kpix 5's len ramirez shows us what things look like in concord right now. len. >> reporter: kenny, for the fourth straight day, people here in the bay area awoke to smoky smelly air. take a look from our vantage point here in the hills above concord. this is martinez. you can see the dirty air above it, though, with clear skies, blue skies, but down here where we are, we're all getting that dirty air. now, late yesterday, the mount diablo unified school district decided to cancel school for tens of thousands of students in this area. 59 schools and daycare centers in the district were shut down because of the air quality. monday morning was the last day children were allowed to play outside and so they were on a rainy day schedule anyway but worsening conditions made the decision easier. >> two days air quality was pretty bad. and i think, you know, just given the shift of the winds and the ash that we were experiencing, floating down around us, and again today, that it made more sense to have our kids at home. >> reporter: the air quality was made even a li

short term it's killing people. >> reporter: in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >>> 4:50 now.he former chancellor of uc- berkeley is speaking publicly about some high-profile scandals during his time at the helm. >>> good morning. get ready for cooler conditions out there today. mountain view you're only going to reach 76 degrees. union city 72. fremont mid-70s, as well. and cooler in hayward at 68. moving over to the east bay temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s. we have cooler and windy conditions today. sonoma 82. windy in the north with temperatures in the mid-70s and low 80s. >>> we have a "sig alert" that remains in effect. one lane in the westbound direction on the san mateo bridge is closed near the high- rise due to an earlier big rig fire. eastbound lanes are open. it's about 15 minutes between 880 and 101. so if you are heading in that direction, give yourself a few extra minutes this morning. things looking good over at the golden gate bridge and the bay bridge toll plaza starting to see some action. we have the crowds developing but no metering lights just ye

in concord, len ramirez, kpix 5. >> my daughter's school wasn't closed yesterday in concord but came home with a mask. she said only nine people were in her class. a lot of parents kept their kids home because of the bad air. >> kids should stay inside today. >>> i went for a walk yesterday and i felt it. it was a brief walk. air quality at this hour. you can determine how to plan your day. here's a look now. it looks like we are in the moderate range for san francisco. pacifica, san rafael. but, of course, santa rosa and napa in the very unhealthy range. purple not a common sign that we see really ever. it looks like oakland, redwood city, mountain view, the haze and the smoke have come south into places like san jose even at this early-morning hour. so we are certainly going to feel it again today. this is why there's another "spare the air" alert in effect today and tomorrow for the very unhealthy conditions. it looks like down by santa clara valley you will be in the unhealthy for sensitive groups but you might as well just take it easy. take it easy for the next few days until w

tonight kpix 5's len ramirez shows us how some districts are handling the haze. >> reporter: for the fourth straight day, there was no such thing as a breath of fresh air in the area. >> it was pretty bad. the conclusion was we should not have cool today. >> reporter: he's a student in lafayette. the school district decided to stay open but limit students' exposure during school hours. >> we've kept the students inside during p.e. and we work to keep them inside during the lunch hour. >> reporter: which is hard to do, especially with high schoolers. we saw several students hanging around outside at lunch. >> i think giving the shift of the winds and the ash that we were experiencing, floating down around us. >> reporter: principal linda schuler is talking about her district, mount diablo unified, which did close its schools because of unhealthy air. her school is one of 59 shut down. >> it made more sense to have the kids at home. >> my kids are walking around with their shirts pulled up over their nose. >> reporter: walnut heights in the walnut creek district was not shut down. she

kpix 5's len ramirez shows us how she pulled it off plus the hurdles she still faces ahead of her due >>> reporter: when flames jumped highway 101 and spread into the coffey park neighborhood in santa rosa, charity ruiz knew it was time to get out. but a traffic jam stopped her, her husband, two daughters and unborn baby in the middle of the street on fire. >> honestly, i never in my life felt like i was going to die like that moment. >> reporter: so she went back to the house and grabbed her bicycle, equipped with a toddler trailer, and rode out through the fire with the girls in the back. >> i couldn't turn. i mean, i -- i can ride a bike but i'm pregnant so it was hard. to everybody we're safe, this gentleman. >> reporter: later they met one a good samaritan who drove them in his jeep it a friend's house where -- to a friend's house where they reunited with her husband. they first met at her in-laws in san jose but she was scheduled for a c-section next week but those plans run in the air. >> our hospital is shut down so i don't know that that will happen. >> reporter: kaiser santa

