hour, up to 28 miles per hour which is not atypical. 30 miles per hour winds in the fairfield area. you know this area, it gets very gusty. fire here. and you see another fire. the fire is beginning to spread. first thing i notice, there is not a lot of topography. flats here. the fire wild be wind driven. 90-degree temperature, 20% humidity. >> looks like we almost have three separate fire. would the winds have started the other fires? >> absolutely. we are in extreme drought conditions. over night low temperatures, it was warm over night. and you bet. in this area, when i hear fire in this area, you see firefighters trying to get that boat away from the house, when you see firefighters hustling like this, it is because the winds are fierce and they could

spread the fire rapidly. this is an interesting burn. i am not sure -- now you can -- okay. >> we have four separate fires. >> you can see the black extends from one eye to another. -- from one area to another. >> this fire is breaking out after the hottest part of the day. >> exactly. this -- we have extreme drought conditions. everything is dry. 90 degrees, not unusual for fairfield. 28 miles per hour winds not unusual. we are seeing this. look at the winds, the smoke coming off the fire, see how it is not going straight up, blowing parallel to the ground. it is windy. look at the flames. >> let's recap. this is a fire, several fires burning right now in fairfield near central way. one house looks like it is engulfed.

there is another, looks like, shed, on fire and then there are two separate fires as well. bill has been talking about the wind and the wind may have started the other fires. there are lot of firefighters on the scene. a lot of concern right now. >> this shows where the fire started. we highlighted it here. central way in fairfield. fairfield fire crews on the scene as are napa, sonoma departments. as you look at this map. i checked traffic on www.ktvu.com and 6 county is backed -- 680 is backed up. people are stopping to watch the thick black smoke coming up from the fires. back to live pictures from news chopper 2. in the center of your screen you see a fire ball out of the top of one home. a second home to the bottom left of the home, also on fire. we have seen as many as four

homes in flames today. if you look closer you can see fire crews standing on the ground there trying to attack the fire with water from a fire hose. >> what we don't often see, looks like it started in the dry brush. we don't often see firefighters hustling like this. these guys are actively fighting fires. you see firefighters trying to save the structures. this is what is so dangerous, when they ask you to clear your brush, this is why. the homes are being caught up. you see the brown there, you could spread a fire, it could move. >> that is exactly what it is doing. we have a couple of homes on fire and a couple of other spot fires. this situation getting worse by the moment. we are learning the homes that

are on fire are east of 680. this is during the evening commute. traffic backed up big time now on 680 in the area and now as news chopper 2 backs out you get a sense of how much this fire has spread. we have one fire in the bottom there, another on the top left, another on the top right. >> we are seeing this for the first time. it is flat. yao not see -- you are not seeing a lot of trees. we saw this a couple years ago on the other side of the freeway, the fire was bouncing from tree top to tree top. crown fire. grass fire, see how the trees are not catching fire, the grass spread the fire but if you look that burning, the wildfire -- the wild land stuff isn't burning that much. it is the homes. the fire likely took off in the

field, boom, house, boom, another house. the firefighters are responding. we are not seeing trees involved in the fire. >> we can see the progress of the fire, the first home, fire was on one side, but now look at the center of your screen, the home is engulfed in flames and looks to be a total loss. again as we stay on top of this breaking news, keep in mind there is a huge traffic impact. 680 backed up to lake herman road and we have seen as many as four homes on fire this afternoon. it is important to note here we don't know what started the fire but it is having a huge impact. >> fire continues to spread.

don't know what started it. but this fire is taking a toll here. >> you see a lot of dry brush. the dry brush is flashing along the ground. moved from house to house. >> wee trying to get a good location. this is richy road -- again that is the best location week give you. we have heard green valley road, central way all in the area. that should give you a good idea. i imagine firefighters are telling people to grab their pets and people and get out. anytime you talk to a firefighter they will tell you the number one priority they

