to the firefighters.efighters are coming out of the house now wesley gossan on the phone with us. watching it two doors down. the firefighters are out of there and good to go now, wesley? >> yeah. i'm actually standing in front of the house about 50 feet from the swat team and everybody is just real quiet and walking around. i guess i'm probably the only one on the street here but, you know, the only citizen here. and it's pretty crazy. the mood is definitely calm and everybody has got their helmets off and the dogs are leaving. the robots are gone swat team did a great job to secure everything and keep everybody safe and have everybody evacuated. >> shepard: thanks very much for your eyes and ears on the ground. wesley gossan two doors down from an incredible scene that just took place. next, we are live in north korea or i should say in south korea right along the border. as they wait for a missile launch that authorities hope does not happen. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check and make sure t

but the firefighters are inside. i have listened to the initial radio traffic myself and you can tell that there was a lot of tension with engine 10 who was inside there. we do not know what else he's asked for besides utilities will be restored. we don't know what brought him to this. usually something within the last 24 to 48 hours, something that's happened to this person to bring him to this particular situation. but it was a medical call as i said initially. they say that he has no medical condition. but i don't want to get into any numbers. he does -- he is armed with some handguns and a rifle. >> mike, let me bring in david mattingly who is on the scene. he's been to this location. i know you're there now, david. what you are seeing? >> erin, obviously, this is a very delicate situation. and what they're trying to do right now is naturally to keep the gunman calm. the first choice in any situation like this as mike brooks will tell you, get the man talking. find out what he needs and find a peaceful resolution

that injured firefighter treated at the scene. the elderly man taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation. police still not sure what set this off. they say when they get to the bottom of all this, they will determine what charges will be filed. reporting live in berkeley, christie smith, "today in the bay." >>> in just a few hours from right now, the parents of a teenage girl who killed herself after an alleged sexual assault will share their story publicly for the very first time. audrie pott, her family first spoke about the 15-year-old's tragic death to nbc bay area just last week. today, the attorney says he is planning to file a wrongful death suit against three 16-year-old boys accused in the sexual assault. the pott family says photos were sent out bisect message and e-mail to several students at her school, saratoga high school. the family is also pushing for a law to try and prevent anything like this from ever happening again. "today in the bay's" bob redell will have a preview for the tough penalties and what t

one firefighters was hit. he was grazed by a bullet. he was treated on scene and is going to be fine. the shooter has not been arrested, at least not yet. they're trying to determe if he may have lured firefighters to his home. level of violence, you kn, is tords a firefighter, you know, obviously there's a concern there that was this intentional or not that will be part of, you know, the investigation. >> this morning investigators have been going in and out of the house and are interviewing the other firefighters and paramedics who were on the scene when this all happened. there was one other woman living inside of the house she was not injured. ann berkeley, alisa, kpix5. >> was there a problem. did police ever say why he called the firefighters in the first place. we do know that firefighters and paramedics responded and they were inside with him for several minutes before he started firing shots. >> okay. alisa live in berkeley this morning, thank you. >>> new this morning shooting investigation here in san francisco. man in his 40

aum t all the firefighters made it out, including the injured firefighter. he barricaded himself inside the home but eventually surrendered to berkeley police. >> it is a little unusual for us to have this type of incident. i'm sure the fire department, that's not what they expected when they had to respond to this type of call for service. thankfully, there was only a minor injury to one firefighter. there was no further injuries to police personnel or the gentleman or any of his families. >> berkeley police spent some time at the home gathering evidence. there was another person inside the home who made it out safely. the man was taken to a hospital for evaluation. they are going to check his mental status. they are still not sure if that was the cause of this or if there was some sort of criminal intent. they say when they sort that

his brother was killed in that firefight. what we have not been able to determine what, the police apparently do not know themselves is whether dzhokar might have been wounded in that firefight. we have no idea, but when you listen to the firefight that was. >> reporter:ed on videotape, when you hear police officials tell you 200 rowns were exchanged and the brother was killed, if dzhokar tsarnaev was not wounded in that firefierkt it would be a very surprising thing. but, again, we do not have solid information on that. the police themselves paecial do not know. he escaped on foot in the night while that firefight was under way. a police officer was gravely wounded, shot in that firefight, and dzhokar's brother, 26-year-old tamerlan, was killed. so we want to bring you up on date on where we are right now and what you're seeing. this is a neighborhood in watertown, massachusetts, north of the charles river from boston. this has been the area that police have been searching intensively all day long with armored vehicles and s

