everyone in felton's population of about 4000 is being told to leave. let's get right to kpix 5's kiet do who joins us live from felton this afternoon. >> reporter: cal fire issued the evacuation order at 8:30 this morning. since then, we have seen a steady stream of cars, everyone pulling their jet skis, lawn equipment, rvs. it is interesting to see what people take with them in these situations. now it is looking more like a ghost town. make no bones about it, the fire is coming. we were warned to be on the lookout for extreme fire behavior and it did not take long to find it. we spotted a firenado on the 800 block of summit drive. where there is a firenado, destruction and ruin is not far away. flames destroyed a fence and exposed a large crop of marijuana plants. this tiny free library, gone. this 9300 block of empire grade , the 2500 block of pine flat road, the production wine room of mchenry vineyards, all gone or about to be. cal fire says there simply are not enough firefighters. there are nearly 600 personnel here but mark renton, operations c

crews recovered the body of a 63 year-old felton woman thought to have died of natural causes. >>and sheriff's deputies are searching for at least 5 people reported as missing solved a lot of cases so far that have come over 20 cases where people have been reported missing in these zones and they've been located in shelters or at family friends and just hadn't yet communicated that with the rest of their family and friends firefighters are being aided by cooler foggy weather wednesday began with the fire 19% contained. >>to the north and west there is better progress. >>firefighters hope to complete a perimeter around the fire over the next 24 to 36 hours. >>and say there could be some sense of normalcy restored here in roughly 4 or 5 days. >>and with those firing operations we can make the fire do what we want to do and set of us reacting to the fire. >>big. cal fire has crews currently evaluating which areas may be reopened first but as you heard is not going to happen anytime soon because not only does it have to be safe in terms of the fire itself. but there are a lot of as

>>warren here in downtown felton words virtually a ghost town this whole area evacuated. the fire burning not too far from where i'm standing i want to show you video. this is felton empire road and this is approaching empire grade and that's right by the bonny doon volunteer fire and rescue and you can see the environment. this fire is burning a lot of wooded areas a dry brush and i did come across a brave homeowner. we took it upon himself to fight the fire. >>we not small fires one extreme and can help a lot that's life. we could have done or any ice skate candid. >>well that man and he's a local man here who live nearby while he was trying to clearly do the right thing. firefighters don't want anyone to get hurt in the process and are urging people to leave it to the professionals. >>people that are running around out there in their cars or their motorcycles. it's a dangerous situation out there so for your safety. please get out of that area and let get in there and do what we need to do. >>in the meantime sheriff's deputies in both san mateo and santa cruz counties

we pressed the evacuations and fully evacuated the city of felton, and now as the city of scots valley was warned, we moved into the mandatory evacuation and will systematically be evacuating folks there. 48,000 people to include scots's valley will have been evacuated by the time we get through evacuating scots valley. and security is a major concern of ours, so we devoted a number of personnel. we had 65 personnel just doing evacuations today. that's not to include personnel doing security and tonight just for security we will have about 30 different officers between chp and allied agencies helpi h folks doing things they should not be doing at a time when people are hurting. moving on to reunification. i want to say if you have a loved one you have not heard from, there are ways in which you can potentially find out how they are. there's a red cross web address that you can look up on the internet, and that's redcross.org dash safe and well. it's a site where you can one h ev evacuated and safe, and if you don't find them there, call and report them missing, that's 831-471-7721 and

our kiet do is live in felton, one of the communities fires they are protecting against it. >> it is very smoky right now, this is the southern flank, the most active area. check out some of this footage that we shot a mile ago. a mile and half from where we are standing, this is felton empire road, the condition where cal fire was able to set backfires, starved the main body and create a buffer zone winds and temperatures are down, humidity is up and fire activity has greatly decreased. cal fire says they know that evacuees are getting anxious and want to go home. many roads have damaged power lines. cal fire is looking uplifting evacuation orders once roads are cleared but there is no timeframe on it. we found a man by the name of jesse, he has put to rest any thoughts of trying to sneak back home. >> i go in, and there are cops everywhere. not worth it. i don't know what i would do once i got in there. >> also, new today, santa cruz county has released a map showing the location and addresses of more than 500 homes destroyed in the fire. peace of mind for some neighbors and devast

felton is looking really good. we have good line around three-quarters of it and continuing to put line up through the highway 9 corridor behind ben lomond. a lot of crews in. we received a few more hand crews come in and they are working. we put them right to work so we're having a lot of success with that and will continue to have success with that. and down just between ben lomond, talking about a burnout operation, just came from that operation right now. we're taking that slow, methodical. the weather conditions, had to delay the operation. as we saw today some fog stuck around a long time, kept the relative humidity up. we had to wait before we started lighting that fire so we have an effective burn and one that we can control readily. it's looking good, burning well, doing exactly what we want it to do. it will take us longer to accomplish the mission because of the weather. we're looking at making that line go just on the back side of felton just below ben lomond and tie into highway 9. so that will give us

