it jumped in size five fold to some 11,000 acres. >>> let's go to "today in the bay's" bob redell this live in sonoma county in a neighborhood hit hard overnight. bob? >> reporter: we're about half a mile away from where we were earlier this morning. this is a neighborhood of large homes. you can see this one home went up -- we think maybe about 20 minutes ago. the homes around it haven't gone up so trying to figure out why did this home catch fire. it is backing up to open space that was on fire, so it either came in through the back or could have just been bad luck with the burning embers. it's been very windy out here. you can see the fire department is out here doing their best to try to save whatever they can that's left of this home. as you can see the home is going to most likely be a loss. they're trying to keep the flames from coming. they're fighting the winds and hot temperatures. 90 degrees and the sun isn't really up yet. you can see horrible conditions for fighting fires. bob redell, "today in the bay." >> reporter: we're on the same street skyhawk near mountain view and

straight out to bob redell right now. he has a look here near highway 12 i understand, bob. >> reporter: i'm south of highway 12. a mile east of oakmont or west. we're in the backyard of a home being protected and this is in their backyard. this large home in the hills burning the last 30 minutes. i believe it started firing during our last live report which was at 5:00 and, unfortunately, it's a horrible sight for the people who live there. that home is gone. we're going to try to get up there at 6:00. you can see the spot fires and 30 minutes ago a lot of fire surrounding the house. so far so good. their fire protection has been working. it's been like fires come up and go out. once the camera light gets closer to the house you can see the structure right here which so far is saved. petaluma fire has a crew of three men out here with hoses and then the next is a neighborhood. you see the left and a series of smaller homes and you can see the fire truck doing the same thing going out trying to put out the spot fires. pat

bob redell back in santa rosa. let's start out with "today in the bay's" cierra johnson live in calistoga which is now empty due to those evacuation orders, cierra. >> reporter: exactly. this community is no stranger to evacuations. it was just a few months ago that they had experienced those evacuations and it's this scene, hills on fire surrounding this town, that is prompting those evacuations. cal fire has a tough battle ahead. the fires are raging. previously the weather has not helped although right now it is a little cooler. so at this point cooperation by nearly 5,000 neighbors to heed the warning and evacuate is crucial. now the town has already witnessed devastation caused by the fire. you can see a well-known winery castello di amarosa was damaged by flames. the owner says it will now cost millions to repair. so right now officials urging folks to leave. on the way here from the city we saw a lot of smoke driving in. and you can tell they're not letting anyone in, anyone out. there were at least four che

let's check in with bob redell right now. in santa rosa with an update on what it looks like up there. bob? >> reporter: good morning, laura. we're in the skyhawk community where i count at least four homes, one of them right behind me that burned down. what we're not seeing here this morning that we saw yesterday we're not seeing the winds, the air relatively speaking is dead, it's calm. we're not seeing the gusts like yesterday and the temperatures right now i would say hovering around 60 degrees yesterday morning. we saw temps that were 90, 91 degrees. 30 degrees hotter. and we're not seeing as we look into the valley and into the hills you have the smoke. i believe part is also the regular tuesday morning but we're not seeing the fire activity. we're not seeing the flames. we do know the firefighters are out there. they're roving the hills. we believe the fire has moved south now to annadel state park through eastern santa rosa. we're just not seeing the same type of fire activity we saw yesterday morning. hopefully it sta

bob redell is live. pg&e doing everything to avoid another wildfire triggered by faulty equipment. >> reporter: correct, kris. there's a strong offshore wind expected to blow through tonight so pg&e is worried that wind could damage equipment or power lines and spark the kind of destructive and deadly wildfires we've seen in the north bay over the past few years. yesterday the utility issued a 24-hour warning about possible public safety power shutoffs, psps, as we've come to know them this is for today and tomorrow. for 103,000 customers in 18 counties in the north bay and the sierra foothills. this includes over 5,600 customers in napa. 210 customers in sonoma. you should have received an alert from pg&e letting you know if this affects you if you live in those areas. pg&e says it has learned from preventative outages in the past and these will take place today and tomorrow, will be smaller in size and shorter in length. these power shutoffs are not to be confused with rolling blackouts possible last n

bob redell joins us with the story of that rescue. ng, bob. >> reporter: good morning to you, scott. last night we knew that 50 people were trapped inside the creek fire. nbc news has confirmed that 24 of those people have been rescued by the army national guard based out of fresno. i'm following a journalist who is tweeting that another 11 have been rescued from the creek fire. that would bring the total to 35 rescued, 15 people still trapped. you're looking at video that came into our newsroom of the first 13 people airlifted from china peak back to the airport in fresno. other people trapped in the vermilion valley resort and lake edison. both locations are within the sierra national forest. here is one evacuee. he tried to drive out with four friends. they had been camping. they could only get to china peak. >> you don't think that you will go through something like that. >> reporter: sadly we know that one of the people trapped in the creek zone fire area has died of an apparent heart attack. so, again, 50 people trapped. we belie