at least two firefighters are killed and more than a hundred people are injured. half of the town of 2500 people in west texas have been evacuated. the other half may have to leave if winds shift overnight. firefighters cannot get to the actual blast zone at the fertilizer plant because of fears of another explosion. the i'm mown yum nitrate -- immonium nitrate is flammable. there are 700 first responders on the scene. a short time ago the mayor of that town, west texas, spoke to reporters. >> there is a lot of people that got hurt. there is a lot of people that i am sure are not going to be here tomorrow. we are going to search for everure everybody is accounted for. that's the most important thing right now. >> as we said, at least two firefighters killed and more than a hundred injured. approximately 60 to 80 homes have been leveled. they have been leveled or seriously damaged. they are hoping to find victims and survivors. abc7 news. >> all right, john, thank you. >> now, nightline will update the explosion in a special report at 12:35. we will keep you update

firefighters were taken away at 1:45 this morning.ed out a gun and began to fire shots in their direction. one of the firefighter was shot but only had a wound. police surrounded the house at that point and there was a short standoff and the shooter was taken into custody peacefully but it was a nerve racking incident. >> they reported shots fired and they were able to evacuate from the hospital and like i said there was even the minor investigation and once they complete it, they will decide what if any charges they will be facing this morning the that firefighter who was phrased was treated and released, he didn't have to go to the hospital for that injury and we are talking he is back at the fire station this morning. ktvu channel 2 morning news. >>> parents of a saratoga high school student who took her own life after being sexually assaulted will speak out today. they will be joined by private investigators. they say their daughter was sexually assaulted by three teens while she was drunk and unconscious. her family is pushing fo

firefighters and paramedicse un nded >>> firefighter recovering after he was grazed by a bullet whilen the job, firefighters and paramedics came under fire when they responded to medical emergency on dwight wade the 88- year-old man who fired the shot is now being evaluated. investigators are trying to learn if he lured the firefighters to his home to do that. >>> parents of audrey pot plan to talk with reporters after their daughter's suicide last september. they're expected to announce plans for a lawsuit, 3 six teen year olds who were friends of audrey were arrested last week. they're accused of sexually molesting her and displaying pictures of the attack. >>> now, today is the deadline for filing your tax return. it's tax day. if you can't get it done today you can file for an extension request but that doesn't delay payment if you owe money you still have to estimate what you believe you owe, pay that amount and figure it out later. the average around $2,800. experts advise putting the money into savings or using it to pay down debt. >>> we all hate this day. to make the tax men,

at least two firefighters are killed and more than a hundred people are injured. of the town of 2500 people in west texas have been evacuated. the other half may have to leave if winds shift overnight. firefighters cannot get to the actual blast zone at the fertilizer plant because of fears of another explosion. the i'm mown yum nitrate -- immonium nitrate is flammable. there are 700 first responders on the scene. a short time ago the mayor of that town, west texas, spoke to reporters. >> there is a lot of people that got hurt. there is a lot of people that i am sure are not going to be here tomorrow. we are going to search for everybody and make sure everybody is accounted for. that's the most important thing right now. >> as we said, at least two firefighters killed and more than a hundred injured. approximately 60 to 80 homes have been leveled. they have been leveled or seriously damaged. they are hoping to find victims and survivors. abc7 news. >> all right, john, thank you. >> now, nightline will update the explosion in a special report at 12:35. we will keep

what we have heard from firefighters is that there was initially a fire firefighter started to rush to the scene and the minutes later is when the explosion happened but just to give you a little perspective of how big an explosion it was this is a town of only twenty six hundred people only three inches before this emergency unfortunately appears many of those first responders who were responding to the initial fire may have been critically injured during the initial response to the first fire and then the explosion happened and we know how long. and to respond from as an area is what i able to come and help quickly. absolutely you know we just spoke to a crew that traveled more than eighty miles here. to west texas in order to help there was. created a tree is just a few feet from where i'm standing and at the community center there is a tree set up at the baseball park. madmen able to give you an accurate count of how many people were treated mostly because they just seemed overwhelmed but dozens that we can definitely confirm have been transported to hospitals all over the region a

a lot of rubble fell on top of a firefighter who fortune was wearing a helmet and yet when this firefighter was talking to a local reporter as he was bloodied and wanted to get back to rescuing people who were injured in the blast definitely a small town authorities from all over the texas area have come to respond so there has definitely been a very coordinated response these people are definitely overwhelmed any time i ask sort of first responder how many they've treated how many casualties and they just seem overwhelmed they don't know what sort of answer to this is an emergency that has been been seen and it's town which neighbor said so far just described as a quiet town where things such as this will never happen we can see the physical damage this pinkos that from some pictures that have arrived to this throughout the day but there's also a concern isn't there about the toxins that are not being released from this plant . absolutely as soon as we arrived on scene we talked to a state trooper who said that part of the town was being evacuated and possible contingency plans are being p

