wildfire. we'll show you the damage the beulah hill fire is doing this morning. tonight is the vice presidential candidates one and only chance- to make a big statement in a head to head matchup. we'll show you what to expect in the national debate. and- clo are spreading in more than a dozen states... but the scary clowns aren't the only concern. what funny clowns have to say about the scare. good morning- welcome to 9news at 5. crey, cheryl and gary with you. meteorologist belen deleon joins us. belen- the temperature drop for the rest of this

a wildfire is burning thousands

southern colorado, this morning. and firefighters are having a hard time getting ahold of it. 9news reporter tarhonda thomas is

gary, that's exactly how firefighters are describing this fire. here are some images from our "sister station"-- koaa in colorado springs. the flames have burned three- thousand acres... ...and they're still going. it's so bad-- the pueblo county sheriff has recommended the evacuation of the entire beulah valley. here's a look at a map of that area. the valley is just southwest of the city of pueblo. the red is the evacuation area. the yellow is the pre-evacuation area... ...and it's gotten past few hours. this fire "kicked up" at around one o'clock, yesterday. we don't know what sparked it. it didn't taken long, though, for the flames to spread. high winds pushed it on, yesterday. some of the people who were forced from their homes have been sheltered at the state fairgrounds in pueblo... ...others have gone to a local middle school. seven structures have "burned down" -- so far-- in this fire here's the good

sheriff expected higher humidity and cooler temperatures to help firefighters overnight. we're waiting on word of whether that actually happened. if so-- it may have helped them get some containment on this fire . let's hope so, cheryl. despite the loads of emergency crews and vehicles you'll see at the northern colorado regional airport today... everything is likely alright. they are practicing for a scenario they hope will never happen: a plane crash six different agencies will be part of the drill. it starts at 9 and will last about two hours. while the headliners duke it out on the campaign trail and eventually in two more national debates... the vice presidential candidates are getting ready for their one and only chance to face off. 9news reporter jessica oh is here this morning- tracking what both sides are doing ahead of tonight's debate. both tim kaine and mike pence have been in intense debate preps this week -- for the one

highly anticipated moment in both of their political careers so far. today, not only are the candidates tasked with proving they are the best person for the job -- they will also have to defend their running mate. that is especially critical this time around -- with so much focus and uncertainty surrounding the presidential election. for indiana governor mike pence, the biggest challenge may be defending trump's more controvesial comments. trump's taxes and alicia machado -- likely to come up during this debate. virginia senator tim kaine has hato especially over the email scandal. on the campain trail, he has consistently made a case against trump by bringing up issues, like his temperment. the debate will give him a bigger platform to reinforce that message. the 90 minute debate is tonight at 7 from longwood university in virginia. each candidate will have 2 minutes to respond. if you're wondering about the third party vice presidential candidates, they will not be on the

democratic vice presidential candidate tim kaine plans to visit colorado next week- the first time a big name clinton supporter has been in colorado in a while. that's c donald trump's team- who have had several appearance in our state over the last few weeks. kaine's last visit was in august. kaine plans to be in denver next monday... at the national western complex. he'll appear at a concert with musician dave matthews. ticket information is on our website 9news dot com. donald trump drew a big crowd in loveland. he thanked phone bank volunteers in town.. before heading over to the rally. the top three keys

has become a staple of every one of his rallies- according to usa today. last night- he fought back after headlines about nearly a billion dollars loss he claimed on his 1995 taxes which brings us to his second point - his tax code plan. trump says he just knows how to "work around" the current tax laws... but called the system broken. he said his tax maneuverings were brilliant and he's the only one who knows tax code well enough to fix the problems. and three- the crowd were hu.. made it inside the budweiser events center, about ten thousand total were in the area. libertarian presidential candidate gary johnson also brought his campaign to colorado. he stopped in the south denver metro area monday... and spent most of his time defending his "aleppo moment" to reporters. johnson faced criticism recently- when he was asked what he would do about the situation in aleppo, syria. he didn't know what aleppo was. then- just days later- he was unable to name a world leader he admires.

colorado south denver facility for his rally... johnson has almost no chance of winning colorado's electoral votes... but he does have anywhere between nine percent and 13 percent support in state polls. the second presidential debate is this sunday night- right up against sunday night football. donald trump and hillary clinton will face off in st. louis... third party candidates gary johnson and jill stein do not have the polling numbers required to make it on the stage. we will be airing the debate- over on channel 20 at 7 p-m. sunday night football is scheduled to air on channel 9 on nbc at that time.

