>> investigators reveal what caused the fire that killed five women. >> and threats of dry lightning and tinder dry conditions prompted red flag warning. good evening. frank somerville. >> i am julie haener. dangerous conditions tonight have put fire crews on stand by. we are on weather alert. ktvu's chief meteorologist bill martin is here with more on the red flag warnings. >> red flag warnings this time of year always something to be concerned about. behind me, shows this rotation. the low pressure sits south of the area. it is rotating the moisture in an unusual direction. east to west. the thunderstorms around -- near mammoths lakes and yosemite. these carry over the top and bring a chance of thundershowers to northern portions of the state and bay area tonight and tomorrow

morning. red flag warning concerns are dry lightning, hot outside, look at the temperatures. 90 degrees right now. 94 fairfield. 104 degrees in livermore today. the red flag warning stays in effect till 3:00 a.m. in 10 minutes tomorrow and the red flag warning. cooler, but the red flag warning stays up and the five- day forecast with your bay area weekend in view. >> fire crews are on high alert tracking dangerous conditions aened the bay area and northern california. coming up, ktvu's robert handa joins us live with the techniques firefighters are using to spot wildfires. continuing coverage on the findings from investigators on the deadly limo fire on the san mateo bridge that left five women dead. a investigation by the california highway patrol and others found the fire was accidental. it was determined the fire started because of a mechanical

failure and no criminal charges will be filed. the driver of the limo spoke today. and ktvu's eric rasmussen will have more in a moment but we begin with ktvu's tom vacar with details on what went wrong. >> the fire was accidental. >> reporter: what caused the tragedy? >> the failure of the rear suspension system that allowed the drive shaft to come into contact with the floor pan. the heat and sparks generated from the friction bween the drive shaft and the floor pan beneath the rear seat ignited the materials covering the floor board. the smoke and fire blocked access to the rear doors, leaving the passengers with one exit through the small opening into the driver's compartment. >> the limo was seen on two videos, one of the airport and at the san mateo bridge both

booth. >> there is nothing evident that would indicate an abnormality. >> the cause of death to the five victims of the deadly limo fire was smoke inhalation associated with fire. >> reporter: the driver will not be sited. >> chp and investigators determine mr. brown was not on his phone at the time. >> reporter: the california public utilities commission will levy a $7,500 fine on the limo company for over loading the limo. >> no real cause can be attributed to anything that could have been dune prevent it. >> reporter: criminal liability? >> some tragedies are crimes, some are not, this one is not. there will not be criminal charges. >> tom vacar reporting the.

now oo -- reporting there. now eric rasmussen. >> reporter: many victims were nurses. a neighbor said many of the survivors and the victim's families are not talking because they could still go after them in civil court. >> the driver says it was engulfed in flames in 60 seconds on the san mateo bridge. >> i feel sorry this happened. sad situation. >> reporter: there were 9 women inside. only four got out alive. jennifer balon, anna alcantara, michelle estrera, and felomina geronga were all killed.

the driver has always said he did nothing wrong. >> it has been stressful, though. stressful with the allegations. >> reporter: he facecameras again. >> reporter: were you playing music? >> no. >> reporter: investigators refuted the claims of his wife saying he was on the phone at the time of the accident but he wasn't. >> reporter: you called 911? >> no. so much that happened, man. i am sure -- i know what i did. >> reporter: [ inaudible question ] >> same thing i told you before. i don't wantp to keep reoccurring the accident. >> reporter: he and his brother announced they were working on a fundraiser to raise money for the victims and their families. he is also pushing for legislation improving limo and

bridge safety. live, eric rasmussen, ktvu channel 2 news. >> today the california highway patrol released 911 calls made from inside the limo. you can hear passengers screaming they were stuck inside and needed help and the driver yells at everyone to get out. we have decided not to air the audio. and for more information on the deadly limo fire and the findings from investigators go to www.ktvu.com. we posted the news conference, click on today's top story. police are investigating a murder-suicide that happened this morning. the father has been identified as william roberts, police say he shot his daughter and killed himself. they found the couple inside their home. neighbors say the woman was a quadriplegic and her father was suffering from a lung disease. the deaths follow a violent weekend in oakland. a dozen people were shot.

