we believe this person is likely valley resident likely of bonny doon resident and really what we're hoping is that if you've been evacuated from the bonny doon area you may recognize him and so i hold the picture here get posted to social media and so maybe maybe recognize or maybe it's the giants at maybe the longer. >>lighter colored hair. >>and if you know who the man is or if you have any information on the theft you're now urged to call the santa cruz county sheriff's office. we also have pictures posted on our website at kron 4 dot com in case you want to get a closer look at him as well. we're live tonight in the newsroom jonathan mccall kron 4 news. >>thank you jonathan moving to the scu lightning complex a burning in santa clara alameda contra costa san joaquin counties now flames have spread to more than 360,000 acres containment 15%. cal fire spokesman joe amador did give us an update earlier tonight. >>now the fire is still. all directions. however we do feel that in the northern part we see this black lives that means at least on the boards read the fire we feel very co

homes in bonny doon going up in flames. there are evacuation orders dachb po davenport south to the city limits. >>> and we've learned that pg&e worker has died while assisting first respondrs. we'll have the latest on that firefight. and good morning to you on this thursday, august 20. >> a lot to get to, but of course you are never more than 7 minutes away from the accuweather forecast so we'll check in with mike. >> hi, everybody. thanks for joining us this thursday morning. let's take a look at the winds, that is the big scare out there. and they are relatively quiet so far this morning except closer you are to the coast. and it is that little bit of a seabreeze that brought us cleaner air yesterday afternoon and actually a few low clouds as yothere, as the marine layer tries to undercut that unhealthy air. the rest of us pretty much have unhealthy air, but also bringing us slightly cooler temperatures, up to ten degrees cooler and less humidity out there this morning. so when you step out, it will feel cooler from 52 i

we also talked with the man who evacuated from bonny doon. take a listen. >> i couldn't stress more the importance of leaving when those orders come out. i really can't. there are people that are unaccounted for. that we are looking to try to determine where they are. and, so, i stress that because with this fire you just don't know how things are going to go. >> what are you calling it? >> covidgedden. it's covid and armageddon together. >> that man was able to get out. he works at a gas station. he felt like he should stay at work, though he did leave his home with his pets. a lot of folks are avoiding shelters at this point because of that concern over covid-19 infection. we know that a lot of folks are staying in their homes. they are also staying with friends and family and maybe going to hotel to use the shelters as a last-ditch resort. santa clara fairgrounds is one that is open and santa cruz also open and there is another shelter that opened up in half moon bay and that one is also available. i will put this information up on our soc

so it's looking really good very happy with that those results in bonny doon continue work within the rebound, those structures again painstaking work a lot of structures out there love heavy fuels. still some fire creeping throughout that. but again that's a lot of work just digging in and getting after it. and take care of business. we did a small burn operation along empire grade to martin road that kind of puts a in a control line for us so keep spread going to the west and affecting more homes. so that's a good control and we did but not little bit up. and then as far as our air program didn't fly any the fixed wing air tankers on a didn't have a need for that but was critical as the flight the use of our helicopters. we have 6 water dropping helicopters, the side of this incident. and today was the best day yet we were able to drop 200,000 that's 200,000 gallons. throughout the day in fire suppression activities with our hillcroft copter so with our ground troops. our ariel air force going. great day and a lot of good work out there and a lot of dance that we're moving forward w

volunteers are also helping with the cleanup this crew from deer haven in bonny doon helping displaced residents hall fire debris and trash. well the czu lightning complex fire is still a long way from full containment and control getting access to the hardest hit areas could take even longer your home may have not been affected by the fire. >>there's other factors that are leading to the evacuation order still be in effect until everything is until please wait as long as possible in bonny doon rob fladeboe kron 4 news. >>all right turning now to meteorologist mabrisa rodriguez says she has details on what could be a critical weekend ahead for firefighters, bruce a what can we expect to say well catherine we expect to see near average temperatures for most of our inland valleys things to a stronger and deeper marine layer. >>that's really going to be critical this weekend because i'm tracking triple digit or near triple digit heat to start up this upcoming week so hot and dry weather heading away for fire crews, let's take a look at temperatures out there right now quite the spread 506

she was in theown of bonny doon, northwest of santa cruz, where the c.gh.u. ing complex fire had burned 57,000 acres, and wtaas only 2% ced at the time we spoke. you've gone from fire to fire in this region. why is this happening so frequently? california, everything is just so dry. and this has been a very unusual fire. there are so many that were sparked by lightning, and california is such a thrill for norther californians, because we never see it. and admiring the lightning on sunday night. and here they are. it's become so destructive, and all these tiny little fhees ever, it's essentially bringing silicon valley. >> sreenivasan: and what are the impacts to that local region? when we sasilicon valley, hat's a pretty large stretch. how many people are having to move? how many people are having problems breathing because of the ality? >> well, luckily, what we know as silicon vall, you know, the g companies, everything on the valley floor, none of those are threatened. so we're in the hillsides around the valley and the mountains, the santa cruz mountains

