>> all right. good evening once again everyone i'm mike mibach. let's get right to our top story tonight at 11. the deadly firestorm down south in los angeles county. five people have now died. nearly 30,000 acres have burned, forcing 130,000 people to evacuate. here is a closer look at the fires burning across the region. we do have the palisades fire in pacific palisades, as well as malibu, the eaton fire in altadena, as well as the hurst fire in sylmar, and a new fire that started just tonight. the sunset fire is burning in the hollywood hills and right near studio city. the five people who died died in the eaton fire, and officials say many other residents have been injured, including those who waited to evacuate. tonight. the palisades fire is the largest of these fires at more than 15,000 acres. the sunset fire, the one that started earlier tonight, has burned more than 60 acres. that fire did start at 545 this evening. new mandatory evacuation orders are in place, though, stretching as far south as hollywood boulevard. this

fire burning right near thousands of homes. let's go live now down south to ktvu tom vacar, who joins us from malibu, where many homes have been destroyed by the massive palisades fire. tom. devastation there in malibu tonight. >> well, mike, you asked about how much of malibu is left, and i want to show you something. if you take a look over here, you're going to see a row of six, eight, ten houses, 3 or 4 of which are pretty much destroyed. the rest are damaged. and the reason for that is that, as i say, embers flew onto them, the wind was blowing and they burned. but these are standing, you know, as intact as can be. now i want to pan off to the left. i want to show you something where those other fire trucks are way down the road from the last fire truck that you were looking at here, all the way down, way past those fire trucks. every house is gone on the beach side. some of the most expensive real estate in the united states and in the world for that matter, just gone. burned. and why are these

fire trucks here and down there? they're looking for embers. there's an active fire fight going on over here to the right, where you can see that this fire truck is quite literally trying to put down a fire that's just in the back of this particular building. so as a result of that, they are fighting an active fire, and they just don't want it to spread to these others. but that's the kind of problem you have. so before you can just do just the big fight, you have to do all the mop up, and the mop up sometimes flares up into another fire, which is exactly what's going on here. that is the lingering and nagging situation going on in malibu, tom vacar. >> ktvu, fox two news, and tom, do you get a sense about what happened there last night? you can just tell that so many of these structures just did not have a chance in this firestorm. it got to the point where even for firefighters, they may have had to pack up and go. it was just so dangerous down there. >> well, when you get winds that are, you know, 100 miles an hour in the high levels and 50, 60

miles an hour down here, there's no way to defend against that. once those fires get going, then you have this ashfall going out, sometimes as much as five miles, but certainly hundreds of feet, if not thousands of feet. ashfall, flaming ashes, flaming embers falling down. and what happens? you have a situation where anything that's ignitable ignites. it gets to a temperature that it simply cannot refuse. and as a result, what you have is this mass destruction that's going on. it is going to be many billions of dollars later before this is anything like what it was somewhat a little bit reminiscent here of the situation in lahaina in hawaii. >> there you have it. ktvu tom vacar giving us the very latest from malibu tonight in southern california. tom, we appreciate the support right now. also, firefighters are working to protect homes and neighborhoods that still remain threatened inland closer to pasadena. but for other neighborhoods, this firestorm just too much and

leveled homes. ktvu zac sos arrived on scene late this afternoon in the area of altadena, and shows us some of the damage from the eaton fire. >> we are at the eaton fire in altadena, some 10,600 acres now burned. 0% containment they have around, i'm told 700 more than 700 firefighters working on this. and they are certainly facing their challenges right now. everywhere you look, really another fire popping up. these are the type of spot fires they really can't do anything about. these fires get put out. they come back up with the wind. just a few minutes ago down there. you can probably make it out just in the distance. that is a bank of america. it was fully engulfed with flames, probably just about 15, 20 minutes ago. the firefighters arriving trying to do their best, but the roof still fully engulfed right now. people watching nearby, people who relied on this bank, some of

the community still here, one woman i spoke to telling me she has all her important papers there, her adoption papers, her passports. she has savings in a lockbox, wondering if they'll still be there after this fire. and then i'm going to swing around, just to give you a sense of some of the just how close some of these challenges are just down there, what appears to be some sort of a residential building or possibly a multi-unit apartment complex. when we arrived that building, it was fully engulfed. they put some water on it, were able to get it under control. the winds picked up again. and this is what you're seeing. it's back and roaring again. and this is the challenge they really continue to face here. obviously the winds not what they saw last night, but they they are still gusty enough that when they pick up those embers they really can fly and, you know, travel a mile or so like something else on

