displaced residents try to pick up the pieces of their lives after a three-alarm fire in san francisco. good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. investigators are still looking for answers after that three- alarm fire in the city. it's left nearly a dozen people without a place to stay and a lot of challenges for the new year. kraig debro has been speaking to residents and fire officials and joins us now live. >> reporter: good afternoon. a truck company just arrived on

the scene at masonic and waller. fire investigators, fire victims, neighbors, and the curious have all been here this morning. the business of the fire has become an unplanned new year's day holiday. residents of three buildings rushed out with only their lives. this morning those same people stacked up the things that make up their lives on the sidewalk. a firefighter suffered the only injury, but the emotional toll is still being measured. >> she loved this house. by burning it up, -- >> the fire department got the call shortly after 8:00 last night. a woman visiting her daughter says they ran outside to see blames 15-feet high. when fire crews arrived, they saw heavy flames rising from between two buildings. >> the fire was going through the roof of both buildings.

>> that may sound bad but the chief says it's better than flames blowing on to buildings on eat side. this morning the assistant chief took tasted fire's origin, an alcove between of the most severely damaged buildings. the cause has not been determined yet. the reality of the situation is forcing people to face this philosophically. as you look at that, one of the houses that burned, you see a firefighter in the window. they just punched out the glass. investigators have been here all morning. no official word on the cause of this fire. kraig debro, back to you. another fire in san francisco damaged a flower shop at the flower mart this morning. the fear broke out just of a 10:30 on the 6 hundred block of branon street between fifth and six the streets. an employee and two customers were in the shop but got out and called 9-1-1. damage was

minimal and the cause appears accidental. a san jose family needs a place to stay after a fire destroyed their home. the woman was asleep with her children and a friend inside the home when the smoke detector went off less than an hour after the start of the new year. blames engulfed the homes on north fifth street. everyone escaped safely. the cause is under investigation. there are new developments involving dozens of arson fires in los angeles in the last few days. coming up, what police are now saying about a person they have detained for questioning. a $25,000 reward is being offered to find the gunman who shot and killed a 5-year-old boy in oakland. gabriel martinez jr. was outside his family's taco truck on 5 4-9dz avenue and international boulevard friday night when a man who had just ordered food from the truck

started shooting. the gunman got into a silver pontiac with a woman and drove off. berkeley police are trying to determine if alcohol was a factor in a car crash this morning outside a bank. two cars slammed into each other around 1:00 a.m. at the intersection of san pablo and university avenues. one car then veered off, hit a pole, and clipped the front of a wells fargo bank. witnesses say the driver of the car that hit the bank appeared to be drunk. he was agitate ad had to be restrained by police. >> you could tell he was drunk. he was really drunk. >> he justified out of the car? >> yeah. he was running around going, help, help. it was crazy. they had to strap his arms, everything. >> the woman inside the on car was injured and had to be taken

to the hospital. single use plastic bags are now banned at thousands of retailers in san jose including grocery stores. if you ask for a paper bag, that will cost you ten cents. yesterday we found several shoppers skipping the bag decision and they carried the items out of the store and put the loose groceries in their car. some shoppers are annoyed with the new law. other shoppers are doing what lawmakers hope would happen and are using reusable bags. the only exemptions are for packaging meats and produce along with restaurants and nonprofits. some stores in san jose including safeway are giving away a limited sup life reusable bags for the first few days of the new year in hopes

of helping customers make the transition. it will be a lot harder to find a place to light up in the city of alameda this year thraz to a tough new smoking ban that just took effect. we're live with a long list of places where people can no longer light up. >> reporter: good afternoon. here are -- this is the sign that you may see posted all around alimmediate awful we're standing in a lace that's on that list. you cannot smoke starting today in any outdoor seating area near a restaurant, bar or coffee shop. it's part of the city ordinance passed in november to crack down on second hand smoke in public places. here are some places you cannot smoke, beaches, parks, sporting fields and commercial areas, sidewalks, including downtown shopping and business areas. we asked people what they think of the new law. >> i think it's just another way to take away more of our freedom.

