. >> reporter: the sun is setting here in carpenteria. the fire continues to burn in the hills high above the high school. the smoke is rising vertically, that's a good siphon no windgn . this area on high alert. thousands of firefighters battling this braise. more than 6, 00 f400 firefighte assigned to this fire. yet it to tonights to grow. the fuel on the hillsides old and hungry for flames. >> it's extremely dry. some areas haven't burned since 193, oa 2, others, 1960, 1970. it's tough to get to. >> reporter: fire officials say the thomas fire gained another 56,000 acres yesterday. today, good news. the lack of wind has stopped feeding the flames and the gentle offshore breeze actually helped push the fire away from homes. still, carpenteria residents were stunned to see the fire rip from santa paula this far west. >> we never thought, we never considered it getting here. never in our wildest minds, just the santa ana winds that come down. >> reporter: sergio garcia has lived in this foothill community for the past 24 years. when the t

and kenneth craig, cbs news, carpenteria calvas. >> well take a look here. this amazing light show the special performance took in southern california they were seen climbing out of darkness and gradually into the sky over the pearl river. >>> now a group of elaborately decorated septa buses are spreading holiday cheer for us cloud the city and buses were on display today at the philly holiday festival at septa market street headquarters and septa employees used own creative skills to design amazing holiday displays and it's all part of an annual contest the bus with the most votes wings the people's choice award and bragging rights of course. septa says the contest has employee comradery and gets them in the christmas and holiday spirit. >> mean tile sharing in the holiday spirit today. the party hosted by the philadelphia philly and liberty uso second annual joy of sharing event was held this afternoon at the diamond club citizens bank park. and it was attended by more than 00 families and they enjoyed d.j.s and dancing and dress-up and gifts. a special ti

that's the latest from carpenteria. back to you, wolf. >> that's an awful situation. paul vercammen, we'll get back to you and get more on the breaking news but there's other developments. members of trump's inner circle were expecting to get what was described as dirt on hillary clinton. i want to bring you to jim sciutto. what are you learning? >> since this was revealed, the trump position has been that this meeting was a one-off and the discussion was either primarily or entirely focused on the issue of u.s. adoption of russian children. these e-mails create many hard questions about whether those two explanations stand up. one, people involved in these meetings did have follow up. they discussed what was discussed in that meeting. there were ideas back and forth exchanged via e-mail but it also raises questions about what topics actually came up between those russians promising damaging information on hillary clinton and senior members of the trump team. i'm going to give you an example. june 14th, 2016, this is five days after the trump tower meeting. the person

and look at the hills above carpenteria, just burning, flames going up this morning. they're going up, meaning there is less wind. that's a good thing, but this fire is so persistent and it is impressing and surprising even experienced firefighters. >> this fire has intensified every single day. >> it's unreal. it's really a gut check on how strong the fire is. we're just trying to get out of the way and save as many lives as possible. >> reporter: now, they will continue to try and get at this. we think that we're going to get a shift in the wind today for at least part of the day where we'll get some onshore wind that might bring some moisture on to the fire and a bit of relief from those santa ana winds, but they are expected to continue well into the week, the so-called red flag warning, hot, dry winds and dry conditions on the ground make this a very, very difficult fire to get a handle on. frances? >> we've certainly seen that with the eerie glows of the flames there behind you, scott. thank you. >>> with just one day to go in alabama's senate race, candidates d

you never would have thought we would see carpenteria in this situation ever. >> reporter: throughout the day we saw firefighters positioning themselves at homes along the foothills as flames inched closer. brad eastman wants to check on the water pump system that runs up to about half a dozen properties he manages. >> obviously the water there is critical to assist in helping these guys fight the fires. >> reporter: from some of the hillside properties you can see the rolling hills that lead right into the pacific ocean. this view gives you a look at the many orchards that had been in harm's way. >> there's going to be many people affected by this, both short run and long run. >> reporter: and for people like eddie maya an evacuation order has not been lifted in his neighborhood, but his family's livelihood and so many others are still unclear. >> a lot of people, this is what they do for a living. they work around here. if this goes, i don't know. imjust can't really say how it will -- i just can't really say how it will go for everyone else. >> reporter: we want to show you some of