that's where we find "today in the bay's" bob redell this morning. he is near highway 12 in santa rosa not far from the skyhawk neighborhood where cierra johnson was. behind you burning as well. this is heartbreaking, bob. >> reporter: east on highway 12, east of skyhawk where cierra is, not far from the intersection of oakmont, there's this home on highway 12. the burbank fire department protecting this home. what's burning in the back, the homeowner had firewood back there. that's what you see burning right now. and one propane tank already exploded. we heard that one. there's another one in the back that they're expecting -- they're concerned about it blowing up as well. they're trying to keim theep th distance. you have fire -- as you move to the left you can see it looks like fields. i can't see entirely. there's fields and i believe homes back there that already burned. you're looking to our live truck and my vehicle, that's highway 12. the fire already crossed over to highway 12. as you continue your turn to the left, that home i was talking ab

reporting live here in dublin, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thank you. >>> another look at what we're talking about when bob was talking about the skies. yep, our cameras capturing this across the bay area. this is all day yesterday. the orange i and yellow mostly everywhere and we actually expect more of the same thing this morning as the sun comes up. >> that's just an eerie sight. i know we keep talking about it, but everyone is. let's check in with meteorologist kari hall because you have a better explanation of why this is happening across the bay area. >> right. and, so, let's take it back to elementary school science when we learn about white light and sunlight. how it's comprised of all the primary colors during the middle of the day, the sun is shining directly through that atmosphere and doesn't have much of that atmosphere to go through. so, it gives us the blue colors. so, short waves. but in the mornings and the evenings, those longer waves travel through the atmosphere when the sun is lower in the horizon and that's basically what the smoke is doing. it's keeping t

reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> you can hear the frustration in a lot of people. like one guy said, it's like clock work every year for them. bob, thank you. >> it's not what we want. it's also not just happening in wine country dealing with all of these fast-moving flames. another fire is burning in shasta county and it is turning deadly. three people have died in the zogg fire. this fire is burning west of i-5 near redding. it sparked sunday afternoon. more than 31,000 acres have burned. containment is at zero percent. >>> and some of the fallout in nearby cities are posting image neighborhoods. in some case that is ash falling in clumps making its way around the bay area. a new round on cars, plants, and even pets. >> the smoke from wildfires can be seen from space. check out this new satellite image taken by noaa. the haze starting to blanket much of the bay area. a spare the air alert is now in effect until friday. >>> 4:38 for you this morning and the first showdown is here. still ahead for you on "today in the bay" a preview of tonight's first presidential d

bob redell, "today in the bay." another spare the air alert. >>> we've seen a lot of smoke coming in and it's coming from those fires just to the north of us. traveling from north to south you see that big snowstorm in parts of colorado, this is part of the same system that's producing strong winds here in the bay area. another fire to the north pushing some smoke in so that's the reason why we have those orange skies. looking just southeast of oroville, how ominous this looks. it's bright orange and they have these huge billows of smoke clouds coming through across those areas and you know this air is so toxic right now. it's really not safe to breathe in and that's what we're seeing this morning as we cannot see the sunrise just yet. our air quality will remain unhealthy throughout today. these clouds go really high in the atmosphere and this is all of the fire and the smoke that goes beyond what we see here. they can travel hundreds of mills away. that's the reason we do have ash falling this morning and it can g

"today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live from dublin with more. bob?good morning to you, laura. governor newsom just before midnight last night signed into law a moratorium on the evictions of tenants who can't pay their rent due to covid-19 income loss. under ab-3088, that's what the bill is called, a renter cannot be evicted before february 1st of next year if they were not able to pay rent between march 4th and august 31st of this year because of money lost during the pandemic. by the way, they must put that down as a hardship, they must declare that. starting now through january 31st they must pay at least 25% of their rent to avoid eviction. landlords can begin to recover unpaid rent, the back rent, starting march 1st of next year. and for those landlords who have concerns about them falling behind on their bill, the landlords who have a small number of properties they are getting some foreclosure protection under the foo law. reporting live in dublin, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> reporter: and i'm cierra johnson in san francisco. after near

. >>> bob redell brought us that good news on the rescue just moments ago. let's go back to bob. he's talking about the rescue at the creek fire. 135,000 acres, bob, and people still desperate to get out. >> reporter: but these recent rescues of the 13 people -- >> all right. >> reporter: after sunrise -- >> we're going to try to get bob's shot back. several people were rescued from the creek fire, and they were able to get out safely, but it was a harrowing thing. bob, we can hear you again now, so how did this rescue happen? >> reporter: sorry. apologies. i'm having problems with my cell phone here. the army national guard based out of fresno found a break in the weather and the smoke, and within the past hour to 90 minutes. they have resumed flying their choppers into the creek zone fire, kris, to save the 50 people who are trapped. this is video of the 13 people just rescued. this is 13 of the 50. they were airlifted from china peak in the middle of the sierra national forest. they got back to the airport in fresno. other people are trapped at lake edison. both locations with

