the number of people hit by cars in the city. residents are breathing a sigh of relief tonight after police arrest a suspected arsonist. as it turns out we've talked to the suspect before, more than 10 years ago. good evening. >> we have exclusive video of patrick william brennan that was done back in the 1990s. you met and interviewed him back in 1999? >> reporter: that's right, in the jail at that time as well. he's being held here at the main jail on $1 million jail after being arrested at his mobile home last night without incident. we'll have to wait to hear what he has to say about the two arson counts he's facing but i

did that jailhouse interview with him 15 years ago and his answers provide insight into what drove him to this point today. who knows what 48-year-old brennan is like now, but when i talked with him 15 years ago, he was a polite tormented man who seemed confused himself about fires he eventually pleaded guilty to in 1999. what did people want him to think. >> that i'm not some crazed maniac going out there. >> reporter: who are you? >> i'm a fairly nice person. i guess i'm somebody with problems that need help. >> reporter: at the time he had been convicted of setting fires as worker at the grand canyon and contrary to now his targets were always remote. >> i guess it was more like a

stress reliever. >> reporter: now he's facing more serious charges including possibly the big warehouse fire in san jose last week, and his background will be examined again. >> reporter: anything in your background that you can think of that would provide a clue? >> i don't know. i have been diagnosed with severe learning disabilities. >> reporter: how those conditions playing in court now is yet to be seen and how sympathetic the public will be. >> they will know doubt sleep easier tonight, this couple, burned out of their home. >> reporter: that couple lived here for 45 years until an arson struck last weekend. they are in their 60s and had

to give up their homeowners insurance several years ago because it was too expensive. saturday morning they were awakened by neighbors banging on their door. the house is devoid because somebody decided to destroy it. the alleged arsonist is now behind bars. >> the man is very dangerous. it's definitely a threat to this community and also he's very sick. >> people like that who do evil things need to be put away for a long time. >> reporter: you feel safer now? >> oh, sure. i think everybody in the neighborhood feels safer. >> reporter: because they have no insurance, friends and family are doing an online fundraiser for the family and they told me that if they can't rebuild they may have to move to somewhere that is cheaper to

live than in the south bay. a family is safe this evening after at fire raged through their home. firefighters were called about 10:30 this morning. a young couple and infant were home and a roommate got out. nobody was hurt. the fire crews got the fire out quickly. no word on what caused the fire. we learned late this afternoon that a major announcement will be made by the governor, stating that the state is in the midst of a draught. we received new numbers on the index and our chief meteorologist is here to explain. >> we had more records high today and that's an indication how drive it's been. 73 in san francisco at the

airport. oakland air poor, 69. a new draught index is updated. as of today, the draught monitor has updated us to extreme draught in central california, so it's an index and there's a number of draught indexes, but, you know, it's definitely telling of where we have been. we're about 10 to 13% of rainfall average in the bain area, not to mention other parts of the state. a big story there. when i come back i'll talk about where our next rain is coming from and we'll talk about the chance for some record highs again tomorrow. a short time ago fire officials shared more encouraging news about a wild fair burning about 25 miles northeast of l. a., and they say that although the fire is just 30% contained, the threat to homes and cities in the san gabriel mountains appears to be

subsiding. more than 2,000 people were evacuated and authorities said some of them will be allowed back into their homes tonight. three men are currently under arrest accused of starting the fire. they were seen tossing papers into a camp fire when a breeze kicked up causing the fire to spread. federal regulators refused to change safety rules for oil refineries despite the disaster at the richmond refinery fire. a proposal was rejected on new refinery rules. they would have changed the way they are monitored and forcing them to fix potential problems. a driver who had a confrontation with an off duty san francisco police sergeant pleaded not guilty to a series of charges in court today. 37-yard line henrique got into a fender bender with an off duty