let's not be alarmist, there are some mandatory evacuations in southwest carpenteria as a precaution,e literally in the dark. there's a california department of fire engineer and expert who's calling in on the radio and telling them, set this fire here. throw this flair there. go ahead and get that drip torch and doing it with remarkable scale and we used a bulldozer and hand crews to build the fire line. this is the extreme northwest corner, a pivotal part of this fire line. much like a military operation, and they seal this off for now, it's looking good, cross your fingers, though, and hope that those menacing winds don't come whipping up again, seems like you and i are talking and we go off the air. 6, 7 hours later, the next thing you know, those winds start whipping through. >> paul vercammen, thank you very much. >>> two members of congress announced a resignation today. al franken, trent franks says he'll resign at the end of january. the latest on all of that when we come back. they appear out of nowhere. my secret visitors. appearing next to me in plain sight. hallucinations

we do have santa barbara, montecito and carpenteria. we saw some pictures i think you had shown today about the fire coming down in those areas. you can imagine how many people would be affected in those counsels. >> rigyou were saying too, we'r looking at video right now of it coming over a ridge, and it is just too dangerous to put firefighters in front of the western edge. >> yeah. in some situations it is -- it all depends where they're at. there are places we can make stands. under heavy vegetation and those gusts up to 50, 60 miles an hour, very dangerous for everybody and so we have to be tactically correct and we might bump down several areas and try to do burning operations to burn some of that fuel up to stop it. but as the fires just going and bumping and running as we call it, as we with go and say go from house to house and save each house and move to the next one, that's when it gets very dangerous. and that's how the fire will progress throughout areas that are up in the hills where houses aren't particularly in a town, b

firefighters and those live here still doing work here in carpenteria.or most part firefighters made incredible head which because there has been no winds. still very low humidity. still a lot of fuel to be burned. but the fire for the most part in areas inaccessible by truck, by for truck. they have to wait to come down the hillside and cut fire lines. firefighters saying this is about 30% contained. they're cautiously optimistic moving forward. this is the number one fire in the western u.s. that matter only fire left burning in california. in california, i'm adam housley, back to you. >> adam, thank you. david: los angeles fire department confirming the skier ball fire was scudded by illegal cooking fire in encamment in a brush area near the san diego freeway. the fire so far has burned more than 400-acres, destroyed six homes and damaged 12 others in the bel-air community. the fire is 85% contained. >> that is amazing. we have breaking headlines from secretary of state rex tillerson. tillerson saying that the u.s. is willing to come to the negotiatin

reporter: carpenteria one of those towns with interesting pronounciation. 14,000 people, between venturao santa barbara and ventura. this is where you go around town, whether workers oring agricultural workers, it is snowing ash. air quality is very bad. talking to our photographs, talking all yesterday talking to you, there was fire on the hills. they were letting it back down, fire burns slow downhill especially with no wind. they have a good handle cut. it burns itself out. they feel confident. this fire is massive. more than 230,000-acres have been burned here. nearly 300 structures burned to the ground. another 200 are damaged. numbers in southern california are being replicated in northern california. the air quality is terrible. good news there is no wind. firefighters have a long time to get this thing under control. the way it works, they have to literally walk around the entire edge of the fire to insure that there is no embers or anything burning before they call that area controlled. right now the numbers are fluctuating. we've been told 30% by some. officially on the website

most recently in the seaside city of carpenteria, a little bit south of santa barbara. that's where cbs reporter kenneth craig is tonight. >> there's little relief tonight, and certainly not here in santa barbara county whereas you can see the fire is still very much burning and residents are calling the situation simply devastating. >> reporter: firefighters faced intense flames early this morning as the massive thomas fire reached the city of carpenteria in santa barbara county. crews attacked the blaze from the air and ground but were unable to save every home. after almost a week on the lines, firefighters are tiring. >> talking to the firefighters out here day one, they said it's been one of the most trying and taxing fires they've been on. >> with the fire bearing down, firefighters ordered hundreds of more residents from their homes this morning. many not knowing if their properties will still be standing when they return. >> this road divides from mandatory to voluntary. >> reporter: kristen and carter hampton live just outside the mandatory evacuation area. >>

. >> reporter: in the hills above carpenteria, luis contreras is on edge. >> highway 150 is way below, three quarters of a mile and just -- >> reporter: watching the fire rush toward his home and avocado groves as fire fighters try to slow the relentless spread. >> if a wind comes it is going to kill this constant assault. choppers lining up to grab water, one after the other. dousing the flames. but the blaze just keeps coming. the fire fighters gather here, one of them in the truck has been injured. they are trying to treat him. this is where they are trying to make a stand, trying to save these homes. but the fire getting very close to one along the ridge there. >>> the work is dangerous and exhausting. crews who have been on seven days straight barely get a moment to rest. >> that's the nature of the work. we go from zero to 100. >> reporter: now more evacuations ordered in santa barbara county, residents told to run as gusty winds send embers flying. >> this fire is intensified every single day. >> reporter: thoer than 4,000 fire fighters are now battling the thomas fire, the reg