"today in the bay's" bob redell is live for us. and this is a place where the students there at san jose state will not be attending any of the classes in person bus of the air quality. >> reporter: san jose state, the campus, the real campus behind me, will remain closed because of bad air quality. only faculty and certain students will be allowed. online classes will go on as scheduled. up north to cal state east bay they will be open today in spite of the bad air. in-person classes will be allowed to return. it can be a struggle to keep the dirty air out of your home. we spoke with the owner of hvac services out of hayward. he tells us he's been receiving upwards of 130 calls a day for service. one of the more popular requests, air scrubbers that filter out smoke, dust, viruses and airborne bacteria. at center hardware in san francisco there's been a run on portable air pure fires. >> it's been crazy. we've been busy with the fires and covid. you see we have some fans left, air pure firifiers we're gettink in stock this week. >>

that included "today in the bay" bob redell live above dublin this morning. thing is, the air quality, we're hitting another record when it comes to spare the air days, bob. >> correct, laura. i want to echo what kari is saying. she says her sensors are showing worst air quality possibly today and we're seeing it as we look over the trivalley here. you're looking at the westbound headlights on 580 there from dublin. you can already see how bad the air is and there's definitely an orange tint to it. we suspect once the sun comes up in about an hour we'll get a better sense. yes, bay area qualityor today but also for tomorrow. friday will make it 25 in a row and another record for the most consecutive spare the air days. take a look at your tv screen. a viewer in gilroy shot this video at 2:30 this morning. this is ash falling in her back yard. this is coming from the bear fire which is burning over 100 miles away in oroville and yesterday it was such a strange day to say the least. most of the bay area was basked in this orange glow and street lights remained

"today in the bay's" bob redell is live. bob, pg&e is doing everything to avoid another wildfire sparked by the power lines. >> reporter: well, there is a strong offshore wind expected to blow through the area tonight, something we heard from kari moments ago. so pg&e is worried, kris, that could damage equipment or power lines and spark the kind of wildfire, the destructive and deadly ones, we've seen in the north bay the past few years. yesterday the utility issued a 24-hour warning about a possible public safety power shutoff, psps for tomorrow. 1,800 counties, counties in the north bay and the sierra foothills. this does include over 5,600 customers in napa and 210 customers in sonoma. if you live in those areas and you're one of those customers you should have received an alert from pg&e letting you know if this affects you. pg&e has learned from the preventative outages in the past. this time if they are going to happen they'll be smaller in size and shorter in length. these power shutoffs are not the same as rolling bl

distance from the actual casket this morning. >> all right. >>> let's also go to "today in the bay" bob redell this morning. another big story we've been following. all the protests after breonna taylor. the officers were not directly charged. that led to a lot of vandalism downtown, bob. >> you can see right here at thomas fallon statue here at st. james near highway 87. graffitied with messages, anti-police, support of black lives matter. look over to your right and see a building across the street here on the sign there that says protect black women on the other side, breonna taylor. at one point protesters tried to set fire to this metal statue. fallon was san jose's tenth mayor in the 1850s and a push to remove the statue because activists say fallon oppressed the mexican community and this was the scene outside city hall a group of 100 demonstrators there chanting support for breonna taylor's family and some painted justs for breonno on a front of city hall. they did not invite the police officer in her death. reporting live here in downtown san jose, bob redell, "today in the bay." >>>

reporting live, bob redell, nbc >> all right, bob, thank you very much. the bigger question, the cost and we'll be watching for that. >>> a new warning from dranthon fauci, the warning as colleges and universities come up with new plans to handle the return of students. several schools that offered in-person classes are now backtracking, forced to switch to distance learning because they're experiencing outbreaks. dr. fauci said this morning the last thing colleges should do is send students home after they have potentially been infected on campus. >> it's the worst thing you could do. keep them at the university in a place that is sequestered enough from the other students so that you don't get a cluster in the university. but don't have them go home because they could be spreading it in their home state. >> his comments as a longer window for children who are inreported that in about 100 asymptomatic south korean kids, the virus held on for three weeks. >>> our weather team has issued a micro climate weather alert due to poor air quality. it is another

bob redell live for us. bob, do you have any idea what the conference leaders are deciding only one? >> we do. we have a hint. good morning, marcus. at least one source tells nbc bay area the pac-12 conference is leaning towards return kickoff the last weekend of october. the president and chancellors including cal and stanford are meeting on the fate of football season that has been delayed to stop the spread of covid-19. it is our understanding that the teams will likely play eight games leading to a bowl season at the end. year. the pac-12 is the holdout among power five. s.e.c., acc, big 12, they have hurnd. big 10 committed to returning october 23rd. the number of cases have dropped on the coast. pac-12 partnered with a company for access to rapid testing. the one remaining concern according to the "times," possible link between covid and the heart, a concern if you're an athlete. they will reportedly have cardiac screening to mitigate that risk. bob redell. >> thanks. looks like working from home is her

