water front show and the weather looks perfect. >> the party is underway. we are here at the park along san francisco's northern water front, well known hot spot on this 4th of july and i would say the celebration started around noon. that is when we noticed the crowds piling in the blankets, grills, coolers all in use as folks cooked up lunch and diner while thinking about what the forth means to them. >> should be a tradition handed down. just to recognize and appreciate the independence of america. >> today is about celebrating our independence. >> reporter: freedom and independence words we have been hearing a lot of. thousands here, thousands more on their way. with no bart parking is

terrible. even with bart parking always terrible. fireworks set to go off at 9:30 p.m. with the clear skies we have for now many folks just wanted to come down here early. >> good for our family to get a good spot, be able to enjoy dinner. peacefully. watch fireworks. >> family. my wife and beautiful weather and beautiful san francisco. >> reporter: the fog has rolled back in and back out. who knows what it will be like at 9:30 p.m. imagine mark tamayo will have more -- mark tamayo will have more on the forecast. >> bart is still on strike so give yourself time if you plan to drive across the bay bridge. a.c. transit will have bus service

and all nighter transbay service. the last ferry leaves oakland for san francisco at 11:25 p.m. tonight and returning from san francisco the last ferry will leave at 10:55 p.m. if you are thinking bof 69ing the crowds -- thinking of joining the crowds in san francisco here is a live picture of the toll plaza. those lanes are backed up. the free lanes are for fast track. >> highway 101 in san francisco. it is clear sailing right now. usually during the week at this time those lanes would be packed with people heading for the bay bridge. tonight clear sailing there on highway 101. >> to the east bay, a live look at interstate 80 here in berkeley. there is a big fireworks show scheduled tonight at 9:30 p.m.

this is a good look. lots of cars but not a lot of traffic. moving about the speed limit on 80 eastbound and westbound. >> here are the fireworks shows tonight. fireworks after the giants game. in 3 hours at sonoma state and the marin county fair and the port of redwood city. people celebrating this holiday, so many people that several parks had to stop letting people in. excessive heat and the crowds made for dangerous conditions. ktvu's tom vacar joins us live from one of the parks to show us how crowded it was. tom? >> reporter: these cars are almost 6 miles away from the park. these people walked to get into that park because the parking lot was jammed. today and tonight people will

gather and it is for more than just fun. >> reporter: the park in pleasanton was maxed out. parking lot full, heat unbearable. at this park the heat caused many calls to 911. as many people walked 6-miles to get into the park whose parking lot was full and yet they kept coming. >> any park is parked. everything is packed. >> reporter: america is known as the great melting pot and here for people of every background this is the shared experience of independence day. >> 4th of july, fireworks, show with the family. >> reporter: we really are

united. >> we don't see race, color. everybody is celebrating today, 4th of july. >> everybody here is happy because today everybody have plans today. that is great. never see that before. >> reporter: do you like the idea your children can meet other children? >> yes. yes. i like that. >> reporter: for your consideration a packed park, one of thousands of packed parks. packed for however brief with the true promise of america. tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. beautiful 4th of july across the bay area despite the heat. downtown san jose this afternoon people cooled off at cisar chavez park. now to mark tamayo for a look at the temperatures. >> yeah. wrapping up a very hot week across the bay area. look at the numbers.

triple digits last friday. livermore 103 degrees. temperature trend over the past few days between 100 and 105 degrees. today it was 103 in livermore. here is a look at the highs from this afternoon. very hot. excessive heat, concord, antioch, fairfield, livermore. upper 70s to mid-70s for oakland and san francisco and pacifica. the excessive heat warning coming to an end, at 7:00 p.m. this evening. a few more minutes. coming up we will look at the fireworks forecast for this evening, evening, the big temperature change tomorrow and a look at the weekend. after months of preparation today was a big day for san francisco's kurt san san francisco's -- america's cup race. ktvu's david stevenson is

there. [ music playing ] >> reporter: under perfect weather the america's cup in san francisco got off to a roaring start. an air show entertained thousands. the site of a new terminal and a park created for the sailing competition. >> new site coming to life. really like that. >> really nice. excited. >> reporter: the round starts sunday but already there are rough waters ahead. they are contesting what they call unfair rule changes in the wake of the may death of a sailor. the director on wednesday said he could cancel the competition if the rules aren't adopted by all. >> the more the teams are getting nervous and elbowing each other. what we are saying is absolutely typical of the america's cup prior to the racing. >> reporter: organizers said

