at noon. thousands of acres are burned as crews right now battle two major wildfires in lake county threatening hundreds of homes. good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. firefighters are still battling those two wildfires in lake county. the larger one called the wi

fire is near 20 and 5 3. ktvu channel 2 reporter alex savidge is there and will join us shortly to tell will -- to let us know if they are getting closer to contain -- closer to containment. and that -- and the weather is making it difficult to fight that fire. let's head to our meteorologist. rosemary? >> yes, tori. the dry, hot condition, definitely aiding the blaze to burn the fuel faster and increasing the intensity. by noontime, we are into the noon hour, the winds coming into the east. so it's a dry, windy day. the relative humidity, 15%. into the afternoon, it's going to be a scorcher for the firefighters out there. 105 degrees. but notice the wind coming from the southwest at this point. it is a little bit of a moister wind. so that's some good news. but that's when we'll see relative humidity at its lowest, even critical in some of the higher elevation areas

below 10% in those hills. and for the evening hours as we get closer to sunset, the relative humidity is slowly come up and the temperatures will drop with the wind returning to the east at about 10 miles per hour. right now, the easterly breeze gonna blow the smoke near clearlake and lake berryessa. in the afternoon, it will be going to the north and northeast closer to areas like i-5 and williams. tori? starting today, newly- imposed state fire fees are being mailed out to rural residents. the new fee will help cover the cost of preventing and covering fires. the bills run about $150. they are being sent out alpha getically by -- alpha betically by county -- alphabetically. it is expected to be challenged by two groups. two people escaped a house fire at midnight on 98th

avenue. the people say the smell of smoke woke them up. nobody is hurt. an investigation is underway. and breaking news. a gunman has been taken into custody at college station near the campus of texas a&m university. at first reports of the fire -- the first reports of the fire were about 90 minutes ago. the college issued and alert on its website, telling people to stay away. college station is about 90 miles northwest of houston. workers had begun a four- month project to replace utility lines in san francisco. the work is being done along columbus between union and powell streets. the lines are moving to make way for san francisco's central subway project. all work will be done monday through friday between 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 in the afternoon. demonstrators say they are planning a protest at at the

fruitvale b.a.r.t. station -- at the fruit veil b.a.r.t. station -- fruitvale b.a.r.t. station after the commute. protests were held every monday for almost two months in response. today's protest is scheduled to get underway at 5:00 this afternoon. two cars crashed into a house in saratoga overnight. the accident did tremendous damage to the property and sent both drivers to the hospital. paul chambers joins us live. good afternoon, paul. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori. let meet show you what's going on out here. there are boards out here. they will begin to board up the house right here. and right here, this barrier, underneath this brush there a barrier here. but it used to look like that. see that area all taken out? that barrier used to be there also and now it's all gone and that will be replaced.

take a look at this -- two cars. >> that's pretty amazes. >> reporter: one on top of the other. police say around 4:30 this afternoon, the drivers, both 19- year-old men, were racing this bmw and corolla. >> they missed the turn, going pretty fast. caused some damage and crashed -- crashed into two holes. >> reporter: and that's when it appears the -- homes. >> reporter: and that's when it appears it destroyed everything in sight. >> reporter: the cars took out the brush covered guardrail and sent this 300-pound boulder into the neighbor's garage. investigators say the two were driving in speeds in excess of 80 miles an hour. this morning's crash became a talking point for neighbors who stopped by to see it. it also served as a reminder for this woman. >> a few years ago, somebody came down, didn't make the turn, went into the yard and

crashed into my car. >> reporter: both drivers in today's accident were taken to local hospitals. this bought. of jack daniels was found in the -- this bottle of jack daniels was found in the bushes and it might belong to one of the persons in the cars. the person in the house, they were not injured. we'll stay on top of this and bring you the latest at 5:00. you can also check us up on the website. paul chambers, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, paul. one man was injured and two men barrel which escaped weeing hurt when a garbage truck crashed into -- being hurt when a garbage truck crashed into a gym. it appears the trash truck was traveling downhill and may have lost its brakes. the truck crashed into a parked car and firefighters say two

people were working out inside the studio. >> they normally have the door open but they wanted to take advantage of the fresh air and had the door open. they -- so they saw the truck and they were able to close the door. otherwise, it's likely they would have been hurt or killed. >> firefighters and structural engineers are checking the building to see if it's sound enough to remove the vehicles. amtrak is making cuts to services in and out of oakland today. the capital corridor route will be cut. one of them leashes jack done lon -- jack london square at 4:30 a.m., the other a night night train from sacramento to oakland. rising fuel losts and funding cuts are to blame -- costs and funding cuts are to blame. 22-year-old eric toliver walked away from the crestwood

