overnight, fire made its way down the mountain, into historic armstrong woods about three miles from where we are. cal fire crews are staging, they're trying to protect the grow from damage. >> a redwood tree burns inside historic armstrong woods state park. it's something ranger mike layer has feared. >> even the firefighters come in here, they know how important it is to them. >> they've made their way to the floor of the russian river valley in gurnville. firefighters are keeping an eye watching its progress. >> right now, we're about two miles inside of armstrong woods, check it out, the fire moving very slowly across this hillside. redwood trees are everywhere. >> it continues to go that way. >> we don't see any damage to the trees. it's big, and becomes the inferno type, we have concerns. >> almost a week after fighting this fire, crews are making progress, despite that, the fire has been relentless. tiding on dry brush, several homes have been lost in the heels of hills billion during. a wrg system with lightning do make things worse. >> several communities on the russian rive

he was talking armstrong woods which is just north of here. the state park that they're trying to preserve the redwoods in obviously this area is familiar with fire healdsburg here is another area along one o one that they've been working hard to protect just a a large area here of sonoma county as we head left to right throughout the north bay will move over to napa county nap is the only local county using blue to indicate a mandatory evacuation the yellow again evacuation warnings here is lake berryessa for some perspective and this is the yellow county line and you can see the mandatory order bleeds into yellow. down here you see vacaville and fairfield inn as we scoot over to sonoma county. this is the sonoma county map showing the orders and so many parts of vacaville have been devastated by the fire last week again this is showing sonoma county and that will scoot down to the scu lightning complex the second. biggest fire in terms of acreage burned ever in the state of california, the red here evacuation orders you can see getting close

a redwood tree burns inside historic armstrong woods state park. >> it's burning all the way down. that's the way it's going to keep going. >> reporter: the wall bridge fire made its way to the floor of the russian river valley creeping into the center of this historic park of old growth redwoods. but firefighters are watching the progress. >> if it continues to go that way, i think we won't see any damage to the trees. if it gets big, we've got concerns. >> reporter: after almost a week of fighting in fire, crews are slowly making progress. despite that, the fire has been relentless, feeding on dry brush. several homes have been lost in the hills here. cal fire feared a weather system with lightning could make things even worse. >> we truly did dodge a bullet on this one. very grateful to hear that the system fell apart and didn't have any significant effects on the fire. >> reporter: several communities on the russian river remain under a mandatory evacuation order. harry singh's mini mart here is the only place open for miles. >> try to help the people as much as we can. we are

>>you see the smoke behind me that is armstrong woods which remains on fire. today we got inside to have a look through thick smoke, firefighters were back at it now armstrong woods tuesday trying to extinguish this part of the only new walbridge fire that forced the evacuation of numerous towns along the russian river including guerneville. >>we'll have 100% of the park likely to we may have some little portions of the park that don't burn parks officials say it's been 97 years since there's been a fire in this dense redwood forest. and it's just one of the challenges in fighting this north bay fire this to try to train that we're dealing with right now a lot of canyons a lot of rural area. >>a lot of heavy dense forest over in these areas right here so yeah that does pose a problem in some hazard and getting crews in those areas which makes it. >>why difficult fortunately an air attack on monday really help knock down and cool down this portion of the fire allowing crews to come in in addition to smoke and fire one of the other concerns firefighters have to

but as far as the fire inside of armstrong woods, so far so good. cal fire says it doesn't pose a major threat because fire crews got to it quickly. they are dousing hot spots wherever they see them. the last time there was a major fire inside of armstrong woods was back in 1929. cornell bernard, "abc7 news." >> cornell, thank you. >>> in the south bay, east bay, and central valley, we just got an update on the scu lightning complex. it's burning in seven counties and officials say it's getting close to an eighth. more than 347,000 acres have burned and the complex is just 10% contained. more firefighting resources are coming in from as far away as texas. cal fire says we're living in a mega fire era. >> we have folks that have been working for cal fire for the last five years, and that's all they understand is mega fires. since they've started. these significant incidents have been outpacing themselves every year. >> at least 12 structures have been destroyed. 20,000 are still threatened. there are evacuations in place in alameda and santa clara co