>> i don't like it. it's interpersonal. >> you feel this been ban is too restrict i have? >> yeah. >> i think it's a good idea because i know one of the things especially when i'm in the city that always anode me going to work is you are walking behind somebody who is smoking. it's getting in your face. it's annoying. >> reporter: here are some other public areas where smoking is banned in alameda. fampleers markets, fairs, trails, tobacco shops, apartment balconies and porches and within 20 feet of any door or window of an enclosed area. we're told that police won't be standing on the streets scouting out offenders. a complaint will most likely come in. the ticket cost from $100 to $500. back to you. >> thank you. you can learn more about the now been been by going to --

new smoking ban by going to ktvu.com. crews are still on the scene of a water main break in hercules that was first reported yesterday afternoon. the damaged main is located under a creek bed near willow avenue and hawthorne drive. it's only affecting two companies nearby. residents are not affected. the manhunt for the gunman who killed a -- suspected of killing a ranger at mt. rainier national park appears to be over at this hour. authorities in washington state say a body, believed to be 24- year-old benjamin colton barnes, was found in the snow this morning. police believe he opened fire yesterday morning after being pulled over for not stopping at a snow chains check point. authorities say the iraq war vet who roughed from posttraumatic stress disorder

may have headed to the woods to hide after an early shooting that wounded four people at a party near seattle. title of first bay area baby of 2012 belongs to a girl from san lorenzo. sophia arrived just after midnight sunday at eden medical center in castro valley. the 7-pound, 5-ounce baby girl was not expected to be born until tomorrow. her mother went into labor on new year's eve. a set of newborn twins could grow up debating if it's better to be the last baby of the year or the first of the new year. doctors delivered jenna bear at 11:59 p.m. on new year's eve in a tampa hospital. her twin sister was delivered a minute later a few seconds past midnight. ahead, what police are saying about a person of

interest in custody after another night of fires in some los angeles area neighborhoods. steve paulson is closely watching the sky to see if there's any rain on the way. he'll have the forecast just ahead. the final and most telling poll ahead of the iowa caucuses shows a last minute surge. i'm in washington. the latest on where the republican candidates stand is straight ahead.

the 123rd annual tournament of roses parade wrapped up a little while ago in pasadena. a crowd of 700,000 lines the streets to see the floats and marching bands. some camped out over flight to get prime viewing spots. a person of interest is now in custody after twelve more suspicious fires broke out overnight in los angeles. police say they are confident a man taken into custody early this morning is responsible for setting the fires. he was stopped by sheriff's deputies while drive vang with materials possibly linking him to the fires. he was detained after the

release of this video showing a man walking out of a parking structure last saturday where one of the car fires happened. fire officials are not saying if he is the man seen on the video. >> they're questioning him at this time to see what he was doing in the area, where he was going, checking to see that his stories match up, and then looking at what similarities his location was with the fires that occurred. >> there have been about 50 fires that may be connected in los angeles in the last ten days. with the iowa caucuses less than 24 hours away, republican hopefuls are on their final stretch to convince voters to join their camps. the new and last des moines register poll ahead of tomorrow's caucuses show rick santorum's popularity is on the rise. >> i got a big smile on my face. >> in an unpredictable race, a

turn of political fortune. former pennsylvania senator rick rk who has languished in the polls now appears to have a clear shot at victory. >> we labor add long time and talked about bold ideas and talked about my record and talked that we were the consistent conservative in this race. >> in four days of polling mitt romney needs with 24%, ron paul 22%, and rick santorum with 15%. if the final two days of polling stand alone, rick santorum would edge out paul for second place. >> typically in iowa a surge comes on the back of another candidate's collapse. that's what we're seeing here. it's newt gingrich and michele bachmann. >> with mitt romney holding steady top and ron paul feeling confident enough to take the weekend off from campaigning, newt gingrich launched his most aggressive attack yet on the former massachusetts governor. newt gingrich said he was referring to negative ads he claimed the political action

committee that backs mitt romney is running against him in iowa. >> this is an election not being driven by money raised. bies being driven by message. >> the race in iowa is still fluid. the poll shows 41% of likely caucus goers say they have a favorite but are still open to changing their minds. back to you. former olympic athlete bob anderson is being remembered today as a champion and one of the greatest fencing masters ever. he may be best known as the light saber wielding darth vader. james early jones was the voice. in all the star wars fight scenes, it was bob anderson behind the mask and cape. he died yesterday. he was 89. he first started working in film in 1952. he trained actors. the family of brian stow has issued a statement to mark

the new year. family members are thanking the many people who sent christmas presents and cards to the injured giants fan. they're now praying their emotional pain will ease in 2012. therapists are working with him daily at a rehabilitation center in san jose. they're teaching him how to speak and move again. the family admits he may never fully recover from last year's savage beating at dodger stadium. a new report shows that less than a quarter of california schools has a trained librarian on staff. reason data from the department of education shows there are about 900 school librarians in the state, down from more than 1100 two years ago. school districts across the state of cut librarian positions to cope with budget cuts. today cd a winter spare the air day which means wood oning

