== over here we're probably seeing flame lengt in excs of 100 feet nbc bay area news starts now. >> over here we're probably seeing a flame length in excess of 100 feet. >> towering fast-moving flames getting the best of firefighters in lake county. the rocky fire doubling in size overnight, now sitting at 47,000 acres. gheechb good evening. >> that rocky fire has torn through 24 homes and another 5,000 are threatened. but the flames are only 5% contained. evacuees are very worried. the rocky fire just one of more than 20 major fires burning in california right now. crews from across the country are here to help. for the latest on california's state of emergency here's marianne an fabro.

>> reporter: the santa clara county fire department has sent 27 firefighters to the rocky fire, and they have been tasked with structure defense, protecting homes. in addition, two strike teams made of up fighters from several south bay cities including san jose have been sent to the rocky fire. crews are launching an aggressive air attack using california national guard air tankers. firefighters are also burning out areas ahead of the fire to help stop the flames from moving so quickly. >> last night, we burned out much of the grass so that by the time the actual wildfire burns there, we have a much larger yeah irto make a stand. our goal last night was to hold this fire below highway 20 and to the west of highway 16. we were successful at that. >> reporter: still, despite the efforts, the rocky fire grew 20,000 acres in just a five-hour period last night.

firefighters say they expect to see cooler temperatures moving forward, but the big problem remains tinder dry brush in that region west of sacramento. right now, the fire crews from santa clara county fire department are getting much-needed rest, and then they'll be back out on the front line starting tomorrow morning. reporting live, nbc bay area news. meanwhile, firefighters are gaining the upper hand in the battle that is raging in the sierra national forest. this is the willow fire. it broke out last saturday by north fork. that's about 50 miles north of fresno. it has burned about 5,600 acres so far. today crews announced that hundreds of evacuated families can begin to head home about 9:00 tonight. the fire is 60% contained, but with more than 2,000 firefighters on the job, teams are confident it will be out soon. >> today has been a really successful day. the night crews were very instrumental in doing some firing operations.

>> there are about 400 homes in that evacuated community. all of these fires are sending a lot of smoke up into the air. here's our meteorologist with a look at where the smoke is drifting and also the fire danger across the bay area. rob? >> we are seeing slightly cooler conditions around the bay area with the low clouds and sea breeze. but near the rocky fire you can see the smoke plume there and lightning producing storms off to the north and east which we're watching for more lightning spark fires. unfortunately across extreme northern california, upper level system tossing high clouds that way. but you can see north of redding red flag warnings continue until about 9:00 tonight. this fire burning in an area that is largely missing out on the cooling trend we've seen in most of the coastal portions of the bay area. still in the 90s near lake county. humidity at 22%. you can see the footprint of the fire right in clear lake itself.

even at the lower elevations we have cloudy skies. and we should see a repeat performance tonight. the marine layer should deepen up a little bit, closer to 2,500 feet which means that could spill over some of the coast of hilltop and further inland but likely not helping out lake county all that much. but back to the bay area it's a cooling trend. tomorrow morning, we start off with misty skies and temperatures running below average for a change. a look at that in your forecast in just a few minutes from now. you're talking about harmful air. there's a warning for people who live in rodeo tonight. there was a flare-up at the phillips 66 refinery on san pablo avenue this afternoon. look at a picture of that flare-up. a viewer sent this in to us. and that's a heck of a flare-up. hazmat officials issued an advisory and recommend that people sensitive to smoke should stay inside. about you that but that alert has now been lifted. >> pacifica has mother dead whale on its beach.

and this time it's a humpback. scientists have been out there this afternoon investigating the carcass and i'm assuming trying to figure out the cause of death. >> reporter: that's exactly right. this has attracted a pretty large crowd of onlookers to the beach. what the team is doing is taking samples from that whale carcass. a spokesperson for the center in sals ledo says they'll work with a team from the california academy of sciences and are keeping an eye on the carcass and the tide. that's how they determine the best time for that necropsy. the whale, discovered this morning by someone walking along the beach. the residents say it concerns them because there have been other dead whales in the area recently. >> this has happened to me two times. this is the third one. and it's not good for, you know the area and the people.

