the purple flag. fire officials said they haven't seen this combination of fierce winds and extreme dry conditions in decades. >> the brush burning index, that's a number that we rate the threat of a brush fire is 296. this is the highest number i've ever seen in my career. >> reporter: more than 4,000 firefighters are on the front lines fighting from the ground and the sky. four separate fires continue to burn out of control from ventura to los angeles, burning hundreds of buildings and threatening thousands more, including those in the exclusive belair and brentwood neighborhoods. residents aren't taking any chances. beth is putting out hot spots around her home with a garden hose. >> reporter: others barely got out with the clothes on their back. >> you could see the flames coming up. that was it. we didn't take anything. >> god wanted him and i guess he wanted the house too. >> reporter: it destroyed the home and her late husband's ashes. >> i ran out of tears. there's no more. >> reporter: if the

in fact, take a look at this map, see that purple area there, a purple flag warning is in effect today for most of southern california covering ventura, los angeles, orange and san diego counties. that means there is an extreme threat for wildfires and if a fire starts, it would be considered uncontrollable and just think we already have all of these raging right now. >> that's why we want to bring in meteorologist kari hall. kari, when people hear that purple they are not sure what that means. >> i had to learn about what that was. >> they have never had it before. >> they have never had one before. i had to change the clrs on my map, too. this is issued by the santa ana wildfire threat index and we are expecting hurricane force winds here. that means that those gusts to get over 75 miles per hour, humidity down to only about 5 to 15% and as you mentioned, any wildfire that we could see spreading will be uncontrollable. there will be nothing they can do about it. i want to show you the wind speed forecast for today, it will be the strongest wind event we have had so far this season an

thursday the department of forestry and fire protection issued a purple flag. the highest danger level. it's never been issued before. 5,500 firefighters are on the ground attacking the fire, but that's not enough to push the flames back. thursday, strong santa ana winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour pushed the fire farther, fanning embers and flames in every direction. the flames even moved into san diego county thursday. the lilac fire wiped out an entire retirement community along with 4,000 acres, and it's still burning. the largest of the wildfires remains in ventura county. the tonnis fire has charred more than 115,000 acres and 400 trucks were destroyed. fire officials are still urging people in the fires to get out if there's even a remote possibility the fire could shift their way. >> we want to urge everyone to follow the principles of ready, set, go, for fire evacuations. i would urge everybody to be set. have your stuff ready to go. >> reporter: the winds are expected to die down some today. there's still a major threat looming with the fire barel

they're calling it the purple flag warning. they have none done it before in this area. >> experts are predicting near hurricane force winds that could be coming this morning. kari was telling us about this yesterday on "today in the bay" and it really could make for a rapid unpredictable spread of that fire. we want to show you a map of where those four main fires are burning right now around los angeles. authorities issued at least one new evacuation order overnight, this as thousands of people have already been forced to leave their homes. we checked the numbers with cal fire overnight. >> that's right. the skirball fire near the 405 and the getty center has burned 475 acres, it's just 5% contained. the creek fire near sill mar has burned over 12,000 acres, it as well 5% contained. the rye fire by i-5, 7,000 acres, 10% containment there. the biggest is still that thomas fire burning in ventura county. it is 90,000 acres in size and just 5% contained. nbc bay area's jodie hernandez continues our coverage talking to people liv

the highest ponl wild fire was issued for the first time, the purple flag. they haven't seen this combination of fierce winds and extreme dry conditions in decades. >> it is a number that we rate the threat of a brush fire is 296. it is the highst number i have seen in my career. >> more than 4,000 are fighting flames from the ground and the sky. four separate fires continue to burn out of control from ventura to los angeles burning hundreds of buildings and threatening thousands more. residents whose homes have escaped aren't taking any chances. she is putting out hot spots without a hose. >> we are so fortunate. >> other residents barely got out with the clothes on their backs. >> you can see the flames coming up. that was it. we were out of here. we didn't take anything. >> god wanted him and i guess he wanted my house too. >> it destroyed her home and the urn containing her late husband's ashes. >> i ran out of tears. there's no more. >> officials say they may have no choice but to focus on evacuating over fire fighting. 200 homes and buildings have been