. >> reporter: in the hills above carpent carpintercarpente carpenteria. >> firefighters try to stop the relentless spread. >> if the wind comes it will get this in 10 minutes. >> from the air constant assault. choppers lining up to grand prix water, one after the other dousing the flames. but the blaze just keeps coming. the firefighters gather here, one of them in the truck has been injured. they are trying to treat him. this is where they are trying to make a stand, trying to save these homes but the fire getting very close to one along the ridge there. >> the work is dangerous and exhausting. crews who have been on seven days straight barely get a moment to rest. >> that's the nature of the work. we go from zero to 100. >> reporter: now more evacuations in santa barbara county. residents told to won and embers are flying. >> it's intensified. >> reporter: more than 400 firefighters battling the thomas fire, the region's largest blaze. >> it's unreal, a gut check on how strong the fire is. just trying to get out of the way and save as many lives as possible. >> reporter: for now l

we are roughly 30 miles from where it started as it threatens the town of carpenteria.fire in los angeles, and west to santa cla righta and the thomas fire. flames closed a busy stretch of the u.s.101 free way. 50,000 people have been forced to flee while 15,000 homes are in the danger zone. >> we are going to wait. and if the fire crosses the road we'll wet down the roof. we'll turn the sprinklessers off and get out. >> everything is here. reporter: now the painful part for others like darlene jordan who came back to a pile of rubble and ash. helicopters and a half gate the winds as they try to contain the fire or l.a.'s ritzy bell pair neighborhood. while the smoke closed 250 schools in the los angeles area, the fire threat and the winds are expected until saturday. the red flag alert continues through saturday. but the forecast winds did not come today. but the thomas fire could burn for a couple more weeks. lou: up next, predictable middle east protests after president trump's historic decision to recognize jerusalem as the capital i of israel. we'll take it up with

for a while 101 around carpenteria was shut down.o there were thousands of vehicles stranded on saturday as the fire got close to the freeway down there. it has been a mess. that fire is now two weeks old. highs today in the bay area. concord got up to 65 degrees. morgan hill 61. san jose 68. in santa rosa, 66 degrees. and in san francisco, 63. we are looking for high pressure to continue to build in over the bay area. as a result, the winds are going to relax. the numbers are going to remain a few degrees above average. right now concord is at 44 degrees. in oakland, 47. livermore, 41. as we look from high atop the west coast, the winds are caused by the high and low beams close together, but the low gets booted to the east. the high pressure reestablishes itself. as it does, it will get a dry northeasterly wind tomorrow. the winds stay up, sunny on monday. tomorrow the numbers will be from 4-6 degrees above average. what has been an unusually dry december. tomorrow is noon exception. neither is tuesday. but finally by the time we g

. >>> now to nbc's scott cohn at carpenteria high school where the thomas fire rage right there behind him. scott, good morning. >> good morning, frances. they did indeed make progress, as kristen was describing. but progress is relative when you have a fire that is 360 square miles. that's the amount that it's burned in the space of a week. and that continues. so the winds did die down, and they were able to get more aircraft into the air. but dying down winds is a bit of a mixed blessing. as you can see behind me, that fire is smoky there is no wind blowing the smoke away. and that hampers some of the issues with the aircraft. but not only that, this terrain, regardless of the wind, is some of the worst, most difficult firefighting terrain imaginable. and that's what they're dealing with. so you have that. you have the smoke. you have a fuel that is more than 40 years old. this is still a monster, even though it is now 20% contained. frances? >> all right, scott cohn for us. scott, thank you. >>> nbc meteorologist bill karins is joining us now with the latest on these conditions and