armstrong woods is not as famous or as popular as mere woods.on people visit the area every year to get a look at the unbelievably old trees. >>> more help for sonoma county. 2 new assistance centers are opening. 1 is on main street in guerneville. and the other at hillsberg high school gym. they can learn how to file claims with fema and insurance companies, and other important recovery information. for the latest on the fires, visit www.ktvu.com/wildfires, and you'll find all the latest on the containment numbers, evacuation orders, and information on recovery services. >>> your time now is 8:17. we've got a spare the air alert in effect for the weekend. we've got cooler temperatures this morning. and we also have our august september weather coming in strong, right, rosemary? >> good morning, all of you. happy weekend. outside our doors, the low clouds and fog are with us. temperatures within a few degrees or so. we expect the breeze to pick up as the system moves through the pacific northwest. a soupy start over the golden gate bridge. can't

fire out of armstrong woods. so the fire is currently backing down into the park. it is not a flaming front which you would see from a more devastating fire. >> cal fire officials say a hurricane brewing to our south could bring lightning early next week. the last thing we need right now as that could pose the threat of even more fires. >>> and sonoma county sheriff is reminding everyone that evacuation zones are dangerous places, please don't be a tourist. wednesday night their deputies rescued a stranded motorist who was getting a closer look at the fire. the sheriff says this kind of behavior puts everyone at risk. we talked about the walbridge fire which is burning toward the town of healdsburg, that is a major concern this morning. amy hollyfield is live in sonoma county. >> reporter: yeah, they are really trying hard to protect healdsburg and populated areas. we do have video from overnight of this fire, it is a big one. this is a house on fire on wallace creek road west of healdsburg. this was shot about 2

the fir now threatening the historic armstrong woods state park. 351,000 acres have burned. the fire is 25% contained. >>> number four. the number of homes destroyed by the czu lightning complex fire in santa cruz and san mateo counties is expected to rise. the fire has grown to 78,000 acres with 13% containment. >>> and number five. it's easier to tell you the areas that have good air quality than those who don't. santa rosa and san francisco the only ones in green. san rafael and oakland and livermore in yellow. everybody else orange to red which means it is unhealthy for just about all of us. that will continue for several days. >>> number six. we have smoke and fog that is mixing together creating visibility issues for our commuters this morning in the north bay and along the pninsula. as we look at the golden gate bridge, be aware we have a fog advisory issued here, as well. >>> number seven. today is day two of the republican national convention. first lady melania trump will deliver a speech from the white house rose garden. you can catch live coverage of the conventi

it is 1800 >> armstrong woods, outside the town of greyear gazing up at the namesake colonel armstrong tree. more than 300 feet tall. right now it's firefighters taking in the views. >> have you been in the redwoods before? >> no. >> it's great. ask for your help. >> reporter: it's been a hectic two weeks in the park, with the walbridge fires starting not far from here a much higher elevations. but over time creeping down and the growth. >> a lot of people say redwoods are used to fire, they evolve with fire, they like it. what they don't like is infrequent fire. >> reporter: and it hasn't burned here in a century or more. vegetation is piled up around the redwoods' trunks. >> here is the park, no bark. a fire gets on here and it is in direct contact with the wood, that's exactly what we don't want. >> reporter: these claims are intentional, clearing fuels away from the shallow root system, so it doesn't cook, and the redwood fall. >> we have been hearing of giant trees come crashing down in the middle of the night in the middle of the day. every now and again you hear some. but for th

yesterday with air drops boots on the ground they've been working all week actually up near the armstrong woods area near guerneville to prevent it from coming down here southeast from where the fire was mainly burning earlier this week and that's what happened the winds picked up and it has probably happened so quickly because in the video you can you see firefighters in the area that video shot on wallace creek road. so what you do is you drive down west side road then you turn right onto mill creek road in down there it gets pretty hairy and then if you turn right on wallace creek road that's where it gets really really bad and you can see i mean there's downed trees it's very scary down there and did calling on him to be safe for firefighters to go down there at this point. >>we're trying to get an update from cal fire in terms of how many homes burned overnight, but clearly they have to wait until the sun comes up to see that so stay tuned, we'll let you know if we have an update for now i'm live near hillsborough sarah stinson kron 4 news all right sir, thanks for that live report we want