and just today, the california department of forestry and fire protection issued a purple flag. that's the highest possible wildfire danger level. it is never been issued before. in ventura county, many evacuated are likely to return to find their dream homes are burned to the ground. they will spend the holidays rebuilding their lives. >> outside and i go we all have to go right now. we'll rebuild. >> there's also a great concern for animals. a driver put himself at risk by pulling over on a highway to rescue a wild rabbit from the flames. steven fisher is in los angeles covering the eagles. he's going to have a live report on these wildfires all new on nbc 10 news at 5:00. >>> now to a developing story in new mexico where there's been a dead deadly shooting at a high school. two students are dead as well as the suspect in this case. the school is located in aztec. just about 15 miles from the colorado border. police are investigating what led up to the shooting. so far they haven't released any details. >>> new details about a story we first brought you last fight on nbc 10 ne

diego county is an unprecedented territory according to firefighters we are in what's called a purple flag zone you've heard of red flag warnings well purple is a step above from that it's somewhere we've never gone before and that indicates the absolute highest fire danger one could get in and as a result firefighters say they have a very uphill battle ahead of them today and many people have been put on alert that they need to be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice jeanne acumen for sure with the u.s. network n.b.c. news jenas thank you. saying in the u.s. senator al franken has announced his resignation after repeated accusations of sexual harassment the democratic senator from the state of minnesota has lost the support of many of his party colleagues as a series of allegations from women have emerged franken who was a well known comedian before he entered politics took a parting shell to president trump in his resignation speech. i have all people am aware that there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault

that put into effect a purple flag warning. even the fire chief of l.a. he never really heard of the purple and some other public information officers we have spoken this seen this put into effect. very rarely used purple warning because of gusts that could come and that would be the wild card because we've seen the smoke on the hill behind us where the fires have been smoldering all day long, moving all different directions. last night they whipped around the corner and surrounded a vacation spot for many in los angeles, ojai, that is 75 miles northwest of los angeles. it is very much of a vacation town as i said. they rely very heavily on foals coming there for vacations. i've spoken to people who were evacuated from there, telling me stories about people camping out on their roofs with hoses until forced it evacuate last night because the fires got too close. the roads are closed just down the street from where we're standing. we're 14 miles west of ojai. just a couple miles off the 101 which runs along the coastline, david, north of ventura. 60 miles f

so it's not necessarily a purple flag warning.have the red flag warning in effect, but that just means it's dry, it's windy and there's a lot of dry brush. we could see smoke from the southern california fires in our area. today, tomorrow, for southern california, the wind gusts are not going to be as strong. but i did just notice near the skirball fire gusts up to 42 miles per hour. that gusts at 17 near the rye fire creek fire 24 and the thomas fire 4. humidity levels low between 10 to 15%. these mornings they are not getting much moisture because of this high pressure ridge that's sitting on top of us. so those santa ana winds continue through next weeks. what we are going to experience is as these winds go from east to west they may go from south to north. impacting us in the form of smoke. keep your eye on the sky. you may smell the smoke out there, as well. the flag warning is extended through sunday because of those extensive winds and we are going to see them decrease today -- tomorrow for southern california about 35-mile

a purple flag warning is now in effect for thursday - that )s the strongest possible fire warning fromtweeting updates. also: oakland city workers.... will hit the picket lines... for day three of their strike. we )re updating the situation on our website, nbc bay area dot com. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: our first guest is a a 16-time wwe world champion and a talented actor who stars in the new animated movie "ferdinand," which is in theaters december 15th. ladies and gentlemen, please welcome john cena! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: i mean, do you feel the love right now in the room? >> i always say -- i always say -- [ cheers and applause ] rowdiest crowd in late night right here. >> jimmy: this is the rowdiest crowd, absolutely yeah. >> remember the last time i was here and everybody rushed the desk? >> jimmy: yes, of course. [ cheers and applause ] took your clothes off. >> we literally, we fought for our lives. it was -- >> jimmy: yeah, we fought for our lives, that's how crazy our crowds are. >> carting people away -- >> jimmy: yeah. >> th

the purple flag, fire officials said they haven't seen this combination of fierce winds and extreme dryades. >> the brush burning that's a number that we rate the threat of a brush fire, is 296. this is the highest number i've ever seen in my career. >> reporter: more than 4,000 fire fighters are on the front lines fighting the flames from the ground and the sky. four separate fires continue to burn out of control from ventura to los angeles, burning hundreds of buildings and threatening thousands more, including those in the exclusive bel air and brentwood neighborhoods. residents whose homes have so far escaped the flames aren't taking any chances. beth raji is putting out hot spots around her home with a gua garden hose. >> we are so for the nat. >> reporter: other residents barely got out with the clothes on their backs. >> we can see the flames coming up and that was it. we were out of here. we didn't take anything. >> god wanted him and i guess he wanted my house, too. >> reporter: the fire destroyed irene's home and the urn ashes. >> i ran out of tears. there's no more. >> report

