again, that is now going to be a job that is up to nustar. we also have been told that nustar has hired a contractor, a firefighting contractor to help out, and also that special team, the petrochemical neutral a team made up of specially trained firefighters from chevron, shell and other chemical companies will remain on scene. again, this investigation, however, is still well under way, and it will probably likely take some time to get to the bottom of it. reporting live in contra costa county, i'm jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> jodi, thank you. we are also getting to the bottom of it. in just a few minutes from now, why the nustar facility is not required to be inspected by local and federal chemical regulators. also, what about our air quality? those two stories later in this newscast. >>> so are they at risk? several people in the contra costa county senior community of rocks moore say they've been on edge for year, fearful that an aging power pole will spark a wildfire right next to their community. nbc bay area's ali wolf is liv

nustar has taken control of their facility. the investigation is continuing. >>> 24 hours after this. contra costa county is releasing the new nustar back to the company. saying there is no more ignition threat. >>> the monitoring that has gone on all afternoon assured us there is no threat in emissions that could ignite. we are able to get the investigators in there. even though there is some infrastructure work going on. >> reporter: warrants were served to force them to preserve documents related to yesterday's explosion and burning of a quarter of 1 million gallons of ethanol. with power restored to the facility investigators are gathering video and digital evidence. and handing the facility back over to the texas-based company. there is a caveat. where fire protection. the company does not have a fire brigade at the site. but does have fixed the water canyons in place. >>> they have their own internal capability. they are bringing a private contractor to provide those services. >> reporter: firefighting foam has been vacuu

abc 7 reached out to find out if the company, nustar had any prior incidents. they had two. first was in january in pittsburgh. they were loading asphalt when they inhaled toxic fumes. and the other a worker fell off their golf cart. in both cases they found nustar was not at fault and did not issue citations. >>> this is from an abc 7 news viewer who happens to be an instructer. he captured these before crews got the scene. >>> and these satellite images from google earth show us what they looked liked before todays fire. you can see how cloche the facility to 80. let's take a look at what it looked like this afternoon. sky 7 was above crockett when wn et fire was at , black smoke. chevron's richmond refinery in 2012. fumes from that fire spread for miles and 15,000 sought medical help. chevron paid 200 million in fines and millions more to settle claims. they believe a leak in a corroded pipe is what caused that fire. >> we have been giving out alerts. just be sure to enable push alerts. >>> the fourth democratic debate is now in the books. and we saw a different candidate

nustar energy did release a statement earlier saying, quote, "nustar is working with first responders to extinguish a fire at its terminal in crockett. " ajacent tanks are being cooled to minimize the risk of the fire spreading. >>> you can imagine this incident has created quite a situation with respect to traffic. drivers are being asked to get off at highway 4 to, interstate 680 the east westbou. 780 to 680 again and go around on the luther gibson highway. that'll take you up to interstate 80 in cordelia. a big mess right now. and here's the worst part. the chp told us expect these closures to remain in effect for the next six hours to possibly all night long. and that's the reason why. live picture right now. the 5 has flared up again despite the amount of retardant that has been put to, t f and explosions and we first reported shortly before 1:first. 1:50. a loud explosion and several explosions thereafter. at 2:45, our crews heard the sirens from the first responders. 3:00 pm, a shelter in place order was issued for the communities of rodeo and crocket. at three 40, they were un

at the nustar facility. east bay traffic was diverted towards highway 4 and westbound to interstate 780. carquinez bridge is now closed. contra costa county health officials are calling this a hazardous material emergency. we're in bumper-to-bumper traffic. many people here next to us, everybody getting frustrated at this point. obviously at this time we're 6.4 miles away from where the fire is still burning. this would normally take us 10 to 15 minutes to get there. now they're telling us 45 minutes. that's how far we are at this point. luz pena. >> i'm surprised they're moving at all. the word we got is interstate 80 is closed in both directions near the storage facility. i'm not sure they'lle able toos e no matter how much time it takes at least this afternoon. >> that's going to filter to all the other freeways. it's going to be a miss. >> traffic is admittedly going to be bad. it's the least of the concerns unless you're stuck in the traffic. the number one concern is the particulate matter that's in th

nustar. they are turning the firefighting efforts over to nustar. they are overseeing the investigation still. there venting the other tanks. they are confident what is in the containment ponds is not going to ignite. >>> firefighters have been keeping a blanket of foam just what you're looking at. on that material which is still in those containment ponds to prevent flareups. we are reiterating steep hill just said there is no threat of emissions that will ignite at this point. we will continue to monitor any developments on the story. we will bring you any updates. >>> a new instance of to ride bart. to your flight at sfo. how the transit agency wants to help writers skip the long security lines.>>> on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the loma prieta earthquake a former firefighter recalls the moment he saved a woman from a collapsing building. how it has changed his life forever. >>> jill jill has entresto, and a na heart failure pill that helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or de