the armstrong woods area and they were trying to just keep it there, we'll put their fire lines get their dozer line strong that it didn't travel down, but it did and that was the biggest fear and now it has become reality this is an area keep in mind. sonoma county that has a lot of scars from previous fires, this is not the first time they've evacuated. >>and if you're watching this and you live in that area mill creek road wallace creek road. we definitely feel for you west side road as well that is the area is it is either threatened or as you saw has already been so. >>as day like becomes is the sun comes up we will get a better idea of just how much damage. it is a scene of very dark. that will be catching up with calfire this morning's best especially with the the person who's in charge of the lnu complex paul lowenthal i'm a texan right now see if he has any updates for us, but a very devastating one of the scariest times in the bay area because we have fires all across and so we feel for you if you are going through this is scott of the gut wrenching i have family and friends tha

make sure you have multiple ways to get information about evacuations and stay a stand to armstrong woods. >> we don't have the people to keep that fire out of the woods. it is not a flaming front that you would see from a more devastating fire. >> cal fire officials say a res. >> in total, more thanacres hav fire zones in the bay area. that gives you a per team was assessing the fire damage. and we were along that street. you can see the devastation there. he is in addition to a pg&e worker whoelping first responders. >> we are told that the bodies were all found inside a burned home on highway 128. the victims' identities have not been released. >> 215,000 acres have been burned to form the complex fires. those are burning in multiple areas. now, this map helps you get a sense of how widespread it is. right now, it's zero percent contained. >>> abc7 news is talking with families who lost everything and we are live in vac a ville with more on how this familyte did, some story, first off, it is extremely smokey out here tonight. you can see the damage that this fire has already done. you

multiple ways to get information about evacuations and crews may not be able to stay a stand to save armstrong woods. >> we don't have the people to keep that fire out of the woods. it is not a flaming front that you would see from a more devastating fire. >> cal fire officials say a hurricane brewing to the south could bring lightning that could pose the risk of more fires. >> in total, more than 420,000 acres have burned in three main fire zones in the bay area. that gives you a per team was assessing the fire damage. and we were along that street. you can see the devastation there. he is in addition to a pg&e worker whoelping first responders. >> we are told that the bodies were all found inside a burned home on highway 128. the victims' identities have not been released. >> 215,000 acres have been burned to form the complex fires. those are burning in multiple areas. now, this map helps you get a sense of how widespread it is. right now, it's zero percent contained. >>> abc7 news is talking with families who lost everything and we are live in vac a ville with more on how this family escaped. >>

the fire is now threatening the armstrong woods state park but firefighters say they're keeping an eye on its progress. the lnu complex fire has burned more than 351,000 acres, however, containment has climbed to 25%. >>> now, breaking news from the abc7 live desk. >>> at the live desk, we do have a little bit of relief for people under mandatory evacuation orders for the scu lightning complex fire. that fire has been downgraded to a warning for people in parts of santa clara county. the scu fire is now the second largest wildfire in state history. it's burned more than 360,000 acres and is 15% contained. five people have been injured in the fire. 12 buildings destroyed. abc7 news was embedded with the crew as it entered the fire zone at henry co state park, firefighters explained their plan of attack. >> we're burning out around houses and to protect them and protect them and burning out around them and let the fire push off away from them so when the fire does come to it, less to burn. >> two strike teams of 44 firefighters from texas are among crews fighting the flames. the goal for

. >> reporter: nearby firefighters were clearing debris near the entrance of armstrong woods state reserve, home to iconic old growth redwoods, now under threat. >> we're here at the fairgrounds with sonoma animal response teams. >> reporter: large animals came to the fairgrounds in santa rosa. by 10:00 a.m. there were a dozen horses and michael's two goats and lots of chickens. >> got all the animals loaded up and stayed in the truck with the animals overnight and then bringing them on in here to get them a stall to be cared for. >> reporter: now, evacuation centers in sonoma county are set up in bodega bay, santa rosa and healdsburg. large animals can be taken to the sonoma county fairgrounds in santa rosa. we're going to come back live with an incredible shot of this smoke plume, which continues to grow. cal fire says this fire is expected to grow in size considerably by tonight. we will certainy keep you updated on what's going on here. live in guerneville, cornell bernard, abc 7 news. >> cornell, thanks very much. the hennessey fire is the largest of the fires that make up the lnu com

