anne mackovic on the simple mistake that was the source of the blaze. >> reporter: dozens of people in cupertino lived in this apartment complex describe the past 24 hours. >> oh, no! >> reporter: this cell phone video shows massive flames coming from that second floor apartment at around 6:00 last night, a fire that started when a woman was cooking french fries. >> got distracted, went into the bedroom. they were in there doing cross word puzzles, then all of a sudden the smoke detector alerted them of the smoke. >> reporter: this picture posted on twitter shows the scene a few minutes later, after the fire moved from the pan to the cupboards to the entire kitchen. the '70s-era building doesn't have sprinklers and the fire spread quickly, destroying eight apartments. smoke and water damage to eight others, but since firefighters didn't know how bad this would get, the whole complex was evacuated for a few hours. 200 to 300 people were worried about what they would come back to. >> reporter: a shelter has been set up at the high school next door. >> we're in the gym, nowhere else to go

ann mackovic went shopping on small business saturday. >> it is a big day for small business. usually you can tell how the year is going to be, you know, next year is going to be, based on christmas. >> don't expect the flashy 50% off signs or other deep discounts you might see at the big box stores here at morning glory boutique. >> we typically don't which i know sounds crazy. >> the shop in downtown burlingame doesn't have to resort to sales. >> most of our clientele are boutique-based so they're not the type to want to go out and get these crazy discounts. >> reporter: and today dubbed small business saturday two years ago is a time for shoppers thinking small to show their support. even president obama pitched in taking his daughters to a bookstore a few blocks from the white house. and there are some distinct advantages. >> to be in a small boutique shop than in a large department store. sometimes that gets a little overwhelming. >> reporter: but it is not all about competition with big retail chains. in fact, the storeowners that we spoke with say the arrival of this bi

anne mackovic explains why firefighters are keeping watch nearly 24 hours after the flames erupted. >> reporter: regina kim saw the smoke from her apartment window and shot this video with a cell phone. a raging fire in this five-story commercial and apartment building. >> it kept getting bigger there. was black smoke coming out of the windows, too. >> reporter: her building was evacuated, but it was the people that lived in the 39 apartments in this building that she really felt for, mainly students at uc berkeley. >> they were just out, because they just lost all their stuff, and they are crying. we're so close to finals week, so they are freaking out. >> reporter: firefighters don't know how many people were in there. they are asking anyone who lived there to contact the berkeley fire department for a head count. the red cross is helping at least eight people with emergency housing. >> it is a kind of constant state of not knowing what's going on and how many people need help. >> reporter: late this morning, more than 12 hours after the fire broke out, firefighters were still pouri

ann mackovic went shopping on small business saturday. >> reporter: it is a big day for small business. >> usually, you can tell how the year is going to be you know, next year is based on christmas. >> don't expect the flashy 50% off signs or other deep discounts you might see at the big box stores here at morning glory boutique. >> we typically don't which sounds crazy. >> this shop in downtown burlingame doesn't have to resort to saefplts. >> most of our clientele are boutique-base. so, they're not the type to want to go out and get these crazy discounts. >> reporter: today dubbed small business saturday two years ago is a time for shoppers thinking small to show their support. even president obama pitched in taking his daughters to a bookstore a few blocks from the white house. there are some distinct advantages. >> smart find to be in a small boutique. in a large department store it gets overwhelming. >> it is not all about competition. the storeowners that we spoke with say the arrival helps foot traffic along the entire corridor. >> just have to get them in the door. >> just hav

i'm anne mackovic. many people waking to frost in the bay area.w in the sierra, plus more rain in the next 48 hours. that means kristy siefken has been very busy this morning. >> putting me to work. lots of cold weather in store right here in the bay area, and then of course in the sierra, seeing new snowfall yesterday into today and even more in store as we make our way a little later into the weekend. check out shots, beautiful fall foliage, covered in snow. not getting to enjoy the halloween thanksgiving time, because we're seeing a whole lot of white. looks more like wintertime than fall time. and the snowfall levels we're seeing in the sierras are similar to what we usually see in january and february. definitely more snow than we would expect this time of year. sierra forecast looking like this. mostly cloudy for today, but into overnight hours, going to see more snowfall. temperatures only hitting a high of 34 degrees in the sierra, slightly warming up for the start of the work week. then we are seeing a lot of snow above 4000 feet, even mo