i can see that we're taking this nustar statement. nustar put out a statement earlier. we've learned some more new information since they did. let me tell you what they said initially, they were working with first responders to extinguish a fire at the sell by terminal in crockett, california. in the statement earlier they said there were two impacted tanks which were holding very low volumes of ethanol, less than 1% of tank capacity. of course, just a short time ago we learned it's actually three impacted tanks and that one of those tanks had as much as 176,000 gallons of ethanol. that's according to fire officials. nustar in the earlier statement said all personnel is safe and accounted for. that's good news there.. also, nustar enacted emergency response procedures and were cooling adjacent tanks so they could reduce the risk of the fire spreading and contacted all regulatory agencies. we have video to show and i'd like to tell you more about nustar in general. they have 74 terminal and storage facilities. they're really a petroleum storage facility, but they also ha

nustar, at least these tanks contain ethanol. this is a huge company that deals with a lot of different chemicals and gasoline and oil around the country. our melanie woodrow reported they have 74 facilities. a fairly large company. this facility at this moment they were storing ethanol in these tanks. we're not sure what else, if anything else, because some of the ethanol burns carbon dioxide. we don't know what else may have been burning and going into the air. >> brand new information coming down from contra costa fire. this has been going back and for forth. nustar has reported there's only two storage tanks impacted. >> we understood from authorities a third tank was involved. as you can see this picture, there's only two tanks that have collapsed. we've only seen two tanks that have been affected. this new information is, in fact, only two tanks have been affected. >> the news conference is starting right now. >> folks, i'm steve hill. steve. i'm the con fire pio. i'm here supporting unified command which is made up of the

here at the nustar facility in crockett right now. we're looking at firefighters on the ground, trying to put some firefighting foam on this. it seems like they are not making progress against this. >> andria borba, what to ask you question. off to the right it looks like it may be leaking material out of the top there. we were told a little bit earlier this afternoon, by steve hill, the public information officer, that there may be jet fuel in these adjacent tanks. it looks like something is seeping out. those tanks have been under intense heat for several hours. i am wondering if that is something that could be compromised here? >> reporter: you know, we were waiting for an update from steve hill. yes, as he said earlier, one of the nearby tanks had ethanol and one had jet feel. he did not specify which tank had which fuel in it. yes, just like you, i see something running down the side and leaking out the top of that tank, closest to us. with the flames shooting on the ground and up into the air. we do not know which tank has the j

at the nustar energy facility in crocket.n imagine, all of that toxic fuel in the air is causing concern for people living in the area. >> let's go to abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield. she's in crockett. amy? >>residents will still be dealing with the aftermath of the fire today. there will be no classes in the john sweat yuunified school district. it's been a tough situation for them to deal with. residents of crockett, rodeo and north hercules were told to shelter in place. those out and about had to deal with a lot of traffic because of the i-80 closure, then the fear of what this fire was doing to the air and if they were safe. they say the experience was scary. >> the boom was so hard the doors opened themselves. that's what made us think we were experiencing another earthquake. the rattling was so strong from the explosion. >> reporter: officials say they are looking into whether monday night's earthquake played a role on starting this fire. they lifted the shelter in place order just after 9:30 last night. they are en

i did contact nustar directly about that. i just heard back from them, they said at this point there's no indication that it was caused by an earthquake, but they couldn't tell me to what level the tanks were built. what earthquake level the tanks might withstands. there was no answer. i asked again. fire investigators luckily told me that any concerns about the earthquake causing it at this point are, quote, speculation. in crockett, laura anthony, abc7 news. >> a lot of speculation today. thank you so much. >>> and those questions will likely be asked when they hold their next news conference which should be happening in about a half hour. you're looking live at the microphones that have been set up for this news conference with officials. they're going to give us the latest update on the storage facility fire as well as the investigation. so we will bring that to you live, if we're not on air, with our newscast, then you can get it on our app or on our website. >> we will keep tabs on that news conference as it begins. >>>

this is owned by nustar. it has 9,800 miles of pipeline and 74 terminal and storage facility which is what that facility is right there. it stores and distributes crude oil, refined products, specialty liquids. in this case we heard the two tapgs contained ethanol. ethanol is used to mix in with gasoline. it's one of the products that they use in gasoline. it is a san antonio-based company a company, and it has again 74 terminals. this is one of those facilities. >> among the questions we ask, what's the backgrounds in terms of safety records for nustar energy based in texas. we have discovered they have a clean record in the past ten years. that is something worth noting. let's bring in jodi hernandez. he's right down where our chopper is on the ground level, give us perspective of where you are. i know you're just a few feet away from interstate 80 and we can see the tankers behind you as well. >> reporter: that's right. we're right next to this situation here. we've been here for now about -- over three ho