, residents of austin creek recreation area evacuate as a fire on the parks edge and north of armstrong wood state reserve exposed to more than 500 acres. early evacuations clear the way should fire crews need in and people need out. >> i saw the smoke from my house, but the road is long and winding. >> we deal with hundreds to thousands of people per day in a park like this. >> reporter: it was a scramble finding and evacuating hikers, campers and households. >> four or dues five different sites. >> reporter: this fire is called 13-four. with so many starts, cal fire is keeping track by number instead of name. >> research was stretched thin before the fire started. >> reporter: the sonoma and napa wildfires are being managed is one complex to streamline strategy and monitor more aircrews and resources. fires that went from a few hundred acres to a few thousand could do so again with no real nighttime dip in temperatures. >> we are seeing a lot of extreme fire behavior, rapid rates of spread and explosive growth. >> it was looking like it was going the other way, but the way the winds keep c

back at the armstrong woods tuesday trying to distinguish this part of the lnu walbrzych fire. that fire has forced the evacuation of numerous towns along the russian river including are unveiled. firefighters are also battling flames in the redwood forest. park officials say it has been 97 years since there's been a fire in that area and it's just one of the challenges in fighting this north bay fire. >>this to try to train that we're dealing with right now a lot of canyons a lot of rural area. a lot of heavy dense forest over in these areas right here so yeah that does pose a problem in some hazard and getting crews in those areas which makes it why difficult. >>well many while many of these 1000 year old trees have not survived this fire state park officials say they're hoping we're big trees to fall down, new trees will grow in their place. >>we're dealing with something that you're trained for and that you do on a day-to-day basis but to do it here in your own backyard was very surreal we've been all over the state and i think having that event happened here in our own bac

. >> reporter: armstrong woods, outside of guerneville. han 1 million people visit each year, gazing up at the armstrong tree, more than 300 feet tall. right now it is firefighters taking in the view. >> reporter: it has been a hectic two weeks with the fire starting not far from here at higher elevation. over time, creeping down into the grove. >> a lot of people say redwoods are used to fire. what they don't like is in frequent flyer. >> reporter: it hasn't burned here in a century or more. vegetation, logs and limbs of piled up around the trunks. >> the fire gets here, it is in direct contact with wood. >> reporter: these flames are intentional. that is so it doesn't cook and the redwood falls. every now and again you hear some. for the most part, the forest handled this pretty well. >> reporter: crews will remain in the park snuffing out smoldering redwoods as the damages assessed. many are from out of the area. the person jones tree is 1300 years old and almost 14 feet in diameter. >>> a quick glance at temperatures. temperatures tomor

. >> reporter: so they are saying this fire made a run to the northeast of armstrong woods at 1:30 this morning. and they are still gathering etails rightnow and getting them to us in real time. so stay with us as we continue to monitorone. we are hoping for morepd uat later this morning. but the message they really want us to push out this morning is that these evacuations are mandatory, they are worried that this could become a major event. and it could head toward a neighborhood so quickly and they worry about the traffic in and out of neighborhoods. so they want the roads cleared for fire trucks. so make sure that your neighbors and friends are getting out as well. >> and before we leaveha y,ou i lot of people for that area. where are they going? going to t?helters that >> reporter: the evacuation orders started coming down yesterday afternoon and into the evening. so the hope is that that evaclreadyua a haonppasened h. look behind me know, here is a car pulled over, i did talk to this man and asked him if he was okay. he said yes, he has evacuated. he is here just watching the fire

the fire is continuing to back down into armstrong woods and ace, sweet water springs area and around the mountain jackson, a repeater sites where there was a defensive firing operation conducted last night to ensure that we had as much protection around that critical communications infrastructure is possible and so far it seems to be accomplishing what we wanted to do. moving over to the east side of the be wallace creek drainage continues to give us difficulty in the afternoons. the afternoon winds are picking up between about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. i'm sorry about that 2 o'clock in the afternoon. through possibly 8 or 9 o'clock each night are which is what's pushing up fire along that wallace creek drainage mill creek road area. it's creating issues for us for structured the stands as the fire continues to advance down to west dry creek road. and west west side road. the north end of the fire which these stewart's fire has merged with the walbridge fire and resources were able to construct some good line last night from lake sonoma over to the some east road area. so we're hop