three were killed in five incidents. a.c. transit workers are considering their next move. union members rejected the agreement reached earlier this months but some think in the wake of bart's negotiations union workers may have trouble getting public support. leaders plan to meet to review their options. bart and the unions haven't had any talks since the judge ordered a cooling off period. the two sides are waiting for a mediator to set a schedule. that cooling off period ends on october 10. a shocking crime caught on camera. police say someone tried to light a homeless person on fire. ktvu's jade hernandez joins us now and live in san francisco where people say the situation is out of control. jade? >> reporter: across the street

is the bart station plaza. and commuters have to endure foul smells on a daily basis and also avoid becoming victims of crimes. >> the video shocks anyone, a man tried to set a homeless person on fire at the bart station. he says this incident saturday night wasn't reported. >> we have mental health professionals that work with us to help the homeless that we have. >> reporter: bart could have intervened. >> people have to call. if there is someone that needs assistance officers will come out and do a check. >> the number of homeless people around this bart station troubles her. she turned away a woman who begs to use the phone. >> sometimes it gets difficult. >> reporter: she describes the

plaza as a mess. [ music ] >> reporter: she more empathetic to the people e's station -- people's station. >> you can't go in the restaurant, what are you supposed to do? >> so terrible. sometimes people don't like to get off here. >> i don't may be that much eye contact -- make that much eye contact. >> reporter: he doubts he will see change. but he still supports groups like clean up the plaza. >> the department of public works cleans around 16th and mission and robberies are up 100 incidents along with the increase of assaults but arrests are also up. reporting live, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news.

more than 200 inmates entering their 7th week of a hunger strike may soon be force fed. 244 inmates have been participating in the hunger strike since july 8. they are protesting the solitary confinement policies. it is spread over 7 institutions within the state. authorities say the inmates are putting an added strain on the medical staff. >> it is an extra added frears make sure that we are -- added pressuring to make sure that we are taking care of everyone. >> doctors are concerned they could start to suffer conditions that could be irreversible. after the break the mother of a missing child clings to

hope. the rendering of what she may look like 25 years later. >> a red flag warning. the commitment that firefighters make to step up and protect you during this time. >> first, closing loophole that sets rapists free. the reform now to change it. [ trina ] i'm a student at devry university.

and these are my roommates. this is one of my favorite professors. and so is this. this is my academic advisor. and also my cheerleader. and when i finish my degree in business... a new job, at a great company... that's the graduation present i want. [ male announcer ] in 2012, 90% of devry university grads actively seeking employment had careers in their field in 6 months. find your career success in the bay area. learn how at devry.edu.

a child abduction case that gripped the bay area is back in the headlines. today is her 33 birthday. she disappeared in 1988 at the age of 7. >> heather holmes tells us even though police consider the case closed, her mom is not giving up. >> no, she not. >> reporter: birthdays are

happy occasions, today is a painful day for a mother committed to spreading the word of her daughter's disappearance. >> another year without a cake, candles or balloons. spending her daughter's birthday where she spent much of 25 years, at the police department. she was last seen in the front yard of her home in 1988. in 2009 police announced a break in the case. saying the man who killed her was on death row for another murder. he claimed to have killed amber but died after investigators had time to ask more questions. >> i don't believe he did it. i don't at all. some day i am hoping we can

prove that. >> reporter: police closed the case but her mom says without evidence she isn't convinced. >> as long as we have found nothing negative, no bones, then we should proceed as if she is still out there and be looking for her. >> reporter: she showed oscomputer generated image -- us a computer generated image of what she may look like now. >> maybe they have information they are ready to come forward with. that is what i am hoping for. >> reporter: also giving her hope tonight, the rescue of the three women held for a decade in cleveland. she says if they managed to stay alive, maybe her daughter has too. passing legislation closing a loophole that allowed a man convicted of rape to go free.

a court over turned the conviction of a man convicted of rape. prosecutors say he snuck into a woman's bedroom, pretended to be her boyfriend and had sexing with her. he was freed because of a law making it illegal for a man to impersonate a woman's husband but said nothing about a boyfriend. the legislation closes that loophole. >> this will put an end to that. >> the bill heads to the governor's desk and she expected to sign it. dry conditions and winds are fueling a wildfire inbuke county. -- in butte county. 2000 acres burned and flames are threatening 400 structures. hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate. one home and multiple vehicles have been destroyed.