at least two firefighters are killed and more than a hundred people are injured. half of the town of 2500 people in west texas have been evacuated. the other half may have to leave if winds shift overnight. firefighters cannot get to the actual blast zone at the fertilizer plant because of fears of another explosion. the i'm mown yum nitrate -- immonium nitrate is flammable. there are 700 first responders on the scene. a short time ago the mayor of that town, west texas, spoke to reporters. >> there is a lot of people that got hurt. there is a lot of people that i am sure are not going to be here tomorrow. we are going to search for everybody and make sure everybody is accounted for. that's the most important thing right now. >> as we said, at least two firefighters killed and more than a hundred injured. approximately 60 to 80 homes have been leveled. they have been leveled or seriously damaged. they are hoping to find victims and survivors. abc7 news. >> all right, john, thank you. >> now, nightline will update the explosion in a special report at 12:35. we will

big old mushroom cloud. >> are you a firefighter yourself? >> yes, i'm a firefighter. we're a small town, 2500. we do a lot of double duty around here. >> we have heard from other people tonight that some fire fighters have lost their lives from the initial explosion. is that your understanding? >> i haven't confirmed that, no. mr. mayor, i can tell you that obviously want to get back to your duty and i don't want to stop you. >> i appreciate it. thank you so much. >> we wish you all very good wishes and for the people of west. god bless all of you tonight. it sounds an impending disaster for you. >> thank you very much. we'll be in touch, okay? right now to cheryl marich. mrs. marich, can you hear me? >> yes. >> this is obviously an appalling incident that is unfolding in west. where were you when the explosion happened? >> two and a half blocks from the fertilizer plant and in front of my house watching the flames. >> and you're married to a firefighter; is that correct? >> yes, he is. >> and has he begun to tackle the blaze? >> yes, he has. we can see the flames fro

and firefighters know this. that when fighting a fire with anhydrous ammonia, you do not put water on it. if it's in a contained area. and that can have catastrophic results, like what happened in texas city 66 years ago. and possibly what happened here last night. >> we were listening together to sergeant william swanson, from the waco police department, who is in the town of west to assist them. and he was saying, there at 7:50, about six hours ago, their concern were the very containers that were holding this anhydrous ammonia. and under these sorts of concentrations, when they're placed in these containers, is when the danger is the most. >> exactly. >> that's what they were trying to fight earlier on. wasn't it? and then, he described it as, well, a lost battle. >> yeah. i was listening to the scanner traffic. a replay of the scanner traffic when the initial explosion happened. they were calling in extra fire crews from as far away as waco. and ambulances anywhere they could get them because they knew they

firefighters there are battling a three-alarm fire in a building. this is at laguna and vallejo street. authorities say it's in a multi- story apartment building. the fire started around 10:50 this morning. firefighters got to the scene within about three minutes of the call. a viewer sent us some cell phone video of smoke rising over the neighborhood. these are pictures from newschopper2. so far, no arrests of injuries and no word on what started the fire. we do have a crew on their way to the scene and we hope to hear from them shortly. >>> meanwhile, we've learned some important information on the bridge bolts that have caused so much concern on the new eastern span. bay bridge. ktvu's claudine wong was at this morning's press conference and i just us live. have engineers -- and joins us live. have engineers decided how to deal with these flawed bolts? >> reporter: they are looking at two options on the table. that in a minute. but first, we want to give you a look at the new span and the problem area. if we zoom on in, we can show you what's kno

firefighters were called to the scene.s came and gathered, started taking pictures of the burning ship. but right next door was another ship loaded with anhydrous ammonia and it exploded. and that killed thousands of people in texas city. it blue airplanes out of the sky. it blew tanks miles away. it was the worst industrial accident in the last century. another reminder of just how powerful and dangerous anhydrous ammonia can be in certain conditions such as a fire. >> and of course you mentioned in that previous incident, the historic one you that mentioned, that a number of aircraft were affected by that. and as a result of that out of an abundance of precaution officials have in fact ground -- or issued a no-fly zone, rather, in that area to keep helicopters and aircraft away. what can you tell us about the first responders on the scene. are they able to get access to the scene with the road blocks and with the severe damage that's been done to the community? >> right now we can see first responders going in and out of

