on the ground. california is waging a statewide battle over a series of wildfires. as thousands of homes hang in the balance. good evening i'm julie haener. >> and i'm frank somerville. right now there are 11 wildfires burning throughout northern california from near the oregon border all the way down to yosemite. perhaps the most damaging fire is the one burning in weed california in siskiyou county. more than 100 buildings have burned, most of them homes. >> in el dorado county the king fire is still threatening 500 homes. it doubled overnight and is raging through the el dorado national forest. >> we have live team coverage tonight. ken wayne is in weed where dozens of homes burned to the ground. >> but first we begin with tom vacar live in el cerrito at one of the fire stations being tapped to help fight these fires, tom. >> reporter: well we actually may be on the edge of something

important here. with the drought making every fire harder to fight. requiring crews to ramp it up even more. a true indication of how serious all this really is. at 7:00 this morning the governor's office activated the s.o.c. the offensive center where they come together to keep communities and their first responders from being overwhelmed. >> if they need resources, or personnel, staffing, to assist with their needs we're here to help that. >> reporter: this is the third activation this summer all within the last month including the napa earthquake. the s.o.c. coordinated and sent a lot of mutual aid to fires. >> we have about two dozen fire engines. >> reporter: despite its huge presence, the s.o.c. relies on the news media to make sure the largest number of people are informed. >> we need the help of the

reporters producers, and photographers to get the word out. >> reporter: the staffing is minimal but depending on the current fires and how much they spread, how much the fire spreads them and most importantly any new fires this place could be a full house in a hurry. >> reporter: it's all taking its toll. >> the fields are just going to keep getting dry. firefighters have been fighting fire all summer. they're getting tired. the equipment is getting worn. there's no relief in sight, now we just have to see when the winter finally getting here. >> reporter: if you can call this good news at all since all the mayor fires in the west are in california right now. things like air fighting aircraft are ready available but that also could change very quickly depending on new fires. reporting live, tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. the bowl fire burning in the town of weed has consumed close to 400 acres so far. firefighters say they are gaining ground.

the fire is now 20% contained. ktvu's ken wayne is in weed tonight where some people have lost almost everything. ken-- >> reporter: julie, we have quite the visual contrast over my shoulder you can see the beauty of mount shasta one of the reasons so many people enjoy living here. but if you look around here the devastation caused by this fire here in weed. we've learned that four calfire employees were among those who lost their homes including two battalion chiefs. one of whom was watching his house burn as he was fighting the fire. the latest numbers show that more than 150 structures were destroyed. it's not clear how many exactly were homes but we do know dozens of homes were lost in this neighborhood. >> saw the smoke over there. next thing i know it's roaming across the schoolhouse hill. >> reporter: gary gropy says they dodged the fire. >> i had to run up the back

hill to get our stuff. we were lucky that our house was one of the ones that didn't burn. >> i had two great girlfriend with me that got me through it. because i had no clue if i was going to come home to a house or not. i had no clue. >> reporter: he found out her house survived but they lost a rental home. she says her sister's home was destroyed. now she has to break the news to her mother about her house. >> my mom's house she's 84. she doesn't know it. she's in a care center. she has no clue her house is leveled. it's devastating. >> reporter: also lost the couple's cherished four model a. a car gary had since he was 16. >> 1931 when we got married we road in the back of it. >> reporter: although their house is still standing, they like many of their neighbors don't know when they can return. >> we don't know when we will let people back in.

>> reporter: light and power must be restored. they're told it might be a month before they're allowed to return home. >> we're going to try to find a place to rent. >> reporter: there's a $10,000 reward being offered for information leading to the cause of this fire. there's a 7:00 town hall meeting tonight at college of the siskiyou to give residents an update on when they will be allowed to return home. it's still not clear when that will happen. a utility truck came by, and they said the lines are going hot so that's a good sign power lines are being restored. ken wayne. the weather is playing a key role in the fire fight. chief meteorologist bill martin is keeping an eye on the

weather. >> this most severe drought we've seen, look at the fires you have burning. they're all over northern california, central california, even southern california. look at the acreage over 150,000 acres burning. what's going to change that is, this isn't a drought breaker but this system that i'm going to be telling you about over the break. it's going to increase the moisture and humidity. it's going to help out a ton for firefighters. so when i come back we'll let you know exactly how this system times out. but just suffice to say it is going to help greatly in dousing those fires in northern california. and our coverage continues online at ktvu.com. you can watch more video of the fire fight and get the latest updates on containment and evacuations. police gave the all clear this afternoon to a san francisco high school that was evacuated because of a bomb threat. police say that threat was reported just before 1:30 this afternoon at lowell high school near lake merced. the school was evacuated and officers did a sweep of the campus. students were eventually

september -- eventually sent home for the day. in the end they turned up nothing suspicious. a mother and her two-year- old daughter are lucky to be alive after they were hit by a car while running across highway 24 in orinda. it happened late last night near the st. steven's drive. the mother crashed her car. claudine wong joins joins us now live with the evidence police have pieced together. >> reporter: the 24-year-old mother crashed her mini van here along this stretch of highway 24. and could face dui charges. but she could also be facing child endangerment charges for taking her 2-year-old daughter out of that van and then running across the freeway. both were hit and suffered major injuries before they made it to the other side. it started with a crash just before 10:00 last night on highway 24 through orinda. a mini van versus the center