police sergeant. the two pulled into a station where the footage appears to show him punching the sergeant who pulled out her gun and fired a shot, grazing him. >> it's still very early to tell what this case would actually go for, what the punishment will be. all i can say is right now it's very serious and the consequences are serious. >> he's charged with four felonies, including assault, and three others. he's out on $115,000-bale. an oakland man in his 80s rennins critical condition after place say he was beat up after going for a walk on christmas eve. the relatives are still looking for answers and asking for help. >> reporter: this brother and sister don't know if their father will survive the beating he took christmas eve. >> very bad. >> my father, my mom. >> reporter: they're going

public in hopes of somebody saw what happened to this 82-year-old and will come forward. he has seven children and 13 grandchildren. his family says for some reason he walked out of his home about 11:00 christmas eve night. they don't know why he left or where he was going. police say he reached the intersection of 9th avenue a few blocks from his home and this is where he was attacked, but he managed to walk another half a mile before police found him. >> this is a very serious assault. he has facial fracture. >> reporter: he remains in intensive condition in the hospital. the family says he wasn't carrying any money. >> i don't know if he was robbed and they didn't get anything because he didn't have money. >> reporter: for a brutal attack to happen to an 82-year-old any time is hard to imagine, says the family, but the night before christmas

makes it even worse. >> it's christmas eve. you want to be happy and with your family, and now he's in the hospital. >> reporter: he was born in vietnam and was a former in china before coming to the u.s. >> he liked to talk about, you know, like his generation, like how hard they worked, and then now we kind of, you know, have a better life than them. >> reporter: police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. police in san francisco are asking for the public's help tonight in finding an elderly woman who vanished this afternoon. she was last seen at about 2:00 p.m. today in front of a dental office. she is 5'2", 120 pounds, gray

hair and glasses. she was last seen wearing a black hooded jacket with a white lining and using a black cane. anybody with information is asked to call police. the lieutenant governor said today he's dropping his bid for governor. his campaign failed to gain sat support of republican supporters. his departure from the race leaves donnelli the only one. a teen caught on fire at about 11:00 last night. police say the driver of the car lit a cigarette and because the teen had been working on cars all night and had gasoline on him, the clothes immediately ignited. the teen suffered burns to his arm and chests and had to be airlifted to the hospital. the driver is not facing any charges. the case against a 16-year-old boy accused of

setting another teen on fire, the case will stay in adult court. he's accused of setting fire to the skirt of this 18-year-old on a transit bus. this individual suffered second and third degree burns. prosecutors allege the attack was a hate crime. support is growing. more than 157,000 people have signed an online petition urging the d. a. to drop charges against 16-year-old her. the number of people being

hit by cars in san francisco is soaring. what city officials are trying to do to make the streets safer.

making streets safer for pedestrians, something called focus on five is a centerpiece of a new plan in san francisco. a hearing has been going on for about an hour. >> reporter: the hearing got underway in city hall behind me just after 5:00 and it's expected to go for several more hours, and that's because pedestrian safety accidents and deaths have become a passionate subject lately. the city saw a record 21 pedestrian deaths last year with seven alone in december,

including this one involving a former driver that allegedly killed a six-year-old girl. the city aims to cut severe and fatal injuries in half by 2021. >> failure to stop at a stop sign, failure to yield, and then turning, unsafe turning, those are probably the big ones. >> reporter: police say two thirds of the accidents involving pedestrians last year were the driver's fault. critics say the city should be more aggressive by redesigning streets for slower traffic and mandatory education for drivers. >> unfortunately the mayor

hasn't committed to vision zero. >> reporter: san francisco officials say they are putting the money where the mouths are, trying to lesson the number of the pedestrian deaths. a 70-year-old bicyclist died just after 5:30. the victim was david combs, junior. a preliminary investigation showed that he may have run a red light just moments before was hit. cisco systems is warning of greater technology breaches. the san jose based company released its annual security report. they said we could be facing

unprecedented numbers of attacks. the reason for the danger is they say cyber crime is becoming more organized and more malicious software. users in the u.s., uk and australia will see trending topics on the right side of the facebook screen. it won't be available in the mobile version. the first person ticketed for distracted driving issues won a victory. they found she was not guilty of distracted driving because the traffic code requires proof that the device was in operation at the time. they stopped her because she was speeding and because she was