the fire is 45% contained but no word on what caused it. the american fire has grown to 15,000 acres. it is burning in the tahoe national forecast. winds are creating a challenge for crews battling the flames. the fire is 50% contained. firefighters are hoping to reach full containment by the end of the month. firefighters are on high alert after a red flag warning was issued. ktvu's robert handa is live where crews are on watch looking for fires. robert? >> reporter: well, as you can see we have a great view of the valley from up here. and for good reason. we are at cal fire's look out station where two people are now here looking out for the first sign of fire when lightning strikes. >> reporter: he is a cal fire

volunteer who spent teen years at a look out. cal fire opened up the station this morning in response to the red flag warning. he will rotate with firefighters focusing on dry lightning. >> if you have lightning strikes they could start a fire days later. and wind picks up. that the what we are up here for. >> reporter: the center says the looking out works both ways since firefighters can get a gps reading on lightning strikes. >> we can give it to our helicopter or the look out. >> people were glad to see the look out station back in service. >> i love the fact there is somebody up there doing it. i love the fact it indicates we have people who have community involvement. >> tough to keep your

attention? >> no. i came up here to do this, that is what my job is. i don't read or anything like that. if there is smoke i want to see it. >> reporter: they will be here from dawn to dark till had it red flag warning is lifted. last year they spotted a lightning sparked fire and helped keep the fire from spreading. live, robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. hot out there today. we got temperatures, 104 in livermore. 98 antioch. hot too, right? 100 degrees in fairfield. temperatures today, 98 in morgan hill. here is what we are tracking, right? unusual. i have been hearing from you today, the direction of the systems, east to west. right there. explodes into thunderstorms. thunderstorms in the west slope. they are coming back over the top, through lake county, we

will be watching this tonight, tomorrow and the next day. if we get under one, you will get lightning. that is a big deal. over night lows because of the muggy cloudy conditions, mid- 60s in the warm spots. tonight the fog is at the coast. temperatures tomorrow cooler. next couple days temperatures as they trend down, fire danger stays up, chance of thundershowers remain. high clouds over head. tomorrow morning, hazy sunshine. temperatures cooler. the set up here, the low pressure, sits off shore, a shower last night and today. it pulls more moisture into the area. we will be tracking that for tomorrow and wednesday. back to school. lot of folks are on this.

back to school tomorrow. 78 degrees tomorrow -- 78 degrees tomorrow at lunchtime. lots of clouds in the afternoon. highs 95 it in vacaville. 95 clear lake. warm out there. right? 90 pleasanton. 92 livermore. and 92 if gilroy. five-day forecast with your bay area weekend in view, just, you know, we taved about it friday night -- talked about it friday night, last thing we need are dry lightning strikes in august. all could pass us by like today. we will be tracking it. >> hot and humid. >> yeah. >> thank you. coming up on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36, tonight's red flag warning and contra costa county is the tip of the ice

burg. why fire station closures are componding concerns. -- compounding concerns. join us for these stories and more on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36. a county is outpacing the state of parents making a decision.

concern is growing over the number of parents who are choosing not to vaccinate chair children. a loophole in the law allows parents to opt out. 3% of california parents statewide opted out last year. mark is here now with sports. big trade with the 9ers. >> sometimes it is better to just cut ties and move on and that is what the 49ers decided to do with a.j. jenkins. who just hasn't cut the mustard since joining the team. in exchange they get john

baldwin. he didn't catch a pass in his rookie year. one in a pre-season game, he fumbled it. baldwin a little better with the chiefs. last summer the media questioned coach about a.j. jenkins and s ability. he called the media clueless and today the coach was asked what happened to your guy. >> a.j. jenkins is a talented player. he is -- never been an issue or a problem as a teammate. he competes. he works very hard and, you know, there is no reason that -- that -- you know, both these guys can't end up having a great career. >> fresh start will do them good. >> would be great and glamorous to be a sideline reporter? look at this pass, catch.

pam oliver in a exhibition game. happy to say she is fine. brushed it off. tough character. there is the colts back up quarterback apologizing to her. if you ever met her, she is cool, a trooper, class act and she will be okay. but you got to be aware. [ talking at the same time ] >> thank you. coming up at 10:00 p.m., we will have more on the red flag warning. see you at 10:00 p.m. >> good night. 5ñ

let me ask you a question. you're a hostage captured by terrorists. you. anybody. whatever. you're in the little room. you're chained to the floor. you're there for a long time. do you think they'd consider doing a laundry? they have to. it's in the geneva convention. take off your underwear. we're doing a wash. come on. take it off. take it off. hey, georgie. hi. hi. what's the matter? my mother caught me. caught you? doing what? you know. i was alone...