ten of those in north hollywood. investigators are studying some inconclusive home video they've obtained but they need more help. >> if you do see anything, hear anything, please report it immediately. >> reporter: the big concern, it is new year's eve. that means crowds of thousands requiring police resources and attention while an arsonist is still at large. and maybe more than one. >> we want to get these s.o.b.s before they hurt somebody. we are very fortunate that the response of the fire departments that we had last night resulted in minimal property damage. >> reporter: local and federal agencies have now put together a reward offer that stands at $60,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for this rampage. and so far again this is just plain good luck. there's been only one reported injury. that to a firefighter who took a fall while battling one of the blazes. kate? >> good news. mike taibbi in north hollywood this evening. >>> the hour big news this weekend of co

north hollywood... hollywood y el area de fairfax...o quiere dar mas detalles sobre el detenido ni su forma de operar para no entorpecer la investigacion... ---el detenido se parece mucho a un individuo captado por camaras de seguridad. cu ---mientras tanto aqui en san mateo, poco antes de las cuatro de la tarde los bomberos tuvieron que acudir al edificio del union bank al sur de el camino real donde sucedio un siniestro--- vo ---de acuerdo con los primeros reportes de los investigadore s, el fuego se inicio en el piso once, muy cerca de donde tiene sus oficinas el senador leland yee y la congresista jackie speier--- ---afortunadamente los rociadores automaticos de agua entraron en operacion y sofocaron las llamas--- -el incidente esta bajpo invetsigacion--- cu - anchor si usted vive o compra en san jos ya se habr dado cuenta.. los supermercado s ya no empacan su mercado en bolsas de plstico y le cobran las de papel.. se trata de una ley municipal, que como nos cuenta jaime peluffo, todos tendran que asimilar.. jaime.. take anchor live

they have been in and around the north hollywood area. police are still trying to figure out if the car fires are related to this string of arsons. authorities say they will rest until the suspect is brought to justice. the fate of many gop presidential hopefuls addressed with an enormous number of undecided voters in iowa. the caucuses are coming up on tuesday. mitt romney and ron paul are in a statistical dead heat. newt gingrich appears to be losing ground as well rick santorum, a favorite of social conservatives is surging. those dynamics can change quickly between now and tuesday. a poll finds that 31 percent of likely voters are undecided. some of them say they still might change their minds. ron paul is losing ground with voters in iowa, unlike his supporters he spent the weekend at his home in texas and made the rounds on many talk shows. here is what he had to say about why i what is so important. >> we are a few days before an import election. some people say, why does i will have some much clout? it has such free meeting. it is

mike taibbi starting us off from north hollywood. we hope it's going to be a quiet night out there in the southland tonight. now we turn our focus to politics and the last big final push to the very first contest of the season. right now about this very time tomorrow night politically engaged iowans will start to gather to caucus, and at the end of the night tomorrow night we'll have our first result in the gop race. and a big factor tomorrow night will be this -- the number of undecided voters as of tonight is enormous. our team is on the ground, including nbc's ron mott and chuck todd and andrea mitchell who will start us off this evening from des moines. good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. with only one more day to go, the deck has been shuffled once again. rick santorum now has the momentum in a contest where the lead has changed hands seven times since last may. in the most volatile republican contest in modern times, the final 24 hours are a scramble. rick santorum is drawing crowds for the first time, and targeting

nbc's mike taibbi is in north hollywood with the latest.e good day to you. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. pick a word, frustrated, frightened, even terrorized, the folks in these apparently targeted neighborhoods have been feeling all of that, night after night. relentless police work and citizen work helped reel the suspect in. it was amazing good luck and quick response by firefighters that kept car fires like these, many scorched adjacent buildings where thousands lived and slept from leading to multiple tragedies. by late monday came the announcement, the man believed to be the sole arsonist for all of it had been formally charged. >> around 3:00 a.m. the sheriff's department detained a 24-year-old man named harry burkhart who has been subsequently charged with one count of arson, of an inhabited dwelling and currently being held without bail. we expect as the investigation continues he will face additional charges. >> reporter: here's how authorities say the arrest came about. a business surveillance camera caught this video of a

