nbc's miguel almaguer begins our coverage from the fire line for us tonight. miguel, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening. this fire is so active, so aggressive, people are conducting what they call rolling evacuations, and as you can see here, not every home made it through the fire. it's a movie monster, the station fire devours ridge after ridge across los angeles county. more than 105,000 acres swallowed by flames. >> get up high. >> reporter: the blaze doubled in size last night, an unstoppable force that has firefighters on their heels and neighborhoods on the run. >> if the winds come up, the fires come down and any threat at all, i'm out of here. >> reporter: 6,600 have been forced to evacuate. hundreds more are ordered out each day, some refuse to leave. this as the fire marches on, breaking into different pieces, moving in multiple directions. several los angeles suburbs sit in its path. more than 12,000 homes remained threatened. >> it's like a war zone. >> reporter: for dozens of homeowners, it's too late. the fire moved so quickly, the tr

miguel almaguer, nbc news, california. >>> u.s.ealth officials said today that trials for a swine flu vaccine have raised no red flags so far and that participants are reporting few side effects beyond soreness athe injection site. the cdc is bracing for a big surge in swine flu cases in the fall. for now, two states are reported to have widespread1/n1 activity -- maine and alaska. >>> when "nightly news" continues in a moment, a first family frenzy at a vacation spot that is used to hosting celebrities. ♪ vacation spot that is used to hosting celebrities. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i need to be surrounded by ♪ the ones who care for me [ female announcer ] clean you can see. softness you can feel. tide with a touch of downy. ♪ take me home with glad odor shield. ♪ take me home e beolwhddedemn dthe whole bagloth neutralizes odors. your kitchen stays fresh. glad odor shield. what smell? now available in lemon scent. for me to keep my bones strong but even with calcium, vitamin d, and exercise, i still got osteoporosis. i never thought i could do more t

miguel almaguer joins us tonight from los angeles. good evening. >> lester, good evening. the massive medical floor behind me is in full swing 12 hours a day but the hundreds of volunteers are having a tough time keeping up with the thousands who continue to show up. >> 488. >> reporr: turned away earlier this week, they waited three day, even took three buss to get here. >> we have medical. >> reporter: mike and laura walsh can't find work and he don't have health insurance. >> do you have a primary physician? >> no. >> reporter: like thousands of others, they're willing to wait days for a few free hours of care. mora hasn't seen a doctor in 17 years. >> it's very scary, yeah. >> it is frightening. that's why i really feel like we need to do something in this country where it's affordable. >> reporter: on tuesday, the l.a. forum became a mobile hospital. the bleachers still packed with people but center court has become center stage for medical procedures on the fly. eight days of free health care, but by the third, wrist bands for the entire week were gone. >> i deserve

nbc's miguel almaguer is watching it all unfold right now in la canada, california. miguel, where do things stand? >> reporter: lester, this fire is moving in just about every direction, including towards the hillside behind me. if that goes up, so do vital communications for this entire region, and that's not the only problem tonight. for five days the la canada fire has ravaged southern california. towering flames have ripped across more than 35,000 acres and counting. but it was overnight when the blaze took a turn, suddenly exploding, tripling in size. the inferno feeds on acre after acre of bone dry bush. firefighters call it the perfect storm. today the governor called it an emergency. >> this fire is still totally out of control. >> reporter: with the fire line stretching 110 miles long, nearly 2,000 firefighters are on the ground. they make a stand where they can, but much of the attack comes from the air. nearly 2,000 people have been forced to evacuate. more than 12,000 homes are threatened. with few structures lost, the damage has been minimal, but the thre

nbc's miguel almaguer joins us live from lakeview terrace. good morning. >> reporter: lester, good morning. since we last spoke, the fire has exploded in size. overnight, fire officials say they believe it has tripled. the station fire has charred now more than 20,000 acres and despite the work of some 2,000 firefighters, only 5% contained. at this hour, it's estimated some 10,000 homes, 10,000, are in danger, said to be in the path of the fire. 4,000 have been evacuated. the station fire in la quinata is said to be moving in every direction. late last night fire officials called this, quote, the perfect storm. there's dry brush, hot temperatures and low humidity really fueling this fire. the governor declared a state of emergency. in fact, he'll come here to the firestation headquarters and be briefed by fire officials. the damage tops $1.3 million. containment on this blaze isn't expected until september 8th. so, still another week away. the good news is that only a handful of homes have been destroyed. the fire actually began last wednesda