he's also a firefighter for this city. it has taken a toll on him, because he knows potentially he's lost some firefighters. i can confirm there may be firefighters that are unaccounted for, and potentially a law enforcement officer, as well. we're still trying to determine that. obviously they were there on scene directing traffic, and fighting the fire and helping with the evacuation. again, we don't know a hard number of the fatality count. as soon as we can get that, we'll get that information to you. they were still pulling people out of some of the homes. yes, people are trapped. are they still at this point finding them? i don't know. we did find some earlier. they are still going from house to house. my guess is they're going to find some people still trapped. [ inaudible question ] >> i know that they have shut areas of utilities and power off to not only the immediate blast area, but other areas that think think may be affected. a lot of that is ongoing and that is a process. i will tell you there's been a tremen

five berkeley firefighters went to a medical call. about ten minutes later, they called berkeley police asking for help. while police were on the way, they actually got another call from firefighters saying that the situation had escalated. there were shots fired. all the firefighters made it out of the home by the time that police arrived and the man had barricaded himself inside. >> i can manimagine the situati was very scary for them. they were able to get out. he did surrender and there was no further incident after that. so that man surrendered shortly after. police were here for quite a while gathering evidence from the home. there was even another person inside that made it out when all of this started. the elderly man was taken to a hospital for a mentally valuation. again, investigators still not sure why he did this but they say that once they gather more information from him, as well as the injured firefighter, they may know exactly what criminal charges might be filed here. reporting live in berkeley, christie smith, "toda

emt firefighters.t happened was they responded to a fire at the fertilizer plant and were are dealing with the the fire when the explosions happened inside the plant. anhydrous ammonia and other chemicals at the plant contributed to the explosion once the fire started. as you may know, fertilizer is often used or not often used but occasionally used in bombs where others want to do harm to others. that kentuckcould explain why e fertilizer plant under the right circumstances or wrong circumstances to be more presize explode soed so violen. a number of homes in the immediate area, the mayor of the community of west says 60 to 80 homes in the surrounding neighborhood have been obliterated. nursing home is in really bad shape. there is an apartmt complex and a school which is west intermediate school that caught fire. they have been moving patients out of the the nursing home. 140 nursing home patients are in the home and they took about 100 out at last word. many of them with injuries but according to on

the other firefighters and all other firefighters were able to run out of the house until police moved in. after a short standoff, the shooter was taken into custody. they tried to figure out why he opened fire. >> it is going to be part of the investigation and he is trying to injure the firefighters and we are just not sure at this point, we know the concern is whether they called herein tension naturally or if it -- here intentionally or whether it was a medical emergency. >>> obviously police will do an investigation and at that time we will decide whether this elderly man will be faced in connection with this shooting and it is obviously a problem as this firefighter was grazed by a bullet and he is back at the station. alex savage, ktvu channel 2 morning news. >>> new this morning, san jose police are searching for a burglary suspect who hit an officer with his car. it happened at hp pavilion while the officer was doing traffic control. the suspect was hit while he was trying to get away after the owner of a car hit him with an attempted break-in. police say the suspect may be dr

. >> firefighters are used to using devices to save lives but a device a firefighter wore saved his own. mary gonzales had a cold, she also has asthma. so she sees her allergist who has a receptionist susan, who sees that she's due for a mammogram. mary has one that day. that's when she finds out she has a tumor. she has a successful surgery and because her health provider has an amazing connected system, she has her life. i don't know what you have but i have kaiser permanente. kaiser permanente. thrive when i take a picture of this check, it goes straight to the bank. oh. oh look the lion is out! no mommy no! don't worry honey, it only works on checks. deposit checks from your smartphone with chase quickdeposit. just snap a picture, hit send and done. take a step forward and chase what matters. >>> close call for firefighters. someone opened fire on the crew as they responded to an emergency call. ktvu's paul chambers reports from berkeley live with the communication device that may have saved the life of one firefighter. >> reporter: we tried to contact the firefighter but he was sen

how is the firefighter? >> it was a minor injury and three was treated on the scene and released at the scene. it does not require hospitalization. >> what happened? they arrived and someone in the home had a gun? >> our firefighters responded to a medical call at the residence. while they were inside the home they requested the police department respond. i am fault sure specifically what transpired. they notified by radio there were shots fired inside the home and the firefighters were able to get out of the home along with an additional family member in the home. our officers arrived on the scene and we established a perimeter and were able to make contact with the responsible person. he is now in custody at the local hospital being evacuated. >> that person is elderly? >> he is approximately 88. he is elderly. obviously the situation is unnerving for everyone because it is a tight knit group and i am thankful it was not more element. >> was this a legitimate medical call? >> we believe it was a legitimate

