as many as 50 people are out of their homes this noon time after a fire breaks out in a berkeley apartment building. an early morning apartment fire created a lot of chaos in berkeley. one building was badly damaged with a total of five buildings.

ktvu's lorraine blanco has been at the scene all day. good afternoon, lorraine. >> reporter: good morning. we are hearing that a structural engineer is on his way to see whether that building is stable. no one who lived in that building is allowed back inside. but take a look at some home vinneau taken by a next door neighbor at the height of the flames. it started at 4:00 a.m. all the residents got out quickly and safely. firefighters also evacuated four nearby buildings as a precaution because of their hard work, the flames never harmed any other structures. >> what makes the fire difficult is not only the age of the building which has no fire stops, but because of the amount that spread to the other buildings. >> here is a look at the current struck temperature you can see the charred mess. the whole top floor and the whole back wall are destroyed.

>> our concerns right now with the adjacent billings are the threat of a wall collapse from the fire building on the third floors, on the northwest corner and northeast corners. >> it took about four hours and 75,000 gallons of water and foam to get this fire completely contained for several hours this morning. thick black smoke caused a lot of coughing but no one was injured. back out here live, you can see yellow tags on four other buildings. that means that the residents who live in those buildings has restricted access. the only way they are allowed back in to check their belongings is by police escort right now, they are still trying to determine the cause of this fiemplet reporting live in berkeley, low rain blanco, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, lorraine. >> our roof camera caught these images of the berkeley fire. you can see how big the fire looked from several miles away.

the fire forced nine people out of that burning building. dozens more were evacuated from that home. the victims stood outside for hours watching firefighters put out the flames. this is an especially top times for evacuees who are students at uc berkeley. the reason is because they are in the middle of exams. i woke up. i looked outside. it was completely orange. i felt a little heat. i got everybody up. we evacuated. >> some victims were allowed back into the building to retrieve books, computers and other items. the red cross is helping those displaced. log on to ktvu.com and click on the bay area news tab for more information another fire gutted a house in the north bay.

it started around 1:00 this morning at a home on heavenly way in mill valley. the flames set off alarms inside the house. a woman in the home escaped unharmed but she could not take much with her. when firefighters arrived at the home, flames were shooting from the bottom floor. it took with ten minutes to put out the two-alarm fire. the cause is under investigation. today, congressional committee is looking into missed marked graves. this was looked at as it happened in other areas of the country. >> reporter: the government considers this hallowed ground but, today, the government is calling dozens of families to apologize for mistakes that left some grace here with the wrong headstones or no headstones at all. nearly 30,000 soldiers and their family members have been laid to rest here at the san francisco national cemetery, a place that should be held to a

higher standard case congressman jerry mcearney. >> not only do people have family members laying but you drive by and you get comfort that our country is doing right by those who served. >> reporter: but an audit has uncovered graves mismarked, headstones missing. it happened in 51 others at the golden gate cemetery in san bruno. >> there is a certain honor to make sure that it's correct. at the end the day, i don't know that anybody was doing it intentionally. i feel bad for people who were upset by it. >> reporter: the audit started after they found problems at arlington national cemetery. the congressman went to see and

says that grace are still being inspected. 249 graves were mismarked out of millions of graves. >> the numbers don't look too bad but any error, i think, is unacceptable. if we can make sure that the v. a. develops the right tool and the right oversights, then we should be having no errors by the end of this year. >> reporter: congressman mcearney says that contractors and human errors should be to blame. but congress must decide who should be held accountable. the ex-girlfriend of a man accused of a triple murder in san francisco is set to return to the witness stand today. 25-year-old edwin ramos is charged with shooting to death a father and his son. prosecutors believe that the shooting was gang reletted.

