the great smoky mountains. dozens of guns stolen in a smash and grab rampage. what will happen next. i am jeff patterson in havana, cuba. were tonight, more than 1 million people have come to pay their respects to fidel castro. thank you for joining us tonight. we begin tonight in the ashes of gatlinburg. it has been a devastating 24 hours across parts of east tennessee. wildfires burning gatlinburg and pigeon forge, leaving destruction and now death. three people confirmed dead as a result of these wildfires. it is hard to imagine that it is possible someone set the fire on purpose. the national park service has begun an arson investigation. making matters worse, strong winds creating the possibility of more fires. >>reporter: one witness

burning up homes, cabins, businesses and resorts. this is what a city on fire looks like. the mayor of gatlinburg believes more than 100 structures are now damaged, including his own home, likely destroyed. adding to the loss of life, burn victims in critical condition. a historic drought and hurricane force winds have fueled these flames. burning embers have blown and spread for mile. >> high winds knocking down trees, trees hitting power lines falling on this very dry, extreme drought like conditions and everything was catching on fire. >>reporter: thousands forced to evacuate. many taking shelter in makeshift centers, some abandoned pets in a hurry to get out. others drove through flames. for them the only way out. now, all people can do is watch and wait, knowing when they are allowed to return home, there may not be anything left.

our community has they. a lot of uncertainties. peoples are telling people forced from their homes they are not sure when they will be allowed back into their neighborhood. we are getting the first look tonight from above at the destruction the fire left behind. more than 400 firefighters from agencies across the state working to battle flames. teams are in some of the most populated areas working to clear residents and tourists are under a mandatory curfew. on the ground the devastation is awful. businesses and homes destroyed. cars charred. fortunately, the area is about to get much needed rain to hopefully keep hotspots from flaring up. let's bring it are chief meteorologist. november is the driest month of

conditions in our area? >> not at all. northern part of the state to some degree but not in the tampa bay area. we have seen above normal rainfall the past couple years. takes a couple years to get into severe drought conditions it doesn't happen in one or two months. it is a long period even. that is a look at the drought monitor, the dark red area is exceptional levels above extreme extreme, that would include the eastern part of tennessee, northern parts of alabama and georgia. part continuing to suffer but all the south is an extreme drought. that does not include the tampa bay area but you can see most of the state is in decent condition at this point. florida does not take drought very well. for the month as he mentioned, below normal rainfall. 1100 currently tied for the second driest november on record for the tampa bay area but november is typically the driest month of your.

of rain 8 inches plus above normal the keeps us above drought conditions not just this year but previous years so again we want to avoid drought conditions in the bay area. something we continue to watch. caught on camera, a wild scene inside a tampa gun store. a crew of crooks moving in every direction grabbing all kinds of weapons. right now that these are in the wind and the guns are on the street. and atf agents are willing to pay you to help find them. melanie michael joining us live the question hours with -- are we talking about an organized gun ring hear? >>reporter: certainly the million-dollar question. there is no mistake the bad behavior of these crooks was determined and deliberate. boy did they get away with the goods. one of the wildest caught on camera moments we have ever seen. watch this headlight closely and bad guys smash and crash

the gun store. unleashing a fury of felonies in one big burglary. >> the type of world we are in right now with everything happening that is just crazy. people running around with a bunch of guns. >>reporter: 35 to be exact. in the end the script got what they came for. the gun store owner told us he suspects they ripped off longer guns and handguns grabbed from store shelves >> it was well thought out and the truck was the battering ram and from what i know a couple other cars waiting outside to escape. >>reporter: the big question now, where are these guns. we talked with atf agents and investigators who tell us tracking the weapons is tough as they are sold illegally online, flea markets even shipped around the state or

and about 11 people rushed in and stripped the racks and took all the guns. >>reporter: at this hour i am told investigators are following very strongly. we want to remind you $10,000 on the table for the person out there who does the right thing. >> certainly lot of guys involved. maybe somebody will talk. new tonight, 23 demonstrators facing charges after a protest protesters were peaceful the some blocks part of 21st street and refused to move. the nearly two dozen uncooperative protesters were arrested, given notice to appear in court and really. isis is claiming responsibility for the attack at ohio state university. today the group called artan -- abdul razak ali artan a soldier. artan used his car to drive into a group of pedestrians