talk about the firefighters., texas, a small town, is made up of volunteer firefighters. they've been working all night, and clearly they're one of the biggest concerns because they were in there fighting the blaze initially and then that massive explosion. we know that there are fatalities. we don't have a number attached to that. the big concern, of course, is for the firefighters who were right there when that huge explosion, as you mentioned, a richter scale earthquake type explosion that was felt 50 miles away took place. are you seeing more firefighters from other surrounding towns in the state of texas coming into the area to help at this point? >> reporter: absolutely. the freeway was jammed, in fact, in both directions. interstate 35 from down south in waco and north towards dallas/ft. worth, emergency crews rushing into the area. among the volunteer firefighters in the town of west is the mayor of west. he was responding to the fire at the factory, was about two blocks away, he said, when suddenly the g

several firefighters from this community, unaccounted for. at least one police officer unaccounted for. we know there have been fatalities. the exact number, they will not confirm yet. same goes for the number of injured. officially around 100 people. they tell us they want to get the numbers right. so, in talking to the people who live here, that's their attitude, too. some have come to this area trying to find whatever help they could get, as far as which direction they need to go in. but people seem to be focused on trying to get through the night. >> ben russell, kxas, at one of the gathering point there's, outside of the fertilizer plant explosion. water and other supplies being brought to that location. thank you, ben russell. appreciate all of that great reporting there. you watched and give us perspective. he was mentioning those on the ground. a young person describing how his ribs were hurt and felt the force of this explosion, which measured a 2.1 on the richter scale. here's another eyewitness account. take a listen. >> i saw the

so as the number of uniform firefighters have declined the overtime hours have increased. there's a direct relationship between the number of full-time staff. and the fact that he have a mandated number of fire department's stations that have to be oppose and there's a certain number of positions or posts that have to be filled everyday and when the fire department lose firefighters because of retirements if they're not able to bring on fire cadets quickly enough then we have a overtime. so we're going to ask for a class this year and we're going to be working with the fire department during this budget cycle to see if there's anything else we can do about speeding up the number of firefighters. however, that has to be a different conversation. we've making sure they're getting the most sufficiency out of their hours >> thank you very much. this will lowering the overtime but i appreciate the explanation >> i appreciate the partnership working with the mayor's off and

as well as the firefighters. there were four firefighters injured but all superficial wounds. they're all going to be okay and going home tonight. the officer -- we're going to check him out, make sure he's going to be okay and he'll be going home eventually as well. the suspect is deceased. it appears that the fire department was called out there originally. we don't know if it's going to be a fake heart attack or if he was actually suffering from some type of medical condition. but when they -- made entry into the home, they were taken hostage by him and then he started making demands. these demands were to have his power turned back on. apparently he's going through some financial issues. and the power was turned off, along with the cable and cell phone and so on. and he wanted all those things turned back on and that's why he was holding them hostage. we are still in -- deep into this investigation. this is all i have right now. as we get more information, we'll be able to release it and the officer's identity and maybe the firefighters at a later date as well. >> what mad

it is feared that the firefighters are dead. you just heard that safety official talking about the number of fatalities that has not been confirmed because obviously, this is still very early on. there are still imminent threats for the neighborhood, as you heard, with the chemical toxins in the air and fires that are smoldering. there was a concern for a while that there was potential a possibility of even more explosion. so they have to really keep that -- that in mind before they move fire crews in there closer. but we should should just retrace our steps and follow up with the reporting from the last several hours because this happened at 8:00 local texas time. 9:00 eastern. that is that the massive fire was burning at the fertilizer plant in west texas. for people who are not familiar with this area, it is 20 miles north of waco. it is about 80 miles south of dallas. and there are firefighters on the scene that were battling some type of a fire when there was this massive explosion that we have been talking about. the explo

among the dead are three firefighters and several unaccounted for.ing about 80 miles south of dallas closer to waco, texas, 20 miles from there. we go to our news reporter. what is going on now? >> good morning, eric. officials are estimating between five and 15 deaths. the numbers are expected to go up. we know there are several missing firefighters. there are 180 injured. the explosion leveled homes and businesses. one official said it looked like a war zone. >> the massive explosion and fire of the fertilizer plant filled the night sky and could be heard and tell for miles. it was so strong it registered asen earthquake. there are reports of numerous deaths and 200 injuries. (inaudible). >> there is slab knell -- shrapnel everywhere, the worst thing i have ever seen. >> it leveled 75 to 100 homes and businesses around the laboratory. officials are going home to home looking for victims. >> the most devastating thing that has happened to this community. a big cut on our heart. >> the blast leveled a nursing home forcing the evacuation of 130 parent