. >>> all four public schools in the district closed today after the fire at the nustar storage plant in crockett. >> cal-osha will be out there today trying to figure out how that fire started. flames destroyed two of the storage tanks holding 250,000 gallons of ethanol. two other tanks were damaged. sirens went off, warning people nearby at about 3:00 p.m., when there was a shelter in place order for up to 12,000 people. crews put out a vegetation fire that happened just before 7:00 p.m. >> at one point during the operation, we ran out of foam or there was an interruption in the foam supply, and water took the foam blanket and opened it up, exposing the product to oxygen. that's why we had that flare- up. >> the evening traffic was a mess and both directions of 880 were shut down. it was reopened about 9:45 p.m. last night, about the same time the shelter in place order was lifted. nustar says all its employees are safe. >> that fire prompted a shelter in place order that lasted nearly nine hours. allie rasmus is live where some are still concerned about the impacts of the smoke. >>

nustar says it's still assessing damage. cal oeshia is ordering tanks and pipes. >> to determine what happened and could it happen again and ensure before the shutdown order is lifted that nustar energy can operate safely. >>> also happening now, the ocke fire department is staying on top of the hotspots around the plant. remember this runs right along interstate 80. that plant remains sunday shut down this evening. jackso jaxon van derbeken has been looking into the nustar tank farm and learned that staff members fled after the fire erupted without turning on the automated fire suppression system. here's what else jaxson found out about that incident. >> reporter: nbc bay area investigative unit broke the story that authorities served a search warrant on the facility yesterday. we still don't know how the fire first started, but now we've learned what happened in the critical moments just after two tanks erupted in flames. >> clearly there was a problem here. i've been through enough industrial accidents to know. >> reporte

what went wrong at the nustar energy facility. a facility that has a clean record with cal osha for the past ten years. >> for all those hours. it wasn't just the smoke that fill the sky. ash as well. from when the fire first started well into the evening. let's bring in jeff ranieri you saw the pieces of ash on jody's arms from being out there. >> she was right next to it. for the most part, the weather situation probably helped across the greater bay area as the smoke started to rise. a lot of it was lifted to the upper atmosphere. rodeo, crockett, back into been eastern a. for those who did smell the smoke. right now, winds at six miles per hour only see gusts up to 15 miles an hour. the good news, the air quality has improved. it should be said, most of the day, it was moderate to approaching unhealthy upon a closer look at a very unhealthy station. we are looking at most of the locations just approaching unhealthy this afternoon. and the good news, most areas in the moderate. we'll talk more about the air chances coming up. >

. >> nustar engery sent out a statement which reads in part, nustar engery immediately re- enacted its emergency procedures. adjacent tanks are being cooled to mitigate the risk of the fire spreading. we have contacted all agencies and we promise to pass along information as it becomes available. >> one of the key things of the fire are particulates in the air. they have had a shelter in place. it's bring in mark tamayo who has been monitoring the conditions. what are you seeing? >> we have been seeing light winds and the smoke plume is going straight up into the sky. the levels have been going up quite a bit in the past few hours. air-quality advisory from the air quality management district and it is in place right now for the impacted areas east of rodeo along the carquinez strait. but not limited to venetia, martinez, bay pointe and pittsburgh and areas to the east. you can see that advisory. we have been hearing a lot about the shelter in place in effect for crockett and recommended for rodeo as well. we have been watching the winds and you can clearly see defined wind direction c

zero indication of threat of another explosion for fire at nustar facility.as the green light to take over the cleanup effort. >> they have their own fire suppression capabilities sufficient to handle anything o. >> reporter: nustar teams will capture runoff. couldn't be drained due to threat of fire. all day were blasted with foam to prevent flare-ups from yesterday's fire. tuesday afternoon, two tanks that ethanolxploded sending a massive fireball into the air. shelter in place and evacuation orders were issued for surrounding cities. >> we were in danger, didn't argue with the evacuation order. >> reporter: michael kellogg continues with renovation at his house this afternoon. they live a block away from nustar, watched the fire race up the hill behind their home. >> it's incredible it didn't spread to more tanks. they got vegetation fire under control quickly. could have been a lot worse than it was. >> reporter: in email to abc7 news nustar says they build to meet for exceed requirements that include earthquake, seismographic information, all because inv

we have reached out to nustar for updated information and are waiting to hear back. and we are expecting cal/osha to be out here also investigating this morning. sara zendehnam, ktvu fox 2 news. >>> all four schools of the john swett unified school district are closed as a precaution. they are rodeo hills elementary, quirkiness middle school, john swett high and willow high. stay with us for continuing coverage of the nustar energy facility fire throughout the morning as investigators try to find a cause. we will update you throughout the day at ktvu.com. >>> the bay arll having hocks earthquakes hit yesterday. we've had three quakes in the past 48 hours. the latest quake was a magnitude 3.4 that hit last night around 7:15 pm centered in pleasant hills, near the epicenter of monday night's of 4.5 quake. earlier yesterday afternoon there was a 4.7 quake in san benito county centered 15 miles southeast of hollister. people in the small town of tres pinos really felt it. the epicenter was just 10 miles south of town. but it was felt across northern california. the owner

