by to surprise me. either way. either way, it's fun. yeah. okay. hopefully we will have better news tomorrow. and level. the growing destruction from the l.a. county firestorm begins to come into focus. some families assess all the damage. >> it's a spectacularly beautiful area, but it's so vulnerable. and i think now we're getting to experience just how vulnerable and brutal it can be to early estimate ktvu. [music] >> fox two news this is the four. >> early estimates of the homes and structures lost are staggering. today firefighters are working around the clock trying to make any progress on this explosive fire and dangerous conditions in southern california. the wind remains a major concern as well. several fires continue to burn, including a new one. welcome to the for everyone. i'm frank

mallicoat. >> and i'm alex savage. authorities just gave us an update this afternoon. the l.a. county sheriff said that he has asked for assistance from the california national guard. the sheriff also said the number of confirmed deaths is five. but he went on to say that number is expected to grow as they begin to sift through the rubble. the sheriff also said this afternoon that he is working on implementing a curfew that would be in place in those two fire zones in pacific palisades and also in the altadena area. that curfew would be in effect between 6:00 at night and 6:00 in the morning, and it could start as early as tonight. >> and again. several fires are burning right nown southern california. the two largest are the palisadesire near the coast, and the eaton fire. at last check, the two fires have burned nearly 28,000 acres. and we're also following another fire. this is in woodland hills. it's called the kenneth fire near calabasas on the la ventura border. this just cropped up in the last hour or so, not far

from highway 101. >> and obviously, the last thing that southern california needs another wildfire threatening homes there. and we do believe evacuations underway will continue following that fire that has broken out there in the san fernando valley, the calabasas area. in the meantime, let's bring in ktvu. greg lee, following the latest on all of these destructive fires. and we're getting a sense now of sort of the scope of the devastation and the kenneth fire, a reminder that these dangerous conditions still persist amid the firefight with all these others. >> the damage from these fires is simply hard to fathom. entire blocks of homes have been wiped out. firefighters hope to make some progress today with a short break in the winds, but conditions remain dangerous and officials are urging people to remain vigilant as the loss begins to set in. >> i would venture to say probably 500, maybe more homes out there. >> the view from above shows the scope of the devastation from just one of the fires burning in los angeles county. entire neighborhoods in the pacific palisades reduced to ash and rubble. >> i've lived here almost over

60 years, and the entire time i've been here, it looked apocalyptic to the east, some people returning home to see what's left after the eaton fire roared through altadena, carlos combing through the debris of his house, hoping to find a small piece of normalcy for his young daughter. >> my daughter had a little jewelry box that she got over christmas that she really loved and filled it with all her jewels, jewelry, and so i thought maybe i could find some of that because i know where it would be. it would be underneath this ash. >> our home is nothing there but but the chimney, you know, it's a and so many others, all our neighbors and everybody. >> the memories a relentless and deadly firestorm continues to ravage l.a. county, destroying or damaging thousands of structures. at least 180,000 people under evacuation orders. the two largest blazes, the eaton fire in pasadena and altadena, and the palisades fire, which continues to scorch areas between santa monica and malibu. >> it is safe to say that the palisades fire is one of the

most destructive natural disasters in the history of los angeles. >> firefighters have been able to stop significant growth of the eaton fire. authorities are not certain of the death toll. they initially said five lives were lost. the la sheriff expects that number to grow. >> at one point, we'll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas. some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them, where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us. >> the aerial attack resumed, dropping much needed water and retardant on the flames. fire crews from around the country getting a break from the extreme winds of the last few days, but gusts are expected to strengthen again. >> i want to be very clear here as well. we are still under red flag warning. >> crews are battling other blazes, including the hurst fire in sylmar and the sunset fire, which broke out wednesday night in the hollywood hills, triggering immediate evacuation orders that have since been lifted. >> we are adapting to conditions on the ground in real time. this

is absolutely an unprecedented historic firestorm, but we are all hands on deck. >> these fires also prompting the closure of schools across l.a. county. there are gas and power outages, as well as concerns for the smoky air and polluted water in the area. the l.a. sheriff said 20 people have been arrested so far on suspicion of looting from some of those evacuated areas, prompting that impending curfew and requested support from the national guard. now, the cause of all of these fires all remain under investigation tonight. >> all right, greg lee. we'll have more at 5:00. thank you. greg. all right. >> well, today, president biden held a briefing at the white house where he promised the federal government would cover 100% of the cost for those southern california fires. and the response over the next 180 days is going to pay for things like debris and hazard material removal, temporary shelters, first responders, salaries, and all necessary measures to