fire. so they have a long road ahead of them here. and unfortunately we're told in this fire five people have died so far. >> zac sos reporting for us there in southern california. let's turn to roberta gonzalez right now. conditions improving. that's nice to see. but you've been saying not for long. >> not for long. we will see an increase tomorrow night, but most notably again on saturday. and then we'll have a moderate wind event next tuesday. so we're in this for the long haul as far as this is concerned. this is a live weather picture looking out at pacific palisades at this particular time. keep in mind the elevation is anywhere from sea level all the way up to the highlands at 2300ft. and at 8:00 this morning, we were seeing wind gusts at 83mph at lunchtime, 60, and then decreasing at 3:00 pm to 50 mile per hour. but that's still pretty aggressive and vigorous wind speeds. now the current conditions. i just took a look at one of the reporting stations that is actually up and

operating 50 degrees relative humidity. there's a little bit of moisture more in the atmosphere now that the sun has set at 502. the winds are breezy, but it's the wind gusts that's the culprit. the winds are gusting up to 25mph. very similar conditions when we go inland to altadena, pasadena, where we have wind gusts at 22mph, and other notable weather stations, the winds are subsiding and will remain light in the overnight hours. now let's take a look at our wind forecast. we crunched up a bunch of computer models to give you a good flavor, a good idea of what to anticipate. now, as we go into the morning hours. official sun up at 725, we see that the winds become breezy right here and all the way into pacific palisades, but lighter inland. and then during the afternoon, we still see those gusty winds in our inland areas. this is the sylmar fire area right there. so that's not good news for those folks. and then they begin to subside before they ramp back up

in the overnight hours. so because of these conditions, our fire detection still suggests that we do have these embers taking flight with these wind gusts. and they end up in the eaves of buildings and homes. and that's why we have this scenario that is occurring and will continue in the overnight hours. red flag warning still in effect until 6 p.m. friday. in fact, that has been expanded. air quality alert now in effect until 1215 on friday morning. the air quality is just nasty. okay, with that red flag warning. what we're talking about is we're still expecting some strong wind gusts up to 50 and the relative humidity to drop down to 8%. high pressure is still the key component low over there. we're going to explain why this is all occurring. and mike that's coming up in just a few minutes. >> all right roberta, we'll see you soon. thank you. the number of bay area firefighters headed down to southern california continues to grow. the crockett fire department is sending a task force down to help with the

eaton fire. this is th one north of pasadena, and the marin county fire department is also sending mutual aid down to l.a. county. >> marin county has sent reinforcements down to help our brothers and sisters in the los angeles area, with over 40 firefighters responding in two strike teams in various overhead positions to provide that reinforcement that is needed down there. as the winds have not subsided yet and these emergencies continue to unfold. >> all right, so that marin strike team is comprised of novato fire central, marin southern, marin, san rafael, tiburon and skywalker ranch. the marin county division chief reiterating despite the number of resources headed to southern california, marin county fire stations are staffed and ready for any emergencies here in the bay area as well. tonight, many evacuees, heartbroken as they wait for confirmation on whether their homes have been destroyed. many evacuated at the last minute after doing all they thought they could to protect their homes.

>> once we saw the front neighbor's house catch on fire, that's when we decided to leave, and putting water on the house actually worked because only the garage burned down. >> my heart just breaks for all my neighbors who have lost their homes, and i hope their insurance companies pull through and they can move forward and rebuild. >> president biden, alongside governor newsom, went to visit a fire station in santa monica today. the president met with california fire officials, vowing continued support for the state. >> we're prepared for anything and everything as long as it takes to contain these fires and help reconstruct and make sure that we get back to normal. it's going to be a #### of a long way. >> the it's going to take time, but we're in it. >> federal government is here to stay as long as you need us, and everything you need. >> and to stay on top of the developing story, just make sure

you download the fox local app. there you can find around the clock coverage out of southern california, including live updates from officials as well as residents. still to come here at 11, four people found dead inside a home in a senior citizen community in santa rosa. the clues investigators have gathered so far about what may have gone wrong inside. plus, the resignation of former councilman omar torres left that empty seat in district three in san jose. will now the list of people who want the job is growing. also, our wildfire coverage from los angeles county continues after the break. more from this fire in studio city. that started up late