service has issued its strongest possible warning for wildfire conditions today, it's called that purple flag warning. >> those wids could make for a rapid unpredictable spread of that fire. we want to bring in meteorologist kari hall, something we have not seen before or many of us have seen before that, purple warning. >> it's the first time and it's issued by the santa anna wildfire threat index agency, they are the ones who issue the red flag warnings and things like that, tracking the critical flag warnings -- critical fire warnings, but we are looking now at the drought monitor. this will be updated today. so we will see if we will have that amount of drought in southern california increase to a different level, but we are also looking at some very dry conditions as of now. strong winds, here is a look at the sustained wind forecast throughout the day blowing those winds offshore. we know that as it kind of funnels throughout the valleys as well over those wildfires it could create some quickly spreading wildfire conditions. so looking at very low humidity and this will continue through

a purple flag warning is now in effect for thursday - that )s the strongest possible fire warning fromers.... will hit the picket lines... for day three of their strike. we )re updating the situation on our website, nbc bay area dot com. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: our next guest is an emmy winning writer, and author of "the zombie survival guide," and "world war z." his latest novel "minecraft, the island" is available now. please welcome to the show max brooks, everyone! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> seth: so great to see you, max. >> it's good to see you. >> seth: for those who don't know, we were both hired in 2001 for a little show called "saturday night live." we started together. >> that's right. we came up together. >> seth: yeah, and for those who also forget 2001 was a very weird time to start working at "saturday night live." >> that's right. we got our job, we threw our hats in the the air. we're going to make it after all, and then two weeks later, 9/11 happened. >> seth: 9/11 happened, all the hats came back on -- >> i know. >> seth: and do you remember what happene

bracing for perhaps some more activity later today, concerned about the wind, calling it you a purple flager been used before a lot of fire officials never even heard of it usually red flag is serious as it gets they are expecting gusts that could reach 60 to 80 miles per hour, concerned about the brush that is still across the hillside there that is still smoldering you can see embers even in home behind us you see embers flaring up vr now and then burned out yesterday so there is a big concern, about how the wind is going to play into this whether it could skip over 405 freeway due east about getty center if that gives you bearing concern that it could spread into the canyons over there, no evacuations have been set for more neighborhoods, folks from this area evacuated 475 acres burned only 5% contained, now if wind does stay down fire captain said he is optimistic we could see better containment an update three hours' time on this fire from fire chief of l.a. now also take a look at some other fires the thomas fire in ventura has been spraethd very quickly overnight more evacuations, i

if there's slightly good news, it's that we're back to a red flag warning versus the purple territory into yesterday. i hadn't heard of a purple warning until yesterday. that's because we reached a historic milestone. it got that bad. red flag warnings still means we have wind gusts up to 55 miles an hour. while that is an improvement from yesterday, officials say don't let your guard down yet. we're heading into a weekend that is still full of a lot of danger. back to you. >> all right. jinah, it's been so horrifying out there, we have to take any bit of good news we can get. thanks for your work out there. >>> it's now 5:34. now to the other top stories. later tonight, we could see our first snowflakes of the season. uh-oh, chuck and sheena have been warning us about the chance of snow showers tonight into tomorrow. this morning, vdot is heading out to make sure the roads are ready for the flakes. >>> authorities are going to shut down parts of i-95 in stafford county to start searching for the remains much pamela virginia state police will close the garrisonville road access point

back to a red flag warning versus the unprecedented purple-level warning that we entered for the first time yesterday. that still means wind gusts up to 55 miles per hour. officials said that we will still be in dangerous territory through the weekend. >> we're essentially getting surrounded by fire. >> reporter: the devastating wildfires that have been largely confined to the los angeles area exploded into san diego county thursday. within a few hours, the lilac fire had eaten through entire neighborhoods, burning 32 structures as it sped toward the ocean. >> for those who have not been currently impacted by the fire, they need prepare as if they are going to be impacted by the fire. the fire could make it through oceanside to the coast if it continues. >> reporter: in what's become a familiar sight, anxious residents told you have to leave now. >> we begged and pleaded for them to let us through. they barely did. they said, okay, you've got ten minutes, you need to go. >> reporter: north of san diego county, yet another fire erupted in marietta, sending more families packing, scorchi