we have good line, we are blackening the line in a sting watching the fire above a good portion of felton. today's operation has been

strike team setting backfires to try to eliminate the dry fuel and stop the flames from reaching felton. >> we are fighting fire with fire, taking it down from the top of the road and using it as takes it away from the main fire and gives us a buffer. we can fight more on our terms than letting it come to the woods. >> not enough firefighters, with the resources they have their trying to outsmart the fire. >> we have minimal wind in our favor, it moves slowly and it's a little bit more manageable. >> it has already barney circle so this is kind of knew. >> they refuse to evacuate he has been putting out hotspots in his neighborhood, sometimes with just a bucket of water. >>> mostly just digging a fire line. >> authorities continue to urge people to leave and say it is too dangerous for untrained residents to fight fires also, the santa cruz county sheriff's department says it would help their effort in getting the looters out. someone stole a firefighters wallet and drained his bank account while he was fighting fires. fattening, sickening behavior. frankly i can't believe that somebody

that will then button up that part of the fire above felton so that is excellent news. it will take a couple days to continue to mop up, pick up the hot spots and render that safe and get our utility companies in there to do their job. as we finish that we'll be moving up to ben lomond and that line will come to the south end of ben lomond that will protect the bottom end of ben lomond as we continue to progress. up above ben lomond we are continuing to work diligently up there. a lot of resources fromaliligen line, again, very difficult terrain and working among a number of structures and we're going to have a lot of success in the coming days looking at trying to get that completed just like in the other communities. we're marching north and preparing as we go ahead of time and implementing that strategy. painstaking process, a lot of homes in there, working around all those homes getting control lines put in, extinguishing the fire structures and the big thing is opening the roads into the interior of the fire with all the trees that have come down, the power lines a

. >> da lin in felton, thank you. >> there is a new push to make more space for all those coastal evacuees, and the city is warning beachgoers to stay away. >> also coming up, and up close firefighters willingly walked toward to protect the rest of us. a cornered crew gets an emergency airlift in the nick of time. >> and its a list the bay area ever wants to land on. they just earned a dubious distinction. >> kpix 5 is proud to be working with the red cross in

robert handa joins us from felton. robert? >> reporter: that's right. we're here at the cal fire base camp that's been set up here in felton. i'm here with a lot of weary firefighters, which, as you heard have been battling fires, steep terrain and tall trees which have limited the usual aerial attack. the smoke has almost washed out the mountain scenery. the aerial view shows how much the fire and smoke have blanketed this stwrech from the santa cruz mountains to san mateo county and has those underneath it moving frantically. michael herzog and megan are doing whatever they can to protect their felton home. after getting their evacuation notice grabs what they need. >> we just got the essentials. >> reporter: it was difficult for firefighters to move around in this terrain, so they set the backfires to keep the fire from spreading into neighborhoods and businesses. one business was in boulder creek where the redwood keg stayed open until the last possible moment. >> i gave free water to people, just because. >> reporter: looks like you're out of power

>>warm here in downtown felton words virtually a ghost town this whole area evacuated. the fire burning not too far from where i'm standing i want to show you video. this is felton empire road and this is approaching empire grade and that's right by the body doing volunteer fire and rescue and you can see environment this fire is burning a lot of wooded areas. i dry brush and i did come across a brave homeowner who took it upon himself to fight the fire. >>we have small fires. >>one extreme and can help a lot that's life. we could have done or any ice skate candid. >>well that man and he's a local man here who live nearby while he was trying to clearly do the right thing. firefighters don't want anyone to get hurt in the process and are urging people to leave it to the professionals. >>people that are running around out there in their cars or their motorcycles. it's a dangerous situation out there so for your safety. please get out of that area and let get in there and do what we need to do. >>another focus of sheriff's deputies in both san mateo and santa cruz counties

crews recovered the body of a 63 year-old felton woman thought to have died of natural causes. >>and sheriff's deputies are searching for at least 5 people reported as missing salt a lot of cases so far that have come over 20 cases where people have been reported missing in these zones and they've been located in shelters or at family friends and just hadn't yet communicated that with the rest of their family and friends firefighters are being aided by cooler foggy weather wednesday began with the fire 19% contained. >>to the north and west there is better progress. >>firefighters hope to complete a perimeter around the fire over the next 24 to 36 hours. >>and say there could be some sense of normalcy restored here in roughly 4 or 5 days. >>and with those firing operations we can make the fire do what we want to do and set of us reacting to the fire. >>in the santa cruz mountains rob fladeboe kron 4 news. >>well now let's turn our attention to the second biggest wildfire burning right now the 3rd largest in state history. and that's the fire up in the north bay, it's called the