"today in the bay's" bob redell has that part of the story. first, let's head out to kris sanchez kicking off our team coverage with more on that exclusive 101 with dr. anthony fauci. kris? >> reporter: well, good morning to you, marcus and laura. our bay area school kids have been back in class learning from home for the last couple of weeks now. we know that a lot of universities and colleges are still trying to figure out what to do with their students as the student body returns to campus in person. here at san jose state and the rest of the cal state system limited in-person learning and research happening on campus. only the sorts of things you can't do at home like lab work. most of the students are learning virtually. the nation's top doctor, anthony fauci, said students should be kept in place and not sent home when there is that inevitable covid-19 outbreak. >> it's the worst thing you could do. keep them at the university in a place that's sequestered enough from the other students so you don't get a cluster in the university but do

bob redell, "today in the bay." >>> thanks for the latest there. important news. the group who gained national attention for illegally living in a vacant east bay home will demand the defunding of law enforcement for housing. the deputies forcefully evicted moms for housing members from a home. leaders plan to protest outside the supervisor's office. they want money to be used instead to help the homeless. >>> lawmakers in sacramento couldn't come together to pass a police reform bill. it would have created ways to weed out officers who commit serious misconduct. they face opposition but all new this morning the san francisco and los angeles police unions are together saying they are ready to work with legislators on new policies to hold officers accountable. the unions are calling for a special session in sacramento. >>> last month was the deadliest in california since the pandemic started. according to new analysis by the "l.a. times" there were more than 3,700 deaths in august tied to covid-19. that's an 18% increase over july. despite the numbers new data show

nbc bay area's bob redell is tracking those breaking developments. hi there, bob. >> reporter: the u.s. military has now rescued over 100 people who were trapped by that creek fire. this is new video that the california national guard put out within the last hour. 46 people arriving at fresno yosemite international airport. they are offloading a chin yook. some people tried to drive out of the fire zone this trapped peak where they awaited rescue for several hours. those people arrived back safely earlier this morning before sunrise. the guard and navy has so far flown five rescue missions. two black hawk helicopters and a chinook are going back out to rescue 65 more people. were you ever scared at any point? >> i wasn't scared because the fire is so unpredictable that the cops didn't even know sometimes and it w changing every hour. >> it was pretty scary. something that you probably never want to go through. >> reporter: just waiting for help. >> exactly. we were up there for quite a while just waiting for some kind of relief, some kind of help. >>

bob redell joins us live in dublin and interesting to see how bad the air really is today, bob. >> i think it's going to be just as bad as yesterday, possibly even worse. we're in the hills over dublin. those car lights behind me, that's westbound 580. you can already see an orange tint to it. you can't see the moon from our vantage point. i mean, i can, but you can't from the camera's point of view and that's already shrouded in orange. no surprise that the bay area air quality management issued another spare the air day for today and tomorrow and friday will make it 25 in a row. another record for consecutive spare the air days. you can see this with your own eyes how bad this is. in gilroy shot this video around 2:00 this morning of ash falling in her yard. i saw it again on my car this morning and i'm sure other people are seeing it right now. this smoke and soot is coming from the bear fire that is burning over 100 miles away in oraville. yesterday was a strange one to say the least. much of the bay area was basking in this orange glow and street lights remained on well into the

"today in the bay's" bob redell. more coming up. >>> more video showing you the smoke from our western wildfires in illinois and this is what it looked like in chicago yesterday afternoon. our producer's brother captured these images from the backyard. the sun making for a cloudy afternoon there. our neighbors back east. >>> it seems like everybody came outside. social distanced, of course. >> right. i saw so many people out walking yesterday. we've been waiting for this for so long and it's going to be a good morning to get up and go out for the morning run. yeah, that's your motivation to get up early this morning before work, and our temperatures are nice and comfortable. as we head over to concord we're going to see our temperatures gradually warming up, in the 70s throughout late morning and into the afternoon. we'll talk more about this coming up. mike, how is it looking for the commute? >>> the freeways look great as we look at the big view of the bay all around but we'll zoom in toward one spot that's not gre

reporting live here in san ramon, bob redell. >> bob, thank you. >>> coming up for you this midday, our scott mcgrew breaks down last night's debate. >>> and the a's are in a win or go home situation. a live report from the coliseum as the team and fans try to win one to stay alive. >>> coming up after nbc bay area news at 11:00, "california live" followed by "access daily," then "days of our lives" at 1:00. >>> this fire outbreak is a reminder to assess everything, your go back, escape routes. your wildfire home insurance, insurance experts are predicting many of the people whose houses are burning down this week, they will not have adequate insurance coverage to fully rebuild. most homeowner policies basically auto renew, and largely do not keep pace w rising construction costs. so please d to avoid an underinsurance surprise. >>> america's response to the coronavirus was supposed to be one of the main topics in last night's presidential debate. but, scott mcgrew, anyone watching last night, was really difficult to tell what was happening at some times. >> kind of parallel to our resp

reporting live in dublin, bob redell, bay area news. >> bob, thank you. meanwhile tens of thousands evacuated as as large wildfire burning in oroville. and we're learning the fire has caused the death of three people. nbc bay area's kris sanchez is cracking this for us. kris. >> hi, marcus. one of those three people found dead in their car clearly trying to escape those flames but the fire just moved way too fast once those winds started kicking up. the bear fire is part of the greater north complex, a quarter million acres big. down to 23% containment this morning from 51%, and that's because of the winds. the u.s. forest service calling the fire behavior unprecedented. more than 1300 fire personnel are now working on this fire. the fire was sparked by lightning back on august 17th. it has been burning mostly in the forest every since. one supervisor is now blaming the forest service for not getting the fire under control sooner. bill connolelconnelly told sacr bee, they let this fire smolder for weeks. they could have put it out. we're paying the price.