. >> firefighters faced intense flames, as the massive thomas fire reached the city of carpenteria.fficials say the fire is now one of the largest in state history. >> yesterday the thomas fire was at number 15. today, after just an update on the acreage, it moved to number five. >> after almost a week on the lines, firefighters are tiring >> talking to the firefighters that have been out here since day one, they said that this has been one of the most trying and taxing fires they've ever been on. >> with the fire bearing down on carpenteri. a, firefighters hundred dollars dollars hundreds more residents from their homes this morning, many not knowing if their properties will still be standing when they return. >> this road divides from mandatory to voluntary. >> kristin and carter hampton live just outside the mandatory evacuation area. >> and what has it been like to watch this? >> apocalyptic, a good word. >> a big fire, and it is cents scar. >> i across southern california, winds fueled wild fires have devoured nearly 800 homes and other structures, more than 200,000 people have

as they were gaining ground, flames intensified on sunday edging closer to the coastal towns of carpenteria and montecito. more than 800 homes have burned in this fire. the cost to fight the massive blaze is nearly $40 million and thousands more homes are still in danger. >> photos, all your personal computers. >> pretty much. >> reporter: jane hurd is among those heeding the warning from officials to evacuate her home in the santa barbara foothills. >> i'm a nervous wreck. this is the first time i've experienced a fire. i've only lived here five years. >> reporter: the area is full of tight, winding roads, so firefighters want people to get out safely while they can. >> we already had the first night an elderly lady died in an automobile accident trying to evacuate. we don't want that to happen. >> reporter: the fire is threatening celebrity homes including those of ellen degeneres and oprah winfrey. smoke from this fire continues to pose a real health risk to people in this area. we're told by several hospitals in the area that they have seen a surge of people coming into the emergency ro

firefighters are now working to protect homes in carpenteria. you can get a better idea of just the enormous size. abc news reporter matt gutman has more. >> reporter: tonight the thomas fire north of los angeles has been roaring back to life chewing through 3,000 acres the past 24 hours, infernos spawning new evacuations in the town of fillmore. when you see this palm tree burn, what is incredible is the sheer size of those embers and that's how a fire like this jumps over firefighters' containment lines. the numbers as staggering as the flames. the fourth largest fire in california history scorching 400 square miles, nearly a thousand structures destroyed more than 90 people forced from their homes. and this fire deadly again. firefighter corey iverson killed in the line of duty. a go fund me page set up to raise money for the eight-year veteran's pregnant wife and young daughter. for the 8300 firefighters still on the front lines, there's no giving up. >> is the team pretty burnt out? >> no. that's what we train for. that's what we do. they c

. >> we are in carpenteria. you can see flames all pock this ridge line.ire crews have been working to contain this. but it's bone dry brush. right not you winds are very low. but we are in a red flag warning up until tonight. the next couple hours are critical in this fight for firefighters. some of the homes on this ridge line, we have been watching the past couple hours, the fire crews are doing structure containment to make sure if those flames race down this hillside, they could try to protect those homes. the winds staying calm. but this fire is currently threatening 15,000 homes and businesses. we are in the critical hours to see if the fire crews can continue to up their containment. if the winds pick up and push it into this community. you are talking about a whole new battle. eric: you are just outside of l.a. what's going on south of you in san diego county? reporter: there is good news with the lilac fire. containment numbers jumping overnight. it also hit a horse training center. we learned nearly 50 horses died in that fire, showing just how

"went into carpenteria a little bit ago, feed store and bought some feed for the chickens and some pelletsand brought a bunch of water up the hill to make sure the animals have water and are looked after until their owners can get back here." even though the animals now had food and water, the crew didn't think the location was the best place for them to stay. with the help of more than a dozen firefighters, they were able to safely transport the animals to the santa barbara county animal services. (pam)a live look outside on this friday night..(steve) brittney has the four zone forecast breezy conditions likely late tonight through sunday morning... ...elevated fire danger particularly for higher elevation locations for the same time... .synopsis...dry weather will continue into next week. a mainly dry cold front will sweep south over the area late friday night and early saturday morning which then increases n-ne winds along the ridges and peaks saturday. (steve) still ahead - the new warriors arena in san francisco is taking shape..the developer says it will be a lot more than just a pla

it burned near carpenteria. and burning towards santa barbara. the towns of monisoto is in the line of the fire that will not quit. all wind-driven. the dry, dry brush. the humidity levels in the brush here has been below 10%. firefighters hope that if they can get on it tonight, though, if they can survive those winds tonight, and they have some 400 vehicles up in the area here fighting the fire, that's why they have called for these new evacuations because they didn't want to do it in haste and in a crisis situation where you have all of those fire vehicles in there and then people are trying to get out at the same time. so if they can survive the winds tonight and they can get past this one evening, then tomorrow, in the days ahead look much better to finally get this fire out. victor, christi? >> thank you to miguel marquez there. strong winds and dry conditions is what is a big part of this problem. >> let's talk about the days ahead. our meteorologist allison chinchar is with us now. she is watching the conditions there and where the threat