in burlingame, len ramirez, kpix5. >>> 95 at the beach, what's going on? i'll explain and talk about when we head back to actually cooler than normal. that's coming up. >> and coming up at 6:00 tonight an expensive tunnel could make or break california's bullet train, the new concerns about the first bay area leg of the project. >> but first the markets closed up again today. here's a look at the closing numbers from wall street. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ wow! nice outfit. when i grow up, i'm going to mars. we're working on that. some people know how far they want to go. a personalized financial strategy can help you get them there. see how access to j.p. morgan investment expertise can help you. chase. make more of what's yours. to j.p. morgan investment expertise can help you. ♪ with the alaska airlines visa signature card you get a companion ticket every year. so why not take someone that you see all the time. someone like, i dunno, me? i mean i always spell your name right and put a little unicorn in your foam. no pressure but i really need to get out of here. they've b

kpix 5's len ramirez on the plan, to double down.. downtown.san jose has an ambitious plan to ease the city's housing crunch. >> kpix5's len ramirez with the plan to double down downtown. >> reporter: a year ago mickey vasquez was homeless living on the streets. today he has a studio apartment in a new building subsidized by the city of san jose. >> i waited three years for this to come and i finally got in. >> reporter: mayor sam liccardo showcased the building as an example of what san jose must do more of. >> we're here, of course to, talk about our housing -- of course, to talk about our housing crisis. >> reporter: the goal is 25,000 new units with 10,000 for low income people in the next five years. the mayor said builders will get less red tape from city hall. >> we can have a huge impact on this problem simply by moving faster and that's what i intend to do. >> reporter: he said the cities will ease requirements for parking structures for apartments downtown. he'll work with jose state and schools to build more teacher and student housi

lynn ramirez -- len ramirez has an update. >> reporter: the first calls came in around 407 this afternoon. as you can see the main part of the fire is now just smoldering. a lot of smoke is still being put out as firefighters continue to put water on this fire. it was an rv or some sort of trailer that initially caught on fire. next to that were several propane tanks that began exploding and spreading the fire to other areas of the property including areas that were housing some old cars and trailers and sheds and things like that. there was a lot of fuel for the fire to get burning on. the fire has been burning all the time. we just found out a while ago that they had pressure with water appear in the east foothills. apparently the firefighters were putting so much water on the fire, itself, that it dropped some of the storage tanks that they have up here in this area. so there was a pressure with water pressure that the san jose water company had to come in and try and open some new valves and get more water available to the firefighters. here is what some of the residents had to say as

kpix5's len ramirez shows us the mostly natural process that gets rid of a toxic chemical. >> reporter: it looks like any other clump of trees at moffitt field, but these poplars have been transformed by sciences and mother nature into solar powered groundwater cleanup machines. >> the trees are here to help us clean up contamination that's been here for a very long while. >> reporter: john freeman is a plant physiologist with intrinsic technologies. this is a mountain view super fund site containing tce. the chemicals were spilled by nearby semiconductor companies in the 1980s. the trees are covered with a type of bacteria that actually absorbs and helps them thrive on tces. >> this is an innoculated row with a very large trunk diameter. >> reporter: the innoculated trees are tolerant stronger than the control group that didn't get the bacteria. the trees absorb tces through their roots and turn the contaminants into a naturally occurring chloride which harmlessly goes back into the soil. that grove of trees behind me was planted about four years ago specifically for this experiment a

in burlingame, len ramirez, kpix5. >>> a team from uc davis have been caring for animals caught in thetry wildfires. the water and air flow had stopped in the water and the team improvised with a tire pump to keep the fish alive. 33 were taken to the university's aquatic center. in all the team has treated a total of 70 animals including cats, horses, llamas. of course, many owners have no way now to care for the animals. the school is sharing updates on its facebook. >>> a haunting look today through a historic mansion through the eyes of hollywood. >> a gargantuan 7-story structure. >> the grieving widow. >> sir winchester, i'm worried about her sanity. movie fe >> oh, cbs films just released the trail are for winchester, the house that ghosts built. the movie features the infamous winchester mystery house starring helen mirren and jason clark and opens february 2nd. >> you'll never look at this house the same again, paul. >> it's right here in the bay area. freak you out for generations to come. your grand kids will see them and say we're not going there or maybe you should. >>> all