we will bring that to you live on kpix 5. >>> nustar is looking into whether the fire might have been caused by monday nights for plane five earthquake in pleasant hill. the quake did cause flaring at two refineries raising questions about what happened if there is a major earthquake. >>> we look at where the bay area refineries fall on the faultlines. and what measures are in place to protect him. >>> after our recent quakes a new app offering advance warning is arriving on time. the my shake alert system is coming to the bay area tomorrow. emily turner is live in berkeley with the rollout the comes on a very significant day.>> reporter: it goes live tomorrow. i can tell you you can go ahead and download the app already. i have done it. you can go through it. this potentially the folks who developed it say could save your life. starting tomorrow alerts for earthquakes like this one in pleasant hill on monday will be at your fingertips almost in real time no matter where you are. oes is launching the california earthquake early warning system. it pairs uc berkeley's earthquake with an

make sure you stay here with us at ktvu for continuing coverage of the fire at nustar energy. ktvu, we're there at the scene and will be there throughout the morning as investigator search for the cause of the fire in the explosion and bring you updates at ktvu.com. >>> we are still having aftershocks of the two earthquakes hit the bay area yesterday. we've had three earthquakes in the past 48 hours. usgs in the latest was a magnitude 3.4 and it hit last night centric and pleasant hill around 715 close to the epicenter of monday nights 4.5 earthquake. earlier yesterday afternoon there was a 4.7 in san benito counties centered 15 miles southeast of hollister. people in the small town of tres pinos felt it especially hard. the epicenter was 10 miles south of town but the earthquake was felt across northern california. the owner of a hair salon said this one felt different than the others. >> one of the ladies was like, i think we are having an earthquake. i was like, no way. i turned around and all the stuff was shaking on the walls. the water container was going back and forth.

>> i can't tell you a lot about new star nustar at this time. there was a vegetation fire up interstate 80 west of here last summer but i don't believe it was associated with the refineries operation. i am unaware of any other incidences in the refinery itself. i know that is on top of the operational priority for this incident. they are doing a lot of what they are doing right now to prevent that. >> they are fighting it aggressively with water drops. are they worried of it spreading to other tanks? >> it could be that. it could be the vegetation on that side is a little bit weaker. it looks like there is more brush and trees as opposed to the grass on the side and they may be concerned about fire spreading through the vegetation to the tank at the top of that hill. that is a decision made in conjunction between cal fire. >> is the vegetation fire out? >> for the most part it is out. i haven't heard any radio traffic. i have been talking to folks for a while. i don't see any active fire burning over there. but that doesn't mean the fire is full

that ishe converged on the nustar energy storage farm. you may have watched as the tanks at nustar burned and even exploded right here on air for hours yesterday. atf agents, alcohol, tobacco and firearms served a warrant at the pipeline facility today. the investigation ramping up as the cleanup begins. nbc bay area's jodi hernandez is back on the site, as she was all day yesterday. and jodi, a lot of work to be done. contra costa fire is now turning over some of that work to nustar energy. >> reporter: that's right, jessica. there is an awful lot of work to be done. but as you mentioned, the contra costa fire district just announced that they will begin removing their fire crews from the scene and turning over the operation to nustar and full-sc >> oh, it was a terrible, you know, explosion. >> reporter: carolyn and orville sanford

nustar engery sent out a statement that reads in part nustar engery enacted its emergency response procedures immediately. adjacent tanks are being cooled to minimize the risk of the fire spreading. we have contacted all regulatory agencies. that is all the information we have to provide at this time. we will pass along additional information as it becomes available. as we mentioned there is a shelter in place and authorities are telling people do not leave your homes. >> paul chambers is in the community of crockett right now. what are people telling you there? >> reporter: a lot of people are worried and nervous especially after the earthquake last night. we talked about the weather and how the winds are blowing west to east. you can see at 5 all the smoke was not in this area. it was more to this area you are seeing right now. that is where tom vacar is that and that is where the fire is burning. it has been a lot heavier over the last 15-20 minutes. back out here we are live here at san pablo avenue right before 80 w. not many people on the interstate. just before 3 pm chp closed the inte

the 68-year-old's office says he passed away early this morning. >>> the nustar fuel storage facility in crockett has been given the green light to begin venting tanks and start lining up after tuesday's explosion and fire. officials say there's zero indication there could be another explosion at the site. >>> and we are following your thursday morning commute. we have a big rig accident blocking toll lane number 15 at the bay bridge. avoid that toll lane if you can. >>> go purple for spirit day. people are asked to wear purple today to speak out against bullying and stand with lgbtq youth. as you can see, we're all taking part this morning. also this morning, instagram is beefing up its security and letting you be in charge of it. you now have a choice over the third party apps that instagram can share your data with and what kind of information is shared. you can limit them to your user name or let them access as much as your photo captions and other details. to see or to change any of those security settings, just go to instagram's main settings tab and block for the apps and websi