wearing the device. this 66-year-old woman from san jose said she began corresponding with somebody who said they were a british citizen and working on a scottish oil rig. she wired him $500,000. his skype accounts were traced to nigeria. the victim got some money back. san francisco has become the first city in the country to start recycling clothes, bed linins and shoes. 4500 pounds of textiles are thrown away every hour in san francisco. the zero waste textile initiative will provide drop- off bins around the city and charity groups will sell what is

useable. the former governor is behind the support on global warming. he, along with other stars, will be traveling around the world to report on how climate change has affected various regions. the highs today, i showed you some records and these are the actual highs we had in many bay area cities. here is one that is striking to me. 90 degrees in morgan hill, and that's about as warm as it gets in the bay area. the high temperatures will be up there again tomorrow, and slightly cooler as we get a weakening in the high pressure center. the story tonight is clear and

cool and chilly. it's been pretty cold in the north bay. the air quality is still okay because it's been so windy, so it shouldn't be an issue because of the winds, cleaning out the atmosphere. the overnight low forecast, 28 in santa rosa, and then just like it was this morning and yesterday morning. the high pressure that is with us is staying one more day. it will keep us dry more than that. tomorrow, it drops and the low comes in and temperatures turn down just a tad. that's your bay area weekend. up in seattle there was a forecast of rain. it's not going to happen. this is the forecast model and shows rain in the area. for the most part for the big game sunday you have mostly to partly sunny conditions and temperatures in the upper 40s

and low 50s. so, as we look at the satellite in seattle, the actual game forecast, it will be a perfect night for a ballgame at centurylink, temperatures in the mid-to upper 40s, and a few clouds. the forecast, 70 in livermore. in the 5-day forecast you see more dryness, and also in the 5-day forecast behind that, too. i've never seen a weather pattern like this, and everybody i talk to says it's unprecedented. we haven't seen this in this area and in california in recorded time, back to the 1850's. >> it's getting kind of scary. >> yes.

something is a little off. >> thanks. >> some faithful 49er fans are getting ready for the game by buying up 49er gear. a lot of 49er fans are superstitious about what they wear when they watch the game, and many told us they want to add to their gear collection. you can show your 49ers spirit by showing this badge on facebook. it says, hammer the hawks! coming up next in sports, baseball owners talk about the new topic of instant replay. mom...

yes honey? dad told me that cheerios is good for your heart, is that true? says here that cheerios has whole grain oats

that can help remove some cholesterol, and that's heart healthy. [ dad ] jan? ♪ we know how faithful 49ers fans are, but you might have heard about what is going on. >> the fan set the guinness world record. last september at the field,

the 49ers were penalized 12 times, and that led to the defeat. anybody within 5 miles could hear that call. >> those things get you hijacked too early. the crowd noise will be out of control, but don't worry about that. who cares? it's football. as long as the guy next to me knows what he's doing and i know what i'm doing, we're good. but what is there to change? we have a great game plan and as long as you are honest and know what you are doing, it will work. >> we are ready. tomorrow night, 6:30, it's a live half-hour road trip to a championship special all the way from seattle and another one-hour show saturday night

starting at 9:00 p.m. major league owners unanimously voted on the new rules. that's sports. >> thank you. >> and thank you for joining us. >> have a great evening, everybody.

okay, here's the number for poison control. ask for carol. honey, we're gonna be fine. enjoy your reunion. oh, it'd be a lot more fun if you were there. i really am sorry about that. i just can't miss the chance to bowl on jay's team. mnh. that's why i ordered these glide rights. if you break 'em in properly, they're supposed to give you a completely frictionless-- (thud) (groans) if i'm being honest, the reunion might be a little more fun if phil isn't there. otherwise, i spend the whole weekend telling him who's who and explaining inside jokes. and if all that explaining is going out, the alcohol is not going in. hey, mom. before you go, you have to sign this for school. mm. you don't have to read it. it's all boilerplate. honey, i am running really late. (whispers) ask your dad. right here, buddy. s--uhh! (thud)