crews recovered the body of a 63 year-old felton woman thought to have died of natural causes. >>and sheriff's deputies are searching for at least 5 people reported as missing solved a lot of cases so far that have come over 20 cases where people have been reported missing in these zones and they've been located in shelters or at family friends and just hadn't yet communicated that with the rest of their family and friends firefighters are being aided by cooler foggy weather wednesday began with the fire 19% contained. >>to the north and west there is better progress. >>firefighters hope to complete a perimeter around the fire over the next 24 to 36 hours. >>and say there could be some sense of normalcy restored here in roughly 4 or 5 days. >>and with those firing operations we can make the fire do what we want to do and set of us reacting to the fire. >>in the santa cruz mountains rob fladeboe kron 4 news. >>so we are expecting an update from cal fire and the czu lightning complex fires coming up are watching and waiting for a press conference to get us the very latest informa

it will but not that part of the fire by felton. that is excellent news. it will take a couple days, but once we do that we warm up. we will take out the hotspots and to render that safe and get the utility companies and there to do their job. as we finish that, will be moving towards ben loman and that line will come to the south. that line will protect the bottom of ben loman as we progress. up above that area and into boulder creek we continue to work diligently up there. we had a lot of resources about the border creek, fromr allied they are working diligently. it is very difficult terrain. there working among a number of structures. will have success in the coming days and we are looking at trying to get this completed like we are in the other communities. we are marching north and preparing as we go ahead of time, with many of the operations, and the strategy. bonnie dune is looking really good. a lot of homes are there. we are working around the homes and getting the control lines put in. the big thing is opening the roads into the interior of the f

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

and that will create a nice barrier for the fire afternoon the community of felton. and that is excellent news. and it will take a couple days once we did that to continue to mop up, take out the hot spots and render that safe and get you ti utility companies in there. and it will protect felton and the bottom end of ben lomond as we continue to progress up before enlomond lomond. and we have a lot of rources working dilint, again, very .'ll hav ace in the coming days trying to get that completed. and so we're marching north and preparing as we go ahead and implementing that strategy. and so looking really good. again, a painstaking process, we're working around the homes, getting control lines put in, and then the big thing is opening the roads into the interior of the fire.fire. we've been able to establish a group that has gone in starting yesterday, getting deep into some of the rote systems. some are a little bit more work that be othe than other, but we're working with a variety of agencies to get in and once we get in, render it safe, getting the utility compa

the hillside is burning along one side of felton empire road, but soon the unburned area on the other side will be ablaze too. dozens of fire crews will cut hand lines before then setting a burnout to get rid of a hundred years' worth of fuel in and around the state park. >> we use fire as a tool to eliminate the fuels between that control line and the oncoming fire. it's very controlled. it's a very plannedent. >> reporter: the czu lightning complex fire is now at 80,000 acres and 19% containment. more than 5 homes, businesses, and structures are confirmed burned. cal fire was able to drop 260,000 gallons of water just yesterday. and 1.6 million gallons since the fire started. but look at some of the hazards on big basin way. powerlines are down, trees are down, and some of the roadways may be damaged. this is why cal fire says it's not yet safe for evacuees to return even if the flames are out. >> we want to get you back home. we really do. but there are dangers to sneaking back into the evacuated area. >> reporter: right now santa cruz county sheriff's deputies are looking for a bo

the highway 9 corridor, felton is looking good. we have good line around three quarters of it, and continuing to put line up through the highway 9 corridor, behind ben lolond mond and they are workin. we're going to continue to have a lot of success with that. and down just between benlomond and felton, just came from that operation right now. we're taking that slow, methodical. the weather conditions had to delay that operation, because as we saw today, some fog that stuck around a long time and kept the relative humidity up. so we really had to wait before we started lighting that fire, so we have an effective burn, and one that we can control readily. so as i left the line, it's looking good. it's burning well and doing exactly what we want it to do. it's just going to take us a little longer to accomplish that mission, but we're looking at making that line go just on the backside of felton, just below ben lomond and tie into highway 9. so that will give aus a good level of protection. bonny doon is looking really good. we've go

.>> reporter: behind me is felton, we watched a thick smoke take over the hillside, to the left of mes they saw flames peeking over the treetops. thousands of people were told to leave their homes.>> reporter: the complex fire ravaged the santa cruz mountains, including these homes in boulder creek. tr to find the flames and others raising the safety and leaving behind almost everything. >> the fire is of the hill, we thick smoke crept closer to his home. >> i've been in this real, it i crazy. >> reporter: the cameras picking up the ash, i am wearing this mask because the smoke is heavy, these are some of the conditions that firefighters are facing, the weather was favorable today, but they are expecting fire activity to increase tonight. in felton, maria medina. >>> after holding out hope that the tide would turn, the flames are tearing down the hillside, towards the west side of healdsburg, sending residents fleeing. in the past two hours, crews cut the power to west dry creek road. a so-called walbridge fire, threatening the communities of ville and rio neto, is one -- w homeowner