they turned things over to nustar. it will be a long time before we know what caused this explosion and fire but right now authorities are working to try and find out. it is unclear what agents were looking for while serving a search warrant at the nustar tell nbc bay area that investigators lacked confidence in the facility's records and recordkeeping procedures. as the investigation begins the work for firefighters has ended. >> we are confident that at this point there's no longer any threat of any kind of ignition fire related to what occurred yesterday afternoon. >> reporter: still the situation at the facility needs to be monitored. >> we're turning it over to nustar. they have their own fire suppression capabilities left of the tanks with foam to prevent flare-ups. >> we've been vapor. >> reporter: a big concern following tuesday's explosion and fire that sent flames and smoke into the air. [ siren ] forcing people to shelter in place. highway 80 shut down for hours. >> it was racing up the back side of the hill

in that many many fire investigations.>> reporter: nustar has not responded to a request for commentsut the search warrant. investigators say the texas- based company has been cooperative with the investigation. those in the area want an explanation of what happened quickly. >>> how did it happen? how does something like that happen? >> reporter: michael who lives down the street from the facility said he feels safe tonight and is not worried about the air quality. he has lived here for five years and said he has never had a reason to question safety practices at nustar. >>> they have been a good neighbor to me.>> reporter: the power was turned on in this area around 2 pm this afternoon. they allowed them to get access of surveillance video and anything else on computer. items which are normally covered under a search warrant.>>> tonight raiders offensive lineman trent brown is vowing to clear his name. after being accused of domestic violence in a new lawsuit. his ex-girlfriend who filed the suit claims he slapped punched and choked her on several occasions over the past year. she sa

a containment poll at the nustar tank facility in crockett. large trucks vacuum the hazardous material up in by 6 pm contra costa county fire district officials announced they were pulling out their firefighting crews leaving their investigators continue the probe. >> our judgment is there is no threat of any further explosion or fire. >> reporter: more than 250,000 gallons of ethanol had poured out of the two damaged tanks tuesday and the flames damaged other tanks and valves. >> be a venting those individual tanks to relieve pressure and eliminate any risk whatsoever of any fire associated with those tanks. >> reporter: on cummings skyway one of the contractors hired by nustar set up an air-quality monitoring station . contra costa county fire officials say at this point there are no public safety or health hazards. >> we've been taking measurements all day long to assess any kind of threat from vapor, from the various sources in the facility. >> reporter: power was also restored allowing investigators to access video camera footage and digi

. >>> coming up here on the news at 6, questions stemming from the fire at the nustar energy facility in crockett this week. why one supervisor thinks employees at the facility were not properly prepared or trained. >>> we will have more of an afterschool employee in the south bay accused of raping is six-year-old. >>> in weather, a few clouds paying a visit to the bay area. we will you know if you could be dodging a few sprinkles and a big time warm-up. we will have more on the forecast coming up. >>> giving you a live look at the friday evening commute on interstate 880 in oakland. as you can see things moving a little bit slow in both directions. ktvu news that 6 will be right back. tv just keeps getting better. how you watch it does too. this is xfinity x1. featuring the emmy award-winning voice remote. streaming services without changing passwords and input. live sports - with real-time stats and scores. access to the most 4k content. and your movies and shows to go. the best tv experience is the best tv value. xfinity x1. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity. the future of awesome. >>

. >> we served a search warrant for nustar. >> reporter: the investigators are working with the atf, the sheriffs department and the d a's office to interview witnesses and examine documents and digital data like surveillance video. >> they are working as one team. >> we shouldn't be subjected to this. we do not -- clearly, we do not want industrial facilities having accidents like this. >> reporter: and we are back here live. again, firefighters now tell us that they have begun removing some of that foam. they are putting that foam into those red containers you see behind us. this is going to be a very long process. they have got a lot of material to work with. they also tell me that the folks here at nustar are fully cooperating with the investigation, adding that a search warrant in a case of this magnitude is not uncommon. reporting live, jodi hernandez. >> thanks for that update. >>> now, that black smoke billowed from the nustar fire for hours. it's gone. but the question is what hazardous particles were in that smoke and how hazardous was it? firefighters also sprayed a blanke