cal fire says most of the s cru bonny doon neighborhood. one home after another reduced to ashes on empire grade. only the brick chimneys remain at most of these home sites. and right now that complex has torched more than 78,000 acres. it is just 13% contained. abc7 news reporter julian glover is live from scots valley awaiting this morning's news conference where hopefully, julian, we'll see that number go up. >> that's what we're hoping for, reggie. that news conference happening in about 30 minutes from now. favorable weather conditions on monday really help firefighters end their active firefight and we're hoping that was also the tale of much of monday when we get that report in just about 30 minutes. you remember yesterday that the containment doubled from 8% to 1 13% in that news conference and we hope to get similar numbers this morning. we know they have been very busy attacking the fire by the air on monday. we actually saw from sky 7 several of these water drops happening. crews also very busy throughout the day shoring up some

we believe this person is likely valley resident likely of bonny doon resident. >>and really what we're hoping is that if you've been evacuated from the bonny doon area you may recognize him and so i hold the picture here get posted to social media and so maybe maybe recognize or maybe it's the giants at maybe the longer. lighter colored hair. >>if you know who the man is or if you have any information on the theft of that wallet, you're urged to call the santa cruz county sheriff's office you can also get a closer look at the pictures. we have them posted on our website that's kron 4 dot com. live tonight in the newsroom jonathan mccall kron 4 news. >>jonathan still ahead tonight. the latest on all the fires burning in the bay and the help that is coming from california leaders. >>also it is the gop has turned we've got highlights tonight from the republican national conven >>over eu leaders continue to request more firefighting help from out of state as officials brace for even more fires to potentially start in the coming days and our capitol bureau reporter a

the santa cruz mountains, we st worof some new evacuations in bonny doon. this is around big basin state park. lsa las combres. but middle of the night evacuations in bonny doon as well as the boulder creek area. in san mateo county, western county along the o la honda area. two evacuation centers set up for that complex of fires. one @ santa cruz county fire grounds in watsonville and another at pescadero high school. so we are going to keep an eye on both of these large fires and the ongoing evacuations throughout the morning and get the information that you need to know to you. len, back to you. >>> all right, anne, thank you. now to campaign 2020 and the controversy swirling around the post office. the postmaster general now says he won't make any operational changes until after the lltionelui no. y changelo dejos and mail processing equipment and collection boxes will remain where they are. no mail processing facilities will close and overtime will continue to be approved as states including california are expected to file lawsuits over the proposed cu

now earlier today i traveled towards that area through felton and eventually landed in bonny doon take a look at what i saw this is video that i shot this is what i saw along the way dark plumes of smoke coming from the mountains as i headed towards that direction. i eventually had felt an empire road where flames are still active as many hot spots on both sides of the road. but thankfully i did see plenty of firefighters nearby watching over the area through the flames and smoke erode he eventually hit empire road in bonny doon unfortunately that areas full of destruction, many homes burned to the ground only chimneys and melted appliances still standing. eventually ran into some locals who are staying behind to help firefighters. one of the men helping out his case he thornley who lives in washington has property in santa cruz they're providing food water fuel and even fire gear for the first responders. >>the firefighters definitely are happy that we're here i believe we have flushing toilets showers a place to now they've been filling up their water tenders. they've. they've been u

>>still ahead the czu complex fires of the book the path of destruction in the area of bonny doon santa cruz county and more support is coming >>wires from the czu lightning complex and relieve left townsend santa cruz county unrecognizable in some cases kron four's maureen kelly shows us. this drone video shows some of the destruction in the town of bonny doon where homes have been flattened to piles of ash. >>and debris charred remains of metal frames appliances and cars somewhat recognizable in the aftermath. cal fire says that the 330 structures burned so far in the czu lightning complex fires at least 200 were people's homes and it's a total that's expected to rise as they continue to take stock of the damage smoke could be seen rising in several spots off the mountain. >>but now the weather is less of an obstacle for firefighters, there is a. >>losing battle that we had a fight with that the beginning but now that the weather has more on our side cooler but the higher humidity, the visibility has also improved allowing for more air support but also the winds have turned in their f

this is what happened in bonny doon. many of those structures that you see burning there in the video, those are homes. they are single family homes and people will not have any place to return to. this is the 10,000 block of empire grade road. it's also empire grade road near vices road. cars, other structures also engulfed and we can confirm that as of midnight the count was 20 structures destroyed. 22,000 people are still under evacuation orders. we talked with people who drove out on their own early. we talked with other folks who drove out. one man who drove out until his car caught fire. >> coming through the woods and, man, it was really scary. i thought i was going to die. i thought it was the end and i was going to get cooked. >> he told us he suddenly felt something in the glove compartment exploding and he knew he had to get out of his car and hike out and he had his little rabbit with him and picked up by a firefighter and rescued that way. a lot of folks avoiding shelters saying it is better to stay in their

the activity that we're seeing right now is going to be in bonny doon area which is an area that we're trying to focus on along the highway 9 corridor. so we have firefighters in right now trying to take the homes in that prep the homes in does happen. >>thousands of people remain evacuated nearly 200 residences had burned down the fire only 13% contained we're expecting an update coming in about a half hour to let you know how this fire which is burning in northern santa cruz county in southern san mateo county. what kind of progress they've made today that's the latest reporting live in scotts valley. dan kerman kron 4 news. >>thank you dan want to check in now with meteorologist mabrisa rodriguez for more on current temperatures and what firefighters are up against tonight and throughout the next couple brace a hater great yeah let's take a look at current conditions right now with that czu lightning complex fire fortunately, wind speeds in the single digits. >>but gusts upwards in the teens so great news right there 71 degrees with relative humidity up to 66%. so tracking a lot mor