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

felton, robert handa. >> the choices are hard no matter what. we are watching this, and developing situation in santa clara county. live look from the sky ranger, and crews are on the ground there working to get a handle on the series of small fires and this is in south san jose, and what you are watching is along highway 101 and we have video from an hour ago and you can see how hazy from the ground, and this is the coyote creek area west of the highway and bailey avenue, and firefighters say they expect to have the fire contained and maybe two hours and multiple structures have burned and the wind is a big factor in how this particular fire spread so quickly and became a series of fires. >> over to the north bay and the big collection of fires in napa, and sonoma and solano counties has turned deadly with more than four people acres burn and more than 125 structures damaged and 7% containment at this hour. we will bring in nbc bay area reporter jodi hernandez, and you have been on the eastern side of this fire on solano county and now you near

felton is lookinget more resour we will do that. it's a little lower priority. the fire isn't doing much. we aren't as concerned with any push in that area. of highway 9 corridor, ben loman, brookdale is looking good. that community is good. the fire has hung up high. challenge has been in loman. it has been rugged terrain and we are continuing to work in there. the steepness is challenging. it burns back up into itself. it is something we are working on. it isn't easy country to work in. boulder creek, it's looking good. a lot of resources in there. actively constructing lines. we have been working helicopters diligently in there. yesterday because the air was clear, heads six water dropping helicopters. we dropped 200,000 gallons yesterday. we flew the aircraft to the maximum we could fly them as far as the hours we could put on in a day per regulations. we did that. i anticipate today we will meet that same criteria and maybe exceed the amount of water dropped. that's a challenge i gave to my air folks. they are ready to meet that challenge to help the ground

as we move around into the air closer to felton, ben loman, fire has crested above those communities and has moved down to highway 9 north of the community of ben loaman. we have resources in those areas actively fighting fire protecting structures and performing structure defense operations as we speak. we have a lot of opportunities to save a number of structures throughout the hll pier ridge road area where the fir impacted heavily. we're trying to put the resources we have into the areas as possible to suppress those structures. we've had evacuations in play over the last couple days and that has helped us by getting the folks out of that area so we can get into those narrow roads, where the structures are without having to worry about the civilians escaping at the same time. our friends within law enforcement have done a fantastic job helping us do so. we have those folks who have stayed. it has become a bit of a challenge to try to suppress and take care of those issues with the people in there. we do ask if you are evacuated, please stay evacuated. leave, please leave so we ca

now the town of felton was also put under that mandatory evacuation order this morning. this video shows how the fires raged overnight in bonny doon consuming homes and cars fire officials say the burning conditions are unprecedented. >>overnight and this morning more people were forced out of their homes in order to flee the fires. >>just coming down i can personally can see any of the fire. >>coming through, but a lot of my friends and make. >>family they're being all push out of there and it's just a mess right now i grabbed it i usually would grab for like i. 3 or four-day hiking trip that was that the survival stuff. >>documents and stuff but not much felton was placed under a mandatory evacuation order at 08:00am the town under a heavy blanket of thick smoke. >>some left signs thanking firefighters at the homes that they had to leave others left directions where to find water. >>to help them in their efforts one home left sprinklers running on its roof top i spoke to one resident coming back for some last minute items, nobody wants to leave their house and it might

tonight, flames are burning up the side of a mountain on felton empire road but it's not a bad thing, cal fire says, because they're burning away from towns like felton, ben lomond, and boulder creek and spreading to area that is already charred. >> tough, steep terrain to work in, but we're having day by day success and we're getting those control lines established. >> he doesn't like being displaced at all. >> reporter: the constant updates are what evacuees look for every hour. these two friends evacuated one week ago at 4:00 a.m. with their animals and the rest of their community. >> it's sad because the people that you see that are losing their houses have such good spirits, and they're still trying to help everybody, you know? >> the community pulls together in a tragedy like this. >> reporter: for people like them, santa cruz county uploaded this damage assessment map, showing what homes are gone and what ones are safe. sadly much of this block of empire grade road near alba road is destroyed, which we confirmed with our cameras today. but for carol and carla, who live in bould