ramos mistook his alleged victims for gang rivals. 30-year-old sally fernandez testified that her then boy friend was at home the day of the shooting new figures out this morning from the labor department show the applications for new unmany employment benefits jumped more than expected last week. initial claims rose to 362,000, up 8000 from the week before and the highest level since january. but economists say it's still low enough to indicate that the markets are creating new jobs. the labor department will announce the february unemployment rate tomorrow. interest rates for home mortgages continue to fall to record lows making home buying and refinancing more attractive for those who can qualify. rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.88%. that's down .2% from the week before. according to freddie mac, the average on a fixed year

mortgage fell to a record low. the u.s. justice department may be close to bringing a lawsuit against apple and some book publishers over alleged (e) books. the justice department accuses the companies to clued to keep prices high a resolution or settlement could potentially leep lead to cheaper e books for consumers. reports within the past hour say a mother whale and her calf are now between fort mason and alcatraz island in san francisco bay. news chopper 2 caught sight of the gray whales yesterday. authorities remind boaters and swimmers to stay away from the whales because the marine mammal act protects them and you can be cited for getting within 300 feet of the whales.

the u.s. coast guard is set to hold its first public meeting on the america's cup. the big yatch race is still more than a month away but the coast guard wants everybody to note safety rules. the meeting begins at 6:00 at jack london square. parents want a principal removed from a hercules elementary school where a student was sexually assaulted. a union representative says that 15 of the schools' 22 teachers voted no confidence in principal cynthia taylor. others spoke in support of taylor. the board did not take any action. the oakland school board unanimously approved charter status for two fruitvale area

schools after reaching a compromise with the school. the deal calls for the school to buy janitorial and food services from the districts and lease district buildings at a higher rate. the schools will also contribute to the district's debt repayment and that's expected to limit the financial impact on the district. palo alto police are receiving more reports of tire slashing. the san jose mercury news reports that the tires on four cars in east middle drive and middle field road were reported on mon at the same time on sunday, at least 51 cars had slashed tires on ventura court, ventura avenue, mclane street and park boulevard. anyone with information on the tire slashings is asked to call palo alto police. a discussion is said to take place today in the east day about the state education reforment it will be moderated

by state assembly woman susan bonilla. it will include topics such as education-related discussions and ideas and how the community can support the schools. a day before the anniversary of the quake that shook japan, a report on the safety of u.s. nuclear plants. the numbers in this report are shocking. >> and a u.s. surgeon general reacts to new reports on teen smoking. hear is what is behind the disturbing new trend in children and cigarettes.

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u.s. space weather forecasters warned this week of the worst solar flare headed to earth. but when it arrived, it was not so much. there has been no report of gps disruptions, power out ams. they do caution it's not completely over but they say it's hard to know how bad an energy disruption from the sun will be before it actually arrives. the european space agency says

that it did knock out the camera in a satellite orbiting the planet venus. and a panel is recommendation an expansion of the standard ten-miley evacuation zones that's in in place for more than 30 years. the report conclude that u.s. nuclear power oversight is adequate to protect the public but that emergency zones should not be based on arbitrary mileage designations. the panel's recommendations are part of a report released following last year's japanese nuclear plant disaster. a report on teen smoking reveals a disturbing trend on how many young people are picking up the habit. allison burns has more from washington, d.c. >> reporter: one in four high school senior smokes and the surgeon general's report puts a lot of the blame on tobacco

marketing to kids. these are some pictures from the campaign for tobacco free kids showing cigarettes for sale next to gum and candy. the report says that strategically located tobacco- related marketing where children are exposed to it is a problem. and the report takes aim at states who have cut the funding for tobacco control. >> the report challenges us to end the epidemic of smoking among young people and the numbers in this report are shocking. every day, 1200 americans die from smoking. each of those people are being replaced by two young smokers. >> reporter: antismoking groups are hoping that the surgeon general's report will lead to some big changes like more marketing restrictions on cigarettes and higher taxes on tobacco products. reporting from washington, d.c., allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. scotland's ban on public

smoking has led to an encouraging trend according to a new study this week. it shows a drop of 5 to 10% in preterm and underweight babies. that coincided with the number of smoking mothers dropping from 25 to 19%. analysts say they also believe that less second hand smoke was also a factor but they cannot prove the link. a deal was reached in washington, d.c. to clear the way for a senate vote and a $9 billion transportation law. leaders of both parties consider the transportation bill as a priority and they view it was a way to creating job and to prove to the public that they can work with each other. but the bill also includes a string of roads and other bills