protect life and property. >> and folks, i want to underscore, i told the governor and local officials, spare no expense to do what they need to do and contain these fires and in their communities that are really been devastated. >> today's briefing comes one day after the president was in southern california and issued a major disaster declaration. all right. let's talk about the winds in southern california and bring in meteorologist mark tamayo. mark. >> hi there. alex. yeah, we have not seen a big time shift in the weather pattern. and as a result, the fires. no big shift in in the overall containment here. you can take a look at the satellite. we're showing you the two fires, the satellite picking up the smoke plumes here. and that is the palisades fire. and look at all that smoke being produced by the eaton fire. you can see moving out into the pacific now, in terms of the headlines with with the fire danger, the red flag warning continues. that's in place until 6 p.m. friday. and i will say beyond 6 p.m. friday, we will still have elevated fire danger. and there's the chance we could have more red flag warnings into

the weekend or next week. a high wind warning for the mountains of southern california begins at 6:00 tonight until 2 p.m. friday, and a wind advisory is in place until 2 p.m. friday. take a look at the map with the high wind warnings. that's the areas that are showing up in red here. we are expecting winds over 50 miles an hour, and possibly the highest peaks could be approaching 70 miles an hour, and then lots of areas under a wind advisory with winds approaching 40 to 50 miles an hour. so this is a big challenge already for the fire crews with the existing fires. and also unfortunately, with the pattern setting up, we could have new fire starts now. checking out the current conditions around the palisades fire. temperatures in the upper 60s. thankfully the winds right now are not too bad around six miles an hour. but as we showed you, the winds expected to pick up later on tonight and into tomorrow morning. this is the eaton fire right now. winds gusting to ten miles an hour. but i will say the fire has kind of been growing into the into these hillsides here. and as a result, we have stronger winds the higher you go up in elevation.

so here's the forecast model. put it into motion. you can see what happens into tomorrow late tonight into tomorrow morning. and those winds do pick up. this is 4:00 tomorrow morning. winds could be gusting around 25 to 32 miles an hour roughly in these fire zones. and relative humidity is still low as well. as we head into the friday forecast, once again, the red flag warning continues for tonight, right on through 6 p.m. on friday, and some of this smoke could be approaching the bay area as well. we'll talk more about that coming up with your full forecast in a few minutes. >> all right mark, we'll see you in a bit. thank you for that. besides the powerful and in some cases hurricane force winds this week, the other big issue is the extreme drought conditions down in southern california. the greater los angeles area has been bone dry for the last nine months. la received a quarter inch of rain last april and nothing since. not a drop which has turned the coastal mountains and the valleys there into a tinderbox and the perfect target for a firestorm. all right. >> joining us now for more perspective on that is professor

noah diffenbaugh at stanford university's school of sustainability. professor, thank you for the time. we appreciate it. what were the key factors that came together here and caused these fires in southern california to be so intense and so destructive? >> well, clearly, you know, these really strong winds, you can think about that as the home run, to use a baseball analogy. but, you know, we know that, you know, the extremely dry conditions really put runners on base. right. we've had very little precipitation to the start of the season in southern california, very warm conditions in the fall, drying out vegetation, creating very, you know, flammable conditions. and then these very strong winds happening in an area where we have a highly populated, you know, wildland urban interface, lots of opportunities for ignition over very dry landscape when those really strong winds blew. yeah. >> professor, can you give us a

little more insight on the wind itself? the santa ana winds happen in colder months. that's a given. how how have these been different the past week? >> well, you know, these were really strong winds, you know, likely the strongest in in at least a decade. and you know, it is it is january now, you know. so these winds are a are a normal feature of, of the regional climate. you know, the real question for the fire risk is, you know, what have been the conditions that have come before. and in this case, we've had, you know, a couple of pretty wet years that's led to a lot of vegetation growth. and then, you know, record hot summer, really warm fall conditions, almost no precipitation at all. and you put all that together. and then when you get this, this really strong windstorm, you know, it's a really high risk fire situation. that was clearly the forecast in advance. and, you know, tragically, that forecast has come to pass.