but firefighters were able to knock down the flames in about 30 minutes. and there is still a fire engine here. firefighters have been watching it all night long, making sure that nothing sparks up in this building. again, they can't enter it because right now it's been deemed structurally unsafe. we know that there is going to be an investigation. right now, we still don't know the cause. reporting live from san jose, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> happening now, more than two dozen people in oakland will be without water for most of the day. that's because of a water main break that happened at 3:30 this morning at 24th and harrison street. eastbound bay says the break is affecting a tire business and nearby apartment buildings. you can see the water in the street earlier. crews were able to slow the break. right now, just a little water coming out of the pipe. east bay says it will need to dig up the sidewalk to replace the broken pipe. and that work could take about six hours. >>> following a major new development in the boston marathon bombing case. just ho

firefighter, volunteer firefighters from their community. first responders on the fire. several still missing and search and rescue is to cover them, try and find them as well and the sergeant made a point no, word of the cause, it's being treated as a crime scene preliminarily, and the chemical component, anhydrous ammonia, aware of it, dealing with it as best they know how. no continuing risk. that was good to hear also and the community leaning on each other very hard and helping each other, and that's what's getting them through right now. those are the headlines from what's going on down in west, texas. we'll keep monitoring the situation as we stand by in boston. waiting for the interfaith procession they will have with clergy and the president. back after a break. [ male announcer ] when gloria and her financial advisor made a retirement plan, they considered all her assets, even those held elsewhere, giving her the confidence to pursue all her goals. when you want a financial advisor who sees the whole picture, turn to us. wells fargo advisors. omnipotent of oppo

we had heard a number of 5 to 6 firefighters.in, not everybody is ready to give an official number. as you said, they are still holding out hope that somewhere in some of that rubble -- and it is extensive -- that there may still be some people alive in there, possibly even some of those firefighters that responded to the scene. >> and how about the fear of chemicals? you're talking about a fertilizer plant. was there fear of that overnight? has that dissipated? >> reporter: good question. there is not as much concern now about the toxicity of some of the fumes and some of the chemicals. in the first hours after the explosion, there was a lot of concern in the immediate areas that that could be a hazard so that's why they immediately started getting people in the neighborhoods next to the plant out of the area. that dissipated somewhat. in fact, even as this weather system moved in, and the wind changed and the it started pushing the smoke -- and the wind changed and it started pushing the smoke in this direction, we didn't smell

oftentimes we have firefighters that are married and have children. and when you have a mandatory and you have a planned day off, but you're mandated to stay at work, it does create some difficulty. so, we appreciate that. we also appreciate the work of the mayor's office and mayor ed lee to commit to hiring classes to begin restoring some of our staffing levels. we did typically and we did with a lot of knowledge go to a higher overtime model. but at this point our staffing is such that it is creating way too much mandatory overtime. and, so, we look forward to having these classes come in every year. we started with the class that entered in august, graduated in december. but our goal is that if there is anyway we can somehow accelerate the hiring as suggested by supervisor breed, that would do -- go a long ways in i think the morale of the department as well as operationally not holding people over for mandatory overtime. >> and, chief, i think it's important to highlight for the public because i think we do have a lot of overtime issues in the cit

he knows that potentially he has lost some firefighters. i can confirm that there may be firefighters that are unaccounted for and potentially a law enforcement officer as well. we are still trying to determine that. obviously they were there on scene directing traffic and fighting the fire and helping with the evacuation. again we don't know a hard number, the fatality count as soon as we can get that we can get that information to you. they were still pulling people out of the homes. yes, people were trapped. are they still at this point finding them? we don't know. they are still going from house to house. my guess is they are going to find some people still trapped. >> [inaudible]. >> i know they have shut areas of utility and power off not only to the immediate blast area, but other areas that they think may be affected or to keep from additional injury or harm from happening. a lot of that is on going and that is a process. i will tell you there has been a tremendous amount of resources and outpouring from community not only here in w

both firefighters are unaccounted for. if indeed they passed away they died as heros trying to save the lives of everyone else in their town. possibly a police officer was inside that plant at the time of the devastating blast as well. so let's go right now live for a closer look at the devastation. fox news reporter casey seigel joining us with the latest. hi, casey. >> heather, patti ann, good morning to you. we are set up in the media staging area. they are keeping us far away from the scene itself because of the dangers you were just highlighting. if there is a silver lining we understand from the latest press conference that happened about an hour and a half ago they told us that the fire at the fert liedzer pla -- fertilizer plantf is under control to a point where a small team of rescue crews could go in and get a closer look. the other big concern is not necessarily the fire that is comburning still at this hour because multiple structures caught fire at the wake of this blast but there is concern for the xhchemica