the latest have been intentionally set with 13 additional early this morning in north hollywood.fficials are trying to determine if this is already the 20 earlier this week. they have video that might help their investigation. >> at one of the scenes we have video. there has been some blurring of the record to try to enhance it and determined to see if information from that video can be used in this investigation >>vicki: carports, garage, but no injuries of people. with $50,000 reward is available for information leading to a conviction. >> young stud ohio, a 4.0 a youngstown -- in ohio. this caused even bricks to crumble from this chimney and practice home's foundation. crack that home's foundation. >> this is the countdown of fireworks around the world. 2012 in real! huge party on the shore. in rio de janeiro. and also this is near london inear big bend and london. and a another incredible display near big benn. and in a copenhagen. and in russia. finally, moscow's famous red square. a programming update 4 or mediacom the cable customers. kron 4 has met with an agreement there

s fairfax district, north hollywood, and the city of west hollywood. >> the new year's eve fireworks show in san francisco went off without a hitch. >> thousands of people crowded on to the embark dare coe to watch, and weather cooperated. no fog to spoil the view. by 9:30 the embarcadero filled up with revelers. the show ran 15 minutes, featured 5,000 fireworks devices and cost tens of thousands of dollars. >> someone has to clean up after the party, and in new york city, 149 sanitation workers spent the day cleaning the streets in times square. they used 22 trucks and 24 mechanical sweepers to clean up other 50 tons of confetti, party hats and other holiday cheer. >> during the celebration in new york city, police arrested 68 "occupy wall street" protesters. officers say toward midnight they tore down barricades surrounding the park. other charges include trespassing and disorderly conduct. >> "occupy" activist say they're going out in force for the rose parade in pasadena. they say they'll have their own float of sorts as well as banners and drums. organizers of the rose parade sa

north hollywood there were 11 and sunland one. an aadditional car fire occurred in the city of burbank. later saturday evening, december 31, 2011, eight additional car/structure fires occurred in hollywood, specifically in hollywood six, in west hollywood communities two. during the early morning hours of january 2, 2012, 11 additional car/structure fires occurred in west hollywood. there were two in west hollywood, hollywood two and in north hollywood seven. one fire fwierfighter was injur a citizen suffered smoke inhalation. fortunately there has been no loss of life related to these fires to date, and there have been no civilian injuries. the task force has worked together seamlessly around the clock and currently are reviewing more than 100 clues mapping out the sequence of the fires that occurred, interviewing hundreds of witnesses, and canvassing the 53 fire scenes as part of this active investigation. hundreds of investigators and uniformed personnel from throughout the city and county of los angeles have been deployed to as

overnight someone set 13 fires mostly in north hollywood. a day earlier there were two dozen fires. many of them in carports and garages. several cars were burned. no one was hurt. but a man had to be rescued. firefighters will be stationed around l.a. tonight as authorities ramp up efforts to catch the arsonist. there is a $60,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. >>> san jose police are trying to untangle the events surrounding a machete attack. police were called to the home on johnston avenue last night. inside, they found two women who had apparently been attacked. one woman died from her injuries. the second was treated at a hospital and released. police found a machete-like weapon at the scene. at first they thought it was a home invasion. but investigators now believe the second woman 40-year-old sagal sadiq was the attacker. however, they don't know what her relationship with the victim was or the motive. sadiq has been booked on suspicion of homicide. >>> the director of the fine arts museum of san francisco has died. john buchanan, jr., died yesterday after a b

this is security video from a home in north hollywood, california. now, look at what happened to the valuable antique cuckoo clock in that box. busted. just like the mailman who is in trouble with his boss. >>> well, the internet hackers group known as anonymous is claiming it hacked the justice department website and others yesterday. this followed the government shutdown of the file sharing site mega upload.com. fbi agents raided an alleged office in washington, d.c. the site operators are charged with half a billion dollars in copyright violations and accused of encouraging uploads of pirated movies, muse ix and other files. >>> on the cbs money watch, mortgage rates hit an all-time low and apple gets into the digital textbook business. ashley morrison has the latest on that. good morning. >> good morning, betty. in overseas trading, strong earns r earnings and jobs reports. nikkei finished up 1.5% to the highest level in more than two months. hong kong's hang seng rose by nearly 1%. >>> the lowest number of unemployment claims in almost four yier

the north hollywood wood-based company settled with the state and must warn customers of the dangers. it did contain formaldehyde that caused skin reactions and headaches. now the company will pay $600,000 in fee and penalties. they charge up to $500 a treatment for the hair smoothing treatment must be as wear of it as well. >> two iconic rivals with different styles, but steve jobs can kept a letter at his bed side from bill gates. in the letter, gates wrote that he admired jobs for his professional success and his family. after his death, jobs' wife called gates to let him know how much the letter meant to her late husband. >>> the sunshine we have been enjoying could come at a price. the warm winter may increase the number of mosquitos carrying the west nile virus. they are protecting the squeeze and lost a critical weapon to keep the population low. restrictions are tightening on the fogging that they rely on. whilehey said it's necessary, specialists said it could be a dangerous move. >> for ultra low fogging, the risk is nil. it's not there. the characterizations that we are poi