that was over by an built an empire road approaching empire raid road and that is like right by bonny doonand that was one of the concerns and i do i do know that some homes were destroyed in that area. but cal fire they did have an update about some good news about that area. >>and on the part green road. throughout the community but again. we did not appear to have any structure loss at all today. so the crews were able to get in and wherever they could find any sort of fire that was creepy and so forth they were able to jump on that. and protect more structures that we're having some minor threats to them. >>and no no we want to show you new video calfire see the eu had just tweeted showing you what it's like driving wildfire at night. i'm quite intense, you all the flames on both directions and i was actually in one of those earlier today and it was a. let's just say i turned right around and i saw a plume of smoke. in fact a firefighter told me i should turn around and it's not safe. what's burning in that area a lot of heavy timber and you see. it burning on a base of trees, you know

we're able to keep more than 2 dozen homes and bonny doon from being destroyed. >>in t shirts involved having on the santa cruz mountains locals pump water onto the burning forest in an effort to save homes. this video was shot by ben lomond native keilar ruskin who says he drove down from where he lives now in reno after hearing about the czu lightning complex fires. >>threatening the bonny doon home of his best friend ruskin says he was part of a man squad who in the course of 5 days. use whatever equipment they could get their hands on locals knowledge of the land to create a perimeter and douse flames. >>here now. >>he says together they were able to save his friend's house and many more without what we did the 26 with 30 homes that we saved what burned to the ground because there was no one there to help in any way shape or form. >>he's not knocking cal fire. he knows crews are spread very thin because of so many fires burning in california. but even though cal fire has been challenged here by a lack of resources. they still do not encourage people ignoring

spared in the community of bonnie doon. now neighbors are coming together to survive. >> the fire went around me. it took out everybody across the stre street and around aroume. >> reporter: he offers his home to those in need. >> wrater and companionship. >> reporter: his house is a refuge that runs by a generator that fire didn't destroy. >> reporter: one neighbor says being at his house allows him to escape the devastation. >> being able to get together at a place that resembles normalcy and hanging out with friends is very refreshing at the end of the day. >> come around here to share information, a meal, some encouragement. >> reporter: these neighbors credit a network of people helping them get by. >> we're fairly self-sufficient up here, but there's a limit to all that. we need fuel to run our lives and to charge our phones. >> reporter: robertson is grateful for the help and he's glad he can offer his home. >> well, it's good to have my home, but it's, on the flip side, my neighbors are homeless. >> reporter: in bon

earlier today we drove through bonny doon into davenport where we saw the steep rugged terrain fire crews are dealing with. shot spots lining swanton creek road where most of this neighborhood was destroyed. all that's viz sbl burnt down homes next to downed power lines. this family barely made it out in time. >> we were on adrenaline, sort of like in survival mode. it is really sinking in now. all our neighbors lost their homes. i am in a book club and three people have lost their homes. >> reporter: cal fire have advised people to stay out of the area. the couple's home is an example of that. large redwoods have fallen into the middle of their road. we drove into the steep terrain east of us. when there is positive news, we certainly want to share it with you. not only is this cooler air helping the with fire fight, but it is also much easier to breathe than it was 48 in those areas that were hit the hardest. certainly heart breaking for those people struggling to determine if they will have somewhere to come home to. we spoke to a woman in bonny doon who was told her entire neighborhoo

and there is new video shot overnight from bonny doon, this is on empire grade road. and there are a alfew cars torc as well. evacuation orders currently in place for 20,000 people.people.. and is an gregorio all the way south in the county as this fire is burning. >> luckily we have an rv. >> i'm concerned about the house right now, but we have everything that we could. >> reporter: so many people across santa cruz and san mateo counties are concerned about their property, their homes, their belongings, their pets that they might have at their homes as well. the concern of the firefighters though is due to the other fires burning all across northern california right now, they have limited resources, also limited visibility. the smoke is hampering the air fight operations. some 8500 buildings are threatened this morning. and again, 0% contained, we expect to get an update at 6:00 a.m. and we'll carry that live here. julian glover, abc 7 news. >> a tmages showeallyas neighbo rancho solano neighborhood within forced to evacuate after the complex fires jumped across ente

bonny doon. big basin state park. in las cumbres all affected by this.teo county these evacuations have been in effect along h utso near highway 9. the russian ridge area. middleton tract and portola redwoods and heights, la honda, loma mar and pescadero. two evacuation centers the latest onefa airt thounds e in watsonville and another one at scadero high of the damage is going to be difficult to survey until we get more into the daylight hours. ghfireanarfite rsget into e soabme leof those so this is something we're going to be watching all day long. in the meantime if you are around anywhere really around the bay area, you are probably smelling smoke from one of these fires in the uth nortbay. mary lee has been keeping her eye on that air quality and it is nasty, mary. >>> it is for sure, anne. in fact, our air g worsby quthe so unhealthy air quality for redwood city and san jose and san leandro and livermore and as well as for vacaville. unhealthy sensitive groups for san francisco and because of this ri smoke, r we hquave foita spare alert in effect