north of the russian river south of rio nido road at armstrong woods road west of foothill boulevard. at river road and east of old castle darrow road. >>and in the napa county area they have been downgraded for deer park road from the upper end of sanitarium road. >>to the intersection of deer park road. how mountain road and white cottage wrote and how mountain road from khan bally road to the intersection of how mountain road deer park road and white cottage road. >>if you have been evacuated due to the l a new lightning complex fires that we want to show you the area that we're talking about here. we have a map. this shows the damage this is from cal fire. this is the area that has been hardest hit. it is around lake berryessa and as you zoom in you can see where most of the homes have been lost this in the mountains near vaca mountain just northwest of the city of vacaville right here. every house it is marked in red is a structure that has been destroyed and you can see there are many of them a lot of ranches and remote areas between back a bill and the napa valley in the mounta

being downgraded to warnings they include north of the russian river south a rio needle road at armstrong woods road west of foothill boulevard at river road and east of all case darrow road and in napa county a number of locations have also been downgraded. deer park road from the upper end of road to the intersection of deer park road. how mountain road and white cottage roads. and how mountain road from khan vialli road to the intersection of how mountain road deerpark road and white cottage road. we have a full list of evacuation orders as well as warnings, it's all on our website at kron 4 dot com. and here now is a closer look at the latest details on the l a new lightning complex fires more than 369,000 acres have been scorched by the flames across 5 counties, those counties are sonoma napa solano lake and yolo counties 5 people have been killed in this fire and 4 are injured. more than 1000 structures have been destroyed and close to 275 others damaged containment is up to 35% tonight. >>let's take a look at a map to show just what kind of damage. we're talking about from the lnu comple

the lnu complex in the north bay is now threatening the historic armstrong woods state park. 351,000ave burned. the fire is 25% contained. >>> number four. only santa rosa and san francisco and oakland and san jose have decent air and everybody else has unhealthy air this morning and that will continue as we head into tomorrow. i wouldn't be surprised if our spare the air alert is extended past wednesday when the bay area air quality management district updates their forecast. >>> number five. we are experiencing some visibility issues for our commuters this morning. we have a fog advisory for the golden gate bridge right now. also just be careful in the north bay along the peninsula and in the south bay. we've got that mix of fog and smoke in some areas. >>> number six. today is day two of the republican national convention. first lady melania trump will deliver a speech from the white hose gard. the convtion tonight a on men't has signed a new deal with an english soccer team and i see, friend, you are here for this. >> nothing wrong with a >>> good morning, america. boiling point.

blocked off river road because the fire still threatening the communities near fi i'm here on armstrong woods where you can see the heavy smoke where the fire is down there near sweetwater springs road and i can no longer go there anymore because it's unsafe to even drive in there in the video you can see i was up there. yesterday about 24 hours from a 24 hours ago and it's a very narrow road one way and one way out. and that way not accessible anymore you can see i mean the cal fire engine there do is the with of entire road sows it was a very scary road and now it's all covered by downed trees. this today they are now gearing up for another hot day they expected to go from right now at 54 degrees all the way up to mid 90's so it's going to be another tough fight. yesterday that fight that was very hard because the winds started roaring around 3 o'clock and it continued until 6 of picked up the fire. and they're finding it hard to make sure did not go into the nearby communities now this fire game in the in the area of guerneville and west of healdsburg has burned more than 20,000 acres, it'

the latest include north of the russian river at guerneville south of rio nido road at armstrong woods road west of foothill boulevard at river road and east of old castle darrow road. >>and in napa county orders have also been downgraded for deer park road from the upper end of sanitarium road to the intersection of deer park road, how mountain road and white cut as road. also how mountain road from khan valley road to the intersection of how mountain road deerpark road and white cottage road. we have a full list of evacuation orders and warnings on our website kron 4 dot com unfortunately not everyone in the north bay is allowed to return home cal fire says the fire may be out in some areas, but. >>there are still plenty of hazards on the roadway for stan herman reports from cal fire base camp in santa rosa about the major cleanup that still needs to be done. >>this is what it looks like driving along mill creek road. well the fire has come and gone along parts of this healdsburg neighborhood. the smell of smoke is thick homes have been destroyed and hazards are everywhere. utility l