. >> the fires have broken out in several parts of the city, including north hollywood. the fairfax district and west hollywood. >>> hundreds of extra police officers are moving into place in pasadena this morning where occupy protesters have promised to turn out at the rose parade. volunteers moved floats into position yesterday for the 123rd parade. the floats and bands usually take two hours. this year several hundred anti-wall street protesters are expected. organizers are hoping they will keep to the end of the parade and not disrupt it. you can watch the parade right here on abc 7 news this morning starting at 8:00. >> of course the rose bowl you have a personal stake. >> i don't have a personal stake because oregon is going to win. and my son may happen to go to oregon. >> all right. 4:45. firefighters rescue a dog after it falls from a 150 foot cliff. >> the iowa caucus is now a day away. we'll take a look at the difference between a caucus and a traditional primary. >>> 17-year-old fan falls from the stands following yesterday's raiders' game. h@h@cl the word is

. >> the north hollywood based company behind the brazilian hair product has settled with the state ofalifornia. they must now warn customers of the dangers of the product and stop saying that it's safe. testing found that it contained high levels of formaldehyde which causes respiratory problems and headaches. the company will have to pay $600,000 in fees and penalties. a stylist as you might no charged up to $500 for the hair smoothing beauty treatment. >> does your doctor measure your blood pressure in both arms? a new study says if the answer is no your doctor could miss significant signs of heart disease. researchers found a 15-point difference in systolic blood pressure, the higher number, between -- the top number between the left and right arm may mean your risk for vascular disease is doubled. the disease is the narrowing of blockage of arteries. there are guidelines suggesting doctors measure blood pressure in both arms but fewer than half of doctors make it a habit. coming up, nightly news will have more on the better way to check your blood pressure. >> let's bring in rob m

michael of north hollywood says he was flabbergasted to see surveillance video of a postal worker tossing package over the fence there. it goes. he had set the camera during the recent wave of arson fires in the area. he says at bankrupt landing of course damaged his cuckoo clock and promptly called the postal service. >> when i told him i had it on video it changed -- they were here in 10 minutes. >> bet they were. the question, how could the postal worker get the package on the other side of the fence at a safe distance away so it wouldn't get stolen? the usps says carriers are instructed to return packages to the post office if they can't safely deliver them. this guy just threw it over the fence. the homeowner says he plans to find a repairman who specialized in those clocks and send the postal service the bill. >>> it's back. we have a little snow in the sierra finally. all you skiers out there have to be happy about this. this is the site people have been hoping see all season long. many expected several inches of snow. this morning, caltrans has 200 people and 135 pieces of equipme

this they point out that the fire is in hollywood are similar to those that occurred in july in north hollywood when they were twenty one fires that broke out now they caught the guy in this case he's kirk a billy a former marine and the interesting thing about this though is that he's he's about to go to trial and he if convicted he faces life in prison for burning twenty one cars. at most what is that two hundred thousand dollars in damage if they were all lamborghinis now what about the bankers who have burned down our economy and cost trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars and damage and all they face is like a pit only little fines yes this thing this is what i was trying to impart on to the hogans is that the risks of paper are not worth the rewards anymore if you've got to scrunch feel disenfranchised citizens are looking for you that's not an acceptable risk this is why i stay away from business i don't want to lose but this is what the homeland security is about again they are that are owned by j.p. morgan and goldman sachs local cops are ready for war with home