evacuation orders have been issued for the towns of montecito and carpenteria.ighters were said to get the upper hand on the thomas fire, but now it's exploded this morning and burned more than 173,000 acres. thousands of customers with without power. >>> drones like this one from the air national guard give officials another look at the flames from the sky. the drones hover twice as high as most helicopters. special sensors can see through the smoke and deliver live video feeds to commanders on the ground. >>> some economists in santa cruz worry that the transition to legal status for cannabis farms on january 1st could spell doom for mountain lions. the lions go out of their way to avoid humans, and according to the santa cruz sentinel, the fear is they will lose their habitat if infrastructures such as cannabis farms continues to grow. one ecologist is aware of the high price of cannabis farming said to go into effect the first of the year. the costs, they believe, may keep down the number of growers. >>> still ahead on abc 7 mornings, a local charity is on a

the smoke has just been sitting here in carpenteria. i didn't pinch this off the ground.s just by me scraping stuff up. that's the ash that covers and blankets everything. that's why everybody has one of these things on throughout the day here no matter what you're doing. everyone is wearing one of these masks. the good news is the winds aren't stoking this fire. it is being driven by local humidity and fuel. that's what's happening with this leg. there's one more up toward montecito. mostly on the ground because they had to cut in line. to give you an idea of how big this fire, fifth largest in california history. 230,000 acres have been chewed up, nearly 800 structures have burned. another 200 have been damaged. it's amazing the fatality levels are so low, which is the good news. bad news, so much has been chewed up here, dana. firefighters, roughly 6,000, are on the ground. they'll be doing this for possibly a couple more weeks. in order for containment to come up they have to walk around the edge of the fire to make sure there's something still smoldering. they've don

. >> they just told to us get out, get out of carpenteria. >> reporter: this is one of the areas in harms way, fire crews have good reason for worried, hundreds of structures are gone, many of them homes. one of those belonged to the flores family. >> it just doesn't seem like it is real, we just spent thanksgiving here. >> reporter: officials acknowledge strain of the evacuating but remind locals it is a life and death situation. >> we know inconvenience putting you into either advisory or mandatory evacuation, it is causing problems in your life but we wouldn't do it if we didn't think it is? your best interest. >> reporter: personnel coming from portland and vegas with crews being pulled in all directions, they need the extra help. the thomas fire alone, it is expected to keep fire fighters busy for rest of the week. >> we are currently under red flag warning, it was supposed to be originally last thursday now we're hoping that it ends this next thursday. >> reporter: wind gusts are expected to weaken but there is in rain in the immediate forecast meaning area will be dry and vulnerabl

line, there are some power lines, homes below it, below that, the cities of santa barbara, carpent carpenteriae is going up. that is a different tale than what we saw yesterday, we were completely buried in smoke yesterday. today it's now much more of a slow burn, the winds have changed. and what we are seeing today say firefighters, this is a transitional day. they believe tomorrow they will begin to make much more progress on this fire. because the weather is beginning to change. things are starting to improve on the ground. this remains a dangerous fire, more than 6,000 firefighters are still here fighting this fire? >> what are you hearing for some of those firefighters. when do you believe this fire could be out? >> it could be weeks. they underscore that weeks. they have to draw a full containment line completely around this fire. they anticipate they're going to be here for many, many days. what would be a significant help is rain. there's nothing forecast as far as rain, for the next few weeks. wolf? >> do they have enough resources right now, they're getting enough federal support sta

. >> residents here in carpenteria >> my neighbor across the street pounding on my door at 3:00 in theut! pack your stuff, get out! >> reporter: those terrified neighbors scrambling, the flames closing in fast. >> in ten seconds, we had the fire close to us from 30 to 6 0 to 100 feet high. >> reporter: but luis decided to stay, grabbing a hose, doing what he could to keep the fire from spreading. and his efforts paid off. the flames came dangerously close, but he was able to help save some of his neighbors' homes. now the fight to make sure others in santa barbara county fare as well. >> this fire is going to keep spreading for a while. >> reporter: but a glimmer of hope for the rest of southern california. crews getting the upper hand on four other fires and one is now completely out. but the devastation left behind is hard to swallow. >> just absolutely traumatic. >> reporter: sharon flores and her daughter ariana in disbelief. only their mailbox left standing. >> i was hopeful, you know, a 50/50 chance. it doesn't seem like it's real. we just spent thanksgiving here. >> reporter: an