lapse video overnight showing the flames spreading oh, so quickly as they approach a pg&e camera in bonny doon >>> in the south bay, in the meantime, take a look at this. the scu complex fire from downtown san jose. this is one of our live cameras that is stationed. you see the fairmont hotel and the flames rising in the background. that is up near allen rock and that is where we find bob redell this morning because the threat of these fires inching ever so closely to homes in that area. bob? >> unfortunately, we're not talking about homes down here on the valley floor, at least not right now. no evacuation orders in effect for those homes but more for people in the hills and as you were mentioning, laura, depending where you're at and where the glow of the fires. this is part of the scu complex fire. this is a vast number of fires. 20 fires starting up in brentwood and central valley and sunol and now santa clara county burning through mt. hamilton last night. go, again, to the live downtown camera we have from san jose as you look east in the foothills. you can see the glow of that fire as i

they say the man took that wallet from the firefighter's car while it was parked at the bonny doon fire station. if you recognize him, call the sheriff. >>> at last check, 13 firefighters and two chief officers from the unit have been there to fight firefighters. this video shows firefighter and paramedic markets holding the fire line as he falls from the trees. you can see mike appearing to declare victory at daybreak after an active day of stopping the fire. they will start flying his drone over the boulder creek fire protection district. they will conduct a damage assessment and look for hotspots with thermal imaging cameras. >>> firefighters also making progress on the fires in the south and east bays. we just learned the scu complex fires are now 15% contained. the fires are covering more than 360,000 acres, burning of cost five different counties and firefighters say things to a shift in the wind, they were able to steer those flames away from neighborhoods and evacuation orders were downgraded in santa clara county. >>> we are proud to be partnering with the red cross in a virtua

>>but parts of boulder creek bonny doon another hard-hit areas could take weeks in what's being called a phased approach. >>as a result of downed trees power lines and damaged infrastructure away from her home for a week calling robinson was worried about looting. >>also bear to listen. that's always a a threat. you know that you evacuate your house that doesn't mean it's you know the fire may not get it. but you're also afraid of vandalism some firefighters carved out a huge fire break as the flames bore down long empire gray just north of campus. >>expressing sorrow for those whose homes were lost but grateful to firefighters for saving so many others. >>is you see literature professor shawn kylan i'll never forget what it was like to. >>drive down this road under an orange sky and look back at my house and wonder said it was going to be there so. my heart goes out to the people of my colleagues, my friends people i don't know who's lost their homes in bonny doon and other places. and i'm hopeful that we'll be able to find a way to support them going forward. >>now earlier today evac

the fire is west of umpire hells road, impacting the town of bonnie doon and moving toward boulder creek, ben loman and felton. >> with the weather conditions we are experiencing now and will be seeing within the next 24 to 72 hours, that makes that thread very direct and real. >> reporter: and early-morning window for an air attack in bonnie doon, but the smoke was so heavy aircraft was grounded wednesday. other challenges where the fire is burning is heavily forested with redwoods and remote. >> we use the term inaccessible maybe a little bit too often as firefighters, but this is the real deal when it comes to inaccessible. >> reporter: 500 firefighters working 48 hour shifts, can't be released with resources limited and can't get assistance from any other part of the state. >> you are standing in your home you have been in for many years and it's like, what do you take? >> reporter: she is hopeful she has a home to return to after a family evacuated and lamarr. she has learned from past fires and other jurisdictions to heed orders. >> we have never had anything like this year. it's b

>>threatening the bonny doon home of his best friend ruskin says he was part of a man squad who in the course of 5 days. use whatever equipment they could get their hands on locals knowledge of the land to create a perimeter and douse flames. >>yourself a hero now. >>he says together they were able to save his friend's house and many more. >>without what we did the 26 with 30 homes that we saved what burned to the ground because there was no one there to help in any way shape or form. >>he's not knocking cal fire. he knows crews are spread very thin because of so many fires burning in california. but even though cal fire has been challenged here by a lack of resources. they still do not encourage people ignoring the evacuation order that changes our focus from fighting the fire does now protecting them because our number one priority is. >>preserving life over the property rescue says some of his squad were off-duty firefighters and they were even able to help supply water to the official crews. >>they ran into wasn't just a bunch of you know bill running around the mountains. i'm thin

homes burnt to the ground in bonny doon and a group of locals who are grabbing hoses and renewsing to leave houses behind. >> no fire trucks and no one is helping us and we refuse to let people's houses burn to the ground. our local knowledge, our strength and the resources we do have to pull the water and get down there and put the darn thing out. >> reporter: cal fire has warned time and time again that residents staying behind or returning to an evacuation zone is not just illegal but also puts the firefighters in harm's way if they have to stage a rescue. we know six people had to be rescued on on sunday. the number of homes destroyed could increase drasticlly as the survey crews make their way out there to survey the land and get a better look at the destruction left behind by the czu lightning complex fire. for now reporting live in scots valley, julian glover, abc7 news. >> thank you, julian. >>> in the north bay, the lnu lightning complex burning is proving to be very challenging for firefighters. sky7 was overhead near sweet swatter springs road in sonoma county yesterday and