>>documents and stuff but not much felton was placed under a mandatory evacuation order at 08:00am the town under a heavy blanket of thick smoke. >>some left signs thanking firefighters at the homes they had to leave others left directions where to find water to help them in their efforts one home left sprinklers running on its roof top i spoke to one resident coming back for some last minute items, nobody wants to leave their house and it might be the last time that you see it >>that's a good feeling with more evacuation warnings. the santa cruz county sheriff's office advises people to get ready now did you know court documents together the heirlooms together make sure that you i feel to be able to drive your car or you have an ability to be able to leave. >>looking ahead finding out is there someplace i can stay can i stay with a family member out of the area and if you can been there or shelter that are available this afternoon it was announced that the santa cruz civic auditorium is full up they have no more room for evacuees there, but there is room, however. >>at the santa cruz

in felton gayle ong kron 4 news. >>now being allowed to return to their homes from the fires as evacuation orders are being lifted can kron 4 jonathan mccall live in the newsroom monitoring the latest developments jonothan vick indefinitely. some good news in addition to those orders being lifted. we're also learning details of resource centers now being set up to help the victims of those fires. >>due back on their feet, here's a look at where things stand right now on the fires that are still burning courtesy the kron 4 interactive map. then you can find on our website at kron 4 dot com. we want to tell you about some of the other things that are happening including assistance centers that have now been set up including this one in guerneville at the bank of america located on main street this will open tomorrow from 10 until 7 this will run from now until september 4th. we also want to tell you about another one that's also opening up assistance there and also in sonoma county at the healdsburg high school gym on

san gregorio appear down to wilder ranch state park and including you see santa cruz inland into felton then along the north side of highway 17 up to where the santa cruz and santa clara county lines meet and then again going up along skyline boulevard to russian bridge. just underneath the honda creek open space right here and it looks like the only part along the coast, it's not in the red, it is unknown state park so we put all this information including the evacuation centers for everyone on kron 4 dot com live in the newsroom. ella sogomonian kron 4 news thank you alan, you number businesses can finally resume outdoor services in alameda county just a couple days and that's including. >>hair salons and barbershops but apparently not all the salon owners think opening outdoors is a good idea. offers jonathan mccall is live for us tonight in pleasanton with the concerns that they have jonathan. >>and you for months, those owners of those hair salons have been fighting to give back indoors because they say it's a better environment for their customers are able to not only perform thei

>>if it came down into felton everything after that a pill. >>and this neighborhood in head first and you know the billowing smoke that was coming from that direction in the act there is when we came out and finally had the cars lot and we're just. let's just go. >>well check this out here is video of a tree falling down in santa cruz county and stager us out there fire cal fire is warning about downed trees downed power lines other hazards in those hardest hit areas. it will take weeks before families and felton been moment and boulder creek are allowed back home. here's the latest from the l in new lightning complex fires burning in 5 counties cities burned over 371,000 acres is 35% contained this morning, 5 people have died 4 others are hurt. and fires destroyed over 1000 structures and threatened more than 30,000 others. >>and in the north bay, a family of 5 is heartbroken after the lnu lightning complex fire destroyed their home in vacaville. the hernandez family found nothing but ash and rubble where their home used to stand the families

they feel very confident about what's happening in felton, protecting that community. good progress on the fire lines. keep it out of santa cruz and the uc santa cruz campus. ben locw man and boulder creek going well. it was a lot less smoke and the fire lines are holding well. so 19% containment up again from yesterday. so it's all very good news today. not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination as this fire hit 79,640 acres burned in the santa cruz mountains. butery different tone coming there today. the weather cooperated a little bit with the higher relative humidity that spencer talked about. winds not too stiff. so good news coming there on that fire. the czu lightning fire. let me turn your attention to the north bay from the south bay. the lmu lightning complex burned nearly 353,000 acres in places between the pacific ocean and solano county. it's 27% contained tonight. just about an hour ago, sky 7 flew over vacaville and pleasant valley road. you can see burned-out homes and buildings. at least 937 have been destroyed. but containment is growing a

he joins us live this afternoon from downtown felton. >> reporter: good afternoon. with containment growing by about 5% every couple of days, officials are now working to take the teeth out of this fire by burning potential fuel before it can go up in flames. >> although it does make people nervous, introducing fire to the environment, especially from the outside, but you have the best people available doing that job. >> reporter: late wednesday, cal fire crews intentionally lit fires in the midst of a makeup brush fire, burning portions of santa cruz and san mateo counties. firefighters are testing the viability, doing multiple controlled burns. this potential problem spot searches from felton to the southern edge of the moment. >> bring the fire after the fire that is on the ridge top. that will eliminate that issue. but that will do is create a very nice barrier so that the fire around the community of felton. >> reporter: it could take 3 to 5 days to gain the upper hand on the czu august lightning complex fire. the tyndale the national disaster has torched over