have is to look after and save people and then comes property. first get the people out, then you try go save the property and get the fire out and there is a search to see what was left behind. this fire grown in the 6, 7 minutes we have been bringing it to you live. what started as a report of a fire along 680. it has grown. >> what is encouraging here, we are seeing it for the first time, i am looking at the foliage, the brush, the fire is burning along the ground. if you look at the fire, firefighters have a good handle from what we can see on the wild lands part of the fire. what happened it flashed the homes so we have a number of structures on fire. this would be much worse if the fire was in the trees, in the brush. if you look the trees are

standing. 28 miles per hour winds. 90-degree temperatures. 20% humidity. if you get into the trees you have problems. you see the trees. staying on the ground. the house is fully engaged now. >> looks like that house will be suffering substantial losses as a result of the fire. doesn't look like they are making progress. we have updated information on the traffic. both left lanes in the north and southbound lanes of i-680 at green valley road are closed. this fire is effecting traffic. the height of the evening rush. a lot of people on the roads. both left lanes north and southbound i-680 closed as a result of the fire at green valley road. >> as we checked the traffic maps on www.ktvu.com, the traffic back up goes down to

almost lake herman road. if you have any option, avoid this area at this time because there is a huge crush of cars trying to get up 680 and there will be a lot of emergency vehicles in the area. if you have a choice, avoid it. >> i keep seeing things for the first time. bottom corner of the left, that is one of the roads. look at the wind direction. look at the smoke. look at the brown. that looks like where the fire started. that is the path it took. follow the smoke. looks like it lit up the homes. >> why do you think the trees aren't catching fire? >> that is not a hot fire. you can see -- is that smoke? yeah. the fire must have caught off the freeway. you can see the direction the fire burned. typically, the fires they don't burn that hot, they burn fast, they get to a house they will

light it on fire. takes heat to light an oak tree on fire. many of the local trees are slow to burn. the brush, the brown stuff, when you see the trees get involved that is a scary time. right now we are not seeing the trees. >> you can see which direction the wind is pushing the fire. we got our picture back. hard to tell whether that is a shed or a house. you see the firefighters working to put it out. one house looks like it will be pretty much a total loss. and then you see this, this is the second structure that is burning. it looks like -- well, there you see another -- looks like the backyard. there is the house, though, it looks like it will be gone when the fire is over. >> as the fire is happening in

this area, we have new information here, joining napa and sonoma fire crews. here is a map of where the fire is located. there is where the fire started. 680 is backed up down south and the chp tweeted information, we have been passing on to you, avoid the area. plan for an alternate route. there are lane closures. the chp saying avoid the area and plan your wanders what is happening there tonight. >> something i failed to mention. sorry -- not seeing trees on fire. the reason it is an issue when they catch fire, the fire, up to 50 feet with a fire, the flames jump further than when they are coming off the ground. there is a gap from the burned area, you see the fire jumped a couple feet, 50 feet, but when

you put a fire on the top of a tree and hit it is 28 miles per hour winds the fire spreads. right now we are not seeing that. we are seeing it on the ground. so far, look at the burn areas, mostly structures now. not windlands -- wildlands. >> talk about the oakland hills fire, a different story than what we are seeing here. >> when we first got the call, i am looking going okay, this is the time of day where it gets windy. we know things will happen. i hope it is not in terrain, right? and then you hope it is not in the tops of the trees. when i saw this, immediately, good. you see the firefighters are on this thing, right? the does flash the houses quickly. but, yeah, it is a good scenario if you can say that, it could be much worse in this

area. it is windy out there, hot and dry. >> let's take a moment to recap. what you are looking at is a fire that is burning in several different locations in the area of richy road and cordelia road, not far from i.680. a couple lanes on 680 is closed in both directions because of this fire. from what we can tell one house, looks like it will be totally destroyed by the time this fire is over. there is another building burning. hard to tell if it is a shed or house and it is fully involved as well. there are a couple pocket locations where flames are burning. at this point from what we can tell it appears there are only two structures burning. a lot of houses are in this area, you have strong winds out there blowing it flames around. that is why you have several