len ramirez, kpix5. >>> the big story tomorrow, another red flag warning day for those firefighters,>> it's all about the wind now, with minimal, if any, containment on these 17 fires burning, the last thing needed is another boundary moving through kicking up an offshore wind. relative humid is dropping 10 to 20% in the north and east bay tomorrow. you've seen this evening what's been going on with 10 or 15 mile-per-hour winds. double or triple those wind speeds and that's what we're looking at tomorrow. the sea breeze this evening is improving the air quality a bit. san francisco, oakland, richmond and points south, your air quality is now back into the moderate range. the unhealthy air continues in solano county, sacramento, sonoma, napa, marin, mend even so he and lake county the air quality is bad. there's the potential tomorrow could have even worse air quality today. why? all the smoke that's been building will be carried to the north from the south. east bay, unhealthy air quality. north bay, just as bad as today. the winds will increase tomorrow especially in the mountains.

. >> i like to talk to len ramirez, he's one of my favorites. >>> we look for any sign of a low cloud owe there, and find none, it's one of many signs that we've got a warming trend on the way. we'll have the forecast for you in a minute. >> coming up all new at 6:00 tonight, the mass shooting shines a spotlight of gun culture in las vegas. a wild west for powerful weapons. we take a closer look at how the city caters to gun lovers. >> but first, the markets closed up today. here's a look at the closing numbers from wall street. how's it going down there? that's good. lica misses you. i'm over it though. (laughter) that's fine. i miss her more than you anyway. ♪ ♪ hey, my window is closing. yeah that's okay. alright miles. i love you. (phone hangs up) ♪ ♪ yeah i love you too. ♪ ♪ >>> hello, welcome back on this fine tuesday, where we've got mostly clear skies around the bay area. the prospects are, it is going to stay that way for a while, with high pressure over the west coast, and the numbers right now, as we look toward the bay, concord's got 77. in oakland, 71. a smidge cooler tod

kpix5's len ramirez with who he's blaming for not having a job. len? >> reporter: liz, we're back here at levi's stadium where this all got started last year. hardly anyone noticed when kaepernick first took a seat during the playing of the national anthem, but now this has gone worldwide. kaepernick said the protests cost him his job as an nfl quarterback. so he filed a grievance against the nfl. colin kaepernick's grievance accuses nfl owners of collusion, that is, secretly conspiring not to sign him because of his protests of racial injustice during the national anthem. it's what kaepernick supporters have been saying for months. >> they feel that he's too controversial, he's too much of a hot potato because he stood up and they don't want their fans to be alienated. >> reporter: kaepernick hired high profile los angeles attorney mark geragos to represent him who tweeted today, "principalled and peaceful protest which the owners themselves made great theater weeks ago should not be pushed and athletes should not be denied employment based on partisa

our colleague len ramirez talked to one of the evacuees who got out barefoot and ran for their lives and i'm not saying that light heartedly. they ran and got out just in time. they of are everything that's now being consumed by the -- they left everything that's now being consumed by flames. >> most of these fires have limited or no containment. these are very rapidly burning fires. almost the entire effort last night and early this morning was focused on evacuations and moving citizens out of harm's way. >> reporter: now besides homes and neighborhoods that have been evacuated, two hospitals had to be evacuated, 130 patients moved out of kaiser permanente santa rosa medical center which is directly behind me here. sutter santa rosa regional hospital also evacuated 80 of its patients and adding to the chaos we're told more than 100 people injured in the fires. now kpix5 reporter wilson walker got out here to the fire lines just about midnight. here's what he saw in those early morning hours. ounded by flames on both sides. kpix five's wilson walker shows us what it was like. say the