a rampage with a butcher knife. he was shot and killed by an officer. officials in columbia are hoping black boxes will help solve the mystery behind a deadly plane crash that killed more than 70, including most of a soccer team. you can see the devastating aftermath of the fuselage spread across the mountainside. six people did survive. eight on your side special hundreds of thousands attended a memorial at revolution square to bid final farewell to the former leader, fidel castro. jeff patterson is in the middle of it all the only local reporter covering this historic event and joins us now from havana. >>reporter: by some estimates more than 1 million people have come to revolution plaza for an official service for fidel

in havana told me for him and many others this is a very special night. >> for the country perhaps the last big leader of the 20th century. first the 20th century in today with the death of fidel castro. >>reporter: he told me people have come here not because they were forced to by the government because they want to be here for fidel >> he offered very could help them target education, public safety. things we did not have before. >>reporter: the service part of the official nine days of mourning. steve ruppert was from tampa and leading a tour boat when it was announced. >> a little surreal for me i've been coming here for 20 years and i always wondered what this moment would be like. it was strangely subdued. >>reporter: subdued as cuba faces a new era without fidel castro. is there uncertainty for the future her?

even though fidel was not absolutely in charge during this time, he left an indelible mark on the government. >>reporter: some in cuba also worried the new relationship open by president barack obama will be reversed by incoming president donald trump and they will have to face that shift in foreign policy without fidel castro. >> we will be reporting from cuba all week in the carrier is saying they have reached a deal with president- elect donald trump to keep nearly 1000 jobs in indiana. trump spent much of his campaign pledging to keep companies like carrier for moving jobs overseas. details are still unclear but trump is expected to travel to indiana on thursday to discuss the agreement. if you that the battle over medical marijuana ended on

-- cities and counties are trying to put a better dispensary. how one town got print by

. conflict over medical marijuana. a bay area less than a month ago the state voted to legalize medical marijuana. >> zephyrhills is trying to put part of that on hold at least for now. jana jones live at a dispensary in hillsborough county. is the city allowed to do this? >>reporter: here in hillsborough county, this dispensary is already open but in zephyrhills they want to ban businesses like this from

medical marijuana a hot button issue in this year's election. one the state of florida voted yes to. >> 71% of floridians came out and support of this. that is a clear mandate that the people want this. >>reporter: since then the city of zephyrhills passed an ordinance to temporarily ban dispensaries from opening their . >> it is still a federal offense to sell it but we need to be able to decide do we want it daycare? >>reporter: the ordinance puts the ban in place for as long as a year. medical marijuana supporters call that a safety issue. >> why does an alzheimer's patient have to get home delivery or drive three cities over to get access to a life- saving medication they need. >>reporter: our legal analyst calls the ban on so. >> are basically trying to say they are figuring stuff out when something needs to be figured out on the state level at the local level. >>reporter: city leaders say

of it before somebody comes in and we can't undo a placement of something. >>reporter: proactive or not, some say it is a losing battle for local governments. >> you have the last few elements fighting back to try to hold on to power. >>reporter: the vote in zephyrhills passed unanimously. here in hillsboro, there is a six-month ban in place but prohibits new dispensaries from opening because clearly some businesses are already open and that ban will be lifted in april. >> cousin announced try to put a band like this in place? >> absolutely pasco county had on their agenda today and manatee and bradington are also trying to get a temporary ban but that has not been finalized yet. in kansas city fire crews are keeping an eye on an area

fire light up the sky for miles away. pretty impressive images. the gas company crew was able to shut the valve off so it can burn itself out. this is not too far from kansas city international airport up the good news the blast is not affecting air traffic. police in gardner, kansas got a surprise from phony animals caught on camera. the department installed cameras along the park trail to check for dangerous animals. arguably a wolf and high hills could be frightening or two gorillas frolicking but dangerous, probably not. on the facebook page police thanked locals for giving them a good laugh. another dry day, below normal for the month of november, typically the driest month of the year.