the communities under threat, la honda, bonny doon, ben lowman and felton. so either evacuate or be prepared to evacit. a lot going on with these fires. >> firefighters saying evacuation is going to be key to this, so you really need to be ready, and you really need to move when you get that call or you get that knock on your door or when you hear the police coming through in the neighborhood, that this is going to be critical in being able to save yourself and your family. all right. i-80 in fairfield. closed right now because of one of the fires jumped the freeway. let's show you what the conditions look like. you can see it is smoky and fiery. this closure between the air base exit and cherry glenn road. the chp saying this is not where you want to be. you need to avoid this area. jodi hernandez is live near that closure for us. jodi, i know you have your mask out. it looks very, very smoky and windy behind you. >> reporter: it is smoky and windy. i had to put these goggles on because i couldn't see. i had soot burning my eyes and watering. this is what i

this is from our drone over the - m in bonny doon. this is empire grade near vic drive.more than 200 homes have been destroyed in the czulxaomplex fire. it is 13%çokcontained. >>> there is more unrest tonight in wisconsin following the police shooting of an e1unarmed black man. this is in kenosha, a city about 40 miles south ofe1 milwaukee. a state of emergency is declared and a curfew enacted. yesterday 31-year-old jacob times in the back. he is in serious condition but is expected to be okay. >>> first the democrats, now it's thee1 republicans.Ñi theq republica.ñá national convention kicked off tonight with diverse speakers and passionate pleas. >> stand for an american president who is fearless, who believes in you,e1 and who love this country and will fight for her. >> that's kimberly guilfoyle, the former first lady of san francisco, qex-wife of governor uy and u onm1 of many from president trump's innerlp circl who praised the president and what he's done in the last four] years. >> welcome to the Ñi2020 -- >> reporter: on nighte/q one ofe republican national con

you can see how that plume is right over boulder creek, bonnie doon, heading into santa cruz. again, locally unhealthy levels of air pollution and ash moving off to the south and east. winds have picked up around the north bay. you can see quite clearly there. those column plumes showing up much better on radar. the ash getting pushed off to the south and east and away from central napa county, moving inland. you see the other fire in sonoma county pushing some smoke and ash between healdsburg and santa rosa. there you see the east bay. winding picking up around the diablo range and the tri-valley. this is why fire danger is so high. it's the triple threat of those high temperatures, humidity levels in the teens outside, and the increasing daytime wind even though technically it's an onshore breeze. you couple that with temperatures above 100 degrees, humidity levels in the teens, and obviously drought, parched conditions especially up towards the north bay, and that's a nasty combination for fire crews. notice this is another day tomorrow, what will start out with 70s and 80s

nearby watching over the area through the flames and smoke erode you eventually hit empire road in bonny doon unfortunately that area is full of destruction, many homes burned to the ground only chimneys and melted appliances still standing. eventually ran into some locals who are staying behind to help firefighters, one of the men helping out his case he thorley lives in washington, but has property in santa cruz, he describes the area over the past few days, it's scary and when the wind picks up its today's actually been a really good day we've had a lot of clean air still smoky. >>but a lot more clean air than we've had in a long >>it seems like the fires. i think we're at a super safe because the fire has burned through already we've seen it all we've seen houses burn across the street we've seen houses burn up the road down the road. the guys here of. saved this area, you know and on their own now casey in a couple of his friends are staying behind also help out firefighters. they have their own fire gear. >>they've been giving firefighters food fuel water pretty much anything that you c

>>but parts of boulder creek bonny doon another hard-hit areas could take weeks in what's being called a phased approach. >>as a result of downed trees power lines and damaged infrastructure away from her home for a week calling robinson was worried about looting. >>also bear to listen. that's always a a threat. you know that you evacuate your house that doesn't mean it you know the fire may not get it. but you're also afraid of vandalism some firefighters carved out a huge fire break as the flames bore down long empire gray just north of campus. >>expressing sorrow for those whose homes were lost but grateful to firefighters for saving so many others. >>is you see literature. professor shawn kylan i'll never forget what it was like to. >>drive down this road under an orange sky and look back at my house and wonder said it was going to be there so. my heart goes out to the people of my colleagues, my friends people i don't know who lost their homes and bonny doon and other places. and i'm hopeful that we'll be able to find a way to support them going forward in santa cruz rob fladeboe

cal fire says a majority of them are in the santa cruz mountains like you can see here in bonny doon.ideo. one home after another reduced to ashes on empire grade. only the brick chimneys remain at most of these sites. definitely tough to see that. >>> at this hour the complex has torched more than 78,000 acres. it's just 13% contained. abc7 news reporter julian glover live from scots valley waiting for this morning's news conference. >> monday was a day of small winds as the czu incident commander put it, they were able to take advantage of the favorable weather conditions to be able to attack the fire by air. something they've been limited in being able to do so far. but, of course, we know this fire has destroyed so many homes as you mentioned and has already claimed the life of one person. now, cal fire, again, was able to do some of the airdrops and sky7 caught video of them doing some of those airdrops as visibility improved. crews were also busy shoring up containment lines to the north end of the fire in san mateo county and south of the city of santa cruz as the marine layer,