unrelated to road construction. a magnitude 4.6 quake was centered 20 miles from the capital of port-au-prince. it rattled the nerves of people who remembered the january 10, 2006 earthquake that killed thousands of people and caused thousands of homes to collapse. no reports of injury or collapse from today's quake the opposition in the syrian uprising now has the support of a high ranking defector. syria's deputy oil minister today it criminal. he is urging his colleagues to do the same. more than 7500 people have been killed since the uprising. the u.n.'s humanitarian chief is talking about her tour yesterday of the hard hit district of homs. >> the devastation there is

significant. that part of homs is completely destroyed. >> she says that the goal of her visit is to get all sides to allow access for humanitarian relief workers so they can evacuate the wounded and deliver the medical supplies. a road shut down in yosemite is now set to reopen. crews working around the clock completed major road repairs four weeks ahead of schedule. they were necessary after a pig rock slide damaged the road? january. >> plenty of sunshine across the entire state and even here in the bay area. temperatures already warming up nicely after a pretty cold morning out there. taking a live look outside, looking out towards the oakland estuary, you can see the sunshine. san francisco out in the distance and right now on the maps, i can show you this with

mostly clear skies. you can pick out that fog bank way out there in the pacific. winds have backed off quite a bit. you can see winds out of the north-northeast out of fair field sustained at 12 miles per hour. we still have a hint of an offshore breeze. current temperatures, you can see we are beginning to warm up, 60s showing up in santa rosa. live more, 64 and oakland downtown in the upper 50s, right around 59 degrees. here is your headline, pretty much nice today and also into your friday as high pressure remains in command of our weather. we showed you that weak off shore flow. mostly sunny skies, most areas backing up into the 60s and the warmest neighborhoods right around the 70-degree mark for today and also for tomorrow. we do have a few changes moving in for the weekend. here is the wider perspective showing you the cloud and rainfall forecast model. sunshine for tomorrow, a few extra clouds for saturday and it will be cooler as we do head

into your bay area weekend. on sunday, we do bring in a chance of a few sprinkles, not a big deal. monday, a few chances of a shower as well. close enoughthis front will bring the disturbance way to the north but close enough for us to monitor. we are back down to the 50s and by 9:00, readings in the 40s. take a look at the other 70s this afternoon for santa rosa, antioch and brentwood. mountain view, 68 degrees. here is a look ahead of the weekday forecast. weekend in view. we thicken up the clouds a little bit for saturday and then also into sunday, some clouds and a chance of a few sprinkles, chance of few showers for monday and it looks like we could be tracking multiple storms for next week. so big reversal for the weather pattern. and don't forget to change the

clocks as you go to bed. we'll lose an hour. violent crime is on the rise in the east bay city. ooh violent crimes were reported in january and february nearly double the 27 violent crimes reported during last year. the spike in crime is stretching the department's resources. the f.a.a. weighs in on airfares. where they say fares are headed. and a mechanic opens the hood of a car and finds a furry surprise.

this morning, the f.a.a. gave its airfare forecast. it says airfares are likely to stay high through 2019 as the number of passengers will probably double while airline capacity shrinks. the f.a.a. says travelers won't see much relief until there is more competition among the airlines and that's likely to take years. we wanted to update you on our top story. the berkeley apartment building fire that displaced dozens of people. the fire chief told us that the cause of the fire appears accidental. the chief says that the fire likely started between two hot water heaters. nobody was injured in the fire but as many as 50 people were

evacuated. a cat in the east bay may have used up one of its nine lives after hiding out in a precarious place. >> shhh shhh shhh. >> oh, there you go. >> meet squeak, a very scared but extremely lucky cat. squeak turned up this morning under the hood of a car at the san leandro honda and that was not her owner's car but a stranger. she had traveled all the way from livermore to san leandro. >> the only thing i can come up with she climbed in someone else's car, made it out here. i'm not really sure. >> this is her first and probably last adventure. >> thanks to squeak's id tag, owner and kitty have reunited glirntle' gone viral. >> right now, there are more people on facebook than there were on the planet 200 years ago. >> this movie about a rebel

leader in uganda called a monster for what he does to children. tonight at 5:00, the movement the movie is trying to start and how the power of the internet is feeding this frenzy. thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news. we'll see you the next time news breaks and be sure to join us at 5:00. and we are here for you online and mobile. have a great day.