bob redell, "today in the bay." >> one of those wait-and-see situations. thanks for the latest, bob. >>> 6:05. happening today observing leaders will debate opening more clean air centers. over the weekend people could escape the smoke and the heat at places including the diamond library. people are asked to follow social distancing rules if they do enter. >>> a look at the impacts statewide from what has now been a month full of wildfires. some say it feels like a full year. right now there are at least 26 fires burning across the state. 3.2 million acres have burned. at least 2 dozen deaths are linked statewide. more people are missing. >>> happening today for you napa county supervisors discuss fast tracking a relief plan to help recent lnu wildfire victims. supervisors will discuss authorizing hotel stays longer than 30 days and new price gouging protections for czu fire victims. and san mateo county leaders plan to hold and honor first responders for their acts of he roism. the scu fire may be fully contained by as early as thursday. >>> and you can ac

reporting here in livermore, bob redell, nbc bay area news. >> all right, bob, thank you. >>> and tonight we continue our week-long series on black businesses fighting to make it in the bay. and we raise a glass to the bay area wine industry. so the bay area has no shortage of reds and whites, but it's rare that the person creating them is black. meet the black livermore winemaker working to change that perception one glass at a time. be sure to watch that story up tonight at 6:00. >>> and much more ahead for you this midday. an l.a. county deputy is being called a hero. her action that saved her partner's life. >>> and we're tracking hurricane sally as that storm takes aim at the gulf coast. the danger people living in that area are facing. >>> plus, kelly clarkson plays a game with singer jason derulo. the competition you don't want to miss. you can watch "the kelly clarkson show" at 3:00 this afternoon. [upbeat music] ♪ today was the day that i put everything in perspective. ♪ ♪ i fell asleep but when i woke up. ♪ (boy) hi, do you want to share my sandwich? (vo) good feeds our connecti

let's check in with "today in the bay's" bob redell this morning. there in numerous neighborhoods that have just gone up in flames. bob? >> reporter: in east santa rosa alone 6,500 people have already been evacuated and when we spoke with the fire department public information officer they were telling us a lot of people took the warning and left because they remembered 2017. they remember last year. the problem with 2017 was a good thing but the problem now this area, specific area i'm at didn't burn. that's why it's burning now. we're in this neighborhood on malita place glenn in east santa rosa. we talked down here to the cul-de-sac. you see all these homes that didn't burn except for this one at the end, at the very end. sadly it caught fire probably about an hour now. the fire department was here shortly after it caught fire and in spite of their efforts the home looks like it's going to be a loss. he's opening up the garage door right now but they've been spraying water on this. it just wasn't enough to put out the fire and it's so windy out h

reporting here in dublin, bob redell, nbc bay area news. >> bob, thank you. new hew so out east, hurricane sally still packing a punch as she blows through the gulf coast. and you can see this reporter right there, look at that. that reporter almost being knocked to the ground by all of the wind and rain. this is in mobile, alabama. that wind was so intense actually keeping her upright. hurricane sally still causing significant damage around the city including knocking over an 18-wheeler. this was on i-10 ripping a roof of that flower shop right there you see. >>> so nbc's jay gray is in mobile and he has more on the massive flooding and intense winds. >> reporter: hey there and thankfully right now a bit of a break from the rain. the winds are still gusting though. and you can see that behind me. you can see it's still whipping the trees here and moving the lamp post back and forth a bit. as you move down to mobile bay, what you'll notice is that the wind is still pushing the water here as well. white caps on the bay here. and you can see that mist of the wa

reporting live bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks, bob.ent glitches in the death data tracking system are now leading to an overhaul. the state plans to roll out a new system next month after securing a $15 million deal with a company. it can potentially impact county health guidelines. the new system will be more accurately tracking the spread of the virus. >>> santa cruz beaches will be mostly off limits this labor day weekend except and 8:00 p.m. sa sunday. even then sunbathing will not be allowed. the policy takes effect saturday morning and will run through monday. several other beaches are closed and in monterey county 17-mile drive closed friday through monday. tough news for a lot of people who want to get away to the beach and celebrate one last longer weekend but oh, so important during a pandemic, kari. >> you have the pandemic and the poor air quality and the fact people are still having to deal with those fires very close to their homes. as we look at our air quality right now we are going to see still unhealthy air quality in

reporting live here in brentwood, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much, bob. let's head up north to portland. we want to take you there with live pictures we have right now. the air quality there is still pretty bad. right now being called the worst in the world. the good news is the weather could be changing for them as well. we will add for us as well. the jet stream headed our way, kari? >>> an approaching storm system that will bring in rain for the pacific northwest and will help improve our air quality as well. for them they're looking at rain which is much needed at this point. we're going to start to see the change in wind direction as we head to tomorrow and then by friday we could see the rain falling in those areas. so really good news. hopefully more containment on the fires as well as we are waking up to some of the best air quality we've had in at least 30 days. we're waking up to looking at heading outside and enjoying more time outdoors. also with some comfortable temperatures. we'll take a look at our microclimates coming up and talk about how

reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> all right, bob, thank you. >>> new for you this morning, all the recent glitches in california's coronavirus data tracking system are now leading to an overhaul. the state plans to roll out a new system next month after securing a $15 million deal with a minnesota company. so last month it started popping up. the new system will be more accurately tracking the spread of the virus. >>> new this morning people in sonoma county are getting some much-needed help despite the county's massive deficit due to the pandemic. "the press democrat" is reporting the county is $21 million in the red. supervisors have approved $8 million in federal stimulus fund. it will go to help small businesses struggling, renters, and food relief efforts. it will to the latino community which is getting hit19. ro a major plan is under way to build affordable housing for people who need help making it in the east bay. the new apartments will have easy access to public transit in the city of berkeley. according to berkeley, they approved the development plan to build h

and then there's also the boysen fire wh bob redell. he's live for us in santa rosa off of highway 12. i know you've seen fires sprout up all over the place. so talk about what's going on where you are now. >> reporter: well, marcus, firefighters were afraid that the shady fire would come down the hills, cross highway 12, and start burning through these residential areas of east santa rosa. and unfortunately as you can see behind me, that's what it did. it burned up brand road. this is on the south side of highway 12. and it burned at least -- well, let's just put it this way, several structures. this might've been a business and there are some homes up here, probably six, seven structures are just gone. this was the scene overnight just down the street from where we were at. the fire came close to burning down another house. petaluma fire department, which was assigned to thisotected the couldn't. they ran out of water and there were no fire hydrants nearby. when they returned the house was still standing and they kept it from burning

reporting live here in pittsburg, bob redell "today in the bay." >> thanks, bob. >>> as more san francisco businesses reopen, a looming deadline has a lot of them nervous about making it in the bay. at the end of the month, san francisco commercial moratorium expires. "the examiner" is reporting that supervisors will allow to extend that moratorium and barring change, it could trigger some mass evictions. one small business legal representative says sales are down more than 70% for many of those small businesses and there's just no way to pay the rent. the problem is without rent, landlords cannot pay their mortgages either. >>> it is 6:37 right now. dealing with a pandemic everyone's been staying indoors and that's been tough because usually taking a walk is your only break. taking a live look in san jose. you know why, good news to report. you can walk, you can run, you can take the dog for a walk tod. the air quality so much better out there, kari. >> yeah, i've been fine during the breaks during home schooling to let the kids run in the yard even if it's just for a few minutes. the clo

cierra johnson is following what san francisco is doing right but, first, bob redell has word on employers facing fines for allegedly breaking safety rules. bob? >> reporter: there are several local businesses here that face potential fines for alleged restrictions. i'm standing in front of a facility that faces almost $24,000 in fines from cal osha for alleged violations. the state says gateway didn't provide necessary protective equipment to nurses and housekeeping staff. "the east bay times" reports 32 employees here contracted covid-19 and 19 residents here have died from the virus. i did call the center. an employee had no comment, told me to try back later. the santa rosa police department faces the largest fine, $32,000. according to cal osha, santa rosa pd failed to do the screening of employees with covid-19 symptoms. an employee who "the times" identified as a 43-year-old detective died from the disease back in march. cal osha says pd didn't notify them of the death until two weeks later. you can see a list we put together for you on your tv screen of the alleged covid-19 violati

bob redell, "today in the bay." >>> thanks so much, bob. you can stay updated on weather and our breaking news with our nbc bay area app. it's free. you can download it now. >>> some new details for you, firefighters making progress against one of the largest fires in l.a. county history. as of this morning the bobcat fire is 50% contained. those flames burning nearly 114,000 acres, mostly in the angeles national forest. investigators are looking into whether or not faulty power equipment sparked that fire. >>> now to a live look at capitol hill. you can see the capitol building where in just more than an hour from now late justice ruth bader ginsburg will make history one last time. she will become the first woman to lie in state at the capitol. last night hundreds of people were there with a candlelight vigil outside the u.s. supreme court. democratic party women's caucus chair and daughter of speaker of the house, christine pelosi, was among the many women who paid their respects. >> such a personal line. people had t-shirts and masks an

reporting live in livermore, bob redell, "today in the bay." >>> thanks so much, bob. observing leaders will debate opening more shelters. people are being asked to follow social distancing rules if they do enter those centers. >>> here is a look at some of the impacts statewide from what's been a full month of wildfires and it may seem like it's been more than a year. right now that fire, there are at least 26 fires burning across the state. so far this year 3.2 million acres have burned and at least 2 dozen deaths linked to the fires statewide. more people are still missing. >>> happening today napa county supervisors discuss fast tracking a plan to help lnu fire victims. supervisors will discuss authorizing hotel stays longer than 30 days and new price gouging protections for czu fire victims. san mateo county leaders plan to hohn first responders for their acts of heroism. wove a look at the latest containment levels for the big three bay area complex fires. scu may be contained as soon as thursday. you can see how they own city. visit nbcbayarea.com. >>> san franc