>> according to one analysis, i was reading, the southwestern united states is in the middle of the driest 22 year period in the last 1200 years. when you think about that, how much of that do we believe is because of human caused climate change for these persistent drought conditions we're seeing in, especially in california? >> well, we have clear evidence at this point that, you know, global warming is increasing the risk of severe drought here in california. we have clear evidence that that long term drought has been intensified, made more likely by global warming. but we also know and actually even research that, that i and others have have been involved in and coincidentally, coincidentally, has just been published today. we also know that global warming is increasing the frequency of these swings between dry to wet and wet to dry conditions. and you know, what we've seen here in california in the last decade has really been typical of that.

we had a historic drought, you know, 2012 to 2016 or so. then we got really wet conditions that that ended that drought. then we got another historic drought, another record breaking drought after that. and then you may recall, you know, a couple of winters ago where we had just this, you know, really severe sequence of atmospheric rivers that caused a lot of flooding, breaking that drought. now here, you know, this year, southern california has been again in in really severe dry conditions with a delayed onset of the of the rainy season that's come with, you know, really, really warm conditions as well. and again, you know, that that combination, those rapid swings between wet and dry and dry and wet is really kind of, you know, elevating the risk that, that when we do get a strong wind event, when we do get ignitions, we just have because of global warming, we have an elevated likelihood that all those ingredients come together. and that's that doesn't mean that global warming contributed to all of it, but it does mean that

the risks have been elevated, sadly. >> i mean, is this something we better get used to? i grew up in california 30, 40 years ago. i don't remember anything like this where fires would just destroy complete cities. >> yeah. at this point we have, you know, really high confidence that not only are these changes that are already occurring, but that we can expect further intensification as global warming happens in the future. you know, the more global warming we get, the greater the risks will be. and, you know, if you know the various goals that exist to curb global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, if those are successful, that'll that'll help to curb the risk. but we're also going to be left with more climate change than we've had so far. so, you know, this is you know, all the evidence indicates that this is really an indicator of what we can expect to intensify in the coming decades. yeah. >> feels like our new reality. i

really appreciate the perspective this afternoon that is stanford university's professor of at the school of sustainability, noah diffenbaugh. thank you so much for the time and the insight. appreciate it. >> yeah. my pleasure. >> all right. to stay on top of the wildfires burning in southern california, you can download the fox local app. that's where you can find our around the clock coverage coming from southern california, including the latest updates from fire officials and the stories of residents affected by those fires. >> coming up, the l.a. mayor, facing some criticism for her response to these fires, her response to those questions, and why funding was cut to the city's fire department coming up. [music] >> also coming up this afternoon, many people asking how these fires will affect their insurance policies. we'll hear from state insurance leaders after

fires. that support includes helping people who lost their jobs, such as businesses that were destroyed. the executive order eliminates a one week waiting period for unemployment insurance applicants. it also suspends driver's license and vehicle registration fees in the case of identification cards and registration certificates being destroyed in fires. other provisions include suspending environmental rules to expedite the removal and cleanup of fire debris, and waiving certain medical licensing requirements in order to keep all hospitals and clinics open. >> los angeles mayor karen bass is receiving some criticism for the handling of the wildfires. >> do you regret cutting the fire department budget by millions of dollars, madam mayor, have you nothing to say today? have you absolutely nothing to say to the citizens today? >> a reporter caught up with bass at lax yesterday. she was on her way home from a diplomatic trip to ghana. she

left for ghana on saturday when the u.s. weather service began issuing warnings about the windstorms that fueled those deadly wildfires. today, bass was asked about the impact of a $17 million budget cut to the l.a. fire department. >> there were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days. >> bass said that she is frustrated that many of the fire hydrants ran dry because the palisades water storage tanks couldn't be filled fast enough during the fire fight. yesterday, she said that the demand was so great because air tankers and helicopters had to be grounded due to weather. >> the devastation from the l.a. county wildfires is raising new questions for all californians about the challenges of getting affordable fire insurance coverage in the future. ktvu jana katsuyama joining us live now with more on what she's learned and how we all could be affected. jana. >> alex. today i spoke with the california department of

insurance. commissioner ricardo lara is in southern california now, and lara says that he'll issue a moratorium to prevent homeowners there from having their insurance canceled due to the wildfires for one year. that's similar to what happened here in northern california with our fires in the past. the l.a. fires come just as some insurance companies, such as mercury, announced this week that they plan to return to issuing policies in areas of northern california, such as paradise, that had been devastated by fires and abandoned by many insurers. the state had negotiated new rules with insurance companies. the department of insurance says the la fires will not impact those new rules, allowing insurance companies to use new tools to better assess fire risk as they set their premium prices and coverage. >> california has been the only state requiring insurance companies to use backward looking historical data when they look at their future rates. and so that's the change. insurance companies are going to be able to use forward looking, what we call catastrophe models.