we are back to a red flag warning versus the purple warning level we reached for the first time yesterday. that still means the gust could reach 55 miles an hour throughout southern california. >> we are essentially getting surrounded by fire. >> reporter: the devastating wildfires that have been largely confined to the los angeles area exploded into san diego county thursday. within a few hours, the lilac fire had eaten through entire neighborhood, burning 32 structures as it sped to the ocean. >> if you have not been currently impacted by the fire, act like you are. it could make it through oceanside to the coast, if it continues. >> reporter: in what is a familiar sight, anxious residents were told, you have to leave now. >> we begged and pleaded to let us through. they barely did. they said you have ten minutes. you need to go. >> reporter: north of san diego county, another fire erupted sending more families packing, scorching more dry brush. there are six fires burning with the largest being the thomas fire in ventura county. late thursday, officials said nearly 500 homes and buildi

flag warnings for all the bay area hills. winds will pick up tonight, peak saturday morning. the purple color is the stronger winds.out sunday morning then the colors and the winds begin to ease up. all because of the come by -- combinations to the soáult. and later in the week, by sunday there'll be northernly winds. it'll be chapped hands weather this weekend, really dry. dry weekend it'll be windy saturday morning. all in all not a bad weekend at all. the winds couldn't above average. for saturday sunny vale at 63 degrees. los gatos tomorrow at 64 degrees. and more sunshine tomorrow than we had today. that cold front moved through, no rain. plenty of clouds today but that will change for tomorrow. we have plenty of sun coming into the bay area and up in ukiah that will hold true as well. with temperatures around 60 degrees. expected forecast sunny side up right through midweek. wednesday things will cloud up a little bit. we really probably won't get any rain. that can change but at the moment that's how it's looking. >> lots of things can change. >> you bet, have a good weekend. >> today oxford's dictionary wor

represent all 4 branches, anico 18 -- combat ve, some purple heart recipients, some are service disabled, a very therapeutic environment. liz: brian, flags check it out, good to see you. >> thank you so much. liz: okay, al franken, office is now saying that reports by reuters and dow jones he will resign, are not accurate, we'll bring you more details on that, after this. "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way" with anoro. ♪go your own way once-daily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that work together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. anoro is not for asthma . it contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. the risk is unknown in copd. anoro won't replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms .. liz: senator al franken's office denying he will quit. they say. >> reporter: inaccurate. no decision has been made. he is planning an announcement tomorrow. up next, charles payne. charles: fast-moving developments on making money. al franken set to make an announcement tomorrow amidst an avalanche of calls from democrats to resign. president trump announcing the

purple. that means extreme danger. and fires that erupt will burn uncontrollably. >> we're in the middle of a week-long red flag condition. we're not done. we're projecting that this will be less significant on friday and we're only on day three. >> no injuries have been reported in the skirball fire so far. it is just 5% contained. >> and this is what the wildfires look like. from 438 miles above the earth. reporter paul has the report from the thomas fire in ventura county. >> here's where it is burning furiously along this front. this is almost to the pacific ocean. this is the major artery between ventura and santa barbara called the 101. i'll try to give you a sense of the scope of how widespread this is. you see that there. there are flames everywhere. it is not like a firefighting crew can get he in there right now. in a sense, we don't want to put forces in there to get that out. they have to let it burn down to the freeway. >> and that's a difficult job. the abc7 news app has been sending out news alerts. >>> the fbi has formed a special team to take a look at the north bay he wildfires. this is about false adve

flag warnings are posted as well as wind advisories. these future wind casts, this is tomorrow morning at 11:00. those bright purple colors are the stronger winds. below we still get 25-mile an hour gusts and finally things begin to ease up going towards sunday morning, but all weekend long right through sunday it will be windy, dry and that combination is not good news, but there is good news on the horizon. we'll have that in the forecast in a few minutes. >> thank you. >>> a second sea lion attack in less than 24 hours, a swimmer bitten now treated for possible rabies exposure and the warning tonight, stay out of the water. >> police say this bay area guy was taking credit card skimming to a whole new level, how a gas station worker thwarted his elaborate plan. >> hikers paying up, how a bay area city is cashing in on a parking crackdown at this popular peak. officials just shut it down... afte >>> sky drone 5 giving us an exclusive view over aquatic park in san francisco. officials just shut it down after a second sea lion attack in 24 hours. li here suspect kpix5's da lin is there and spoke to witnesses who sa