miguel almaguer, nbc news, washington. >> you could pay a little more for your favorite starbucks fix soon. some special drinks will cost up to 30 cents more. important now the price hikes apply -- over the next few months starbucks will adjust prices nationwide. so premium drinks, like frappuccinos and delicious caramel drinks will cost you up to 30 cents more. 12-ounts lattes and brewed coffees will cost you five to ten cents less. starbucks is struggling to make a profit even sellingks ioh drinks in some places. >>> we are outdoors on the front lawn. we have a grid and grill and the sun beating down on us. what a perfect day to grill our hot off the grill friday segment here. with our friends from a very hot restaurant in town. we all know it as art and soul and executive chef travis timberlake. we are cooking up rewlin of your signature dishes today. they are cald hocakes. >> it is a cornmeal pancake. originated after a farmer's hard day at work. basically he would take white cornmeal and add salt, sugar and baking powder and then heat the bottom side and make a pancake out of it,

miguel almaguer, news4. >>> nasa is shooting for a shuttle launch late tomorrow night. it will need a third attempt. mission managers hope to launch at one minute to midnight tomorrow. they have considered trying for a liftoff early tomorrow morning but engineers wanted more time to study the fuel valve problem that scuttled the second launch attempt. the problem popped up tuesday evening just hours before the launch. the first launch attempt was called off because of thunderstorms. well, it may be late august but according to travel experts, you can still find some cheap deals out there on flights and hotels over the labor day weekend. how cheap? travelocity crunched the numbers and found that some plane fares are down 10% to 20% compared to last year. hotel rates across the country are down as much as 23%. and experts say that there is an easy way to save even more. >> on average, consumers can save about $315 per cumbie booking a package deal as opposed to booking their flight and hotels separately. >> labor day is one of the cheapest travel weekends and so far this

miguel almaguer, news4. >> coming up next on "news4 at 4:00," tony danza has a new gig. >> hear whatould be bringing him back to tv. >>> just ahead, michael vick is now back in the nfl. and eventually he will be playing against the redskins. we are going to have team coverage and fan reaction. >>> county judge who admits to deflating a cleaning woman's tires has now been sanctioned and there could be more to come his way. tracee wilkins. we will have that story coming up next on news4. >>> seasonal depression, not just a we wprm.le we wwe >>> welcome back. one final time from the front lawn. having a great time grilling out here. this paku fish is delicious. once you take one bile, ttli bones that comes right off the bone. nice and tender andtt delicious. chcan tell thaw. ofk eche t7-day forecast. as we get ready to move into the weekend. going to hateth greea werllea a weekend. atu. sa a ayrdnd sunday. partly to mostlayos sunny skies. high temperatures tomorrow upper 80s to near 90 as we get into the day sunday. low 90s around the area. low 90s back for the rest of the week. i love

miguel almaguer, nbc news, calgary. >>> when "nightly news" continues this saturday, while airline passengers are packed into increasingly crowded flight, why are all these planes just sitting out in the desert empty? >>> and later, island time, for the first family. we'll be right back. esterol. what was i thinking? but now i trust my heart to lipitor. when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help. unlike some other cholesterol lowering medications, lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk... of heart attack, stroke, and certain kinds of heart surgeries... if you have several common risk factors... or heart disease. lipitor has been extensively studied... with over 16 years of research. lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems... and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. i learned the hard way. but you may be able to do some