> firefighters could not go inside last night or this morning. the building was unstable and they tried to look inside to confirm no one was in there. firefighters try to figure out the stability and what could have caused the fire, the bicycle friends share their enthusiasm. >> she is talking about the owner of favors and we are told he moved out a couple of weeks ago but still has some valuable pieces inside. the owner of the building is here on the scene but does not want to talk to the media and directed to us her attorney. she did not give us the attorneys name. the a.t.f. is here and will help the san jose firefighters dig through the rubble to try and find the cause of the fire. >> thank you. the california highway patrol is investigating what led to a fatal accident early this morning in alamo. a 24-year-old man lost control of his toyota camera and crashed into a telephone pole after 2:00 this morning. the driver was killed. no one else was hurt. investigators say that speed might have been a factor. they are conducting toxicology test.

firing shots at firefighters. this is on the 1200 block of dwight way near san pablo. that firefighter was on the scene and didn't have to go to the hospital. police tell us the shooter is an 88-year-old man. this is video as he was taken away by paramedics for a mental evaluation. there were as many as five berkeley firefighters around 1:45 responding to that medical call when police say the man inside pulled out a gun and started firing shots. one of the firefighters was hit by a bullet but only suffered a glancing wound. the firefighters ran out of the house and police moved in to surround the place. there was a brief standoff between police and this armed man inside. but eventually the accused shooter gave himself up and was taken into custody. police are trying to figure out why he opened fire. >> it is gonna be part of the course of the investigation if he was specifically trying to injure the firefighters or if he may have been confused. we're just not sure at this point. the concern is were they called her

we had a d o w policy as you know there's a cap for the cap for firefighters is 6 hundred and 33 hours. if someone is willing to work on overtime shift the exception is granted for that. also which comes up not very often is if the person is not been able to be on a working shift and they have to go to mooned training but that's not used often that were and if we were to go to wildland fires then we receive money from that >> so that being said we have higher earners. so people are put into the shift we're allowing those to work who want to at unsafe levels. one of the things we've done is put a cap into for 11 hundred hours to try to minimize it's not going to change the time but it will distribute that. >> so i know that many people who are doing over time hours not just people who were doing the offer time but across the whole department it leads to exposure risks and chaufgs. and have will every ever been you mentioned mandatory staffing level and we have guarantees that we have to have a staffing levels. and now we're saying because the mandatory staffing levels to harm people pos

well as i said we have been hearing that for five firefighters and a kind to many firefighters as you said still at the scene trying to contain this blaze but this also fears of another blast that could happen here. and also concern over any toxic cloud which could emanate from these plants now what's the geography like in this area is there a threat saying well certainly about there is and first if you look again at the anatomy of a disaster you have the first initial disaster that the emergency response teams respond to so in this case a fire at a plant they get to the fire and explosion happens now you have missing firefighters people who really do put their lives on the line to protect for the health and safety of the people in the community and then we have an evolving disaster of the continuing disaster if you will as you mentioned there is this other tank that is being threatened by the fire and it could also exploded causing an even larger problem then we also have this ammonia gas cloud which is part of the fertilizer process and hydrous ammonia. if that is released over this

one firefighter was struck by a bullet but only suffered a glancing wound. the firefighters ran out of the house and that's when police ended up surrounding the place. after a brief standoff, the shooter was taken into custody and certainly it was a brief standoff for first sponsors. >> they were able to evacuate from the home and like we said there was only the minor injury and we are thankful for that. >> reporter: after a full investigation police will decide what if any charges to recommend for him. police are not sure whether that man targeted the firefighters intentionally or if that man was confused in some way. but this man who was grazed by a bullet is now back on duty, alex savage, ktvu channel 2 morning news. >>> we are now targeting the east bay and have the search for the cause of an early morning fire which is on 37th street and we are still not clear but squatters have been known to sleep inside that home. the flames caused major damage but no reports -- no injuries have been reported, that is. >>> san jose police are searching for a burglary