divide. >> st. stevens 1097. >> dispatch recording show a check of that van being made as officers arrived on scene. >> i have a clear 1999 honda mini van on antioch. >> reporter: but things changed as officers heard a child crying not from the vehicle but from the other side of the highway. >> they actually heard the child crying so that's when their attention was drawn over to the right shoulder. >> police believe the driver a 24-year-old mother from antioch took her 2-year-old daughter out of the van and ran across four lanes of traffic. they were hit before they got to the other side. >> the fact that both of them are alive is a miracle. to say the least. >> reporter: the car that hit them believed to be a mercedes didn't stop but left behind evidence. >> i have a vehicle description, possibly has front end damage. >> reporter: while the chp says

it's possible the driver didn't realize what happened. >> the reality is they should know now. >> reporter: the chp is asking any witnesses and the driver involved to give them a call. while the chp says it was a mercedes that hit them there is a long list of possible models so we put that list on our website. live in orinda, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. a former pet smart employee and her boyfriend pleaded not guilty to burglary charges after prosecutors say they used customer information to target vacant homes. 24-year-old ashley lin kirk and 25-year-old juan carlos ortega ramos pled guilty in exchange for prison sentences. worked at the san carlos pet store where the d.a.'s office says she would see the home addresses of customers who were boarding their pets at the store. prosecutors say the two suspects then stole jewelry and electronics even a porsche

from a home. it's been three years since an occupied protest led to arrests and a lawsuit. and today that police brutality lawsuit was back in federal court in oakland. >> we want every administration to know you can't beat people down. because you disagree with them and get away with it. >> reporter: members of the group known as by any means necessary say campus police and alameda county sheriff beat them during a protest on november 9, 2009. the group has filed a $15 million lawsuit against university administrators and dozens of law enforcement officers. today's hearing centered on efforts to have the charge of violating free speech and false arrest dropped against three officers named in the lawsuit. >> the aim of the police and the administration on that day was to stop the students on that campus from being able to express their support with the occupy movement that was

sweeping the country. >> the judge did not make a decision in today's hearing. the university has said what happened during that protest does not reflect its values. but says the actions were legally justified. two native americans who were arrest at a giant's game have filed a claim of police brutality against the city. the plaintiffs say on native american heritage night they confronted a fan wearing a head piece. that led to negrete being arrested. on the website it says in part any fan wearing culturally offensive attire is subject to removal from the ballpark. the san francisco 49ers are vowing to improve traffic for fans before the next game. there were traffic jams sunday going to the stadium in santa

clara. after the game many fans who drove were trapped in parking lots some for up to two hours. buses were also stuck. many of those vehicles were blocked by a constant stream of people walking. conditions will improve as they learn the habits of their fans. >> having a first nfl regular season game at levi's stadium gave us a lot of opportunity to gather more information and recognize issues where we feel we need to make some improvements. and that's what we're going to do over the course of the next 12 days as we get ready for the eagles to come to town. the options being considered include slowing down vta train service and giving buses priority access on the road. the safest route to walk on the uc berkeley campus. a new tool a student has created that even police are recommending. corinthian college is under fire again first for selling off schools now they're accused of cheating students out of

their money. the new effort that could get some students their money back.

new at 6:00, the uc berkeley student may have found a way to help keep his classmates safe. he did it with information that's available to everyone. and uc berkeley police now are taking notice. ktvu's rob roth spoke with the young man who wants to put his new tool into the students hand and on their smart phones. >> on campus, i think it's pretty safe. >> reporter: at uc berkeley when you think of safety. >> the shortcuts can be the most dangerous. >> reporter: you must use caution. >> they'll caulk you if you're afraid. >> that area is not very well lit. it's not safe. >> reporter: a student has come up with a tool that can make

you safe on campus. those bright red squares indicate where the most serious crimes have occurred on and near the campus over the past four years. he based his research on uc crime reports and did most of the work on his own time. he then posted his findings on facebook. >> i was thinking if you can bind this data and draw some sites that might be relevant. to keep people safe and the times when there's a lot of crime that would be really cool. >> reporter: the uc berkeley police saw chinoy's work and has linked it only their twitter feed. >> i think some of his initiatives show how people can be safe around campus. >> i'm really excited. i'm just really happy that they've chosen to sort of publish it on their own website and sort of desin -- disseminate it to all of berkeley at once like that. >> reporter: sáebgs near

telegraph avenue and people's park -- sections near telegraph avenue and people's park. and they found what day most crimes happened, thursday, at 9:00. >> i think it would be really useful. we've had some feed back saying it has been. >> reporter: chinoy says he hopes to create an app that tells people the safest way to get from where they are to where they're going. >> i think something cool will come out of it. >> reporter: rob roth, ktvu news. santa clara police released video of a burglary at a local computer store. the robber had glasses and a goatee. the man stole several laptops from gold tech computer on laurel wood road september 3rd. anyone with information is asked to call santa clara police. san francisco supervisors approved more than two p-l dollars today to help child