>>> fuel tanks explode at the nustar energy facility causg chaos and disruption. new details about the investigation and the concern about a third tank's structural integrity. >>> another earthquake shaking parts of the bay area. ahead, the reaction to the epicenter along the san andreas fault. >>> good afternoon, everyone. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm allie rasmus. >> cal/osha is stopping the use of petroleum storage facility in crockett after a major fire broke out. how it started is under investigation. and assessment team is on site investigating the cause while fire crews worked to avoid another flareup. sara zendehnam joins us live from crockett with the latest. >> reporter: officials just told us they really dodged a bullet. they say if those tanks had more ethanol in them this could've been much worse. i was step out of the way so you can see we are. we are at the front gates of this facility and there are a lot of people out here assessing the scene. right now they are in the cleanup process of this situation. cal/osha's is prohibiting use of the facility

. >>> nustar is defending the action of its employees. firefighters were delayed in getting into the facility because locked gates. we are live in crockett to bring you the latest. >> reporter: the contra costa t supervisor john gioia raised concerns about how these employees handled the emergency. they told me first responders arrived at the nustar energy facility, firefighters on the front gate lock. when they finally entered, the place was deserted. the employees there to tell what was happening or what was burning. when fire personnel to track down employee, the person was not able to tell them it what was inside the burning tank. this is still under investigation but it does raise concerns about how prepared the facility was. who started send a statement that it said in part, while our employees are familiar with all the we were able to identify the product and the volume immediately and we notified the firefighters accordingly. nustar has continued to update us throughout the morning. the same official told me there are only four pr

nustar is expected to start venting storage tanks and cleaning up. the tanks that caught fire had hundreds of thousands of gallons of ethanol. a professor explains why it shouldn't have much of an impact on gas prices. >> california uses about 4 million gallons of ethanol every day. this is probably 10% or less of one day's usage. >> but if the facility remains shut down for weeks, the fire could have an impact on local gas prices. >>> the company building san francisco's second tallest tower has stopped. why it stopped construction coming up. >>> and instagram has a new feature that gives you more control over your privacy. the choices you can now make. >>> a weak cold front clearing the south bay. it's getting cooler and breezier. in the north bay, waking up to some - ( phone ringing ) - big button, and volume-enhanced phones. get details on this state program. visit right now or call during business hours. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the holidays begin here at the disneyland resort. and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume

investigators got a search warrant for nustar, is that unusual or standard operating procedure? >> reporter: it's pretty much standard operating procedure, but they do say they want to get to the bottom of it. you will see some fire trucks down between the tanks, and then the foreground, you're going to see a dry ground underneath these tanks, closest to us. but then, if you look behind, you'll see a white lake on the tanks that are farthest from us. you can also see, where they've been scorched a bit by the heat. that's how much foam that they have actually put down on this. but as you said, the contra costa county fire agency issued a warrant on nustar agency f investigators are on the scene along with cal osha, county, fire, and other local agencies. the plant is essentially shut down until such time osha determines it's no longer hazardous. a quarter million gallons of flammable ethanol materials were consumed. the equivalent of 28 big rig gasoline tanker trucks. so far, firefighters have used 1.5 million gallons of fire fighting foam and water mixture to suppress the fire.

. >>> developing news, the nustar fuel tank farm in crockett is still closed as state officials search for the cause of tuesday's massive fire. contra costa fire officials say there's zero indication of the threat of another explosion or fire at the facility. >> they have their own fire suppression capabilities, sufficient to handle anything that might be related to what's going on now. >> contra costa fire officials say they're still not sure if monday night's earthquake contributed to the fire on tuesday. in an email to abc7 news, nustar says that they build to meet or exceed industry standards which includes seismic design criteria. you can stay up to date with the abc 7 news app and on abc7news.com. >>> a u.s. delegation led by mike pence has arrived in turkey. the group is trying to broker a cease-fire between turkish leaders and kurdish forces in syria. that effort comes on the heels of a dramatic white house meeting that ended with democrats walking out. here's elizabeth hur. >> with mike pence in turkey trying to work out a peace deal, in washington we're getting two versions o

. >>> we are finding out fire crews had a hard time getting into the nustar facility in crockett last week after a fuel tank explosion. a county supervisor questions whether the workers were properly trained. live at the facility with some of the issues raised so far.>> reporter: the issue had to do with access. access to the facility and access to information. for example you see the gates right there? on tuesday when the fire was burning those gates were closed when firefighters arrived. as flames were raging inside the facility firefighters say they waited at the front entrance for one minute. while workers opened the gates. once inside they say they found all but one worker had left the facility. without activating the fire suppression equipment. that one remaining worker could not tell them what was in the burning tanks and the adjacent tanks. for a while firefighters did not know what type of fuel they were dealing with. >>> those on scene should be able to quickly identify the product in each tank. that is the practice. >> reporter: supervisor just met with the investigators. >