it's a concern, what's going on in this area. >> reporter: a humpback whale washed up on the carcass of a sperm whale in may. the cause of death unclear, possibly due to a ship strike but that wasn't confirmed. city officials are making plans to have that whale removed as expeditiously as possible, but they didn't say exactly when. reporting live in pacifica, christie smith, nbc bay area news. in san francisco, police are searching for the gun marjorie knollerman knollermanman /* -- gunman. one of the victims is dead. two others did survive. police have yet to release a motive for the shootings or a suspect description. investigators are asking for public's help in that case. he is the suspect in two violent crimes and has been convicted before. 52-year-old james belden is a

suspect in a robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in downtown concord. he is also a registered sex offender. he was recently seen driving a gold 1991 honda accord with california license plate number 60 gg 337. vote in the november election, and be a part of history. san mateo county will be the first county in california to hold an election with no physical polling places. instead, all ballots will be mailed in. it's part of a pilot program signed into law pie governor brown last year. officials say they hope the mail-in only election will increase voter participation. it will save the county about $1 million. turning now to decision 2016, we've had so many politicians jump into the gop race. now rumors are swirling about whether or not vice president joe biden will make a run for president. this news coming as candidates on the republican side are preparing for their first debate. nbc's brian mooar has the latest now from washington, d.c.

>> reporter: presidential candidate donald trump is laying claim to center stage in thursday's first primetime gop presidential debate. but he says he's not going to cleveland looking for a fight. >> i'm not looking to start anything for sure. i'd rather discuss the issues. >> reporter: trump seized first place in a recent poll ahead of scott walker and jeb bush. but those onin the top 10 will share the stage. >> i think he's captured the deep frustration that people feel. i mean, i get that. >> reporter: governors chris christie of new jersey john case as of ohio and rick perry of texas are in danger of missing the cut and being lumped into a debate among the bottom-polling candidates. >> how you do in iowa new hampshire, and south carolina will have a lot more to do with who's going to be the nominee. >> the national polls are irrelevant. i was at 1% in the national polls four years ago and ended

up winning 11 states and the iowa caucus. >> reporter: on the other side of the divide hillary clinton leads the pack but may be getting some company, with word that joe biden is testing the waters for a possible white house run. for now, though all eyes are on the republicans and their improbable front-runner. while trump leads that nbc news-"wall street journal" poll he also has the highest unfavorable ratings of any gop candidate. brian mooar, nbc news washington. a look at the progress on the transbay tube and whether tomorrow's bart commute will be back to normal. and the face of jericho the lion raised alarm bells after cecil was killed. details next. go roam sleep in sleep out star gaze dream big wander more

care less beat sunrise chase sunset do it all. on us. get your first month's payment plus five years wear and tear coverage. make the most of summer... with volvo.

happening now. "smooth sailing." that's w barworkers ardescribing the s shuttltaking passengers acrs happening now, smooth sailing. that's how bart workers are describing the bus shuttle taking passengers across the bay with the transbay service shutdown. a live look at the backup on the bay bridge. not really much of a backup there. things are moving along. now this weekend-long closure is so workers can replace aging crossover tracks and do general maintenance as well. bart says the number of people looking to take their shuttles across the bridge is a lot less than expected, making the whole process a lot easier. >> we actually have more buses than we thought we originally were going to be running

constantly. so it's a good thing. it's a good thing that fewer people are coming out. >> bart is on track to open at 4:00 tomorrow morning for the morning commute. another transbay tube closure will take place labor day weekend. we can think about another time. coverage continues online at nbcbayarea.com. there you can find detailed information to get you around with a minimum of delay during the closure. we have new details in the search for a missing malaysian airlines flight. officials are asking for help near another island where a suspected piece of the plane washed up. what looks like a piece of a wing washed up. and then another piece of metal showed up. that second piece was a stepladder and was not from the plane. the first piece is on its way to france to be analyzed. >> it's one thing to find on reunion island. we will look for more wreckage. >> reporter: malaysia has asked

other asian islands to be on the lookout for wreckage. despite conflicting reports, another cherished lion connected to cecil the lion is still alive. authorities in zimbabwe say jericho is alive and being monitored. they say they spotted him with his pride. they were able to track his movements through his gps collar. rumor had it that jericho was shot not long after an american dentist killed his beloved and iconic partner, cecil, in an illegal hunt. officials say the two lions are not blood related siblings but they befriended each other on a protected wildlife refuge in zimbabwe. zimbabwe is going after a second american accused of killing a lion. authorities say a pennsylvania doctor shot the lion with a bow and arrow without the proper approval back in april. the hunt also happened on land where that is not allowed. zimbabwe has also suspended all hunting of lions, leopards and