"today in the bay's" bob redell is live with us this morning. bob? >> reporter: smoke is expected to make a comeback and so is the increased fire danger. the national weather service issued within the past couple of hours that will be going into effect tomorrow night through monday and the air quality district for today has issued an advisory because of the august complex fire burning north of us in the mendocino area, the largest wildfire in state history. the winds are shifting and smoke is expected to blow south to us. the air should only be in the moderate range. the district is not expecting the air to be unhealthy and no spare the air is in effect but hot weather expected along with the smog and smoke could lead to one. >> protect our health over the weekend but we'll see hopefully that will be a shorter spell. >> it's just another on the pri hoping we'll have a nice winter again, probably. >> reporter: again, the national weather service issued a red flag warning from 9:00 tomorrow night until 8:00 monday morning. because of offshore winds for

"today in the bay's" bob redell is live in livermore this morning. glow about it, bob. >> reporter: you can see it as you're waking up over the tri-valley. we have ash, a thin layer of ash on our cars and this smoky haze. it was orange at one point or a darker color, but as the sun comes up it's getting lighter. this is smoke from the bear fire that's burning over 100 miles away in oroville that has blown into the bay area. that is why today is another spare the air day, as you mentioned, the 23rd one in a row, a record. the previous record was 14 in a row back in 2018. during the campfire. up in the north bay today pg&e will be inspecting the power lines that were deenergized because of the public safety shutoff. they have to do that before they can turn the power back on for customers in napa and sonoma. bob redell, nbc bay area news. >>> all right, thank you very much, bob. so let's check in with kari right now talking about the weather. >>> yeah, we can see the smoke as it comes in from the bear fire just to the west of oroville. we also are seei

"today in the bay's" bob redell is live for us in walnut creek. oes it mean for contra costa county, bob? >> reporter: good morning to you, marcus. the state of california is giving contra costa county permission to enter the red tier phase of reopening which every county except for sonoma has achieved as you can see on the map on your tv screen. sonoma in purple tier. san francisco just moved into orange which means the spread of covid there is moderate. the only bay area county to advance that far so far. coco and the others are red which means they have substantial spread. contra costa county means things you see on your tv screen can reopen at reduced capacity. we're talking about indoor museums, movie theaters, malls and gyms. the county says outdoor playgrounds will reopen. the state is allowing all outdoor playgrounds to reopen in california with safety restrictions but it's still up to the county to say okay or not. after 14 days in the red tier contra costa county will be able to resume in-person classes. the superintendent of schools says

"today in the bay's" bob redell is live for us. business owners proepg f preparing for the cooler temperatures? >> reporter: marcus, indoor dining hasn't been allowed in livermore during the pandemic. you can see a number of restaurants set up the white tents on first street. those have been out there to provide customers from the sun and now they're going to start adding heat lamps. some hope that will keep their customer base as the temperatures start to cool as we enter the fall season. the owner of al fresco tells us propane heaters are flying off the shelves from his store. he said he's never seen sales like this. he knows a lot of businesses are suffering up there and tells us demand has been unprecedented. in livermore it's been a double whammy. first the covid restriction of outdoor dining only and then the recent bad air quality from the wildfires which kept people inside and away from restaurants. >> we're trying our best. we have the tents up and will find a way to reach out to guests and say bundle up and come out. that

"today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live this morning in hayward. this list includes a police department, health care facilities facing fines? >> reporter: correct, laura. the gateway rehabilitation center behind me in hayward, take this location for example, faces almost $24,000 in fines from cal osha for alleged covid-19 violations. the state says gateway department provide necessary personal protective equipment to its nurses and housekeeping staff here. "the east bay times" reports 31 employees contracted covid-19 and 19 residents died from the virus. i called the center this morning. an employee had no comment and told me to try back later. the police department faces the largest fine, $32,000. they failed to do the required screening and an employee "the times" identifies as a 4 3-year-old detective died. they did not notify them of the death until two weeks later. we put a list of the alleged violations on your tv screen. you see santa rosa police at the top in terms of amount, gateway care, the ridge post-acute just over $15,000. ed canyon s

reporting live here in walnut creek, bob redell, "today in the bay." >>> bob, thank you. more home ownership may be on the way for people trying to make it in the bay and across california thanks to a bill signed into law this week inspired by the oakland activist groups moms for housing. they briefly occupied a vacant home. the law required homes be sold individually at auctions rather than bundled and sold to ass fo into the hands of corporations, meaning more home buyers and fewer renters. that new law also allows corporations to be fined for blighted properties. >>> it's 5:40 right now. halfway through our workweek and what a busy one it has been. everybody always hopes for better air conditions, but that spare the air alert lasts through friday, kari? >>> it does. we're still going to have unhealthy air quality through at least friday, maybe extended into the weekend, but our temperatures are still really hot. we're looking at highs in the south bay reaching into the upper 80s and some low 90s for napa. upper 90s for inland parts of contra costa county as well as the

bob redell is live for us. the governor signed legislation overnight. >> reporter: yes, governor newsom signed this just before midnight. you ask why before midnight, because yesterday was the last day of the legislative that hen for renters from eviction. it gives renters who have lost income because of the pandemic extra time to pay their rent. under the new law a landlord cannot evict a tenant before february 1st of next year. if the renter was not able to pay rent between march 4th and august 1st of this year because of covid-19 income loss. the renter must provide a declaration of that hardship. between now and january 31st renters must pay 25% of their rent to avoid eviction. landlords can begin to recover the unpaid back rent starting march 1st of next year. now some landlords have expressed concern they won't be able to pay their own bills without the rental payments. it will provide landlords who own a small number of properties protection from foreclosure if they were to default on their end. tonight