volunteers are also helping with the cleanup this crew from deer haven in bonny doon helping displaced residents hall fire debris and trash. well the czu lightning complex fire is still a long way from full containment and control getting access to the hardest hit areas could take even longer your home may have not been affected by the fire. >>there's other factors that are leading to the evacuation order still be in effect until everything is until please wait as long as possible in bonny doon rob fladeboe kron 4 news. >>in the north bay tonight, we know that a chef at a downtown restaurant in petaluma has been arrested on suspicion of repeated abuse of a a child police say a young woman told a confidant that she was abused by 66 year-old cory basso when she was a child bassett was a chef at seared restaurant in downtown petaluma and had run libby strove for many years before a closed in 2017. police are offering few details about the case saying that they were making it public only to determine if there might have been other victims basso is being held at sonoma county jail. >>in the

so we believe this person is likely a bonny doon resident. what we're hoping is if you've been evacuated from the area, you may recognize him. so i'm holding a picture here. this will get posted to social media. so maybe you recognize him. maybe it's the giants' hat, maybe it's the lighter colored hair. either way, this picture will be available. we encourage you to take a look at it and help us identify who this person is. the firefighter himself, and, again, an outpouring of support. i fielded a call from kansas city, missouri, from a lady who said we would love to set up a go fund me in kansas city, because we can't believe people would do that. the firefighter's family has said at this point, the insurance has reimbursed them and they don't need the assistance, but that just shows you the national spread of this event and i think overall how we feel about that sort of conduct. it's crazy. a couple of other things. on another note, and really a somber note, i spoke last night about a person we found deceased at the end of last chance road.

i travel towards that area today and eventually landed in bonny doon and this is what you'll see a shot some video from earlier and making my way over that way you'll see a lot of dark plumes of smoke coming from the mountains and as i headed towards that direction. i eventually had felt an empire road where flames are still active. there's many hot spots on both sides of the road so it makes it a little unnerving driving through that area you also would see a lot of fallen trees thankfully. i did see plenty of firefighters nearby the watching over that area now through the flames and smoke erode you'll eventually hit empire road in bonny doon unfortunately that area is just a full of destruction many homes burned to the ground only chimneys some melted appliances still standing pretty eerie eerie feeling out there eventually ran into some locals who are staying behind to help firefighters. one of the men helping out is casey thornley who lives in washington has property in santa cruz. he says they're providing all the basic essentials for first responders. >>now this property we are ha

>>everything is until please wait as long as possible in bonny doon rob fladeboe kron 4 news. >>our coverage continues at kron 4 dot com there you can find a complete list of evacuation orders and warnings. you can also track the wildfires on an interactive map and find out about any alerts and weather in your neighborhood, it's all on kron 4 dot com. >>why 4 zone forecast time now as we take a live peek outside beautiful shot here of san francisco's embarcadero palm trees, not blowing too much that of good with the fire still burning so as that smoke mixed in with the fog or or what are we looking at their recent yeah we're going to notice that the key not just tonight, but also through tomorrow as well with that smoke and ash. >>lingering along the coast and for most of the east bay yet again tomorrow bringing us the poorest air particles. >>specifically in those areas and believe it or not this is a live look outside out berkeley and right now visibility is so poor it's already at or near 0 along the coast starting to become extremely por throughout the east bay shoreline a

here these are boulder creek, but we found others in bonny doon yesterday. cal fire's official count is up to 50 but they know the unofficial count is already in the hundreds. almost 21,000 homes are now under threat as we speak, some of them the homes of our nbc bay area colleagues. yesterday our crews came upon people who were choosing to stay, against the advice of cal fire. others packed up and left. >> we live in an extended family so we've got little kids in the house sp everything. we all loaded in trucks and we're out at my brother-in-law's house in santa cruz right now. everybody's on the floor with mattresses and we got what we could. >> reporter: 50,000 evacuees, the county of santa cruz is asking all visitors and tourists in town right now to please leave in order to free up hotel space for people who are out of their homes and they are asking visitors to stay away this weekend. and if you are in the area you will notice roadblocks all around town, that is not only to help the evacuees get out but that's also to prevent people from going into tho

fire continues to threaten there's been extensive damage in areas near boulder creek and also in bonny doon homes. they're just incinerated by the fire hundreds of other buildings have also been destroyed and many more are still threatened fire crews have been dealing with these intense fires for days now fire officials say that it is actively burning in heavy timber and thick undergrowth one of the big concerns has been burning trees which have been breaking apart hitting the ground and then causing the potential for more fires to spread however, firefighters have reported that there have been better firefighting conditions, thanks to improved. the weather. more aerial attacks and an increase in the number of crews that are working the fire. but evacuees that have been staying in nearby santa cruz have been patiently waiting for more updates as they struggle with uncertainty, i'm glad that we left them that we were. >>in the midst of many many many other people who were leaving it's a little bit emotional but i i don't know we don't have our jobs we've been lucky through the pandemic to be