i'm anne mackovic. >> i'm kristy siefken. this is a perfect day to do something other than shopping. if you're hitting the malls do, do it outdoors. we'll see lots of sunshine today. some areas with dense patchy fog. we're seeing plenty of blue this morning. this will be an indicator of what we'll see later on this afternoon, but we're not going to stay dry for long. there's a chance of showers back in our forecast. i'll tell you exactly when that's going to be a little later on in the show. >> thanks, kristy. >>> about half an hour ago, a robotic explorer blasted off for the planet mars. the rover called curiosity will travel 350 million miles before arriving at mars next august. there it goes! the biggest rover ever, weighing about a ton, with measurements similar to a midsize car. it will sample soils and rocks, analyze them right there on the surface of mars and look for evidence of living microbes. >>> shoppers behaving badly at stores across the country this year, including here in the bay area. police have arrested an

i'm anne mackovic. >> i'm kristy siefken. should be very nice this afternoon, once we get through the cloud cover. i know people have asked, will it be rainy? it rained last weekend. we're looking at more rain later on. the forecast today, we'll get to enjoy sunshine once we break through the low cloud ceiling a little later on this morning. i'll give you a full look at the extended forecast, a little later on in the show. >>> tonight, republicans running for president will have a chance to explain what they would do as commander in chief. a debate in spartanburg, south carolina will focus on foreign policy and national security. eight candidates taking the stage, in a poll by cbs news and the "new york times" shows that herman cain is still leading the pack. newt gingrich is now in a second place tie with mitt romney. >> it is a wide open race. i think the american people are looking, asking questions, thinking about it. >> poll numbers show republicans trust gingrich and romney the most to handle an international crisis. se

anne mackovic explains. >> reporter: questions over falsified safety tests and lost records are playing a technician who worked here on the new span of the sacramento bridge. the sacramento bee published a bombshell report saying dwayne wild, whoa was responsible for crucial safety tests on this new pan, is accused of botching tests for other major transportation projects throughout the state, including falsifying results, the bee says he was responsible for testing 7 of the 13 might that form the new bay bridge foundation. engineers have repeatedly stressed the need to ensure the bridge can withstand the strongest possible earthquake. and, just last thursday at the old bridge's 75th birthday celebration, cal tran expressed confidence in the structure. >> interview: just like this bridge has stood for generations the new bridge will also span generations and increase safety, produce movement, and also serve as our legacy so that, for 75 years from now, history will show we did great things as well. >> reporter: we tracked down caltrans spokesman cal may, he says he isn't prepared to ans

in cupertino, anne mackovic, cbs 5. >>> a berkeley apartment building ravaged by a five-alarm fire will be demolished tomorrow. the five-story building has been red tagged since the blaze nine days ago. it was home to many cal students. nearby buildings and roads remain close until the structure is brought down. >>> demonstrators at occupy protests across the country face eviction notices tonight. this is the scene in philadelphia, where police moved in after the mayor ordered people to leave their downtown encampment by this afternoon. midnight tonight is the deadline for demonstrators in los angeles. stephanie abrams on how protesters are responding there. >> reporter: juliet, many of the occupiers have been here for 58 days, saying they have become entrenched. they say living here on the south lawn of city hall has become a way of life for them. yes, they know the deadline to leave is tonight at midnight, but as you can see, police will certainly have their hands full. police cars surrounded the camp and officers surveyed the south lawn, but we found very few tents breaking down, des

i'm anne mackovic. >> i'm kristy siefken. a little bit of a break from the rain rate new. we will need the umbrellas out this afternoon. a little bit of cloud cover as you're making your way to the coastline. still very nice and lots of sunshine in store. i'll tell you when you need to grab the umbrella, later on in the show. >>> today, supporters of occupy oakland plan to set up a new camp at a new spot right after a march through downtown. but they are running into trouble from people who live around that area. here's what happened during an occupy news conference yesterday. >> tomorrow, november 19-- >> excuse me, we live here. this is not an appropriate space to have this happen. >> this is a public space. >> the location is an empty city lot next to the fox theater. protesters say they chose this area because groups representing businesses in the neighborhood are, quote, our enemies. the city posted no trespassing signs on the lot yesterday. there's an e-mail statement from the city, saying no overnight lodging will be tolerated in public spaces. the mayor said i supp