and those models have to use incorporate the billions that are being spent on wildfire safety. so as we make ourselves safer, we're going to see that reflected in rates that didn't happen before. >> the department of insurance says more than 8.5 million homes have insurance. right now, the average premium is about $1,400, just $8 under the national average. still, the insurance crisis in california has meant uncertainty, of course, for people in wildfire areas who have struggled to get coverage or affordable prices. some have had to turn to the state's fair insurance as a last resort. and due to california's law, prop 103 insurers need to justify any rate increases, which can take months for approval. so, alex, there's no official dollar amount for the la wildfire damages right now. but the initial estimates by some experts put it at 20 to $50 billion for insurers. so trying to find ways to cover those costs, plus continue writing policies in these high risk areas is going to be a challenge that the state and these

companies will need to negotiate so that consumers can really find some coverage. >> yeah, certainly this disaster in southern california will complicate the ongoing home insurance crisis across california. jana, thank you for that update. we appreciate it. the state department of insurance has some tips for consumers. when they file fire claims. they recommend that people make copies of their insurance policies, along with a photo or video inventory of their possessions. residents should check with their insurance agent to confirm coverages and limits, including their renters policies. they say people should hold on to any receipts as well, and document any conversations with their insurance company, including the dates and times. >> strong winds in southern california are affecting farm workers in that part of our state. a video posted to instagram shows high winds carrying debris into the air. earlier this year, a study found farm workers and others who have to do work outside pay a heavy price when fires break out and they're exposed to high levels of pollution. a new bill took

effect in california on january 1st that allows agricultural workers to use paid sick leave so they can avoid smoke, heat or flooding, all created by an emergency. >> obviously, a lot of focus on the weather conditions in southern california, but we want to shift our attention back here to the bay area and the weather is beautiful. this is a live look at the golden gate bridge here. clear skies and you can see here sunny skies and relatively warm conditions. today. let's bring in meteorologist mark tamayo, who is tracking the conditions as we head toward the weekend. mark. hi, alex. >> yeah, another warm day. in fact, a few neighborhoods feel strange to say this. close to 80 degrees this afternoon. so, yeah, temperatures have been trending up across a good portion of the bay area. take a look at some of the highs from this afternoon. santa rosa, that's the sonoma county airport 79 degrees so far with a preliminary high of saint helena 78. novato 72. and some low 70s for gilroy sonoma, walnut creek and in santa clara. now, we have been talking, of course, about the fires in southern

california. and as far as the smoke forecast model, look what happens as we do put this into motion into thursday. a change in the wind flow could actually bring some of that smoke up the coastline. looks like the bulk of it could be maybe to the south of monterey bay. but if you look to the south tomorrow, there's the chance you could see some haze in some of the bay area skies, but it looks like the concentrated smoke just to the south of the bay area. but smoke forecasting is a very tricky thing to do, so it could always change, but just depends on the wind flow. but that's what we are expecting for tomorrow. palisades fire the winds thankfully have backed off this afternoon, but they are expected to increase later on tonight into early tomorrow morning. same story out toward the eaton fire as well and the relative humidity. it is so dry in southern california down in the single digits. here is the satellite. we've also traced in the upper level winds on this map. here you can see the jet stream is going way up to our north, so no clouds for us. we have a dry weather pattern in place here in the bay area, and the winds are picking up off and

on across parts of the region. fairfield right now a northerly breeze at about ten miles per hour. out toward sfo, winds at about five and san jose a northwest breeze at 12 miles an hour. a warm afternoon current numbers ranging from the upper 50s to the 60s all the way to the mid 70s up in santa rosa. here's our live camera looking out above san francisco. completely clear and lots of sunshine out there for your thursday afternoon. a cool start tomorrow morning. mostly clear skies. temperatures will be in the 30s to the 40s into the weekend. it remains dry, but we could be talking about another strong wind event. at least the winds pick up into portions of the weekend. we'll have more on that coming up with your forecast update in a few minutes. >> all right, mark, see you in a bit. thank you for that. the nation's saying goodbye to president jimmy carter today. an emotional farewell to our 39th president with two unlikely eulogies. more o his ser ce wh

