but not long ago i was up at a place called chimney rock in southwest colorado. and it's over 8,000 feet. and you are up at the southern end ftd rocky mountains and there is this scarp of rock that rises up probably about a thousand feet out of a valley floor and right at the tip of this scarp there are two twin towers of rock. if you get to a certain place on top of this very narrow butte, you can see between these twin towers and there happens to be a great house built between these two towers and every 18.6 years when the moon goes into its northernmost point on the horizon, it rises between those two towers. i was there at the beginning of the last 18.6 year cycle and we stood up there, probably 20 of us, researchers, forest service people, all gathered at the same spot with cameras and huddled -- it was late december at 8,000 feet and we were all watching this gap. and somebody had done very intricate work to figure out exactly where you need to stand to see the light at exactly the right time. and as we were all gathered up there, i remember this older arch

and another one burning in southwest colorado.were advising old and young along with those who have respiratory conditions to avoid prolonged exertion outdoors. >>> we have a follow-up to a story we brought to you last september. it appears a mistake by a heating oil contractor will soon cost three people their homes in alexandria. >> brittany morehouse was the first on the scene when a griffith energy contractor dumped a few hundredel goes of heating oil into the wrong basement. here's her update. >> we begin tonight with the breaking news. >> it is a story we broke nine months ago. a griffith energy contractor dumping 335 gallons of heating oil into the wrong basement. >> it was a dramatic scene. at the time, the homeowner who rented to a tenant, declined comment. >> griffith initially said we want to work with you. you don't need to hire an attorney or go to the press. >> now, charlie is going to the press. >> came in through the great. >> he show us the inside of his now condemned house. >> the doorway to what was once a fully

. >>> fire crews in the southwest have their hands full this morning. a wild fire along the new mexico, colorado border is one of fires burning. it destroyed eight homes and six other buildings this morning. they are dealing with gusty winds, heat, and dry conditions. >>> in arizona the biggest wild fire in the state's history is just 33% contained this morning. fire has been burning since may 29th. about 760 square miles have burned and 32 homes have been destroyed there. they have pinpointed the cause to a campfire. no arrests have been made but authorities say they have two persons of interest that they are talking to. >>> the sudden death of a paramedic in illinois is a good reminder for people in the bay area to keep an eye out for ticks. michelle heap suddenly died earlier this week after getting bit by as many as 20 ticks. the station where she works is draped in black in her honor. heaps loved the outdoors and recently went on two camping trips. >>> a new lawsuit claims 26 mars are violating california's organic labeling law. that requires the product to have at least 70% organic ingredi

to explosive devices were found at a colorado mall this morning after an apparent overnight break-in, the bomb squad was called in southwestnver, they detonated the device is safely, no one was injured. the fbi and the joint terrorism task force has joined the investigation of suspects are in custody at this time. it does faa says took two people were killed when a small hall--plain it slammed into the broad of a home. -that's the plane slammed into the rise of a home. it took off early friday evening no word on what brought that plane down. a police has been killed in the line of duty, the trooper was responding to a call for help when he collided with another vehicle about 60 mi. north east of richmond. investigators say the force of the impact knocked the squad car off the road in into a light pole. two other people were taken to the hospital for minor injuries. in south dakota, what was supposed to be a mock shootout ended up being an actual shootout. during the re-enactment of an old gun fight, on a live rounds were fired from a gun and hit people and the audience, three tourists were hit but no one was seriously inju

colorado, kansas and also utah. >> crossing a lot of state lines. two biggest blazes are in arizona. the monument fire southwest of tucson has been called the number one priority. as it forces new evacuations. john hendren has the latest. >> reporter: drought conditions are fanning wildfires. >> we need rain. we really need rain. >> reporter: three dozen massive wildfires are blazing through ten states, burning more than 1.2 million acres. among the hardest-hit states, texas and arizona. >> it's dry out. the smallest little fire with the wind, just like today, it doesn't take long for it to spread long. >> reporter: arizona senator john mccain blamed illegal immigrants for setting the flames. but the federal spokesman there there's denying those claims. they're battling two major wild fires that have forced thousands from their homes. >> it looked like a war zone. it really does. >> reporter: in texas, fire has closed i-45, the highway that links dallas and houston. evacuated the town of midway. about 200 homes. >> the wind and humidity aren't working in our favor. we didn't see humidity recovery until late, la

ken salazar says this will protect the colorado risker watershed from being contaminated. millions of people in the southwestet their drinking water from the river. >>> three kentucky miners are waking up at home. they were trapped underground. all of this happened as part of the mine's entrance collapsed. the miners were able to walk out on their own, almost 14 hours after this ordeal begin. state and federal regulators closed the money while they inspect for damage. >>> court is now in session. the new development in the trial of a mother accused of a horrible crime. >>> and we're hearing spiderman won't live past thursday. why that super-hero is about to meet its demise. man: we need a sofa. something i can stretch out on! woman: ooh... that will go with those lamps my mother gave us. or we could get some new lamps. or we could get no sofa. negotiating, eh? you got it! óf@ >>> happening right now in orlando, florida, we're back in the courtroom. there's at the -- there is the judge there. this is the murder trial of casey anthony. the proceed something underway again. we're live in the courtroom. now, tod