elephants in certain areas. a little league intermediate world series is in full swing in the east bay. it's back for its third year in livermore. 11 regional, u.s. and international champs will play each other to get that championship trophy. the host team from danville playing the east team from new york right now. players ages 11 to 13 are eligible to play in this league, which features longer pitching distance and bases. >> everybody's accustomed to little league world series in williamsburg pennsylvania. this is the next age up. a little more distance now. 50-foot pitching, 70-foot bases. they can lead off. they are getting closer to that professional baseball standard. >> the championship game is saturday 6:00 p.m. at max bayer park. admission is free. looks like fun. >> so exciting.

very competitive. our meteorologist is now here with a look at the microclimate forecast. >> looking pretty good especially for today. temperatures begin to cool off a little bit thanks to a stronger sea breeze. low clouds off the west of the coastal mountains. high clouds going by. should be a beautiful sunset. a view from the other side of the bay, across the golden gate bridge, 69 degrees. mostly sunny. we will see low clouds around 9:00 and 10:00 tonight. ememryville. 74 in the trivalley. livermore and pleasanton today still managed low to mid 80s. but the temperature trend which really started today will follow us through monday and tuesday. and that means our temperatures compared to 24 hours ago, as much as about five degrees cooler in. concord, this sea breeze will be the big player in our weather for at least the first half of

the work week. mild and breezy to start. low clouds return and some areas of mist and drizzle for tomorrow morning. and then we'll see sunshine for the afternoon. and a few more high clouds passing by and temperatures tomorrow very similar to what we saw today. starting today with some 50s and 60s to start. some drizzle and mist likely along the coast and hilltops around highway 17 or highway 1 for the morning. lunchtime tomorrow low to mid 70s inland. still fairly cool, especially out towards livermore and san jose tomorrow. upper 70s to low 80s closer to san jose. 60s around san francisco. palo alto in the upper 70s. mid 70s around napa and wine country for tomorrow and upper 70s to low 80s around the trivalley. and the trend should continue for about tuesday. mid week we are watching off to the west hurricane guillermo here. watch the path as we get into wednesday and thursday. if you have family or travel interest across the hawaiian islands, this storm dropping a lot of rain gusty winds.

no longer a hurricane but potential for some flooding rains possibly across the hawaiian islands. meantime, our weather turns warmer again. we'll see temperatures climbing but nowhere near as hot as we were last week where we saw temperatures as high as 105. instead, it looks like 90 may be some of the warmer temperatures as we see the cooldown for the next few days. wednesday and thursday things reverse and temperatures climb on up. livermore, close to 88 degrees. so getting closer to slightly above average for thursday. closer to that or maybe slightly warmer towards thursday. and san francisco, temperatures bumping up a little bit. not much change along the coast. next weekend, though temperatures climbing once again with a mild start, and 90s back in the valleys as we finish out next sunday. back to you. >> summer not letting go yet. that's for sure. thank you, rob. coming up next bay area kids rewarded in a big way for reading. >> a lot of reading actually. we'll show you what they did to earn a very special day at at&t park.

life's the food that brings us together. and kitchens where every meal is the most important of the day.

life's the food that brings us together. and kitchens where every meal is the most important of the day. day at a-t&t park. ==vo== abo thousands of kids saw their hard work pay off today. today at at&t park, about 2,500 junior giants earned a free ticket to watch today's giants versus rangers game on the jumbo tron for reaching a goal of reading more than 720 minutes this summer. that's a lot. the junior giants were recognized at the pregame parade around the field with their teammates and settled in to watch the game and have a nice lunch. the program serves at risk children ages 5 to 18 and teaches them life lessons to help them off the field. >> they are learning teamwork and conversationfidence. a lot of the kids have never played a sport before.

so just to give them the confidence of knowing they can do things they didn't know they could do. >> about 2,500 other junior giants will attend tomorrow's giants game against the braves. >> well they'll be watching it on the jumbo tron. >> yes. and some others of us will be watching it maybe on the jump bro tron. >> maybe not. >> where are you going to watch that game tomorrow? >> at my house. i'm off. >> there you go. coming up in sports the a's decided the fans deserved some free baseball at the coliseum today. those highlights are next. plus the giants' newest starter did all he could on sunday, but was it enough against the rangers to keep their hot streak alive? find out next in sports.

