable. the world could seize. for those who are speculating we can survive a downgrade or we can survive a default are

talking economic nonsense. >> reporter: it was the downgrade an immediate failure of just one bank, leman brothers that set off this recession. the federal reserve bank is the world's largest and most important. i'm consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. a five day winning streak on wall street drew to a close today as u.s. markets opened for the first day of trading since the july 4th holiday. concerns about the stability of the european unions finances caused the dow to go down. the dow fell 13 points, the nasdaq finished up nine. we continue to cover our breaking news of a grass fire. julie haener also joins us with more stories. >> reporter: we'll have the latest on the progress and the

damage it caused. also some workers were overcome by a powerful pesticide in napa. just north of napa, we'll have more information on where those chemicals came from. the latest on the search off the coast of baja california for those missing first namer men. we'll go back now to that breaking news happening in the south bay. the pictures we're showing you here show the story of a grass fire that started at 5:00 and has burned through at least 200 acres so far. what you see is that red kind of line you see, that's fire retardant that was put down on the ground from up above so that is going to be an effort to try to stop the flames from burning through. if i'm reading this picture correctly here. that's fire retardant on the ground in hopes of stopping the fire and flames from burning past that point. there is probably a lot of traffic impact happening on i80 because of this fire. this is right near the area of interstate 580. we've been showing you huge

plumes of smoke and we will continue to follow this breaking news. again an out of control wildfire in the altamont pass area. a new settlement reached in court today could help the sea turtles. the government agreed on a timetable to create a large turtle protection zone. the fishery service know has until mid-november to finalize details for that habitat. the zone is meant to protect food supplies for the turtles. a lot colder other places. >> the coast 60s today. typical summer like weather. giving you a look at storm tracker here, we have that marine layer and low cloud deck right up the coast. it'll continue to move in. where we are seeing it right

now lost it on the satellite view. down into pacifica, most of us dealing with mostly clear skies. and the winds generally light out there. 10 to 15 miles per hour. still coming in from the northwest. that's going to change. take a look at some of our hottest spots for today. 102 in morgan hill. 91 for hayward this afternoon. so a hot one there. 86 redwood city. 91 in san jose. cooling trend beginning tomorrow. hopefully that is music to your ears and it's a trend that we're going to watch all the way into the weekend, by the weekend 15 to 20 degrees cooler at the coastline than it was today. you might even need a jacket. some of our hottest spots tomorrow will only be getting into the 90s. then starting to hit around 90 for your thursday. friday widespread low 80s, then low 80s for saturday and

sunday. 57 expected in napa, 62 for concord, 58 in oakland, and we will have the patchy fog and low cloud back with us. we do expect them to burn off by late morning early afternoon. take a look at your afternoon highs for tomorrow. another warm one but not as bad. mid-80s santa rosa as well as napa. 87 in san jose, 84 for fremont, 77 in san mateo. upper 60s across the coastline. and your extended forecast, there you have it a trough is going to hang on along the west coast and that's really going to drive our temperatures back. >> looks like it's really going to cool down. a new survey ranked san francisco number one. the online survey which was done by trojan brand condoms say it is average san francisco has had 30 partners that's more than any other major city on

the survey. the survey also find that san franciscans are less likely -- and harry potter fans, you're in for a treat. to see the entire trailer we posted it for you on ktvu.com. we continue to follow the fire that is burning out of control. more coverage on that coming up. also -- >> reporter: it's a new way of hearing that goes through your teeth. how this retainer is helping people hear better.

a ground breaking device created here in the bay area is giving hope to people with a major hearing impairment. in a special report this evening, maureen naylor tell us what makes this high tech instrument so unique. >> reporter: driving became more dangerous for gloria walt three years ago after surgery to remove a tumor, the gilroy resident lost all hearing on her left ear.

>> i realize that all the noises and voices were coming from my right side. i couldn't hear anyone from my left side. >> a stick of gum? it's pretty light. >> reporter: but that all changed thanks to this tiny new device created in the bay area which is about to hit the market next month. >> i would say this is entirely of ground breaking way of hearing. >> reporter: dr. michael murray conducted the fda study of the device and fitted 100 people with a system. >> 100% of the people that tried out the device would recommend it to a friend, they heard better with the twice. and thought it was safe. >> reporter: a microphone is put in the deaf ear like ripples through water, sound traveling through a medium. a small retainer vibrates the

tooth which sends those vibrations through the skull to create perception of hearing. >> what happens here is just like when you crunch on potato chips and you hear that sound through your teeth. this is in effect what it does. >> reporter: he says most of the $7,000 cost for the device will eventually be covered by insurance. >> reporter: has it changed your life? >> definitely. >> he says it's just like turning the volume on the radio, it's painful and the best part it doesn't require surgery. and she says there's no looking back to life without it. maureen naylor, ktvu news. >> coming up in just 90 seconds -- >> reporter: we are live on the russian river, if you take a look it looks calm and inviting, but the sheriff's department is asking people to be cautious, a man lost his life here yesterday. and continuing coverage on this out of control fire that

started about an hour ago in the alta mont area and the massive effort to put it out. that's coming up in 90 seconds.

another day of searching comes to an end, more help is on the way to look for some missing bay area fishermen off the coast of baja california. >> a word of caution as you

head to the waters, the rivers may look deceptively calm but actually they could be deadly. >> good evening everyone i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. we are following breaking news in the east bay where a grass fire is burning out of the control near the altamont pass. news chopper 2 is overhead right now. you can see the fire there, there's a lot of smoke there. the big black patch. >> we've been watching this and showing you these live pictures for the last 30 minutes. there's three air tankers fighting the fire along with several engines on the ground. no indication that any homes or buildings are threatened at this point. we're working to get more detail and we're staying on top of this