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powering five years of savings. powering possibilities. comcast business. being added to the list of candidates for san jose's district three special election. 13 people have now pulled nomination papers. the seat is empty after councilman omar torres resigned following his arrest on rape charges. the special election to fill the seat will be held april 8th. the council will also appoint an interim member at the end of january, who would then serve until the election is held. five people have applied for that job. the application process ends on friday. authorities in

santa rosa have started a homicide investigation after four bodies were located inside a home. ktvu betty yu has the latest from sonoma county. >> santa rosa police said they were called to a home on monarch court wednesday afternoon when they made the deadly discovery. it's located in a senior citizen community called valley vista. >> an associate of the family living out of state had not heard from anyone in the home for multiple days and requested to check the welfare. >> inside, they found four bodies. police have not released their identities or shared their relationship to each other. authorities said there was no threat to public safety and there are no outstanding suspects. it's unclear how the victims died. >> i did not hear gunshots. a neighbor had said that it was reported they had heard gunshots earlier. >> jerry shapiro lives nearby. >> i've never seen them. i've noticed the police have been out here a couple of times in the last few months to that resident

talking to them for whatever disturbance, maybe. but i've never seen anybody come in or out. >> did you notice anything unusual at the home other than that? >> no. it's just always quiet. it seems empty, you know, like nobody lives there. >> i walk by it all the time. but i've never seen anybody in the yard. >> it's just horrific. i just can't even believe it. it. because for one thing, it's all old people here. >> the donati's were home when police arrived wednesday. >> i saw a police officer carrying a white a white dog and put it in a car. but animal control came back with two trucks and i guess they took a cats and dogs in 2020 for santa rosa. >> only experienced two homicides all year. this is a very safe community, so having a call like this is quite unusual. >> police also said that investigators spoke to neighbors and have been combing the area for any possible clues, including surveillance video. in

santa rosa, betty yu, ktvu, fox two news. >> next at 11 more from the wildfires in southern california, including one that started in just the last couple of hours in studio city. we're going to hear from someone there at the scene of this latest (vo) with fargo, your virtual assistant from wells fargo, you can pick up the tab, even when you forget your wallet. (kaz) i got this. (ben) fargo, send kaz $145 dollars with zelle. (kaz) smooth. (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo.

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contained to that house, as well as some nearby vegetation. firefighters, despite working in some cases here 36 hours straight, say they're still trying to respond to every call they receive for help. >> at this time, it appears to be a total loss. it's unsafe for us to go inside, so we're doing final extinguishment from the outside. >> now, even though it has been deemed a knockdown, i saw a lot of firefighters still working this house. describe what happened. >> so just due to the construction features and the way the house kind of pancaked in on itself, there's lots of areas of the home that were unable to get direct access to, to get final extinguishment. so we're going to be here throughout the night with a reduced profile so we don't impact the community. but our goal is to eventually get a complete knockdown without letting it pick up enough steam where it starts. ember casting into the canyon because we still have the fire weather, which gives it a double hazard of not only the structure, but it getting into the brush as well. >> it was a massive fire. i mean, the entire home burned down. there's nothing left. i

mean, the video they sent me was just just you couldn't even see the house when you got here, where firefighters are already battling this blaze? yes. they got here very quickly. so it took me maybe 20 minutes to get here. by the time i got here, they had the entire fire line set up. the roads were shut down and they had already began putting it out. >> and how is your friend doing? >> they're doing okay. they're doing okay. definitely shaken up. they're 30ft away. so them and their cats. >> and they never left the house. >> they never left. they didn't get a chance to. >> and we should mention we don't know at this point how that specific fire started. but again, it's burning close to the sunset fire in the hollywood hills and wind. roberta. always a problem and can carry those embers quite some distance and time. and it has for miles and a lot of other neighborhoods. that's how fires have started. >> we don't even know the official count of how many fires are burning out of control. i think we counted five. >> some major ones. yeah, but little ones like that, those

aren't counted. >> and then we're picking up scenes like this right here. this is actually a live weather camera. and our technical engineer, she was able to pull this up. bridget did. and this is the scene in the los angeles area right now. and you can see that the air quality is adversely affected by this as well. everybody keeps asking, why is this happening? the best explanation is we have this area of high pressure. it's a huge dome. remember, around the high we have the circulation of the winds and a clockwise fashion. then you have this area of low planted over southern california, nevada and in arizona. and the winds are counterclockwise. so when you have the counterclockwise fashion there and the clockwise fashion here, it causes a big squeeze on things. it's friction. so the winds get ramped up and dry out the atmosphere. the relative humidity drops into the teens. and then you couple that up with los angeles has only seen a third of an inch of rain inland,

but only 3/100 of an inch of rain at the airport. that's 6% of normal for this time of the year. the last time they saw rainfall was 243 days ago, back on may 5th. so we've been graced with saturated soil. they have not red flag warning in effect now all the way through friday night, strong winds will continue. dry air mass. we had some strong winds earlier today. these winds ramped up to 68mph at the mount saint helena area. the winds are calm now across the board, but we'll pick up again offshore northeast, up to 15mph. current air temperature 43, dropping down to 39. in the tri valley 43. san mateo and sunnyvale. cupertino, campbell, all in the santa clara valley at 43 degrees tomorrow. santa rosa, 70 degrees. it was 72 today, dropping to 68 in redwood city today. topped off at 74 degrees.