this is the neighborhood north of a town called bonnie doon. that also slowed the progress. we spotted a dozen firetrucks making their way to the fire line from the town of boulder creek. as the afternoon heat hit its peak, the fire exploded in sign. 22,000 people were evacuated and 8600 homes are threatened. giant plumes of smoke could be seen for miles. >> there was a major plume of smoke right where my house is. it would be a crushing blow if i lost it all, but it is hard. >> these are the latest evacuation orders for the entire town is under mandatory orders to leave. the same goes for the town of lum pico. you have to get ready to leave for a huge swath of the santa cruz mountains as seen here on this map. if you live in a shaded area, gather your valuables and get ready to go at a moments notice when they tell you to do so. in one hour, they will give us a briefing of what is going on with the czu august lightning complex fires happening in about 48 minutes. we are live in scotts valley? any idea on what their hopes are in the day ahead for this fire? >> as you know, t

bonny doon is looking really good. we've got a lot of resources in there that continue to pop up around homes. and start to extinguish that, and mop that up. there are a lot of hazard trees in there. we have had a number of trees fall across the road that we had to bring our specialty crews in to open up the road. >> you've been listening live to the nightly briefing by cal fire, and some of the recap here. it's just very good progress for the third straight day. the cal fire officials say they are making very good progress, specifically with this czu fire. they are holding the line, which is good news, preventing the spread of this fire into santa clara county, which includes palo alto hills and the cupertino hills and preventing the spread into the ucsc campus in santa cruz, and the bonny doon area in the santa cruz mountains. we are streaming the rest of this news conference on our website. it continues to happen right now. you can watch it live at nbcbayarea.com. >>> up next, help is here. specialty firefighters ar

that truck was parked in a fire station in bonny doon. investigators say that he used the stolen credit card at the shell station on 41st avenue. he's wearing a giants hat, black and white checkered mask. you can see there this is a good picture that we've got. if you know who this person is you're asked to give deputies a call. >>> it is 6:44. the mostly virtual stage is set for day two of the republican national convention. >> we will hear from melania trump and secretary of state mike pompeo. >>> right. and you would expect to hear from the first lady. secretary of state. traditionally that is not thought of as a politician. we wouldn't expect the secretary of state to speak. mike pompeo says that he is campaigning as a private citizen, and considering he sets the rules at the state department he can do as he wishes. he'll speak from jerusalem further cementing the point with evangelicals about trump's actions in israel. last night's kickoff of the republican national convention had some very traditional moments. nikki haley and senato

bonny doon is looking good. they are mopping up around homes, continuing to find any fire in the ravines and drainages and start to extinguish that, mop that up. there are a lot of hazard trees in there. we've had a number fall across felton road, specialty crews in to open up the road, cut the trees down and eliminating the hazard trees that could pose a hazard to our personnel or any of the utility company folks that are working in that area to start restoring that infrastructure which they are doing as we open up the roadways throughout the fire and the 236 corridor and working with caltrans so we can get deeper into the park and setting up the structure to restore. one matter of note and an unfortunate situation, as i said this morning, highly qualified individuals that are setting up, planning and running the operation. one of our personnel, the commanders that is setting up and running the operation unfortunately last night somebody broke into his fire department vehicle and stole his protective equipment.

and evacuations are in effect in santa cruz county and this new video shows homes in bonny doon going up in julian fwluf julian glover is live where officials gave an update. >> reporter: and we just are stepped out of that update. and the big headline, the fire exploding in size from 25,000 acres last night to 40,000 acres. and we heard from cal fire, there is the potential for this fire to still grow exponentially. we had a very grim and ominous tone as they laid down what is at stake here saying when you hear that you need to evacuate, you need to do so quickly. and we want to show you video of what we saw overnight, the town of obonny doon dealing with touh flames, it engulfed several homes there. and we want to talk about some of the evacuation orders. some 22,000 people already under that order. san gregorio all the way south to davenport, all of those folks have been told to evacuate and you heard from cal fire that the evacuations that happened this davenport happened very quicklq. and we also heard from cal fire that their resources have been pushed to their extent. i want yo

. >> reporter: nameighbors are coming together here to survive in bonny doon. man offers his home for those in need. >> water and companionship, just a refuge. >> reporter: robertson's house is a refuge that runs by a generator. thatko fire didn't destroy it. one neighbor said being at his house allows them to escape the devastation. >> being able to get together at a place that resembles normalcy and hanging out with friends, is a very refreshing thing at the end of the day. >> we come around here to share information, a meal, some6 encouragement. >> reporter: these neighbors credit a network of people helping them get buy. >> we're fairly self-sufficient up here but there is a limit to all that. we need fuel to run our lights and to charge our phones. >> reporter: robertson is grateful for the help and he's glad he can offer his home. >> it's good to have my home, but it's -- on the flip side, my neighbors are homeless. >> reporter: in bonny doon, lauren martinez, abc 7 news. >>> firefighters say they're gaining containment on 588 square miles across seven