center in angin east of st. helena saturday afternoon. saturdays authorities say he's on medication and people should not approach him. he's african-american, 6'1" and weighs 160 pounds. he has short, black hair and is wearing light shorts and a light-colored t-shirt. csu schools have been instructed not to admit california students for the 2013 -- 2013 term. the san jose mercury news reports that some school departments have decided not to accept out-of-state graduates in protest of the mandate. just weeks ago, csu announced that ten campuses would limit undergrad admissions for spring 2013. it appears the state is unlikely to meet a deadline for reducing overcrowding in prisons. that means some inmates could

be reduced. the los angeles "times" reports that the state has until friday to identify prisoners unlikely to reoffend and could be considered candidates for early release. the deadline comes after the u.s. supreme court found overcrowding in california prisons amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. police in pittsburg are fighting crime with their smartphones. pittsburg is the first police agentny:crack county it -- police agent city in contra costa county to do this. they've been previously been able to watch video inside the police departments. a team of investigators on the scene at -- at chevron arich refinery. we'll have a key step that could happen today that will move the investigation forward. it's another hot summer day for part of the bay area. rosemary mr. be here to tell us

where the temperatures will be the warmest. and why the presidential debates this year will be different than in years past. what do you think of this one? really? what's this? this is a rose i made from a turnip. let's try together.

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once again, our top story -- firefighters are battling two large wildfires in lake county. ktvu channel 2 reporter alex savidge joins us live with the progress firefighters are

making despite the heat. good afternoon, alex. >> reporter: well, good afternoon to you, tori. i want to show you this area that's right behind us. it's roped off by crime scene tape right along highway 20. this is where the fire just spoke out yesterday. investigators here trying to figure out the cause. it's charred 3,000 acres, burned three structures and i was just told by a fire department spokesman. right now it's 25% contained. throughout the morning, crews set backfires along this hillside in an effort to burn out the fuels and keep it from jumping highway 20, northeast of clearlake but in fast-moving fire has already taken a toll. along new valley road, we saw burned power poles and what looked like a charred mobile hole. close to 500 holes are still threatened in this area. we found hundreds of evacuees camping out along the highway waiting for word on whether this -- on whether their houses are still standing -- are standing. >> we would be up a creek if

our house burned down. we need to think about this next time. we've lived here six years and have never been evacuated. >> reporter: the fire grew out yesterday afternoon. this man and his family had to pack up -- pack up their five horses in a hurry when a police officer told them to get out. >> we had to leave. had to leave. leave the horses and leave. i told them we would not leave the horses. it took us about an hour to get. horses ready and heat out. >> reporter: the firefighters are dealing with mott, dry wind but the winds are relatively calm. this fire could impact. fire supply in in area. a pg&e spokeswoman told me this morning there are two transmission lines that run through the fire zone. they've been shut down and crews are now talking klemm for -- are now checking them for damage. there's another fire, the walker fire, it stands at 2,000 acres and is 30% contained. as we come out here live.

highway 20 remains closed. a fire department spokesman, i asked him a short time ago, when he thinks evacuees might be allowed to go back moment and he told me definitely not today. live in lake county -- back home, and he told me definitely not today. live in lake county, back to you. >> thank you. allie rasmus has been at the refinery all morning and joins us live to explain how an investigation may take a major step forward today in this next story. >> reporter: chevron representatives aren't commenting this morning on the next phase in the investigation. but we do have some new video to show you from newschopper2. this came in about 15 minutes ago. in this picture, you can see the burntup unit or refinery where this fire started a week ago. it appears there are some fire crews there using giant hoses

dousing. we don't know why they are doing this. we haven't seen any smoke or fire here this morning the we don't know if this is common procedure following monday's fire because chevron representatives say they have no updates for thus morning. but a team of engineers with the us chemical safety board are at the site and their goal is to take a look at unit 4 number where the fire started last week. they want to examine an eight- inch mine to see whether it was corroded. monday afternoon, the pipe began to leak, releasing a flammable vapor cloud and that's what sparked the fire. people narrowly avoided serious injury or death. i spoke to the managing director this morning by phone and he says chevron did a safety check of unit 4 back in november. during that check, they discovered a 12-inch pipe was corroded. that pipe was replaced but the 8-inch pipe connected to it was not. that's the pipe that started

monday's fire. so investigators want to know if that pipe was corroded and if so, why if was not escaped? >> that's what we need to look in to, as well as the failure mechanism. why did it fail? was it corrosion? >> reporter: chemical engineers plan to take photos of that 8- inch pipe and that pipe will have to be removed and sent to an independent lab for testing. a spokesman says it will take their investigators anywhere from one to possibly several weeks to complete their work here at the richmond refinery. live in richmond, allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. the republican-controlled house of representatives is suing attorney general eric holder in connection with the botched gun tracking operation known as fast and furious. the house issued subpoenas demanding holder produce records related to the operation. back in june, the house voted to hold the attorney general in