nbc's miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: thursday police officially name their suspect. >> arrest warrant for ryan alexander jenkins. >> reporter: ryan je.r5Ñ swimsuit model 28-year-oldÑi picture of her marriage to jenkins in march surfaced but in june, he was charged with assaultin#&r his newlywed bride in suitcase, dumped in a trash bin outside of los angeles. >> ryani] jenkins is an animal. what he has done toÑi jasmine i unspeakable. >> reporter: investigators say fieroe was laughing with jenkins at a poker tournament in san diego, the night before her naked body was discovered. she was strangled to death, but it was a grisly crime t(scene. family members could barely investigators<  described whatd been done to her body. removed. >> after firstÑ.' reporting fio as missing last weeken, detectives say jenkins a native of canada disappeared. police found jenkins' car a thousand miles away! in.z northwestern washington state. investigators say he towed his speedboat there, prompting an international manhunt. >> at this time, while we believe he has crossed into canada,

for more on today's historic vo vote, let's go to miguel almaguer. what is the reaction? >> reporter: reaction of a community that feels happy and in a certain way united by this historic day. as you know, the hispanic community is not a monolithic block. there are conservatives, democrats and republicans. i think every latino in this country has to feel proud. now they see latinos are on the radar screen even at the highest court of the land. after next year's census, i thick a lot of people will be surprised how many hispanics actually live and produce in this country. >> as you said in fairness to the latino community, they all don't think wh one mind. they are as varied as anyone else. a lot of republicans voted for sotomayor. will that shore up the republican vote in the latino community? what impact might that have for those republican senators? >> reporter: there are nine. i think the biggest surprise i had was john mccain voted against sotomayor. he never voted against a supreme court justice in the past. he, until his last election, was seen as one othe leaders o

miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> nbc news analyst clint van zandt is a former fbi profiler.od morning to you. >> hi, meredith. >> you know, you have said from the beginning that you believe that mcdermott did fake his own death. does this fax fit into what you understand about the case? >> well, i think it really does. if you take this fax as something that pat mcdermott would have sent, he basically says, hey, i've done nothing wrong, i've committed no crime. like greta garbo, i want to be left alone. and just let me move on with my life, leave me alone, i've created a new life. maybe with new people. i don't want to go back to my old life. so, if he feels that he's being hounded, and if he feels he's living someplace where he can't just get up and run away again, this may be consistent with what he would be thinking at this time. >> in other words he would feel that people are getting closer and closer to finding him. he's getting nervous? >> yeah, i think so. i think that could be the case. that could be the genesis of cranking this out. but you know, the reality is, you

first nbc's miguel almaguer has the details. ♪ since you've been gone >> reporter: kelly clarkson mays were gone. >> kelly clarkson. >> reporter: the pop star grabbed the spotlight in the first season of "american idol" and hasn't let go since. even though one magazine seems to think she let her weight go. in the september issue of "self" magazine, clarkson says quote, when people talk about my weight, i'm like, you seem to have a problem with it. i don't. i'm fine. but on the cover of the same issue, the singer looks dramatically, and artificially, slimmed down. the touchup job transparent. especially noticeable next to these photos taken at a live performance just two weeks ago. >> it sends the message, whether it intends to or not, that something's wrong. with the before picture. that there was a before and they were in need of an after. >> reporter: in response to questions clarkson simply says, we love the cover. but some self.com readers haven't responded the same way. healthynj asks how can you justify drastically altering kel kelly's body on a stay true to you issue. it might

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but first, nbc's miguel almaguer is in vancouver with the latest. >> reporter: matt, good morning.ice in california and here in canada say tips have poured in from both countries and now they say they have their final piece of missing evidence. he was the reality show contestant accused of a gruesome crime, who went on the run, then committed suicide. she was the young, vibrant model who was found murdered, left dumped in a trash bin outside of los angeles. police are confident ryan jenkins killed jasmine fiore, but the homicide investigation isn't over yet. yesterday, her mercedes-benz was finally found in a parking lot. investigators say it could be a crime scene. fiore's body was found methodically mutilated to presumably delay its identification. with the car, investigators say they'll be able to determine if jenkins killed fiore alone. >> it's very important. it is a piece of evidence that will assist us in our investigation. once the forensic team does their thing, then we'll know what we have. >> reporter: married in march, friends say jenkins and fiore's relationship was pa