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georgia, where he was born. earlier today, he was honored with a state funeral at the washington national cathedral. all five of our living presidents were there to pay their respects. president joe biden delivered the eulogy and remembered carter as a humble man of deep faith. colleagues and family also honored the former president's legacy of selfless leadership and service. >> i miss him, but i take solace in knowing that his beloved

rosalynn are reunited again. president carter put politics at the oval office door to do what he believed was the right thing. >> sons of president ford and vice president mondale also delivered remarks written by their fathers years ago. president carter, a former naval officer, engineer and peanut farmer, died at the age of 100. after the funeral, he was honored at the baptist church where he taught sunday school. ever since leaving the white house back in 1981. >> here in the bay area, people gathered to honor the late president at two memorials organized by habitat for humanity. one of them was held at san jose city hall. the other at oakland city hall. the events were part of a worldwide effort by habitat. the nonprofit put up memorial doors for mourners to sign. organizers said it symbolized how the late president's work opened doors for thousands of habitat homeowners in 2013. the jimmy and rosalynn carter work project

brought the couple here to the bay area for community building projects in east oakland, as well as san jose. >> the supreme court has denied president elect trump's upcoming sentencing in his criminal trial in new york city, his sentencing scheduled for tomorrow. that means president elect has exhausted all appeals to prevent a sentencing. trump's attorney says the case is politically motivated and the sentencing threatens to disrupt the transition of power. judge in the case did not indicate that president elect trump would receive jail time. the inauguration is scheduled on january the 20th, and president biden's title nine rules have been overturned. a federal judge in kentucky today said they overstepped the president's authority. the biden administration finalized the rules last year. regulation expanded title nine, a 1972 law forbidding discrimination based on sex in education, to also prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual

orientation. it was meant to help protect transgender students. the rule had already been halted in 26 states after a slew of legal challenges. federal judge in kentucky said the regulations were fatally tainted by legal shortcomings. still to come, brace yourself for the car of the future. we're going to take you to the consumer electronics show in las vegas. with all the changes coming to the auto industry. [music]

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advances are on display this week at ces, continues in las vegas, and this year, many automakers are showcasing their latest concept cars, some that drive themselves and some that even fly. cars of the future have futuristic infotainment systems powered by artificial intelligence. >> of course, a big theme at this year's ces. joining us now from las vegas is katie o'grady, a communications specialist with ces. katie, it's good to see you. thank you for the time. all right. let's let's talk about what the car of the future is going to sort of look and feel like when you're behind the wheel or inside of it. we're talking about everything from holographic windshield displays to ai powered voice assistants. what are some of the new features that we will be seeing in cars down the road? >> well, thank you for having me. i'm so happy to be here at ces. i'm right here. behind me is west hall, home of our mobility and vehicle tech. so when you ask what's the what's going to be different for people behind the wheel? what might be

different is they might not be behind the wheel. they might there might not be anyone behind the wheel. that's one of the bigger trends that we're seeing across the show floor is autonomous driving. that's going to save a lot of lives. we're going to see a lot less car accidents due to drunk drivers, due to otherwise impaired drivers. so that is a really exciting change that we're seeing across the show floor. of course, those holographic windows, i mean, you're hearing about those flying cars. that is no longer a thing of the future that's here now. of course, i'm not seeing anything flying across right now, luckily, but it's pretty cool to see everything that we've got here. we've got we've got everything from helicopters to cars to helicopters on cars. we've got a little bit of everything here. >> well, these are all concept cars, but we're looking at video of a van going with a, i guess like a helicopter gets out of it and off it goes. i mean, how far away are we? >> yeah. >> i mean, we're not too far at all. what you're seeing on the

show floor is in development right now. we've seen a lot of really cool announcements from brands like toyota, toyota, brunswick. we've got all kinds of mobility tech across the show floor. so it's really not very far at all. i don't think that you'll be seeing anything on the highways anytime soon. nothing like a flying car or a helicopter coming out of a car. that would be quite distracting on our our morning commutes, but it's not too far away. >> not too far away. all right. we already obviously see a lot of self-driving cars. you know, you head around the streets of san francisco, lots of waymo cars driving themselves around the city. and i know that this year at ces, automakers really are leaning into autonomous vehicles and autonomous driving features. what kind of advancements are being rolled out this year? >> i mean, we saw last night. to cage to chedra malaccana, the co-ceo of waymo, spoke at one of our dinners, and it was really incredible to see what she