different pocket locations. >> i would like it bring in a fire chief for the fire department joining us on the phone now. are you with us on the phone? >> yes, i am. >> thank you for joining with us. what are crews dealing with. >> one grass fire, helped cover at the fire scents. another company to fairfield for station coverage. >> how many homes have been effected? we have seen a couple homes go up in flames already. >> just because of the location and the direction of the winds, structure protection right now is probably a primary concern. that area has a lot of winds. and with the heat and the wind it drives out humidity of the grass around the structures and blowing hot embers and things like that. structure protection is a

problem in that area. as well as water when you are out in a rural area like that. their main concern is getting enough personnel for the structure protection, getting the fire contained. >> are you aware of any evacuations at this point? >> there are evacuations going on that i am aware of -- [ audio difficulties ] >> okay. again, as we are getting trouble from the telephone, there are evacuations in place. the main concern is protecting the homes, also concerns about having enough water. do you know how many homes are on fire right now? >> i do not. i do not. i just know there are structures involved at this time. i have not been informed as to what extent nor how many. i just know that there are structures involved. >> can you give us an example of the extent of man power that

is out there right now fighting this fire. >> i know there is probably 5 city units involved. fairfield, cordelia, vacaville, benicia. so probably right now they probably have 25 or more units in route or on scene. coming to aid in the fire. it is a 4 alarm. >> is this something you are prepared for here in the first day of summer, it has been hot and dry for the past year, is this something you are ready for? >> yes, i mean, we all train for this. we are all prepared. we have a county matrix. the dispatchers know who to call, the engines know what engines are going when called. there is always a situation, winds and other situations we

have no control over. in this situation they have a good wind blowing and it is hard to get containment. >> is this a situation where you could use air drops or because it is in a residential area you wouldn't called in air drops? >> it depends on what they see on scene, the personnel running the fire. it may be a option. [ audio difficulties ] >> i am just getting bits of information but that could be an option depending on how far the grass fire itself spreads and where it is going and the location. >> and you haven't heard at this point how the fire started? as we are looking at this, looks like there is another home that has now just caught fire as a result of this. any idea as to what started the fire? >> no. no idea. i know it started at the

freeway -- >> maybe en-- in brush there? >> yes, and then with the winds it jumped and spread from there. no idea how it started. >> if i could mention to you, we have been reporting on fires elsewhere in the bay area that have been deliberately set, not as large and not with such devastating consequences but there have been arrests of arsonists, do a situation like that seem likely in this case or not? >> i could not even speculate on that. anything i said regarding the start of the fire would be speculation on my part. >> again, it is not unusual to see fires start by the side of a major roadway. all it takes is a spark to drop and there you go. >> that is correct. i mean, there is multiple possibilities for fire to start

in that area. >> we have been talking about this with our chief meteorologist about how there are a lot of trees in this area, at this point it doesn't seem like the trees are catching fire. it only looks like the grass and the structures are catching fire. why wouldn't the trees be catching fire? >> a lot of the trees there are still green. they haven't dropped their leaves. it is harder. plus the grass in that area is pretty low. so it is more likely to burn up to a house which is a lot drier and easier to catch than a tree. a lot of the trees, the bark could be fire resistant. so -- but low fire like that burning up to a house, that is where a problem could develop. >> we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. we will let you get back to work. what you are looking at, live

pictures here. evacuations, homes burning near 680 in fairfield. you see that one house. we have been watching it burn. situation with that house has gotten worse. doesn't look like they are making a lot of progress. >> look at that race track, looks like -- that was -- no question that was dry brush in there. you can picture this fire catching off the freeway. look at the wind, the smoke. almost like a fuse. so it really is about dry brush. in a windsy condition like that -- windsy condition like that i -- windy condition like that i bet it spread in 10 minutes. >> thank you. >> as we look at this picture, the fire, the homes on fire, the area that has been burned around it. we have to mention traffic is impacted in the area.