the moment. teddy bear round of going through december 19. kindness day on the night. drop off areas that wfla, regions bank and great hills mall. toys, food or give blood come all going on on kindness day december night of course the roughriders too. a great shot at the passive international space station possibly venus right there. jackie spero got this great shot. this is little longer than a football field so gives you some perspective as to how large the international space station is and how big that zoom lens has to be. tony thanks for this and this one from barbara, beautiful sunset. a few clouds, clear sky action going on too. next five days temperatures 83 degrees for wednesday. all above normal with a cold

at noon tomorrow 79 another warm day 83 the recorded hyatt tampa international at 7:00 a.m. 60 degrees a milestone today. 73 degrees in downtown tampa at the airport. dew point 65 so dew points have made a come back thanks to a southeasterly flow and at times the southerly flow which is very warm and also quite humid, raising the level moisture. 70 clearwater,eb venice, 64 zephyrhills. upper-level cloudiness streamed across the state today at sunset plaza clouds and drier air to the south. more sunshine there. strong showers and thunderstorms shifted from mississippi to alabama. potential severe weather there associated with the cold front living across the south. you can see clouds continue in the forecast for the rest of the

breaks in the clouds for sure and sunshine mixed with clouds tomorrow. because of low level moisture and upper-level stream we will keep them in our forecast. that is wednesday morning at that muggy to start the day afternoon breezy south wind 10% chance of seeing a showers the rain chances unfortunately our low as we look to her northwest research see the front approach the area later wednesday but especially thursday to the north by the afternoon in our area more clouds in the forecast as we get into thursday afternoon a few showers possible and clouds around. the eighth the forecast temperatures warming tomorrow, 83 today. we expect something similar tomorrow 84 thursday, rain chances up a little bit as a result of that cold front. the good news by friday we feel the effects of that front cooler and drier saturday looking good too. then we weren't back up again,

and the whole la nina storm track we expect this time of year or in the situation isn't very wet so warm and dry seems to be the order of the day. an important announcement for frontier communications subscribers. printer communications contract to carry news channel eight will expire tomorrow. november 35:00. as of right now a new agreement has not been reached. by loughran took medications cannot carry te we tried hard to reach an agreement with frontier and we will continue to negotiate without fair and equitable treatment local tv stations will not be able to continue to provide new -- top-quality news, entertainment and programming that is most important to you. we want to thank you for your tremendous support and let you know you have choices. you can continue to watch news channel eight via antenna or by switching to an alternate pay- tv provider.

about alternative providers you can visit us online at wfla.com. the latest college football playoff rankings have been released. find out could be on the road to tampa, ahead. bolts looking to avenge last night -- last week's game with the jackets next in sports. news channel eight gearing up for kindness day december 9. an annual tradition studio. we will collect donations for toys for tots, roughriders and feeding tampa bay and donations for one blood. certainly hope to see you there . nowadays we can order almost anything on our smart phones or computers but how about planning your own funeral online? how the funeral business is trying to reinvent itself in

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. unleashed, have a lot of that is how jon cooper opened his press conference four ago following a sloppy loss pumped five pucks past ben bishop. he blamed himself in the defeat. he would not get the chance to do the same tonight because basil as he got the start between the pipes best save percentage against goals in the league that did not matter to columbus. william karlsson beats him to start scoring in the first and the second a d zone turnover leads to a when and plenty more where that came from. like us contemporary, he also concedes a five spot to

snapped the shut out late in the third the blue jackets throttle the lightning 5- 1. tampa bay has lost four of its last five games. tampa bay buccaneers putting of -- making a push to the postseason and the nfl respond accordingly. the 11th home date against the saints has been flex 20425 start. same time as sunday's game in san diego. tampa bay debut out safety chris conti he suffered an unspecified injury depth to that position. adding major wright to a five- year contract. he was waived in august and has not played in and about the season. mike james and louis murphy were waived to make room on the roster. college football playoff pictures starting to sharpen getting closer to nailing down which teams will be on the road to tampa for the national championship. the committee released its latest top 25 tonight. no surprise number one undefeated alabama rules the roost.

saturday. right beneath fall out of the playoff picture to number five will clemson and washington slide up the top four. for the state came in a number 12, florida 15 and despite usf earning a ranking in the ap and coaches poll this week, they did not crack the cfp top 25. since out for the will be playing in the american championship, willie taggart and his record-setting squad is instead awaiting a bowl destination. espn's resident experts both predict they will be heading to alabama next month playing in the birmingham bowl december 29 against an sec opponent either vanderbilt or south carolina. of course that is not official, have to see what happens in the american championship game. strangely enough depending on what temple does in the championship game, temple denied usf a championship game this year. >> tough game in the way. south carolina, vanderbilt.

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[ cheers and applause ] ? >> steve: from studio 6b in rockefeller center in the heart of new york city, it's "the tonight show starring jimmy fallon." tonight, join jimmy and his guests --