reporting live here in livermore, bob redell, "today in the bay." >>> a fast-moving brush fire in belmont is under investigation. firefighters had to get on rooftops pouring fire on flames as they approached homes. they called in outside help in an effort to save those homes. police officers knocked on 40 doors telling people to evacuate. >> you have to evacuate. >> we saw the flames and the helicopters start coming. fire trucks and it was hectic. >> as word of the fire spread people who live along the narrow winding streets nearby packed up their cars and evacuated causing traffic jams. the california air national guard is now working alongside firefighters to try to help control the north complex fire. soldiers arrived in butte county over the weekend. they're mopping up areas hoping to prevent further spreading of this fire. so far it has scorched nearly 300,000 acres. a local rescue team is now helping with the wildfire fight. they're going to burned out homes trying to find anyone reported missing. sadly 15 people lost their lives in this fire. >>> developing now new evacuations in s

rorling live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> some good news. all right, bob, thank you. >>> we're learning crews from santa clara county are helping battle that fire. the fire department tweeted out these photos overteam on the sc. now despite that crew being out of the area the department said fire stations remain fully staffed ready to respond to any fires that could break out here. >>> the last few minutes pg&e started coordinated power shutoffs in certain high fire danger areas in the north bay. the shutoffs are because of the arrival of high winds. downtown will be safe because it's powered by a generator provided by the city. people who live in the area say they are prepared, too. >>> we have so many elderly people in here that we have to look after because a lot of them don't drive. they don't get out of their houses. we have to help them. >> more than 20,000 customers in napa and sonoma counties are expected to lose power today and could be off as long as 36 hours as pg&e makes sure it's safe to turn the lights back on. we do have a crew

"today in the bay" bob redell joins us live in livermore this morning. tell us more about this plan. local governments are buying these properties. >> yes, with money from the state, laura. we're talking about a motel with 76 units in san jose and then the motel 6 with 176 rooms behind me here on loveridge road in pittsburg. both locations are already in use as a temporary shelter to house the homeless during the pandemic, as you had mentioned. but now under california's new home key program, the state is awarding contra costa county a $21 million grant to buy this motel 6 and turn it into a permanent housing for the homeless. the state has already awarded the city of san jose $14.5 million to do the same with that 76-unit motel that i mentioned. eight other projects throughout the state are receiving $40 million in state grants for similar projects. the state recently launched project home key and the initiative to find permanent housing for the homeless. a cause that has become more urgent during the pandemic to stop the spread of covid-19. now, the ho

"today in the bay's" bob redell will have more on this story ahead in our 5:00 hour. >>> developing for you in butte county another death is now confirmed in the firestorm that tore through the community of berry creek near lake oroville. the total number of confirmed deaths to 15. authorities now believe two victims may have chosen not to evacuate because they got some bad information from an outdated u.s. forest service incident update on containment. all of that based on family members' accounts. but authorities also point out that mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for that area. as for the fire, it is now 25% contained. >>> continuing our coronavirus coverage now, a huge part of the east bay is set to loosen some restrictions today. contra costa county is allowing more businesses, personal care business, to reopen as long as they operate outdoors. expanded services include permanent makeup, facials, and waxing. also allowed outdoor card rooms and casinos. music, tv and film production may also resume. >>> as expected berkeley leaders have approved $100 for ignoring mask o

our bob redell is looking closer at the story and will have more during our 5:00 hour. >>> a total of nine counties across california can now reopen a little bit further thanks to a steady drop in covid-19 cases. the state's top health official just announced nail salons everywhere can now operate indoors no matter what tier the county is in. individual counties can impose more restrictive measures. despite all strives the state is making the secretary of health and human services doctor says california's reopening must remain slow and stringent. >> we want to be slow and stringent so as we move forward we can be best prepared in case we see some increase in transmission that it doesn't cause us to take one giant step backwards. >> frustrated areas including disneyland are pushing for broader and faster reopening plans. >>> san francisco is making it easier for parents and students to track when their schools might reopen for in-person learning. the county health department has created an online dashboard to track all the schools in the city. it will be updated at 9:00 in the morning

right now we want to get to bob redell. he is live for us this morning to give us more of an update on what's going on with this. bob? >> reporter: well, marcus, yes, you mentioned the bay area quality management district has issued this air health advisory. they're not saying the air is going to become anything like a few weeks ago, just that it could go up to the next level of unhealthiness, which would be moderately unhealthy. because of the smoke from the august complex that is burning in the mendocino area to the north of us, the winds are shifting and are expected to blow that smoke into that area. we are already seeing moderately unhealthy air readings in southeast san jose and outside vacaville towards woodlands. again, not expecting the orange skies like we experienced a few weeks ago, but our blue skies that we're seeing right now could become a hazy. the district says the hot weather forecast for tomorrow, sunday, and monday could lead to a spare the air day eventually. >> unfortunately, there may be some impacts