they are sure the races will go on. whatever the outcome the city of san francisco has plans for the park once the competition concludes in september. >> we will finish building. >> we hope to welcome our first ship in the fall of 2014. [ music playing ] >> reporter: a jury is scheduled to hear complaints monday. the first round is set for this weekend. reporting live in san francisco, david stevenson, ktvu channel 2 news. now to the latest on the bart strike. one negotiator described it as frustrating. ktvu's ken pritchett is live where the talks are still taking place. ken? >> reporter: i could tell you in the past few minutes we have seen some of the representatives walk out of the building heading out on dinner break. one was asked if there had been

any progress and he said not really. yesterday as they came and went they did not fill us in on how things are going. today that has changed. >> are we going to stay strong? >> reporter: that was the union's negotiator updating members on the picket line at the bart station. it came during the lunch break and the tone was cheerly not upbeat. she said the union demands haven't even been discussed and we are four days into the strike. there is no indication of progress and claims made that bart was trying to break the union. >> we are forced to come out on strike because we can't negotiate with these folks.

>> we are working to reach a fair contract for our workers. and to come to some agreements that will allow us to do what we need to do for thfuture of bart. >> reporter: thate mediators asked the parties to keep the details in the negotiating room. it is not clear how long they will be here tonight. i believe they went home at 11:00 p.m. last night. not clear if day 5 can be avoided. ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >> the two sides are still at odds but did you see any positive signs today? >> reporter: really nothing positive coming out as people were leaving. the chief negotiator said earlier they felt the addition of the state mediators will help the process.

they seem to have confidence to get the parties on the same page. >> ken pritchett, thank you. tomorrow bart is offering limited charter bus service between san francisco and the east bay. at 5:00 a.m. 7 buses will arrive at each of these stations. the service will last till the buses are full or till 8:00 a.m. we have continuing coverage of the bart strike on www.ktvu.com. there on the tab we have links to carpooling information, you can get ferry and bus schedules. you can sign up to get alerts for your mobile device. in san francisco police are investigating whether someone is trying to kill dogs or make them sick by leasing muslim had

been -- lacing meat balls with poison. this dog ate a mete meat ball found scattered on the road yesterday afternoon. the owner tells us neighbors collected dozens of meat balls. >> i am angry not just for the sake of my dog being poisoned and suffering, i am thinking of the rest of the dogs this could have happened to. >> he did survive but is still being cared for. vets believe the poison could be strychnine which is used to kill rodents or birds. anyone with information is asked to call police. fireworks has where they are allowed and where they are not. >> why some firefighters say improving property value should keep a fire station from closing. ♪ [ bell dings ]

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fire dangers is a big concern on the 4th july, especially this year. new at 6:00 p.m. ktvu's cara liu explains what is being done oo limit the risk -- to limit the risk of fires. . >> reporter: an early start to 4 4th of july fun. >> we are setting off fireworks, having fun. enjoying the day. >> reporter: this family chose to come to dublin, one of the few cities where fireworks are allowed. designated areas were set aside in three parks with dumpsters full of water. >> come out here to experience fireworks. most of the areas where we live they are illegal. this gets him into the spirit. >> reporter: fireworks are not

allowed in most bay area cities. bins were empty as of midday. >> reporter: we went along with firefighters today as they conducted extra holiday patrols, concentrating in the oakland hills. >> they are looking for anybody that might be doing illegal activities like fireworks, educating the public on fire prevention. >> reporter: fireworks are illegal every year we see a lot of them here in oakland. at 7:00 p.m. engines will be patrolling hoping to minimize illegal activity. cara liu, ktvu channel 2 news. in the south bay people lined up in gilroy to buy

fireworks. the safe and sane fireworks are legal there in the city. buyers had to prove they live in gilroy. if you are looking for a place to buy the fireworks, they are sold in 13 bay area cities. we marked them for you here on this map. if you are caught using illegal fireworks or safe and sane where they are not allowed you could face fines and jail time. antioch is celebrating with classic cars and fireworks. they collected $60,000 in donations after the city could pay for the celebrations. this year it includes a car show, a parade at 7 and am a fireworks show at dusk. >> we came together as a committee and decided this had