natalie. >> great police work there in north hollywood.day as investigators finished their work in piecing together a bizarre murder case. officials say 24-year-old benjamin colton barnes, an iraq war veteran, was found dead in a park creek on monday. he was wanted for the fatal shooting sunday of park ranger margaret anderson, a mother of two and also for the wounding of four people at a seattle house party earlier that day. >>> the remains of a woman discovered at the royal estate have british police investigating a possible murder there. queen elizabeth and her husband prince philip are currently spending the holiday season at the sprawling rural estate. a local dog walker discovered the body there on new year's day just two miles from the estate's main residence where the entire royal family, including prince william and catherine spent their christmas. >>> and an awe-inspiring debut this weekend for twin polar bears at a zoo in china. visitors couldn't get enough of the cuddly pair, and the bears seem to enjoy all of the attention. th

most of them in north hollywood. luckily no one was injured. investigators calling this work of a serial arsonist but are not sure how many people may be involved. >> i don't have any suspect detained at this time. >> most of the fires start as car fires but the flames spread to apartments and nearby structures. already hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. at this large apartment complex a woman seeing crying because she couldn't breathe from all the smoke. this man grabbed his garden hose to help put out a fire that started in the neighbor's house. >> they called the police. >> helicopters search the scene for suspects but no arrests have been made and still no answers to a miss industry that is leaving angelina uneasy this new year's day. >>> starting today, san francisco is the first major city to offer a minimum wage of more than $10 an hour. voter improved increase is getting mixed reviews from small business owners but workers say it's still not enough. dan ashley reports. >> it's menial jobs in so many ways. you at least

they have broken out in several parts of the city including north hollywood, the fairfax district and west hollywood. >> we want to assure you that we have patrols out there and we are working diligently with our cooperative agencies throughout the county and through the city to make sure that this is not going to be an incident that is going to continue on. >> investigators described their person of interest with a white man -- as a white man with a ponytail between 20 and 30 years old. >>> a man has broken into a california website. they made no secret they don't like police very much. they are targeting police for, quote, the murder of oscar grabt and the -- grant and the oppression of the occupation movement. they hacked the website and wiped off the internet 18 other sites clea hosted ?ie. a tuesday republicans will cast the first vote of the presidential election year in the iowa caucuses. the polls are showing the race is tightening. now, the latest from des moines. >> it has been a roller coaster race for the republican nomination, and it is going down to the wire. >> i want t

have plotted out the areas, it is it a small area in the hollywood, and incorporating in the north hollywoode or 10 mile area we have had total of 35 fires in the last two days. when they started on thursday. two individuals were arrested and are still in prison and in jail. they were unrelated to each other and we believe that possibly unrelated to what we are experiencing in the last couple of days. >> any idea where the next crime scene might be. >> we do know that the individual or individuals who are responsible for setting the fires are setting fires to the vehicles that are normally underneath car ports or adjacent to apartment buildings or single family dwellings. the arson investigators joined a task force between the los angeles police department and los angeles county sheriff arson and bomb . the la county fire department as well as alcohol and tobacco and firemans . heightened the number of officers out on patrol and the number of fire resources that we have not only for the holiday but in case it happens tonight. >> i have to go before we go into a commercial break. thank you fo

have plotted out the areas, it is it a small area in the hollywood, and incorporating in the north hollywoode or 10 mile area we have had total of 35 fires in the last two days. when they started on thursday. two individuals were arrested and are still in prison and in jail. they were unrelated to each other and we believe that possibly unrelated to what we are experiencing in the last couple of days. >> any idea where the next crime scene might be. >> we do know that the individual or individuals who are responsible for setting the fires are setting fires to the vehicles that are normally underneath car ports or adjacent to apartment buildings or single family dwellings. the arson investigators joined a task force between the los angeles police department and los angeles county sheriff arson and bomb . the la county fire department as well as alcohol and tobacco and firemans . heightened the number of officers out on patrol and the number of fire resources that we have not only for the holiday but in case it happens tonight. >> i have to go before we go into a commercial break. thank you fo

so far there has been 43 fires set in hollywood, west hollywood and north hollywood. >> reporter: dressed in all black, and walking with a limp, this man may be connected to the string of suspicious fires in los angeles. police say he was caught on surveillance video near two of the fires. over the last three nights, more than 40 vehicles have been set ablaze. mark hooper's carport was one of the latest hit. >> 8:00 new year's eve, people were just getting out of the shower. they had their music up, they were in a very festive mood and suddenly flames two stories high. >> reporter: his parking lot is now filled with ash. he said he is filled with fear. >> very uneasy. you don't know where or when it is going to happen again. >> reporter: this woman was brought to tears after seeing her second story home destroyed. her neighbor, eloise renteria, lost her car. >> reporter: in nearly every case the vehicles set on fire were parked under car ports like this. allowing the flames to spread quickly. authorities won't go into detail about the cause of the fires. but believe they are related. >> b