>> the firefighters are not fighting the fire right now. they're in the area, but they cannot get close to it because of the toxic fumes that are coming off of it right now. >> is there a danger of fumes outside the plant? >> there is. i think they've cleared the area. they've moved people back even further. so half of that town is totally, totally evacuated. what we're worried about now is when the north -- we're supposed to have a northern come in tonight. so we may have to evacuate the other side of town. >> guys, i'm going to have to stop you there. let us get some more information. once we get that, we'll come back out and give you what we can. >> complete destruction. the fire is under control, but smoldering. a 50-apartment complex building is decimated. and at least 50-60 homes may have been devastated. his house shook from the force of the blast. mr. smith, quite extraordinary that you should be so far away. but you felt the aftershock of this explosion? >> yes, we didn't know exactly what it was. there was a forecast of thundersto

during the incident one of the firefighters was injured. it was a minor injury treated here on the scene and is currently talking with our investigators regarding the incident that occurred. >> reporter: so the shooter was the man who called because of you having a medical emergency? >> i don't know who specifically called at this point as far as the actual medical incident. i'm not sure if that was him or there was another family member in the house that was also safely to get out. i'm not sure specifically if that person called or if he actually called for the medical. >> we know the shooter was a man in his 80s, has he been arrested. >> at this point he hasn't been arrested. he's being held for evaluation to determine if he's okay, which at this point i don't have reportnjor the family memb fleet response. we are thankful that the paramedic was injured and had a minor injury. >> reporter: this has to be highly unusual and i'm sure concerning to respond to a call where firefighters were being shot at. >> it is, you know, it is very concer

the firefighters and ems are coming from hundreds of miles away. right now we're overflowing with help. tomorrow morning, the mayor will speak again. right now, we have tremendous amount of injuries, probably over 100 injuries at this time. we to have confirmed fatalities. the number is not current yet. it could go up by the minute. we're in there searching the area right now, and making sure that it's safe for any of the other people around there and the firefighters are trying to be safe and go back in. the wind is blowing, changing things. there's little small flames and they don't want the firefighters hurt or injured inside the blast area. i can tell you, i was there. i walked through the blast area. i searched houses earlier tonight. massive. just like iraq, just like the murray building in oklahoma city. you can imagine what kind of damage we're looking at there. i know there was at least 75 to -- 50 to 75 houses damaged. there was an apartment complex that has about 50 units in it that was completely -- just skeletons standing up. there's a

showing off his volunteer firefighter badge.bridges, jumping into harm's way is how you earn the firefighter's badge of honor. and the work continues on getting those residents within a close radius of where that explosion happened back into their homes. the immediate neighborhood surrounding the fertilizer facility still has not been reopened. but many of the streets here in the coming days should be open and people can begin the process of moving back in and cleaning up. >> and that is a long, long process. ed, thank you. >>> and coming up, a high school freshman arrested after a nasty fight and the fight was with her math teacher. look at it. what lead to this throwdown coming up. d it. how did i know? well, i didn't really. see, i figured low testosterone would decrease my sex drive... but when i started losing energy and became moody... that's when i had an honest conversation with my doctor. we discussed all the symptoms... then he gave me some blood tests. showed it was low t. that's it. it was a number -- not just me. [

one of the firefighters who was here missing has now been found. he is being treated in the hospital with serious injuries. a nearby nursing home had to be evacuated when the roof caved in. the wounded were taken to a high school football field that served as a triage center. eugene horak and his wife escaped after the roof of their house collapsed. >> he somehow managed to pull the ceiling off of me and i crawled out. >> reporter: there's no word yet on what caused the explosion. >> there is nothing at this point to indicate that this is a criminal issue. >> reporter: red cross workers are assisting neighbors who lost their homes and a blood center that serves the area says, donors are needed. west, texas. z for cbs ne, >> that explosion also released chemicals from the plant into the environment and federal off the air quality in west, texas. >>> america is ontheir side. that is the message from president obama in boston as he pays tribute to victims and survivors of the marathon explosions. >> i'm here today on behalf of the american people with

a house fire has a bunch of firefighters scrambling to get it back out. they're struggling with water supply robs, and he's watching the flames burt through the window. this guy goes inside through the smoke and up the stairs. after 20 minutes of work, he says i have a fresh tank put me in again. imagine being exhausted after already spending about 20 minutes in this building wearing all of this gear, and having to climb to the roof. he is is with several otherfire fighters, they're working to open up the roof hole. he comes down, gets back up and takes a quick breather and some water. >> firefighters are amazing. they're doing an incredibly difficult job, and they're pushing their bodies to the limit. >> two firefighters were sent to the hospital for heat and dehydration. >> imagine spending six hours to cut through eight feet of concrete and steel. >> i hope there is a treasure chest. >> there was a treasure of some sort down there. it was this little lady. it was little lou lou. she was trapped in a pipe in a parking lot in the uk. so the fire and resc