theaire of 680 -- the area of 680 and 80. we have a chp officer on the line now. are you there and can you tell us what the situation is on the roads? >> yes, ma'am. the firefighters closed the lanes to get a hold of the fire that spread into the center median of the fire. 680 is now open. we are advising people to if possible utilize 7 780 and 80. >> is there concern -- 780 and 80. >> the wind is blowing the fire away from that direction so we don't expect a problem with 80 at this time. the fire is drifting away from the freeway now. >> and the flames in the media, 680, those flames have been taken care of? >> yes, the fire is no longer

effecting the freeway directly. now dealing with people slowing down. like we said we are trying to get people to go 7 780 to 80 to avoid the area. there is a lot of congestion on the city streets around there. it is -- they don't have the capacity to handle the traffic so we are trying to get people to divert on the freeways. >> all lanes open on 680 and 80. you are advising taking 780 to 80 and traffic is heavy even though all of the lanes are open. >> that's correct. >> all right. chp officer daniel hill. appreciate you taking the time to update us on the situation. you see the map where the fire is in relationship to 680. all of the lanes now have been reopened on 680. that is good news. unfortunately this fire is

during the evening commute so traffic is very heavy. >> to recap, we have seen a number of homes go up in flames, 2, 3, maybe 4 as we have been watching pictures from news chopper 2. fire broke out before 5:00 p.m., richy road where it meets cordelia road. as a result of the fire there is a lot of brush that is burning. a huge traffic impact on 680. 680 south to lake herman road is all jammed up. even though as you heard the chp tell us live right here all lanes are open. there is a huge back up tonight and they are advising people to take 780 to 80 to get around the fire scene, going on for a half hour now and it is nowhere near over. >> what you see is that there are several spot fires and the reason for that is because you

see had smoke there -- see the smoke there, there is wind in the area. it is hot and there is wind. let's bring our chief meteorologist bill martin back in. how bad is the wind there? >> it is blowing 28 miles per hour. look at the smoke, you can see how -- they are not going vertical. it will be wimbledony all afternoon -- windy all afternoon. you see that brown around there, that dry brush is burning rapidly. the firefighters, if you look, they are spraying down trees. and spraying the brush. this fire with the winds, a wind like this, in an area like this, the firefighters are doing a great job. they have done a heck of a job containing this. 30 miles per hour winds and dry brush. there is brown all around that

area. the firefighters have a heck of a job containing the fire in 30 miles per hour wind gusts with 90-degree temperatures. >> the center of the green, that is the house we have been watching burn. >> they moved the boat. >> you are right. >> that boat -- that is the green top. i think the boats can carry 30 gallons of gas. >> looks like they have given up on that house. that house is now a total loss. several other spot fires burning. there have been evacuations as well. with winds burning like that, embers are flying all over the place. >> this could be worse. few years ago, it was another one, fairfield, along the freeway, similar, got into the trees and the winds were blowing and that fire took off.

this fire, impressive how quickly they got on this. firefighters will tell you they don't want to fight fires in the winds. firefighters, again, they have quite a job ahead of them. >> we can look at this picture here. is this a fire fighting helicopter? we haven't seen drops. >> herben rural interface. -- urban rural interface. i don't think they treat the fires differently. [ talking at the same time ] >> they are fighting structure fires and a wildfire. >> the chief was saying the is the possibility -- saying there is the possibility they could call in water drops. it looks like they made a lot

of a progress. we are seeing several other fires all over the area and now it looks like it appears at least that they are getting -- [ talking at the same time ] >> this could have gone a lot of bad ways. when we first saw it, you look at the fire, the road, this could have gone real bad. when you get wind like that in an area like this it could go really bad. >> we will stay on top of this fire. a fire in fairfield. a couple homes have gone up in flames. firefighters trying to control it. we are working to get more information on what started it. we will get more information and be right back with more on this breaking news affa short break.

ktvu channel 2 news starts right now with breaking news. >> what you are looking at is a four alarm fire burning for half hour. richy road near cordelia road. not far from interstate 680. at least one home and you are looking at it right there has been burned to the ground. there are several other spot

fires in the area and one other structure, we couldn't tell whether it was a house or a shed. that was on fire as well. the winds are blowing 30 miles per hour. the fire started as a grass fire, not far from 680 and continued to spread with the wind blowing it in several directions. there is a lot of traffic on 680. they shut down lanes but 680 is now open again but a lot of traffic and the chp, we talked to dan hill, if you are in the area, consider taking 780 to 80 and get around that area because there is a lot of traffic as a result of the fire. >> also spoke with the fire chief, structure protection is the number one priority for crews on the ground tonight. we have seen one home be touched by flames, one destroyed by flames. other homes on fire. structure protection is the main concern for the crews. that is why you see the men and