and with the wind out of the southwest, you can see the fires spread and the smoke moving into parts of the central plains, even into coloradoable to smell the smoke from great distances which wreaks all kinds of havoc with respiratory problems. chance of strong storms. some have popped up across parts of the southeast and into portion of the mid mississippi valley. in fact, at this hour, we have a couple of severe thunderstorm watches that are now in effect for parts of tennessee, into the carolinas, even into georgia, alabama, mississippi and arkansas. could have strong thunderstorms, some damaging winds, small hail and maybe even the possibility of flash flooding. that is a wrap on the forecast. >> happy father's day in advance. >> thank you so much. >>> so as we celebrate our father this is weekend, we wanted to tell you about a dad in new york who's not only a father of two but also a mr. mom. jack sullivan spent considerable time at home caring for his young sons to help boost his parenting skills, he joined a father's group. well, that was 14 years ago. and the group is still meeting today. >> i've been having a lot o

southwest. red flag warnings are in effect for new mexico, much of north texas, and portions of, of course, colorado utah. >> we've been having the fires in texas burning for a couple of months, and now the fires in new mexico, arizona, and starting to move into colorado. i can't -- i cannot stress enough just how dry this summer is. >> reporter: i'm greg black reporting. >>> arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords back in texas to continue her rehab. >>> that's right. she spent the weekend with her family in tucson, arizona. this was her first hometown trip since she was shot in january. giffords was released from a houston hospital on wednesday, and she had begun her out patient therapy. >>> it is 5:48 now. forget all about dot-com. how about dot vegas? could happen. the big change that could be in store for the internet coming up. >>> your favorite. >>> why not? >>> it's a wonderful place. >>> also ahead, meet the couple who proves you're never too old to say "i do." >>> ♪ [ woman ] sam begged and pleaded... so i sent him to camp. we'd earned lots of points with our new citi thankyou card... and

colorado to oklahoma. and more evacuations have been ordered in arizona. three dozen massive wildfires are blazing through the southwest burned a combined 1.2 million acres of land. arizona and texas are among the hardest hit state. 1,000 firefighters are on the front lines in arizona alone. battling two major wildfires that forced thousands of people from their homes. one of the blazes spread to over half a million acres. it is the largest fire in arizona history. >> we're drying out and headed to the triple-digit temperatures. or threat is rising as well. >> more in the overnight hours. winds are fastest then but during the day, that i're relatively calm. show you the u.s. drought monitor. to show how we're not in a drought. look at the d-4 drought to see how much of the south and southeast it takes. then you look at the age. that's agriculture, dry soil and hiydrological. talk about what is going on outside to see how clear it is. as we look for mount tamalpais this morning. the temperature running from 48 in half moon bay to 75 in antioch. much cooler and uniform around the monterey bay and inland. low to mid-50s.

we start off in the southwest, where we're looking at the wildfires, so take a look at the critical fire area from arizona to colorado, we're looking at temperatures in the 80s and 90s, upper 80s and 90s. the humidity is very low an the wind gusts are pretty severe during the daytime hours. folks in this part of the nation could see wind gusts of up to 45-mile-an-hours. in the overnight hours, the wind starts to diminish. by morningtime, the cycle starts all over again. we are looking at these conditions to last at least through saturday for the desert southwest. from that part of the nation through new england, we're looking at a heat wave. summer hasn't officially begun. some temperatures break records from 1933, only june so the nation's capital, new york city, could break records. it lasts like this for a while. of course, we are going to keep an eye on it for you. erica, back over to you. >> mary, thanks. get a fan and a bottle of water today. >>> we want to look at the latest on xhet. president obama visiting a community college in virginia to talk about the importance of getting americans back to work, yesterd

southwest. take a look at this map. fires, now, rage from the furthest corner of arizona, to colorado, and then east across new mexico. the biggest threat here, winds up to 45 miles per hour today, which could erase some 19 days of progress made by thousands of firefighters battling, which is now arizona's largest-ever fire. half the size of rhode island and growing still. while to the north, at least 8 homes have been destroyed by a fire ravaging the new mexico/colorado border. some 26,000 acres consumed virtually overnight. and it's so dry in texas, this simple grass fire turned into an emergency, with 100 homes threatened and 3 choppers needed to douse the flames. >>> the makeshift levee holding back the swollen missouri river, is holding. but just barely so. five feet of water could push in today. >>> now, to congresswoman gabrielle giffords. she's finally home after months in the hospital following january's shooting in tucson. her husband spoke about her homecoming yesterday. >> it's great for her to be out of the hospital. it's a long time for anybody to be in a hospital bed. in a hospital room. people at tirr,