the newest member of the giants, mike leake, making his debut with the orange and black today, but a strong outing on the mound wasn't backed up at the plate, as leake ended up on the wrong side of a pitcher's dual in arlington. let's take you to the highlights. rubber match between the giants and rangers. in the sixth with a man on, uh-oh. josh hamilton takes leake deep and that one is gone. rangers up 2-0. through 6 1/3 of work he gave up eight hits two runs and struck out five. top nine, same four bases loaded for buster posey. he singles to left.

but check this out. kelly throws out at third. the throw to home too far, so he would have scored if he hadn't been held up. hunter pence. no grounds into the game-ending inning-ending double play. giants fall 2-1. >> it was a little different. putting on a different uniform is always a little weird. but once we got going, it felt like just another game. >> mixed it up well. pitched well in traffic. he did a great job in this ballpark. going seven, two runs. you'll take that. and i thought he did a real nice job. >> he gave us some life. you know, he gave us every opportunity to win. that was an outstanding, you know, debut for us. so it was really really

uplifting to have him take the mound and go out and pitch the way he did. indians and a's. series finale. top of five, this one fouled to right. josh reddick makes a running catch. but he would leave the game after the inning with lower back tightness. we're going to extras, folks. tied at 1-1. one on for mark can a. cana get a walk-off? oh, yeah. off the wall in left. and it's the rookie's first career walk-off. and his reward, well, a pie and gatorade. nice. a's win in 10 2-1. the 49ers kicked off training camp on thursday, and the turf at levi's stadium is already a problem. san francisco scheduled their first practice there, but the field may not hold up. shula doesn't want to put his

players at risk but for now will make an adjustment. >> in terms of the team period, you know, no issues at all. you'll see the individual periods will be adjusted a little bit. the problem with the wide receivers and the dbs, with all the stopping and starting and planting and driving. we'll get those moved. and go from there. >> the silver and black are in action as we speak, wrapping up day three of training camp in napa. and a lot of excitement around the raiders as they enter the 2015 season under new head coach. and of course a lot of young talent on the roster. we'll see if this is the year they turn things around. >> we'll find out soon. >> we certainly will. >> thank you so much. we'll be right back.

leave early go roam sleep in sleep out star gaze dream big wander more care less beat sunrise chase sunset do it all. on us.

get your first month's payment plus five years wear and tear coverage. make the most of summer... with volvo. ==terry/cu== a world-traveling, hitchhiking bot has metts end... ==take sot== robot noises boy: "hello? hitchbot: "salutations." beep runs :03 a world traveling hitchhiking robot has met its end. >> hello? >> salutations. >> whoa, he talked to me. >> this is hitchbot. he was created by canadian researchers and has been traveling across the united states as part of a social experiment. the robot can carry on a conversation and snap pictures of its adventures. it relies on travellers to pick him up and pass him on. he was seen in philadelphia, but yesterday hitchbot's creators got an image they didn't want to see. he has been damaged beyond repair. hitch bot is not working, but they have no idea who did it or why. >> hate to hear that. one last look at tomorrow. >> a bit of a cooling trend from

today will carry over to tomorrow. temperatures now closer to 80 in the south bay. low 80s in the trivalley. and upper 60s and near 70 in san francisco tomorrow. >> thanks for choosing nbc bay area news. >> "open road" is next and then "america's got talent." we'll see you back here at 11:00. ...a rabbit... ...a rabbit genetically modified and bred with a panther... ...with turbines attached... ...on ice... ...shaved... ...with a...what the?! with the fastest speeds to the most homes, the company that keeps making fast faster is doing it again. introducing multi-gig speeds from xfinity. the future of awesome.

i'm doug mcconnell, and we've got some great discoveries for you along the "openroad." doug: we'll discover a piece of our past, sheltered in the shadow of our region's biggest city. next to silicon valley we'll explore a "valley of heart's delight." we'll listen to nature more closely and carefully than ever before. doug: oh, wow. doug: wander through a wild wonderland accessible to everyone. and marvel at bird's eye beauty above the bay and beyond. [music] doug: before this was the silicon valley it was the "valley of heart's delight," famous for its fertile soil and rich heritage of ranching and farming.