thinks the future of autonomous driving looks like. she's so smart, she's so good. but mostly just what you kind of see already, already on the streets. and then on top of that, advanced sensors, advanced cameras that are making sure that folks stay safe while they're in those autonomous vehicles. >> all right, katie o'grady, we're out of time. so much to cover, but i bet you're having a ball down there. thanks for your insight. >> i really am. >> we can tell. all right. thank you. katie. take care. >> thank you. >> all right. help from across the west coast is arriving in southern california now. agencies from here in the bay area are among those sending hundreds of firefighters. ktvu james torres has more strike teams from the north, east, south and peninsula of the bay area are now starting their first days on the job in southern california. >> they arrived late last night and after talking to the strike team leader, they were told to bed down for the evening because today they're going to be

relieving. crews have been on the line for quite a bit of time. >> san francisco sent a total of 31 fire personnel to respond to the palisades and eaton fires. that's as much as it can send without compromising the safety of the city. >> the problem becomes, do we don't have enough fire engines to send without protecting the people here in town? >> from san francisco to oakland and parts of the east bay to san jose and parts of the south bay, to santa rosa and parts of the north bay. 65 firefighters are in l.a. from santa rosa and sonoma. >> we have common terminology. we use the same incident command system, and it allows us to plug those resources into the needs quickly and efficiently, and everybody works on the same game plan together. it's the same reason that we saw an image yesterday of one of our santa rosa fire engines working in palisades with an la city ladder truck and a hermosa beach fire engine. >> crews in the south are equipped well with aerial equipment like helicopters and

planes. but what the bay area crews offer are type three engines, four wheel vehicles with unique capabilities. >> those are able to go off road. they're able to pump water and move at the same time where your type one fire engines, which are more of the standard residential fire engines you see out there in your neighborhoods, aren't able to move and pump water at the same time or have the four wheel drive capabilities. >> more than 7500 firefighters are working together to eliminate the threat. there's no word on how long these strike teams will be away from home, but the mutual aid agreement asks that they commit for up to two weeks if necessary. reporting in san francisco. i'm james torres, ktvu, fox two news. >> and bay area weather. another warm day out there for us. lots of 60s, even some 70s and a few neighborhoods inching closer to 80 degrees. we'll h more o

from los angeles. he's tracking the palisades fire. tom, what's the latest you're hearing from people out there on the ground? and can you put into words the scope of what you've seen in the last 24 hours? >> well, you know, it's really interesting. there are two really major components to this. one is the lost homes, lost

businesses component. that's going to be billions of dollars. but i want you to take a look back here. this is the other component. and a lot of people don't think about this. but this is called infrastructure. this is a single utility pole in a community. and there are several others that are going to have to be replaced. all of them are going to have to be inspected since they all were bathed in fire. all of their connections, all of their tops, will have to be inspected. just in this little neighborhood. we drove around the palisades. we drove up over mulholland, we drove into other places, and there are literally tens of thousands of utility issues that have to be addressed on this fire. and the other ones down here in los angeles county. now, take a look over here. you see a lot of trees. some of those are privately owned. some of those are publicly owned. all of them are a form of community infrastructure. many of them are going to have to be removed. that's going to take time to do. if you pan across, you see all of this stuff that has to be cleaned up. we know how long that takes from the other fires,

but i want to show you a remarkable thing about infrastructure if you do it the right way. you see this house, this house, every house around it, within this block, and several others. every house burned except this house, which was built specifically, explicitly to resist fire. it's built of different materials. a lot of research and study went into this. and somehow, despite the extreme temperatures and the extreme winds and everything else that was extreme, this house survived intact. it's not burned in the back or the front or anything else. when this neighborhood is rebuilt and paradise is rebuilt and santa rosa and all of these other places, the latest technologies have to be employed because the danger with not employing them is that the risk is higher. and if you have higher risk, guess what? you have less insurance. and that is the other problem. this fire and series of fires here in the palisades and the l.a. county is probably the high water mark of doubt about

insurance and how it's going to survive and the fundamental change in it. and the reason for that is simply this the insurance commissioner was making a deal with the insurance companies to encourage them to come back in and sell insurance. nobody expected this. this is the wildest of wild cards, and my guess is that a lot of those suggestions, and a lot of those deals may be put on the table until they figure this out, because we're not talking about anything small here. the infrastructure alone, the public infrastructure is going to be massive. and the number of homes, god only knows how many homes have really been destroyed or damaged, and how many of them are going to be insured with enough insurance to actually replace them. this is a years long process, as we've seen in paradise, as we've seen in santa rosa. and the problem for this community is that, yes, there are a lot of reasonably wealthy people here who can spring back. but the question is, are they going to spring back here, or is this going to become like so many other communities where people just leave and then it takes years and years to replace