in and outdoors is banned. the bay area air quality management district says the burn ban is aimed at readying winter air pollution caused by particulates and soot from wood smoke. this is live picture over san jose. that pollution is problematic for those with breathing problems. today is the 12th spare the air day of the season. last year we had four. the first winter snow survey will be conducted tomorrow morning. a low total is predicted. it will take place at highway 50 near echo summit. i just tweeted it. it's 59 in south lake tahoe, the warmest temperature is 56 at mountain view and napa. we have a gray day. this is a weak system. a front made it. we're almost on the back edge of this.

some filtered sun should work in. temperatures mainly held in check due to this cloud cover no, report was any rain out of this system. the driest december ever for south lake tahoe. reno had zero pep pep. no rain, no snow. that's their driest december. we had our second or third driest around here. san francisco had their third driest. storm track continues to be to the north. there. >> sign of anything changing. the 7-10 day out looks are really dry. the 15-day tries to bring something in. it's been trying to do that. fog today, haze a gray day, some light clearing. the dry pattern is on hold for a while. we did have a system. that's just clouds dragging by. there's really nothing left. i didn't get any reports of any rain. 50 others temperatures right

now. everyone is pretty close. fairfield 57. 56 in napa. temperatures will continue to be held in check. with a little sun we could bump up three or four degrees. next system coming in won't do much. they're all staying to the north. high pressure wants to reload and come back in. cloudy day, hazy sunshine, fog will be back tonight into tomorrow. toward cordelia there is a good breeze out to i-80 to fairfield. everywhere else is rather quiet. 50s and 60s. evening we need to start doing a rain dance or light some candles or something. dry all the way into, cooler maybe late wednesday, maybe thursday. the weekend is showing signs of being warm again. it was in the 80s in southern california yesterday. the 49 ersz are now gearing up for a super bowl run.

they'll take par in their first playoff game since 2002. they earn add first round playoff bye with a win over the rams 34-27. they fake add field goal attempt. the kicker threw a touchdown pass to a wide open michael crab tree. we'll carry the 49 ersz playoff game from candlestick park saturday, january 14 at 1:30 p.m. if you would like to go to the game, tickets go on sale at 10:00 tomorrow morning at ticketmaster. there may not be many left. the season ticket holders got the first crack to ?rach them up. there is a limit of eight tickets per order. there is a lot of second guessing and reflection today after the raiders failed to make the playoffs. all they needed was to beat one of the main rivals because denver lost yesterday. the raiders still fell to san diego 38-26 in front of a sold

out crowd. the defeat included giving up a 1055-yard kick off return for a touchdown. the raiders have not made the playoff there's a decade. shedding a pounds and getting in shape are popular resolutions. you should give careful considering before signing up at a health club. researchers say americans spend $62 billion trying to lose weight last year. the money went to club memberships, weight loss programs, exercise tapes and even diet soda. new memberships double in many health clubs in january. people often lose interest and stop going after a couple of months. after the break, an update on banana sam, the monkey that was snatched from a bay area zoo.

france will become greener this year. they want more electric cars on the roads in pears. the french post office has begun to use electric delivery vans. the u.s. embassy in paris has four electric cars in its fleet. results of a new car sharing program -- it costs five euros or just under seven bucks for the first half-hour. there is no definitive word on when the san francisco zoo will show off the squirrel monkey. he has been recovered after he

was stolen last week. banana sam was taken from his enclosure late thursday night or early friday morning. a man says he found the monkey a mile away in stern grove park saturday evening. the zoo says the monkey was scared and hungry. they say it may be several days before he is allowed back in the cage with his 17 fellow squirrel monkeys. as we told you, today is a spare the air day again. this is a live look at the berkeley hills. the air does not look that great. one south bay city actually has some of the worst air in the bay area. tonight at 5:00 we'll tell you which one and what the experts say people who live there should do. also just minutes ago, we got an update on a story we told you about earlier. los angeles authorities officially arrested the man they were holding in connection with a string of arsons. they said he was a person of interest. we'll update that story at

5:00. thank you for trusting us. we'll see you the next time news breaks are also we're always online at ktvu.com and mobile. thank you for watching. have a great day.

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