women spraying water with their hoses on nearby homes and the brown grass that is in between them. a secondary concern is water. is there enough water in the area, might they have to do water drops, we haven't seen that yet. those are the top two concerns. structure protection, protecting all the houses in the area, and it is interesting. as we watch this picture things have changed in the past hour we have been bringing you live coverage of the fire. we see a lot of burned grass. >> we have someone on the phone in the area, who has been watching this as it was happening. mike, are you there? >> yes, i am here. >> tell us what you saw, what happened? >> it started on the west side i believe of the freeway, jumped over the freeway. went down. took out -- i was over there.

took out three homes so far that were on fire. i can see here, there are tons of fire trucks all over the place. i saw the helicopter with the water drop just fly over. they are bringing in bulldozers. >> how strong are there winds? >> pretty strong. probably about 25 miles per hour. they are looking like they are having a hard time finding water around here. >> are you -- have you been told to evacuate or are you okay where you are? >> i am okay where i am at. there was explosions. popping. i don't know if it was the power lines or what it was. >> when you look at the fire does it look like they are making progress or is it getting worse? >> i was over there 2 minutes

ago, it looked like it was getting worse. >> we just saw a water drop happen live right now. that backs up what you told us, you saw a couple water drops. >> you were saying from the pictures we have been looking at, we can tell one house has been destroyed. it is difficult to tell the other buildings that are on fire. it appears maybe 3 or 4 homes caught on fire? >> there is two that were next to the freeway that were fully engulfed with flames. it skipped over the street and got another house and then it started spreading further down the way. it hit fences and another barn. as far as i saw looked like three houses were gone. >> why do you say it appears they are having trouble finding enough water? >> there is not -- they have to

go to the slew. >> how far away from this are you right now? >> probably a mile -- not a mile. 3 minutes away. half mile away. >> are you seeing people driving away? >> yeah. i was over there and a lot of people were leaving the area. a lot of people were spraying down the grass across from it. trying to get that all wet so it wouldn't jump over. >> trying to do what they go to help out the firefighters. thank you so much forcology into ktvu -- for calling in to ktvu and sharing. he had a front row seat. he is on the safe side, on the other side evacuations are in effect. when we look at the fire, weather is a huge component. back now to our chief

meteorologist bill martin. in this case it is the winds that are driving it. >> yeah. any firefighter will tell you, wind is the number one thing. temperature -- that is big. wind is the deal. january you get 50 miles per hour winds and high humidity, you have a big fire. wind is an issue. one thing we are noticing, urban-rural interface fire. you have houses there. i talked about the boat being moved away from that house, the reason they do that, boats carry 80 gallons of gas. the firefighters are taking care of themselves, can you imagine if it exploded? you have strong winds, the firefighters have a unique position, fighting wildfire/structure fire. and from what we can see, they are doing a great job. this fire is not what it could

have been. >> yeah. infinitely as you saw there, a moment ago, one house has been destroyed. there may be other houses that caught on fire or been destroyed. a four alarm fire in fairfield. we will take a short break. we will be back with more right after this. female announcer: when you see this truck, female announcer:

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we tone to follow breaking -- we continue a follow breaking news, a four alarm fire. these are live pictures from news chopper 2 as we have been bringing you for the past 40 minutes. the fire has gone on tadevour -- to devour two homes. maybe two more might be involved as well. structure protection is their number one concern. we would like it invite rob on the phone now. you are in fairfield and you saw the fire start? >> yes, the fire started on the -- next to the road, west of 680 and we have a lot of wind down here. the wind caught the fire and flew it to the touch -- blew it

to the top of the freeway, jumped the freeway to the medium to the west side of 680. there was one home down there that is boarded up and empty. and then there is another one that is occupied next to it. maybe 100 feet away. we can't see from here what is happening because the fire is raised at this level but we could see the smoke, smoke, the black smoke. it caught the two dwellings. >> were there work crews in the area when the fire started? >> no, there were no work crews. >> by your description it sounds like a scenario we have seen before, perhaps a passing car with a spark, spread to what we are seeing now, two homes lost. >> it could well be, yes. heavy grass and there are trees and vegetation around there. the -- there is a couple of