most of them in north hollywood. luckily, no one was injured. investigators calling this the work of the serial arsonist. not sure how many people may be involved. >> i don't have any suspect that's being detained at this time, as part of our investigation. >> reporter: most of the fires began as car fires, but the flames quickly spread to apartments and nearby structures. already hundreds of thousands in property damage. at this large apartment complex, a woman seen crying because she couldn't breathe from all of the smoke. and this man grabbed his garden hose to help put out a fire threatening his neighbor's home. >> got a hose, started putting it out. she called the police. luckily, it was just the car. it didn't get to the house. >> reporter: helicopters circled the scene searching for suspects. but no arrests have been made. and still no answers to a mystery that's leaving los angeles uneasy this new year's day. >>> and now to politics. and your voice, your vote, we just two days until the iowa caucuses a new poll shows that mitt romney lea

nbc's mike taibbi is in north hollywood with more. >> reporter: police finally say they have something they're not calling him a suspect yet. there have been more than 40 incidents, accelerant tossed at a car or several cars to set it ablaze and the residents in the nearby building waking in fear. >> they're trailing the gentleman with the bag. >> reporter: late sunday they released a video of a man only called a person of interest. >> this individual was seen at several of the locations where this fire started. we're not labeling this person as a suspect but we'd certainly like to talk to this person. >> reporter: it's been a nerve-racking four night. scott's wife woke him to tell them their neighbor said their car was on fire. >> luckily it was just the car. >> reporter: it's taken a lot of luck, a burning car in a carport in a garage poses real dangers in these dense residential neighborhoods. >> auto fires, as soon as they get going they burn really hot, really fast. >> reporter: frustrated investigators have poured over hundreds of leads and witnesses. >> they're looking at every

nbc's mike taibbi is in north hollywood with the latest on this story.mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. pick a word, frustrated, frightened, even terrorized, the folks in the apparently targeted neighborhoods have been feeling all that night after night. the suspect was reeled in. it was amazing good luck and quick response by firefighters that kept car fires like these, many scorched adjacent buildings where thousands lived and slept from leading to multiple tragedies. by late monday the man believed to be the sole arsonist for all of it had been formally charged. >> around 3:00 a.m. harry burkhardt was charged with one count of arson, of an inhabited dwelling and currently being held out bail. we expect as the investigation continues he will face additional charges. >> here's how authorities say at rest came out. a business surveillance camera caught this video of a white man, pony tail, receding hairline and the police released the video. a member of the public called and said he knew who the suspect was, harry burkhardt, a german na

ten of those in north hollywood. investigators are studying inconclusive home video they've obtained, but they need more help. >> if you see anything, hear anything, please report it immediately. >>> ten miles northwest of l.a., the final touches are being made on the floats appearing in the 123rd annual tournament of roses parade in pasadena. millions of roses are going on that float that will wow spectators during the parade on monday. volunteers and designers have been working on those floats for months. the tournament of roses parade kicks off tomorrow. you can see the entire thing right here on nbc bay area starting at 11:00 in the morning. >>> and here are some of the new year's celebrations from across the country last night. more than a million people rang in the new year together in new york city's times square. the enormous crowd counted down to midnight all together. mild temperatures made it a bigger turnout than usual. >>> in mobile, alabama, a giant moon pie dropped 317 feet at the stroke of midnight mu

nbc's mike taibbi is in north hollywood at the scene of one of those fires. mike, good morning. what's the latest? >> reporter: good morning, peter. how are you? yeah, police finally have something that feels like a solid lead as you characterized it before. they picked up a person of interest, this near the scene of one of these fires, many, many fires that have happened over four nights. there have been 50 such incidents like the one just behind me, accelerant tossed at cars to set them ablaze and residents of nearby and adjacent buildings waking in fear. after a dozen more of these dark-of info dark-of-night fires, police detained a man near sunset boulevard they're calling a person of interest but not yet a suspect. [ sirens ] it's been a nerve-racking four nights. scott said it was hiss wife who woke him to tell him their neighbor's car was on fire. >> i got a hose and start putting it out. she called the police, and luckily it was just the car. >> reporter: and with no deaths or injuries to residents, it's taken a lot of luck. a burning car in a carport or garage poses rea