their average highs in the high 50s. now here's your extended forecast. dry weather each and every day. and mike we do have the saturated soil. the next opportunity for rain appears to be on january 21st about two weeks away. >> all right, roberta, thank you. well, it was a special day and night for san franciscans. mayor daniel lurie was sworn into office today outside city hall. and the mayor celebrated not just this afternoon, but tonight in chinatown with a banquet and night market. ktvu is amber lee spoke with some people who are excited and optimistic about the new leadership. >> a colorful display of chinese culture and artistry, a troupe from lion dance me greeted mayor daniel lurie as he arrived at the historic far east restaurant in chinatown for the inauguration night banquet. he lit 100,000 firecrackers. they are symbols of good luck. >> how are you doing inside? >> i caught up with the new mayor as he went from table to table, greeting members of the

asian community credited with helping him get into office. mayor, will you describe the feeling you have right? >> humbled. humbled and honored. >> the restaurant was filled to capacity. organizers say the theme behind this event is unity. >> it is a historic moment where we are able to bring the many diverse asian american communities together, including the korean american community. >> we have high hopes. he's promised the asian american community with a lot of appointments. >> invited guests included many elected officials, community leaders, and an olympic gold medalist. >> the way he's really embraced the asian american community, it's- [music] been really felt, and i think that's why you see so much support come out for him. >> the public is really disappointed in elected officials, period, and that's why they have been so many changes in so many cities going to work together to get results for the people. >> lurie's message of hope and change resonates with san

franciscans who attended the chinatown night market that is part of the inauguration night celebration. >> i think this event is very cool and very exciting. i did not originally, but i'm excited to see what else he has in store. >> people filled grant avenue in numbers that organizers say they haven't seen at previous chinatown night markets. >> it gives people to really just get out of their shells and come somewhere to celebrate us, san francisco as mayor lurie said, this night is a celebration, but now it's time to roll up his sleeves and get to work. >> from day one in san francisc. chinatown, amber lee, ktvu, fox two news. >> still to come here at 11, a couple in the south bay who bought their home thanks to habitat for humanity, is sharing their personal memories of the late president jimmy carter. t story a ut when

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two memorials tomorrow to honor former president jimmy carter and his wife's decades long work with the organization. ktvu tori gaines spoke with one family in san jose who purchased a home through the program and met president carter back in 2013. >> this may seem like just any door, but it's actually a piece of american history. and for one family here in san jose, it has been a safe place to call home for more than a decade. the smell of freshly roasted ethiopian coffee beans greets every guest in this san jose family's home. >> we have to do like this. yep. oh, yeah. so. yeah. >> true. leo purchased her home through. habitat for humanity in 2013. that year, former president jimmy carter and his wife, rosalynn, rolled up their sleeves and got to work on this very front door. >> american president. and then he just do this. that's his

memory. always. i say this jimmy carter door, did you ever in your life think that you would have an american president, a former american president, fixing your front door? >> no. >> it's impossible. it's impossible. it just got gift, i don't know. >> president carter and his wife were involved with habitat for humanity for over 30 years. the carter work project, founded by the couple, had a hand in helping more than 4000 families find homes in that time. it's been more than ten years since the pair graced this doorstep, but their memory is ever present. >> we have big community or family, everything. we celebrate a lot of stuff in the backyard. it was we were so happy. we have blessed because of jimmy carter. >> now that the housing market is even tougher for most first time buyers. leo encourages other folks like her to apply for habitat for humanity programs. >> they should apply. you don't lose anything. you don't pay anything. >> leo says she is thankful that her family will benefit from the generosity of habitat for

humanity and the carter's for generations. >> him and his wife, they don't care about money. they don't care about everything. they just. they are here for people in san jose. >> tori gaines, ktvu, fox two news. >> and tomorrow morning, president jimmy carter's funeral will be held at the national cathedral in washington. all five living u.s. presidents are expected to attend the service. coming together for the first time since george h.w. bush's death in 2018. after the funeral, carter's family will fly with his casket back to georgia. and that's it for the 11:00 news. our next newscast. mornings on two, starting at yeah. welcome, everyone. to like it or not, you recognize that music? you know the show. it's where we talk about the things that you're talking about. no news topics here, though. but i do have some news. friends to say hello to. and a