homes further south, across west cordelia road and the railroad tracks. not visible from this location but it got a good start. we could see the flames up over the freeway. and traffic is backed up quite a bit. >> can you describe what it is like to be there on the ground, are there people panicking, hosing down their houses? >> we are on the west side of the fire. we don't see any of that. the freeway is elevated. there is an underpass on west cordelia road. we have see visible contact with anything that is going on. i don't know what happened as far as -- there is no panic. i think that the fire department is probably working on controlling the fire and saving existing homes out

there. there is a half dozen homes on west cordelia road. this is not too far from the fire department. >> thank you so much. one of our viewers according to rob, the fire started on the frontage road, west of 680. a small fire spark and it grew into what we have been showing you now. a big fire in fairfield. ktvu's debora villalon just arrived on the scene, more from her after a short break. bulldog: ah, the dog days of summer!

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we are following breaking news. live pictures from news chopper 2. we have watching this fire. a 5 alarm fire burning in fairfield. not far from 680. for a while it looked like they were making progress but now you can see here, the flames have flared up all along this block here. one other house now fully engulfed. it is hard to tell what the other buildings are. you can get a sense of how strong the winds are here and how involved the fire is. they have crews from all over the area fighting this fire. we have seen water drops now, those just started within the past 10 minutes. at least one home, there is another drop there, water drop, excuse me, one home has it been

destroyed. it looks like this other house will be a total loss as well judged by the intensity of the flames flames and there may be other home ons fire as well. >> fire crews from the area there as well as cal fire. you can see this fire is taking up a lot of resources. again as we spoke with the fire chief, he told us this is something crews plan for. they train for. and in a situation like this they are ready to respond. something we are seeing now for the first time, is that a pg&e truck checking the wires? see someone in a cherry picker basket. >> when you think -- i don't know the -- i don't know the piping of the area, when you have the sprinklers on, how

much pressure comes out, not much. you have firefighters in an area, small area, so as i look at these, he has good pressure. earlier on it didn't look like they had a ton of pressure. this fire, an urban-rural interface fire like this, has to be hard. rv. a boat. they have gas. oil. you are not just fighting a brush fire, you are -- so when they go in there, it is like a war zone. you look at a fire like this, this is as hard a fire as you could fight. we saw them move the boat away because of all the gas. >> you get a sense there of how strong the winds are. blowing the flamealize over the place here -- flames all over

the place. debora villalon, we will hear from her momentarily. she is working to gather information. this shows how strong the winds are. bill has been saying 28 miles per hour. i want to show you a couple pictures. can we put the pictures up? this is one of a water drop going on over -- looks like a shed or a house that may be burning. we have another one showing the intensity here of the flames. you get a idea here of how bad this fire is. it looked like they were making good progress but you can never tell with the winds. the winds can kick up like that and you have spot fires going on all over the place. here it looks like an entire block is on fire. >> as we look that picture, you can see the smoke is almost laying down now. blown pretty good. let's talk about which communities are directly being

impacted by the smoke and sometimes we like to tell our viewers, those who are elderly, young, this might be a good time to take a proactive step to shut your windows and doors, turn on the ac and stay inside instead of going outside in the smoke. >> absolutely. it is not good. i would say with the strong winds, the strong winds are mixing out the layer. you have a strong west wind, 30 miles per hour, yeah, it is bad but -- think on the days with no wind, this smoke is blowing -- yeah, if you are down wind -- if you meant to -- if you want -- you know, there is not a lot -- yeah. let me show you -- if i grab -- i will grab an arrow.