the nustar facility remains closed and there is one fire engine here. i've seen vehicles driving around and a couple people walking on the grounds. there is still activity here although it is closed and will reopen once it is determined they can safely move forward with production.elissa harrington, ktvu fox 2 news. >>> people living near a wildfire in lake county are back home. the evacuation were ordered after a fire broke out and lake county. the fire is called the grove fire. it began at spruce grove road south of lower lake. a person living in the area posted video of the nighttime flames. the stretch of highway 29 was closed because of the approaching fire. cal fire said the flames burned seven acres and gusts made the situation unpredictable. >>> another wildfire in santa barbara county is forcing evacuations around el capitan state beach. 423 acres have burned and it's 20% contained, not far from los angeles. beach campground reservations at el capitan beach are canceled for the time being and highway 101 was closed in the area as 50 miles per h

elissa harrington, ktvu fox 2 news. >>> a small fire broke out this morning two miles from the nustar facility. the fire happened at a homeless encampment and briefly shut down amtrak train service. the fire was less than an acre inside the gate firefighters trouble because flames ran on a hillside. they had to climb up the hill hauling train sols and rakes to clear out the underbrush. there were no reported injuries. >>> we have new numbers on a wide further prompted evaluations evacuations and lake county. cal fire announced this fire burned 25 acres and is contained. evacuations were ordered after the fire broke out last night on highway 29. it is called the grove fire because it started at spruce grove road south of lower lake. a person living in the area posted video of the nighttime flames. a stretch of highway 29 was closed because of those approaching flames. mmission is holding an tie emergency meeting to examine of its public safety power shut off. the utility company came under criticism for how it cut off power to more than 700,000 customers, working out to 2 million peopl

investigators plan to be on site today to learn what sparked this massive blaze yesterday at the nustar storage facility in crockett. >> the fire was huge. we brought it to you as breaking news for most of the time. the fire and smoke created so many problems and raised concerns about health and, of course, traffic. >> look atat that video showing the moment one fuel tank exploded into a huge fireball. a total of 2 storage tanks blew up, sending huge flplumes of sme skyward for hours. the emergency forced the closure of nearby interstate 80 in both directions. all lanes are open again this morning. . the smoke also triggered a shelter in place for crockett and surrounding communities p. by late last night the air quality rebounded enough to allow authorities to lift the shelter in place, and at one point firefighters tweeted out schools in the area would be open today. but that is not the case. john swett school district leaders tell nbc bay area all schools will remain closed. thom jensen live in crockett this morning. i'm curious, how's the air quality out there right now? >> reporter

now, we did reach out to nustar. they said that their first priority in a disaster like this is to ensure -- to protect life and ensure safety. and that is what they did. they immediately called 911. they said, but the focus, at that moment, is to make sure all of the employees were out before they started the notification protoc protocol. they said that hazmat is not considered a first responder. so, they weren't at the top of the list. reporting live in contra costa county, jodi hernandez. >> good information. >>> up next, spendsing more time on budgets than on curriculum. the tough choice bay area superintendents are being forced to make. >>> plus, a billion-dollar pledge. facebook's investment to tackle one of the biggest problems. . >>> the battle against bay area housing crisis got a shot in the arm today. facebook pledging $1 billion to help build new homes and provide services for the homeless. we go live to downtown san jose where some housing is already being built as we speak, scott. >> reporter: yeah, jes

the tests at the nustar energy facility did not detect any unusually high levels of toxic substances in the fire or smoke. the fire destroyed two large tanks on the side prompting officials to evacuate the county's community mourning system. people living in crockett, rodeo and hercules were all told to shelter in place to limit exposure. >>> today on capitol hill a key witness in the house impeachment inquiry a president trump will testify. bill taylor, the acting ambassador to ukraine will testify behind closed doors before three house committees. members of congress will ask him about text messages he sent of the president's effort to persuade a foreign leader to interfere in an american presidential election. >> hello see, shifty adam schiff, schumer, these people are trying to destroy the country. >> in a straight party line vote house democrats tabled a republican resolution to censure california congressman adam schiff is been accused of hiding earlier contact with the intelligence officer who blew the whistle on the controversial call between president trump's and the leader

at the nustar energy facility in crocke crockett. of that toxic fuel in the air is really causing concerns for people who live in that area. >> amy hollyfield is live in crockett this morning. amy? >> good morning. residents had a tense, tough day. it was a lot for them to deal with. residents of crockett, rodeo and north hercules were told to shelter in place while this fire was burning yesterday. those out and about had to deal with a lot of traffic because of of what this fire was doing to the air and if they were safe. they say the experience was scary. >> it rocked my windows really loud. i thought it was an earthquake at first. similar to what happened last night. >> reporter: and officials say they are now looking into whether monday night's earthquake played a role in starting this fire. they lifted the shelter in place order just before 9:30 last night. they encouraged residents to open windows and doors and air out their homes. there is a nice breeze out here today, too, to help clear out the air. we are standing on cumming