refugees who are escaping violence and poverty in central america. david campus gave one dozen children certificates of honor for sharing their stories of survival at last week's meeting. many of those children have now been reunited with family members in the bay area. through a translator, one little girl thanked the supervisors for their help. >> we're so grateful that you're going to help us so that we're not deported back to our countries because we fled here because it's too dangerous for us to be in our countries. >> reporter: the money will go to hire attorneys to represent some of the children as they face deportation meetings. more than 66,000 unaccompanied children crossed into the united states in the past year. the children are mostly from the central american countries of el salvador, guatemala and honduras. about half of them have been placed with family members while thousands of others are being held in detention centers

across the united states. your temperatures today were slight -- slightly warmer than what we had yesterday. plenty of sunshine, cool at the coast. livermore 89 degrees. around the bay, oakland got to 80. 75 in san francisco. highs tomorrow about the same. maybe a little bit cooler. we're getting clouds in here. here's the system i'm tracking. and i'll move the globe around here. the remnants of that hurricane are streaming into the southern portions of the country. that's a weather story itself as those turn into flooding rains into the southeastern seaboard. that's the story. the chance of showers for parts of our area as we go into the next 24 hours. that would be great. more like maybe 36 hours but the idea being tomorrow night it starts to cloud up. then we get into the evening hours, some sprinkles, some showers. and maybe even some rain.

especially up around the santa rosa area. here's the computer model that's going to look at the fog and temperatures for tomorrow. there'll be some patchy fog but not a lot along the coast. high tomorrow just like today. and after 5:00 the clouds start to increase. and this weather shows upbringing evening sprinkles, 9:00, 10:00 light sprinkle, drizzle activity shows up. overnight it gets going into thursday morning. we get a good shot glaze on the roadway. as we head into the overnight model, here's the drizzle i was talking about. that's not a big deal. there's the rain up there in northern california. up around the happy cap fire complex. up around the bowls fire. this is going to help out a bunch up in the hills with the fire. so we move through time a more. 7:00a.m. there's your morning commute. a good chance of showers right in here too. that's going to be a wet

morning commute. rain up there in the kings fire. we'll keep track of that for you. this is all wednesday night into thursday morning. then it clears out. forecast highs tomorrow. just like today. tomorrow will be just like today. except it'll be slightly cooler. 85 in morgan hill. 86 in gilroy and the clouds really start to pile up late in the day. there's the five day forecast with the bay area weekend in view. and it's really good news. we'll track it for you. >> thanks bill. >> thank you bill. corinthian colleges is facing a new lawsuit complaining the company ran a predatory scheme. the company is suing on behalf of student borrowers who used a for profit education company. the suit claims corinthian doubled the rate and lied to prospects about job opportunities. the five colleges around the bay area have been sold or are

in the process of being sold. corintlian said it strongly disputes the claims made in that lawsuit. the giants and a's both in action tonight in baseball's home stretch. >> and the 49ers try to fig figure out a way to keep all those yellow flags off the field. that's up next in sports.

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mark is here with sports. just a few days left in the regular season. >> you can call it disconcerting stuff for on field and off field scandal. and you may remember the yard, it was filled with penalty flags. the players will be the first to tell you this kind of a problem is truly impeding the team's momentum all the way around. >> those penalties they hurt us big time. we had a lot of students student -- a lot of times when we had an opportunity to get off the field then you see a

flag. for us it's a a punch in the gut. >> for us we can't find -- can't find a way for them not to throw flags. we just have to find a way around it. >> obviously they make it an emphasis on certain calls. the refs are doing their job. we have to play through that. you know, make it happen. >> you have to make it happen but plenty of time. marine while you remember the tragic death of race car driver kevin ward in early august. that case has taken a turn now. with regard to tony -- a grand jury is going to decide whether nascar driver stewart will be charged in that august accident fellow driver kevin ward at a

sprint car. a district attorney could not find enough evidence to proceed. instead he found it worthy o -- of going to a grand jury. that is a bad story and getting worse. that's the sporting life. >> thank you. and thank you for joining us tonight. we'll be back tonight for the 10:00 news. until then have a great evening. >> good night. >> good night.

oh, phil, honey, you're still up. okay. (clears throat) how does this sound? "mitchell, i love you very much. "i not only love you, but i admire you, and someday i hope to..." are you firing him or proposing to him? honey, this was supposed to be a part-time job. he was gonna be done in the summer anyway. just be direct. i should have warned him. how do you tell someone they have a reputation for being lazy? mitchell? lazy? yeah. yeah. he handed in a couple of contracts late, but i didn't want to say anything because he's practically doing this for free. i can't do this! this isn't the face of a cold-blooded hatchet man. (chuckles) will you do it? (footsteps descending) hey. (sighs) oh, i'm sorry. did we wake you up? no, i was up. (kisses) i'm worried about tomorrow. my art teacher acts like i don't exist, but i have one last chance to impress him at our year-end art fair.