it? all of these things are on the table. but the biggest thing that's on the table from all of this is this massive loss, which is extraordinarily massive, is going to change fundamentally what insurance is in california and very likely the united states. back to you. >> all right, tom, some very sobering facts indeed. and stay safe out there. nice work. we appreciate your time. all right. if you would like to help, you can join fox support of families impacted by the southern california wildfires. your donation enables the red cross to respond to and help people recover from the disaster. visit. go, fox. slash red cross to support these efforts, or you can simply scan the qr code and that will take you right there. >> well, across the southern u.s, bitter cold is sweeping from texas all the way into virginia and the carolinas. winter storm advisories and warnings are in effect throughout much of the south. here's a look at the snow that's coming down in frisco, texas, just outside of dallas. schools have been closed in many parts

of the south, and hundreds of flights were canceled in dallas today. people in the city were stocking up to ride out the cold weather just got like some comfort food. >> some like things that i can cook in a crock pot that are like, warm. >> and, you know, homey, if you do get out on the road. drive safely. if you don't need to, be out on the road. if you're one of the parts of the state that's going to have icy roads, stay home for the next day or so. >> some parts of texas, oklahoma and arkansas bracing for as much as seven inches of snow. wow. >> quite a different story back here at home. a live look now at the oakland estuary. the sun is still shining. and we're looking south from jack london square there. and what really was a perfect winter day. we popped a number of 70s nearly hit 80 degrees up in santa rosa. let's go to mark tamayo now and get a look at our forecast on what was just a great day here. >> yeah, lots of sunshine here in the bay area, frank. and a

little bit of a drop off in those numbers as we do head into your friday. so some cooling in our short term forecast. and of course, we continue to keep an eye on the conditions in southern california where they continue to have a red flag fire warning in place until 6:00 tomorrow. so until 6 p.m. friday. but i will say fire danger is elevated into the weekend and into next week, and i would not be surprised to see more red flag warnings down the road. high wind warning begins for the mountains 6:00 today until 2 p.m. friday, and a wind advisory is in place until 2 p.m. on friday. so here's that dry weather stretch over a good portion of the west coast here, at least for northern northern california. last rainfall was three third. we are up to six days and this will be tacking on quite a few more days. in fact, you can see the forecast models do put it into motion. this is the long range forecast model. and as you can see here a lot of zeros on this map. we're just taking this into thursday january 16th. maybe some rain up along the north coast of california. but a bunch of zeros for the bay area and a bunch of

zeros for southern california as well. here is the satellite and also traced in the upper level wind pattern, the jet stream. you can see that that pattern, you see a sharp ridge here and that deep trough here. and that's kind of linked up or part of the weather pattern producing those strong winds to our south as we check out our current winds out there. right now, we do have a fairfield at about ten miles an hour out toward oakland, winds at about eight miles per hour. so a bit of a breeze in a few spots today, but at least these numbers are not too bad. half moon bay winds gusting to 12mph. a warm afternoon, lots of 60s on this map right now. and santa rosa right now. checking in at 76 degrees. a warm afternoon up in the north bay. here is our live camera, showing you what clear skies and the setting sun for your thursday evening. we'll continue to hold on to mostly clear skies. maybe some patchy fog first thing tomorrow morning. and temperatures to start off your friday morning in the 30s and the 40s. so a bit of a chill in the air. so a little bit cooler for your friday as this system wants to move over this area of high pressure. so

we'll trim the temperatures back a few degrees for tomorrow. but this will not bring us any rainfall. in fact, eventually this system we call it an inside slider. it's kind of cruise to the east of california, and that will probably lead to some stronger winds once again in southern california. highs for tomorrow will be in the 60s, so not as warm as today, but still a nice day. mostly sunny skies, mild conditions. and here is a look ahead. your five day forecast. maybe some patchy fog first thing saturday morning. and then let's keep an eye on some winds approaching northern california into the weekend. maybe some gusty winds near 20 to maybe 25 miles an hour. we could be talking about some stronger winds into early next week, but once again, a bunch of sunny symbols here. no rain clouds on this five day forecast. our dry weather pattern will continue into next week. >> mark thank you. much more news to come here on the four this afternoon. but first let's check on the roads around the bay area and a live look here at the bay bridge toll plaza during the middle of the thursday afternoon commute. and if you're trying to head from the east bay

into the city, it looks like you should b okay right now

experience the sweeping drama of manon, where opulence brings consequence in a lavish world of love and betrayal. ♪ tickets at sfballet.org deadly double shooting in the east bay. back on december the 20th, police in oakland were called to a shooting at a home on fairmont avenue near garland avenue, north of lake merritt. once on the scene, officers found two men who had been shot in the back and killed. police have now identified the victims as 46 year old jason willis and