only on kpix5 len ramirez with a warning out after we started asking questions >> reporter: first offave very nice views of the surrounding area up on a hilltop here in san jose and they look good from a distance, but the problems start to surface the closer you get. [sot super:stephanie silcott/homeowner]"and the plumbing. this morning we were f the toilets were flushin falling tiles, sloppy painting, cracked exterior siding, not what you would expect from brand-new $1 million homes, but residents say they got all this and more on communications hill from their builder kb homes. >> in the plumbing this morning we had issued where none of the toilets were flushing and our garbage disposal was coming up. >> reporter: she moved in less than a week ago. kpix5's drone pilot kiet do took this individual in the 100 block of des robles and the 3000 block of delight. today kb home sent a letter to homeowners warning them of the falling tiles. "please avoid being underneath a tiled area, if possible, or take extra care and caution if moving underneath a tiled surface." it's been one issue afte

we talked about some of the evacuees and i'm going to have my colleague len ramirez come in here. len has covered some of the evacuation centers. earlier you said the hilton hotel was destroyed and you talked to some people who got out of here barefoot. >> reporter: you wouldn't think it possible, but here we are so many hours later and the hilton is still on fire. a lot of santa rosa is still on fire with this thick haze of smoke still hanging over the city. it's really a tragedy for people. we're talking about personal loss of just about everything they own. i talked to any people today at one of the evacuation centers who ran out of their houses with just the clothes on their backs. by the time he reached a red cross evacuation center, derek schaffer was devastated. this is what his home and neighborhood look like today. >> i thought the a pock himself -- apocalypse was going on. the winds were 80 miles an hour swirling left and right. it was a firestorm. there was ash, wind. you could see just red flares. it was all around. it was insane. >> absolute pandemonium. everyone was b

only on five: reporter len ramirez shows us the new stanford park...>> a campus crime scene is now a place to honor victims of sexual assault. >> the new stanford park with an important message. >> beneath tall redwood trees on the stanford campus is a stone sitting area with benches and a fountain, but the peaceful setting commemorates a terrible event. >> we are very close to the backdoor of the fraternity house. >> stanford law professor says this is the exact spot where an unconscious student, emily doe, was sexual assaulted by stanford swimmer brock turner during a party in 2015. >> i wanted stanford to do this because i wanted there to be a permanent symbol and reminder for how important it is to take sexual assault serious. >> turner was convicted of sexual assault, but given only a six month sentence by santa clara judge aaron per -- persky made him the object of a recall effort. what do you think about this? >> umm. >> at first he agreed to be interviewed, but other students stepped in to tell him no. >> sorry. we are not supposed to talk abou

our len ramirez on what one ective mother flames blocked >>> last few days, a lot of stories about peoplewildfires. >> the story on what one protective mother did when flames blocked her path. >> reporter: when flames jumped highway 101 and spread into the coffee park neighborhood in santa rosa, charity ruiz knew it was time to get out, but a traffic jam stopped her, her husband, two daughters, and an unborn baby in the middle of the street on fire. >> honestly, i never in my life felt like i was going to die like in that moment. >> reporter: she rode out through the fire with the girls in the back. >> i couldn't turn. i can ride a bike, but i am pregnant, so it was hard. >> reporter: later, she and the girls met up with a good samaritan, who drove them in his jeep to a friend's house, where they reunited with her husband. she was scheduled for a c section to deliver her baby at kaiser and santa rosa, next week. now those plans are up in the air. >> our hospital is shut down, so i don't know that that will happen. >> reporter: kaiser santa clara has offered to step in and do the s section

live from san jose, len ramirez, kpix5. >>> state regulators are slapping b.a.r.t. with a new six figure fine for safety lapses leading to the deaths of two workers. a train operated by a trainee struck and killed two men in october of 2013. the victims were inspecting a dip in the tracks near walnut creek station. now the state puc is fining b.a.r.t. nearly $220,000. it calls the violation serious and egregious. for example, a supervisor on the train was not in the cabin and used his cell phone multiple times. >>> the sky drone 5 giving us our first look at the brand-new pfeiffer canyon bridge. what was once a crumbling overpass is now a new stretch of road on highway 1 in big sur. it was damaged beyond repair during last winter's storms, but as kpix5's devin fehely shows us, caltrans and the community are eager for it to open. >> reporter: the new bridge is roughly the length of a football field, 315 feet end to end, but that is of the smallest measure of incision to big sur, a community that has been cut in half ever since the old bridge was damaged by a mudslide