a new jersey station and killed one woman... the front car is still sitting under a pile of steel and concrete. the data recorder is trapped inside. the national transportation safety board is trying to figure out what exactly went wrong.. .before the crash. more than 100

station an don the train were injured. crews are working 12 hour shifts to clear the damage and make sure the area is safe for investigators before they go in. the train had two data recorders on board.. on was not working and the other is still buried in the rubble. the n-t-s-b says the engineer has no memory of the crash. the next few weeks leading up to halloween could be extra scary this year... thanks to clowns making threats and shutting down the scary clown threat hoax is continuing to spread. there have been reports of creepy clowns in 17 states- including colorado. schools in philadelphia and houston are the latest to say they're on alert for threats. but- some people are concerned not just about the scary clowns... but about what will happen to the nice ones. ivan mendez has been dressing as a

he says it's his passion just to make kids laugh. the threats are no laughing matter... but in typical internet fashion- people are finding a lighter side to the clown concerns. people are tweeting using the hashtag "if i see a clown" some popular tweeted strategies to responding to running really fast... and crying. trump doesn't want to release his taxes... but some of them leaked anyway. why the leakers might not face any legal punishment... and what both sides have to say about the billionaire's maneuvering. and- 102 years old

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new yorkes may be no legal recourse. at this point... it's not clear who leaked the documents. the times says it received them in the mail, anonymously. that means the newspaper should be on solid first amendment ground. if the documents were used in a newsworthy way, and the information was accurate... as long as the times did nothing illegal to get the information. trump's lawyers are threatening to sue. hillary clinton is calling donald trump out over the recent release of

boy" for a "rigged" tax system in our country. while trump says he legally used laws to benefit his business. clinton argues he has not provided money for services and programs and called on trump to release his tax returns through 2009. that's before the time period that he says is being audited. vp nominee governor mike pence is being blocked by a federal appeals court... on his order to bar indiana state agencies from helping syrian refugees resettle. a panel of judges found pence's directive "clearly discriminates" against refugees from the war-torn nation. pence, was among dozens of governors from mostly republican states who tried to block syrian refugees after the paris terror attacks last november. the u-s is cutting diplomatic ties with russia... over the conflict in syria. in response, moscow has stopped cooperation on a program to get rid of weapons-grade plutonium. during the g-20 summit last month, presidents obama

shook hands over the ceasefire. but russia failed to live up to the terms of an agreement last month, to restore a ceasefire in syria. russia continued airstrikes with the syrian government... including a suspected bombing of convey bringing food and medical supplies to communities. the u-s is withdrawing people who were helping create a joint u-s russia center meant to be used during the ceasfire. an internet hot shot is indenver today... to give someone 100 thousand dollars. rake in the big bucks.. and get a young business started. but first, lets check in with belen and tracey.. today- eight denver

lifetime. the co-founder of internet giant a-o-l is branching out.. through new ideas. billionaire investor steve case is in search of the next big thing. the event is called "rise of the rest." whichever local startup he chooses- will get as much as 100 thousand dollars to get started. over on channel 20 today- we'll take a closer look with colorado's governor and denver's mayor at what this opportunity means. the successful silicon valley startup blue apron- might have grown

blue apron ships 8 million ready to prepare meals to people all across the united states every month. but- the company is still working to improve safety in the workplace. last year, police responded to their plant several times- including three times for bomb threats and seven times for assaults. the company has also been fined more than 20 thousand dollars for improper chemical storage and employee training violations. the company blames rapid hiring and temp agency workers.

don't have to commit a crime to get arrested. you just takes a lot of street cred....and ask the police politely. edie simmis the back of a police car- exactly as she hoped she would. edie, who lives in missori, spends her time knitting scarves and working with officers who help at her senior center. when the officers found out of of the items on edie's bucket list was getting arrested.. they decided to help her out. the officers "arrested her" then took her down to the police station to deliver some homemade knitted gifts. edie says- she enjoyed the ride...

a woman accused of going on a car crash spree... is due in court. in the next half hour... a look at how a woman hit car after car... and still tried to get away.

>> this is 9 news. >> she is accused of hitting car after car, trying to steal the last one she hit.

judge. hurricane matthew is getting closer to home. we will show you who is staring down its 145 miles per hour winds today and where in the u.s. people are starting to be prepared. and a wildfire spreads as hundreds grab what they can and get out. we have at latest on the fire spreading in southern colorado. good morning. welcome back. meteorologist belen de leon is joining us. belen, yesterday i put up all of my fall decorations and broke out the crock-pot for the first time this >> it must be fall. >> autumn is here. >> the bigger question, where is the chili? did you bring us any. >> that is the bigger question. >> i can't believe you want chili after the cookoff on friday. >> but it is your chili. >> more opportunity for you to bring them in this week. the temperatures remain cool. today about 15 degrees or so