. >>> the czu fire areas, some evacuees are getting to go back to their homes in felton tonight. a new source to help them pick up the pieces, you can imagine it was plenty busy. n >> reporter: evacuation orders were listed in a handful of zones. in zone one, we found some grateful owners whose houses were unskaburned. >> it is a miracle. >> reporter: thousands of evacuees are waiting to get back into their neighborhoods. santa clara has set up a one-stop recovery resource center inside the kaiser permanente arena to help them. government state and local agencies setting up immediate needs like food and shelter. >> i need fema and food and stamps so that's this line here. >> reporter: help getting a new id for those who had to leave their home and left everything behind. >> i got my cat here, i could not turn around. >> reporter: for those lost their homes, there is help navigating the process, giving them permits and finding a contractor. >> my house is half burned down and trying to get information to help us get our house back online. i think this is great. >> reporter: fema s

fintre, new evacuations issued santa cruz county this morning, the evacuation zone now include from felton empire north and all of pine flat road are being told to leave. there is a chance as you are waking up this morning that you can see where the fires are burning. the glow in the distance. if you can't see it, then you can probably smell it. this map warns people in the areas marked purpleha tt health effects. >> and as you can see, we have so much to share with you this morning. a lot going on. we want to start with the forecast and check in with mike. that air quatylind mean those are major things tha. >> yeah, those are the two things thatl affect us the ilmo negatively t whe next sevel days. let's start into the air quality because even if the fires aren't directly affecting you, they will indirectly affecthe it is the smoke, tasting the smoke, or breathing the see it from half bay toward mn palo alto, up around napa, vacaville, also in fairfield some of the biggest cities right current have toxic airk aidt te thankfullyand this,ntns, the winds are fairly light. but around fairfiel

felton as well as davenport specifically want to show you that area as well and then lawman. felton in davenport where evacuation orders have been lifted tonight kron four's gayle ong is there she's been talking to some folks in the moment, we actually got a chance to go back to see some of the damage left behind from their homes. meanwhile, this new twitter a video just posted by the folks down there in san mateo county you can see where there's a number of what it looks like utility trucks. as well just kind of getting poles and things like that in place to kind of restore power to some of those folks in that area. they're urging people that if you are going to be in that area obviously stay out. but they're warning folks if you see those trucks on the road make sure you give them a little bit of space. so they can do their jobs to make sure that. folks can get the lights back for the folks impacted by the fire down there as folks do return back home from these fires, they're going to need plenty of help. evacuation centers have been set up but also resource and assistance

again, the latest if you live in felton or around the area, you should leave immediately. >>> thank youthere are reports that flames burning in the santa cruz mountains destroyed the big bay sin red wood state park. the nature center and campgrounds are destroyed as well. there are no reports yet on how many of the ancient red woods have been damaged or destroyed. some of the trees ear more than 300 feet tall, nearly 2,000 years old. it is very fire resistant but not the flames and the park, they have been very intense. >> the california system independent system operator says efforts by people in california to con siv power has voided rolling blackouts this out of state and more wind power generation coming online. officials say, it was the key to keeping the write-ups on this week including from tesla and chevron. >>> nigh have backup generations and co generation. they ran that to either take their load off the system or to give up additional power. in some cases it is a combination of that where they ran their backup generators to feedback into the grid and at the same time, they cu

in felton last night that was the case, but thousands of others are still waiting.his weekend there's a new resource center openingn santa cruz to help everyone pic u "today in the bay's" roz plater reports. >> reporter: work crews began rolling in to felton just after evacuation orders were lifted in a handful of zones. in zone one found grateful homeowners whose houses were athed. >> it's a miracle. i mean really, especially after going up the rd a little bit and seeing the burn and back burn and stuff. we owe them everything. >> reporter: thousands of evacuees are still waiting to get back into their neighborhoods. santa cruz county set up a one-stop ide the kaiser permanent arena to helpthem. federal, state, and local agencies are set up to assist with immediate needs like food and shelter. >> i need fema. i need food, sohis line here. >> reporter: h new i.d. for those who had to flee their home. >> i left everything right when the fire turned around, came over the mountain. >> reporter: for those who have lost their homes there's help navigating the process of

. >> stretched on both sides of felton empire road.in the state park. >> this area has not seen a fire of this magnitude in many years, there's a lot of dry fuel on the ground and the flames are destroying these beautiful redwoods right now. >>> we found the strike team setting backfires to try to eliminate the dry fuel and stop the flames from reaching felton. >> using fire to fight fire, we are taking the fire down from the top of the road and using the road as a firebreak. this is advantageous because it takes away from the main fire and gives us a buffer. we can fight the fire on our terms rather than letting it burn wildly. >> authorities urge people to leave and say it is too dangerous for untrained residents to fight fires. also the santa cruz county sheriff's department says it would help their effort in getting the looters out. they say someone stole a firefighters wallet and use the atm card to drain his bank account while he was fighting fires. >> it's disgusting, frankly i cannot believe that somebody would have the nerve t