48 year old nathaniel willis. detectives say the two were brothers who got into a fight over a child custody exchange. no arrests have been made, and the oakland police commission is set to discuss the department's pursuant policy at its meeting tomorrow. this comes as governor newsom is urging the city to expand the circumstance under which officers are allowed to chase suspects, which includes property crimes. currently, police are only allowed to pursue if there's a reasonable suspicion that a person committed a violent crime or possesses a gun. >> walgreens is shutting down 12 stores in san francisco at the end of next month. walgreens has said these closures are due to increased regulatory and reimbursement costs. the locations that are closing include the stores on taraval street, market street, geary boulevard, polk street and others. walgreens announced last year that it would be shutting down 1200 stores nationwide over

the next several years. >> ktvu news at 4:00 c (humming) behold! a glorious round table pepperoni pizz... huh? ah. huh. well, behold the pepperoni and grilled chicken...? what the? (clears throat) behold, the pepperoni, grilled chicken and bacon pizza from round table! three magnificent toppings grilled chicken, pepperoni, and sizzling bacon. try it at round table pizza! merlin!

grant to help improve its operations. the agency secured a $25 million grant. today to upgrade its train control system with cutting edge technology. the transit agency says the

money will be used to fully fund the train control. modernization program in the south alameda corridor. >> all this encompasses five stations at hayward. south hayward, union city, fremont, and the warm springs. south fremont station. >> all right. the pacific palisades area of los angeles has been devastated by fire. as we've shown you today, with many businesses destroyed in the heart of that community. >> fox l.a. reporter gigi graciette shows us what happened in one block of sunset boulevard. >> there is so much loss. melvin and jen here. big businesses, small businesses. let's start with this casa nostra trattoria. we're on the 15,300 block of sunset boulevard here. this is such a popular italian restaurant. if you live in the palisades, even if you don't and you like italian food, you have probably eaten here at one time or another. they have a beautiful or had a beautiful patio. it is all gone. you can actually see if i'm sorry. photographer tony buttitta if you pan to the left and you can sort of see all the way there.

that's actually starbucks or that was starbucks that's on the corner there. starbucks is gone. a lady just actually walked up for us. she's not a local. she was looking for the starbucks, hoping it was open. she didn't even know where it was. she couldn't see it because it has been destroyed. let's walk up the street. we don't know if this is part of the restaurant. i honestly, i've been here. i've eaten here, i don't remember, but this is destroyed. i want to show you what once was bank of america. this is just all mangled metal. now, there may have been another business here. unclear. no signs. everything has just been destroyed. take a look at the bank of america atms. they have basically just melted when we assume with all the money inside. but they're gone. and then we walk towards the main branch doors here again on the 15,300 block of sunset boulevard. and look inside. everything is gone. and one of the questions i had for my

photographer asked him if he knew what happens to the safe. i mean, we're always told to put our valuables, our treasures, in the safe. what happens when a bank burns to the ground? does the safe remain standing, or is the heat simply too intense and everything inside is destroyed? melvin, you mentioned very important mom and pop businesses. take a look. we're going to cross the street in our next live shot. but all of those businesses that you see destroyed, those are small shops, family owned. we're talking about a hair salon, a nail salon, a gymnastics studio, palisades flowers, they are all gone. those are all small businesses. how they will survive this? well, that remains to be seen. >> next at five. devastation in the daylight. this is heartbreak. >> yeah, we were supposed to have a wedding here. actually. monday. >> scorched landscapes and charred structures are all that

remain as wildfires fueled by high winds and record low humidity continue to burn out of control. >> i don't even know what to tell you. we're just still doesn't even feel real yet. >> tonight, firefighters battling to gain the upper hand as president biden promises the full support of the federal government. >> we are with you. >> we're not going anywhere. [music] >> ktvu fox two news at five starts now. >> good evening. i'm cristina rendon. it is day three of the horrific wildfires in southern california communities from the pacific coast to pasadena have been reduced to rubble. and this fight is far from over. right now, we are following even more breaking news. another wildfire has broken out in the calabasas and hidden hills area. this is a live picture from our sister station in los angeles. cal fire is calling this new fire the kenneth fire. so far, it has burned 50 acres and is triggering sal