this was taken along empire grade in the bonny doon area. cal fire said that the fire moved overnight into boulder creek and ben loman from the west side of empire ridge road to the east. within 22,000 people have had to evacuate because of this fire. another 8000 homes remain in the fires path. because of that, there will likely be more evacuations needed today. people living in scotts valley and west of highway 17, south of bear creek, and north of santa cruz are being told to be prepared. have your belongings ready to go at a moments notice in case those neighborhoods have to evacuate next. >> we are seeing fire that we have never seen and the coastal area before as far as the amount and the intensity and so forth. when you hear a jet engine, that is exactly what it sounds like. and so that tells us that the release of energy from burning materials is off the charts. it is going to cause significant rather it and dangerous fire brigade.. >> we have seven helicopters assigned just to us. because of the way the smoke is laying down from the

later he and his partner chelsea had to evacuate their home in bonnie doon. then he got a text message from a friend who was out there battling the flames. >> he texted me and said we tried to get down your road to your house. it is too hot. everything is on fire and we couldn't make it. i knew then that it was gone then. >> he just bought his house last year. he even built a deck at the house for his sister's wedding because her original wedding venue was canceled because of the pandemic. >>> this morning fire crews are making progress in their battle against the l in your complex fire that is affecting napa, sonoma, lake and solano counties. it's 25% contained after burning nearly 550 square miles. mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted in some of the areas, but cal fire says it's too early to say when everyone in the region will be allowed to return home. >> we are going to get active burning again. we are having active burning on the east zone in a co areas as we speak. having good fire behavior. >> lease fires have taken a tragic toll. six people h

it was part of the bonny doon fire station as he was on the front lines fighting the czu lightning complex fire. take a closer look at the man investigators say he was wearing at the time a green giants cap also a white and black checkered mask a black t-shirt light blue jeans black vans shoes officials believe that he's bonny doon resident. so if you know this man or you have any information about him you're asked to call the santa cruz county sheriff's office. now to the east bay this morning contra costa county arrested this man and woman on separate arson charges last week. the song is on the left she was arrested in antioch milan pop inches on the right. he was arrested for a car fire in martinez, both of them now being held at the county jail in martinez. >>all right taking a live look at sfo we have fog and oh yeah, the smoke is still working its magic, although we have more of a marine layer will work with state and tomorrow. the weather elements are really helping out at least early in the week not going to remain that way for the whole week however going to check out your 4 zone

e operatns that are going the bonny doon. >>so as you can imaginethe hard by the hearts with inexperienced whet their se has been destroyed or their house they're eir homes now i can i sy ea that size we would have probably 1020times the resources to combat that fire don't have it it's just the resources are fully finite as you heard to see already before the number of fires throughout the state. really tapped our brains to from out of state that that should they indicate that how drawn down we are 3 sources. so we do the best can we have tegy we have to change our ts a fire situ as we said before some president. this isn't just a pical fire that we face day in day out this is unprecedented this is historic so and that in mind with the ng best we can. we can only have like peeps and small wins and the dew point protections so its life. number and the peoplso that their life safety is the in the run-up property conservation property protection, we're an eye to this fire and the fuel and all those things we can only do so much

it was part of the bonny doon fire station as he was busy on the front lines fighting the czu complex fire now you're taking a closer look at the man investigators say that he was wearing a green san francisco giants cap. also white and black checkered mask, a black t-shirt light blue jeans and black vans shoes, they believe that likely a body do written bonny doon resident. so if you know this man he have any information about him you're asked to call the santa cruz county sheriff's office. >>well let's continue our team coverage with the lnu complex fire that's burning in the north bay check out this map here it shows you exactly where the complex of fires are burning in sonoma napa and solano counties and kron 4 sarah stinson live in napa county this morning. she's been taking a closer look at the damaged homes and property. >>sarah is just heartbreaking to see. >>yeah and it's unbelievable to see where the fire burned what he decides to devastate wanted his side to keep around for example here on still canyon road and colson way you see the home behind me fully standing up nothing

new evacuation order was just issued within the past 15 minutes, and includes all residents of bonnie doon, south of i's grave road, and south of there, they must evacuate immediately. under evacuation orders and santa cruz county, empire grave road from felton empire north, pine flat road, bonnie doon route, they all need to evacuate immediately. neighborhood south of there are under an evacuation warning, residents should be prepared to leave at a moments notice of the fire had their direction. this is after other areas were evacuated including the boulder creek fire protection district. watsonville has been set up as an evacuation center, late last night, evacuation orders went into effect with the fire, including residence at south skyline boulevard near highway nine, at the toler heights community area. now, the august lightning complex fire has turned about 7500 acres as of the past update late last night. it is zero percent contained, two firefighters have been injured fighting this. a half hour from now, california fire will give us an update on the situation with the players and t

>>the director of the bonny doon community preschool and scotts valley says that she's been up all night making sure that her school was protected luckily, it is still standing. >>it's hard it's hard to to reach see how they how scared people are. the amount of the amazing things you were doing people are taking a 6 goats in their car and chickens and cats and. they're getting it down there and find places to because that community is like that they get stuff done. there's not much you can do about fire. it's about to take over your house. >>so far we've learned as many as 22,000 people have evacuated connected to the this fire alone. now here is a look at the evacuation orders in effect in san mateo county communities of loma mara and dearborn park that's good creek county park area boot community area who tano state park area including bronco knowles community. boot creek drainage south skyline boulevard area near highway 9. russian ridge open space preserve area. middleton tracked areas own port holo redwoods state park and portola heights community area. >>in marion county, the woodw