to go on for the people. fireworks return to antioch's 4th of july celebration last year after a three year hiatus. firefighters have been given up home a fire station scheduled to close on monday will be taken off the chopping block. property values are up by 3- 1/2%. the union says this revenue should be used to keep the fire station open. earlier this year they decided to close fire stations after residents voted down a parcel tax. firefighters in san francisco say a fire today was caused by someone smoking in bed about 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. a police officer rescued a woman from a third floor bedroom. one firefighter suffered minor injuries while fighting the

fire. 7 people were displaced. we have been talking about excessive heat inland, the warning till 7:00 p.m. this evening and then relief in time for your friday and the weekend. right now rain showers, thunderstorms to the east of the bay area. we have fog around monterey bay and near the immediate shoreline. lots of clear skies out there and warm to hot temperatures. 90s in fairfield, concord. livermore 97. oakland 76 degrees and san francisco downtown 66. for the fireworks shows tonight, the red dots correspond to a fireworks display, get a listing on www.ktvu.com. clear skies. mild conditions. the biggest fireworks show in san francisco, very nice out there. clear skies. temperatures in the lower 60s.

a breeze, 15-20 miles per hour. looking good. we could have patchy fog tonight and tomorrow morning. that will be the case. we have been talking about this area of high pressure, producing the hot temperatures. we cool off 5-15 degrees for your friday. this guy is moving in. you can see the temperatures corresponding, friday and into the weekend. no more triple digits. warmest locations tomorrow lower 90s and more cooling for the weekend. 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, bigger fog bank out there. deeper marine layer. still patchy coastal fog for the afternoon hours. a sure sign it will be cooling off. everybody coming down. no more triple digits. warmest locations lower 90s for clear lake. 80s in the north bay, santa rosa. stenson beach mid-60s. oakland 73. and lower 90s antioch and

brentwood. san jose 80. san francisco clouds in the morning, becoming partly cloudy. five-day forecast with your bay area weekend in view, weekend will be cooler. cooler relief for saturday and sunday. warming up tuesday but looking good for tonight with the fireworks shows, especially ensan francisco, clear skies. >> thank you. coming up on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36 right now thousands are arriving in san francisco for the 4th of july fireworks. the trick is getting there join us for these stories and more on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36. check this out. the aninal nathan's hot dog eating championship -- the annual nathan's hot dog -- nathan's hot dog eating championship. joey chestnut won again. wait till you hear how many hot dogs he ate. 97

the bay area's joey chestnut set a new record today. >> because he has a north star. >> joey chestnut carried through the crowds at the nathan's hot dog eating contest in new york. he won the event six times

before and he was confident going into today's competition and he should be, we won again, eating 69 hot dogs. >> it is hard to watch. >> i can never believe they can do that. >> kids, don't try this at home. >> exactly. baseball. >> a's at home. no big fireworks today. but oakland managed to win its 50th game of the season already thanks to the losers the cubs. a's fans watched them finish off the home stand, they hosted the cubs. he threw a one hit shut out through 7 innings. he singles. yosemite national yoenis cespedes. he gets tagged out. here is the only 1 of the game -- run of the game.

letting the ball get away. north scores. 1-0 after 7 innings. then a's closer gets him to fly out to tend all. his 39th connective save. one shy of the team record of 40. 1-0 your final. >> tim lincecum and barry zito playing catch. it was a washout. no make update set. the giants return home to play the dodgers this weekend after a 1-8 road record. >> the woman who upset serena williams earns her first ever major tennis tournament. you see that guy on the right, that is the head coach of the new orleans saints. he is caddy this week for ryan palmer during the classic. he shot a 2 under 68. 6 shots back of the leaders.

>> that is sports. >> thank you. a 13-year-old child missing in redwood city and he is at risk. tonight at 10:00 p.m., ktvu talks to the police and the latest on the search for the little boy. >> we are always here for you on www.ktvu.com and mobile ktvu. thank you for joining us. and have a happy 4th of july. look at them kids...

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