near the town of felton. you can see the trees burning and smoldering. >>> we want to end with something good, a big thank you to our first responders. >> cal fire czu just tweeted out the firefighters taking a much-needed lunch break before getting back to work. they say they've been receiving a lot of special thank yous as well. kids have been giving them letters, flowers and drawings that they're putting up in their trucks. this is not just local firefighters either, so many firefighters coming in from around the country and the state to battle all these fires around the region. >> we appreciate them so much. they've been on the front lines for nine dayseather is in their favor. >> a lot of restaurants are also donating food. we appreciate it. it is a team effort. that's going to do it for us at 6:00. we hope you have a great evening. >> we'll see you back at 11:00. >> announcer: from nbc news, the republican national convention. here are lester holt and savannah guthrie. >> hello everyone. welcome again a

we fully evacuated the city of felton and now the city of scotts valley has been warned. we have moved into a mandatory evacuation. about 48,000 people to include god's valley will be evacuated. security is a major concern. we have devoted a number of personnel, we have had 65 personnel doing evacuations today. that is not including personnel doing security. for security we will have 30 different officers. we are looking for people doing things they should not be doing in a time when people are hurting. moving on to this message. if you have a loved one day you have not heard from. there is a way to find them. you can go to the red cross. you can look up the internet address. red cross.org. it is a site you can go to look up whether or not your loved one has been evacuated. i want to stress this, if you do not find your please report them is missing. you can call our dispatch center. 831, 47111212 make a missing persons report. we want to make sure your loved one is accounted for. another point i mentioned, do not go back into an evacuated zone. it is creating an issue. i

. >> you were in felton, and it's been evacuated, so i'm curious about two things, help far away are reinforcements and can you see where the plume of smoke is from the main fire they are worried about?>> reporter: it is hard to see that active flames because the smoke is so thick you can barely see what is behind some of the trees, visibility is very poor. in terms of reinforcement, just before 5:00, six engines from the la county fire department came in as i was driving in. i saw a fire crew coming in from the state of washington. so firefighters from other states are coming in, but residents are saying still not enough, and not fast enough area they say we need reinforcement right now, not tomorrow, not two days from now. they are calling for the national guard. you saw some of those folks who refuse to evacuate. they are jumping in to try to work on their homes or their neighbors homes. which is not something the sheriffs department or firefighters would recommend, but they are just desperate. they want to save their homes, which is understandable. there are about 1100 firefighte

to allowed the firefighters to work some controlled burn operations to protect the areas of felton and also ben lomond. but as firefighters make progress, evacuation warnings and orders are slowly being lifted. so good news to the north, santa clara county no longer being threatened by the fire. and to the south, uc santa cru he eva w have firing operations where we fight the fire with fire and make that buffer around the different communities and eat up that unburned fuel before the fire gets to that location. >> reporter: wednesday cal fire was busy clearing the interior roads of debris like these large red woods we saw leading into felton. maybe also taking out power lines as well, creating hazards for so many of s gets them closer to the front lines and also better access on to many of the interior parts of the fire zone to be able to further assess the damage. cal fire saying that work now 55% complete and we know some 590 structures confirmed destroyed. again, they say that number only expected to go up. we'll have that briefing for you live at 6:00 a.m. julian glover, abc 7 news

the latest an evacuation order is for the community of felton. ktvu fox2 news >>> the flames burning in the santa cruz mountains of damaged historic park headquarters. the nature center, campgrounds and other structures were also burned. there are no reports on how many of the ancient redwoods have been damaged or destroyed. some of the trees there are more than 300 feet tall and 2000 years old. >>> evacuation orders due to fires burning in that region. this includes the eastside of highway 29 near the casino and the lake and county line. this group of fire is known as the lnu lightning complex fire. some of the worst damage is right near vacaville. these fires have destroyed more than 100 homes and outbuildings and are threatening another 20,000. flames jumped interstate 80 and a section of the highway was closed in both directions for more than three hours. >> locale close that smoke is. i've never been in this situation before. >> this hit home. this is the real deal. tomorrow, i can come home and everything is gone. >> fairfield high school o

we have no further incidence of the affect of fie on to the community of felton. in the community of bonnie dune, it is continued progress there but slow. fireead iuny he resources have been doing a great job of point protection, getting in, putting any control lines they can, suppressing any fire they can around the structures, no reports of any structures lost in the overnight hours so that's a positive. we haven't had that in the past week so that' in that direction. we have people in the evacuated zones hindering the efforts and as the sheriff said before and as completed that these people please evacuate, not hinder the actions. hay continue to do so. it's unfortunate and sickening that one of our fire ground commanders in that area taking care of business and directing fire fighting crews somebody entered his vehicle, department vehicle and stole his wallet and drained his bank account and that's what they have done and why we have asked for people to evacuate, the sheriff's department did a fantastic job trying to wrangle this but this is as a result. it is

around felton, we have a good line around three quarters of felton. yesterday, the big story was the burning operation that was going on on the north end, and tying into the bottom end of ben loman with the line that has been established. that had to be delayed due to the weather. it just was not conducive to burning conditions. we wanted to get the right conditions to get the best condition possible. the burn operation and that up starting later in the day. we had to take it slow. there was a painstaking process. but i personally witnessed was that it was going very well. we had adequate resources. highly qualified resources, and a safe effective bird. they were able to get half, or three quarters done. they will continue the process today. once it is ce year -- the easier leg of the burn, but we are comfortable with it. this is the weather, they want to make sure that we have an effective bird. we want to make sure it is effective and efficient. i will continue today. it will produce. it will be late hours. that shows that we have an effective bird.