contempt the congress but the justice department said it would not prosecute him. there's no comment from holder about the suit. mitt romney's running mate was the topic today. >> i'm delighted to have picked my running mate, paul ryan! >> a great leader [ cheers ] >> a man who was proven that he knows how to solve problems. he did not just go to washington and become involved in public service to try to make a name for himself. he instead went to make things belter for the american people. >> romney was cam inning a florida. ryan, airwise twice congressman, was on the -- ryan, a wisconsin congressman, was stopping in florida -- stumping in florida. >> i know ryan is a good man. he's a family man. he's an articulate spokesman

for mitt romney's vision. but the problem is that vision is one that i fundamentally disagree with. >> mr. obama said that ryan and romney want to take the nation back to "the same old top-down economics that got us into this mess in the first place." a collision on presidential debates named the moderates for the three debates. they will all take place in october. crowley, the first woman, to moderate a debate. good afternoon to you. our summer-like pattern continues for today. cool at the coast and baking inland once again today. outside our doors, mostly cloudy skies. a little bit of haze out there. we do have clouds and that cover continuing across the

khost in areas near -- it looks like the golden gate park, the west side of the city, you can see down in pacifica, half moon bay, partly cloudy to mostly cloudy skies. santa cruz also dealing with pretty good sunshine at this time. temperatures are warming up around the area. we're looking at 70s in area ofs near napa and santa rosa. numbers -- in areas near napa and santa rosa. numbers will be light. did you notice the light winds from the north? fairfield is already hot outside your door. 87 degrees. 89 for livermore. 80 in concord. 71 in hayward. and around the bay and closer to the city, we have 60s in san francisco. 66 in oakland. upper 70s for san jose. so another day of very holt weather for the far inland areas -- hot weather for the far inland area. the marine layer, very, very shallow. and the onshore breeze has

weakened today from yesterday. highs today, mid-90s to creeping right about 103 for some of the hottest spots. the gradual cooldown is on the way. a little bit for tomorrow. more so by wednesday and thursday. here is a look at the afternoon highs. 89 expected in santa rosa. 89 for gnome. upper 80s -- for sonoma. clearlake, 105. very, very dry for today with light winds. 85 in san rafael. for the afternoon. if we head to the east bay, a nice day in oakland. 72 for you. alameda, looking good. 68. you get up over the east bay hills, and it will be a scorcher, close to 100. in livermore, 102. mid- to upper 90s near concord as well pass pittsburg. into the south bay, a warm day in san jose. 88, 99 morgan hill for the peninsula, a nice one for you. and san mateo, 88 expected for the afternoon. 84 in redwood city with the

extend tended forecast for you. notice we -- extend the forecast for you. notice we have a gradual cooldown. it will take its time. we're following back in the low 90s and with your weekend in view, partly cloudy to mostly clear skies as we get into the week -- into the weekend. but it looks like we'll have tropical moisture headed our way. so we will be tracking that as well. >> okay. thank you. >> you are welcome. the music and entertainment is done. all that's left is the cleanup after the music and arts festival. crews were out at golden gate park today removing the stage, sound and lighting systems and other structures. organizers say over the weekend, an estimated 65,000 concertgoers turned out each day of the three-day festival. summer olympic games in london went out with a splash. ♪ see the who's who in the

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stocks are lower after discouraging new signs of slower growth in asia. japan said today its economy had an annual growth rate of 1.4%, weaker than analysts expected. right now, the dow is down 50. the nasdaq is down 3. s&p down 3. three people are rekeeferring after their boat

ran onto some -- recovering after their boat ran onto some rocks. the medical workers are not releasing. names of the victims or any other details about their situation. the financial times of london says the g-20 is ring aing to record prices for grain caused by the worse u.s. drought in more than half a century. next week, g-20 leaders may set up a meeting that may take place next month. the 2012 summer olympics have come to a close in london. ♪ >> the closing ceremony was a three-hour long extravaganza which included music and dancing from a long list of british entertainer. there was brazilian samba dancers, welcoming the world to their country foreign the 2016 olympic games.

the u.s. earned 104 totals. china was second. team great britain won 65 medals overall. tonight on the news at 5:00 -- we will have team coverage of the wildfires in lake county. hundreds of people have already been convicted. the effort to keep the flames from destroying their holes. plus what firefighters are facing when it comes to the weather. thank you for joining us. we'll see you the next time news breaks and we're always here at ktvu.com. thanks for watching.