if i go in this area here, fire is right here, right? winds are -- let me stretch this out. right here. fire zone here. winds are blowing in this direction. rockville road. there is not a lot going on. fairfield is here. vacaville here. smoke is in this area here. it is not -- i don't think it is a big issue for folks down wind. if there wasn't a lot of wind you would worry. winds will pick up because this is one of the windiest parts of the bay area. wind gusts 25, 30 miles per hour. we are seeing that now. fire in fairfield. okay. is it terrain? in the tree tops? what is going on? as soon as i saw this, it wasn't in the tree tops. we had fires in the tree tops,

the fire would spread more rapidly. i am shocked that it isn't spreading more rapidly because the flames that we are seeing but firefighters are containing the fire well. i haven't seen one tree go up yet. that is huge. when i saw that, as soon as we see trees involved then with these winds then you start to worry. >> as we are watching another water drop, let me ask you something, coming from twitter, someone tweeted this is so sad, the oldest homes in cordelia. the building material, these are old homes, not up to code, could that have an impact? >> when all said and done the fire chief will say defensible space, first thing. i kept looking for shingles. you look at what is on the roof, right? it is code now, you have to

have fire proof roofs. 30 years ago you could tap shingles. they catch like that. older homes have wood shingles. >> why are the winds going to pick up? >> means that it is hot in the valley, fog at the coast, it is hot inland. what happens, 92 degrees, 93 degrees in sacramento. the air rise and create as low pressure at the surface and the cold air from the coast, it is hugging the ground and sucks into the hole. there is high pressure. you get strong winds -- summer sea breeze, every day this time of year, and that sea breeze kicks up because it ramps up all day. it is peaking -- you know, probably peaking now. but it -- yeah, winds are as

strong as they get in this area. >> okay. we have chief from vallejo who is on the phone. dan? can you give us an update on the situation here? >> yeah. you know, we sent two crews up there. [ indiscernible ] >> i know there are multiple structures involved. the area it is in, the junction, we be a good air flow through there, with the warm air and humidity in that area, that is the problem they are facing right now. with the structures involved, we have a different problem with over head water and things like that. and then they have cal fire on scene, doing air drops. will assist the ground crews. working it with air drops and

ground crews. >> does it look like they are making progress? >> where i am now i have not been able -- i have not been up there. we have a chief in route up there. it doesn't look like it is spreading further. anything -- any fire like this when you have structures involved, going from grass to structure, to get the amount of personnel you need mobilized and on scene to be effective takes time. they have a lot of smaller rural departments in the area. they are very well trained in this but they need the personnel and the equipment on scene. they do have a number of agencies there now helping. >> that is good news. we will have to cut you off. i appreciate the information you are giving us. it is still a fire fight there in fairfield with the number of agencies as well as cal fire on

the scene. we have seen two homes go up in flames. we are staying on top of this story as the fire continues to burn. these are pictures from earlier in the hour. this is when the fire was beginning. the flames on one side, we watched this home go up in flames. there is nothing left of it. we are staying on top of this story, more on this breaking news when we come back. female announcer: don't miss sleep train's 4th of july sale. save $300 on beautyrest and posturepedic. plus, pay no interest for 36 months

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ktvu channel 2 news starts right now with breaking news. 90 minutes since we were learning of a grass fire threatening homes in fairfield. the flames have burned down one home as well as other buildings. >> the fire is burning north of cordelia road in fairfield. right by interstate 680. this fire has gone to fire alarms. it continues to spread part of the problem is that the winds in the area are about 25 to 30 miles per hour and they are pushing the flames all over the area. several different spot fires have broken out. we have seen at least two homes that have burned to the ground. but there are other buildings on fire as well. there are crews from all over the bay area in that immediate area helping to fight the fire. some lanes on 680 uranylsy

closed as a result -- initially closed as a result but they have since been reopened. take 780 to 80. this map gives you a sense of where the fire is burning in fairfield. ktvu's debora villalon is at the scene. you have been tweeting pictures of a water drop and fire. tell us where you are and what the situation on the ground is. >> reporter: i am on cordelia road. in the middle of the fire fight. since cal fire arrived it intensified and they are getting more water on the flames from the engines and the air. [ indiscernible ] >> reporter: they were at one point working three fires. the two structures that you have been seeing from news chopper 2 and also a fire that startedoon grassy hill. -- started on a grassy hill. [ indiscernible ] >> reporter: they