let's bring in nbc bay area's robert handa who joins us from highway 9 in felton. robert, it seems like one mountain community after another is slowly disappearing. what's the latest? >> reporter: as been very depressing around here. i'm in felton, which is like many other towns in these mountain communities, almost completely deserted today. i drove around boulder creek yesterday and one of the neighborhoods i went through around fallen leaf drive is gone today. driving through the santa cruz mountains today, it was eerie to see how many spot fires caused by floating embers are popping up. firefighters from numerous agencies already have their hands full with the relentless flames that have burned up property from san mateo county to the santa cruz mountains, including here in boulder creek. >> they just put three more engines up there. it's really just keeping flare-ups from happening again. you know, it's really out of our hands. >> reporter: eric sharping is n to the roof to protect his home, his neighbors and hopefully help the firefighters. >> my attitude is

today they are working on building a barrier around felton and then ben lomond and they're going intorying to mop up the hot spots. but again, access is difficult. they have a lot of trees that have fallen over roadways and some of the wooden bridges have burned. but that is kind of what they're working on today. as well as doing more air drops. now that the air around the area has finally cleared. all right, let's check in with emily turner, she has the latest following the fires in the north bay today where there are still evacuations. >> reporter: also good news up hoar. we're talking about national guard members. this is where they're ultimately going to end up and they have a whole section ready to go for the guys. now shift change has happened here in the last half hour or so. lots of people piling into the fairground getting ready for that briefing here that's going to happen for firefighters at 7:00. now after a week of running thin, national guard members are going to arrive in order to provide help for these exhausted and overworked firefighters. some troops in fact have alr

in felton gayle ong kron 4 news and number of people are now being allowed to return home from those fires as evacuation orders are being lifted and the kron 4 jonathan mccall he's live in the newsroom. his monitoring the latest developments jonathan cover video lot of them back away should orders being lifted some upgraded to those warnings that. >>is a clear indication crews are making progress on containing a number of these fires in addition to those orders we're now learning that resource centers have been set up to help those victims. get back on their feet one thing we do want to show you an interactive map that's located on kron 4 dot com. >>there you can still see where crews are still battling a number of fires across the bay area once again this live look this map is on our website that's kron 4 dot com there you can go and check in see how things are progressing with the very latest on the evacuation orders updates and things of that nature. meanwhile, we do our show you some full screens of some assistance centers now being set up. >>those will open tomorrow to help folk

then, as you move towards the city of felton, it's days, i would estimate days or potentially a week. as it goes north, it's weak to weeks potentially. as we progresses into more heavily damaged areas. you're talking weeks, potentially because of the fire damage in that area. especially the 236 area west of boulder creek and weeks for bonny doom. >> reporter: as for the rest of the uc santa cruz campish, we're told they have to check the air quality. they will send out email alerts when the rest of the campus gets the fwreen light. nbc bay area news. >> crews are still working to get handle on the scu complex fire. they broke fires near the wilderness reserve. tonight they focussed on an area near mt. hamilton. >>> napa county sheriff's deputy took this picture near highway 128 and rocky cove. what's most impressive is those homes reduced to ash and runl rubble. flame have burned more than 360 acres in the north bay. some evacuees were allowed back in to their neighborhoods. and tomorrow, they'll be working to cut lines right along side firefighters. in marin county, the cooler weathe

we are live in felton, stephanie sierra, abc7 news. >> just the beginning of a long road ahead. thank you, stephanie. the latest numbers of the cz sushgs lightning complex fire. up to 63,000 acres and the containment however is now at 5%. it is not just santa cruz county impacted, but parts of san mateo county as well. >> to the north, the lmu complex fire is even bigger andowcond l it has burned more than 314,000 acres and 15% contained. some of the evacuations were lifted today, but a new round ordered today for part of sonoma county. abc7 news reporter cornell bernard is joining us live now from healdsburg with more on that. >> reporter: this toke is incr and now at 50,000 acres and zero percent contained. a shift in the winds to prompt new evacuation orders today, and to make matters worse, more lightning strikes are possible. >> you are in a mandatory evacuation zone. grab your belongings and leaf t -- leave the area. >> reporter: residents like this woman wor thatwallid f was on t >> reporter: susan and richard were packing up all of the belongings in their home that could