in the facility looking for ways to mitigate the vapor emissions coming off the tank locations. >> nustar energy and part of that is determining how to remove the materials in both of those secondary containment structures down there. which will then completely mitigate the risk of fire. >>> we are also examining the infrastructure to see what the possibilities are in terms of removing the materials because some of the infrastructure, the pipes and valves were damaged in the fire and of course -- >> reporter: california osha is involved and is on site right now. a spokesperson at the california department of industrial relations said cal osha inspectors issued an order to preserve on the two tanks and pipes involved in the fire and issued an order to prohibit use on the facility until the contingency for operation can continue safely and we have reached out to nustar energy for updated information and we are waiting to hear back also important to note one chevron firefighter was hurt last night. we don't know exactly what happened but we are told that his injuries were minor and he was tr

a fire, massive fire at the nustar fuel storage facility in crockett. it's been burning since about 1:50 p.m. when witnesses heard loud explosions and booms. people in the area heard it and came out to see one storage tank on fire which then spread to another and now a third. this fire has been flaring up and dying down. probably three times and it's because of the structures of the tank. it caught a hillside on fire and 80 is shutdown. no traffic right there in the middle of your screen. 80 completely shutdown. >> relatively speaking their safety record is relatively clean. relatively clean safety record here in california. they also have a facility down near long beach. cheryl, we lost you with audio issues. you're in the middle of your report where we saw some students behind you still remaining at the high school there. it's 5:15. a lot of students still on campus. >> reporter: that's right. there are still some students inside. we have been here for almost an hour and there was a bus load of students. ta a ohey are go id situation. there were no ca

here is more now. >> reporter: went first responders arrived at nustar energy tuesday afternoon they were met with a raging fire and a locked gate. that is according to contra costa county supervisor. >> the other issue that is concerning is a number of the personnel left the facility and did not activate the fire suppression system before leaving. >> reporter: they spoke with the fire chief and after firefighters did find a worker, that person could not tell them what was in the tanks. he said this lack of medication rings up major concerns about how prepared nustar energy was for an emergency. >> we are fortunate that the fire was controlled. it could have been a lot worse. people could have died. it could have spread to neighboring tanks and properties which is why it is so important to understand these issues. >> reporter: nustar energy is telling a different story. the executive vice president said all our employees are familiar with the products in the tanks, the combustion happened so quickly and so unexpectedly that there was some confusion about what tanks were impacted. the

as we reported the pipelines in and out of nustar facility are shutdown.> but is it bad news for gas prices? chris a mora has been fielding those questions. >> good morning, several viewers voice concern on social media about potential price hikes. let's look at some of them. gerald saying, yep, gas going up again. monica taking bets that gas prices will go up. and roy, here come them gas prices. for an expert opinion we turn to gas buddy. patrick tracks the complex economics of gasoline and the market that drives prices. he boils it down. he tweeted last night, he does not see a supply disruption as a result of the fire. so that means he is not expecting any impact on gas prices as a result. that's really good news for bay area drivers because triple a says one gallon of the cheap stuff has shot up to $4.28. triple-a tracks that number daily. if we see movement we'll let you know about it. back to you. >>> thank you, chris. >>> 5:57 right now. an update on the fire that gutted notre dame cathedral in april. authorities now say reconstruction still in phas

sirens blared from the nustar energy facility in crockett tuesday. a sound familiar to residents in the community of tormey. miguel says they test sirens once a week but this time it was clear this was no drill. >> the power went out and then sirens were going on. >> reporter: the sirens mean shelter in place. carolyn sanford lives two doors down. she heard and felt the explosion. >> the house shook and rattled. >>> sanford gathered prescriptions and oxygen for her husband and emergency officials arrived to evacuate the entire street. >> the sheriff came and knocked on all the doors. they got everyone out. >> reporter: numerous agencies come together to alert the public to an emergency like this. it works with fire officials and the sheriff's office to contact people in crockett, and rodeo. >> includes telephone calls and cell phones that have been registered on their system. it includes twitter updas it in stations. >> officials ordered sirens to continue going every 30 minutes. the emergency alerts were effective. sanford's daughter becky felt left

. >> reporter: the explosion at the nustar energy storage plant was caught on camera. the top of the storage tank toward off and tossed into the air with the force of the blast. the explosion at the selby terminal in crockett send pick , black smoke into the sky. concerned over bad air forced county, fire and health official to order people to shelter in place. in a statement the company said there are two impacted tanks which were holding very low volumes of ethanol, less than 1% of tank capacity. all personnel are safe and accounted for. contra costa county fire district spokesman said one contractor had been caught deep in the facility when the fire broke out. >> he sought shelter in a culvert and was eventually, once fired on the scene, was evacuated out of the facility. >> reporter: the threat of explosion and fire so close to the interstate prompted the california highway patrol to shut down i-80 in both directions. just before the evening rush hour. stopping cars before the carquinez bridge and diverting traffic to other areas. drivers were sent on long detours