armstrong road and sweetwater road near armstrong woods had been burning overnight.rning are far from the roadways. you can see heavy smoke in the area. new worry about a saturday shift in the wind that could first of fire toward the russian river. cal fire sees extreme fire behavior. >> it has not cross, but i am concerned about a change in weather conditions and that south to southwest wind . make no mistake, it is a large fire. >> the evacuation orders in the river communities have expanded. the national weather service is warning about more lightning storms. four people have died in the lmu fires. three from napa county and one from solano county. four people were injured, and more than 30,000 structures remained under threat. if the southwest wind picks up the fire could grow larger very quickly. potential for another lightning storm is very troubling. again, the next update from cal fire will happen at 11 am this morning. ktvu fox2 news . >>> we do have some new damage numbers for you on the czu lightning complex fires in the santa cruz mountains. cal fire anno

an update on the come flex fire that is threatening the historic armstrong woods state park.rugged terrain is making their job more difficult. so the fire has burned 352,000 acres. it is 27% contained, which is up from yesterday. the lnu complex is the third largest wildfire in california history. mike, how's it going to look out there today? >> a little bet, but the problem is they're not close enough to the marine layer to get the temperatures to come down during the overnight hours like the fires are closer coast. right now, you can see a plethora of unhealthy air quality and it will continue through at least wednesday. but i think it could last longer and it's going to get hotter. reggie. >> all right, thank you. >> coming up on gma, the secrets of how the emmy awards is now going virtual. lily everyone in the house is online and i can't get enough bandwidth to video chat with my book club. try 1 gig internet with at&t fiber. you get more bandwidth and hbo max included. so, everyone stays entertained. so i can just watch the show instead of reading the book? you know, if

burning in this cluster of fires in the north bay tech fire officials are very worried about armstrong woodsnd those communities near the russian river. guerneville has been evacuated along with the town of monte rio. more than 30,000 homes and structures are threatened. 480 have burned. the cluster of fires in napa, sonoma, and lake counties started on monday and continue to merge and move. it was believed they were ignited by lightning strike spread the walbridge fire has now merged with the stewart fire and burning west of healdsburg more than 21,000 acres. firefighters hope to get some relief from coastal pulpit >> we are no longer in red flag warning. we did get cultural influence on site so the humidities came up. we hoping now that we have had a little shift in the weather pattern that it works in our favor. >>> firefighters have been aggressively attacking the flames on the ground and by air . a boeing 747 supertanker dumped retarded on the flames yesterday but it did have to be granted after smoke impacted disability. cal fire expects these fires to grow significantly. the largest b

armstrong discussing the u.s. senate's rejection of the 1919 treaty of versailles to end world war i, which wood row wilson spent severals negotiating. watch tonight at 8:00 eastern and enjoy american history tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. >> you're watching american history tv. every weekend on cspan3, explore our nation's past. cspan3. created by america's cable television companies as public service. and brought to you today by your television provider. >> up next from american history tv's real america series, an nbc news report from september 2nd, 1963 on the sats of the civil rights movement. report iing from 75 locations throughout the country. the three-hour program covers the history of slavery and jim crow laws, sit ins and marches. the assassination of

the work underway at armstrong woods to protect the hundreds of redwoods. >>> containment is growing on the three major wildfires burning in the bay area. they scu lightning complex in the east bay and central valley is 40% contained. it has burned nearly 375,000 acres. in the north bay the lnu lightning complex fire has scorched 72,000 acres and is 35% contained. and the czu fire in the santa cruz mountains has burned 81,0 >>> more people evacuated from the fire zone in the santa cruz mountains and are back home tonight. firefighters say damaged assessments of roads and bridges in the area being repopulated is 70% complete right now. they urged residents returning home to exercise caution still to return home and fire could even travel underground. >> this type of ground fire can be really dangerous for firefighters. if you step on this area and the ground underneath is not there anymore and it caves in you can fall into an area that is very hot for fire. it can also be dangerous for residents and the people returning to their homes. >> hellfire says it has infrastructure groups wor