we had some really aggressive firefighters. >> confidence ong the fire lines. thousands of evacuees are sent back home. and from of appreciation and also some frustration. >> we have had officers screamed at, spit at, cursed at. >> this as investigators move in looking for the cause.

and firefighters can't catch a break. we have an update on the new fires that started today. good evening, everybody. >> let's start with the latest now on a fire burning in the santa cruz mountains. a new fire north of boulder creek. >> it's still only 5% contained. we get a clear sense of where it's burning tonight. you can see there at the top of your screen, and deer creek near the bottom. abc 7 news reporter chris nguyen has more. >> reporter: in the santa cruz mountains, the bear fire near boulder creek rages on as fire crews struggle to contain it. >> when the material up the slopes burning, what happens is it breaks apart and starts rolling down the hill. and it rolls down below where they're putting the fire lines in. >> reporter: the dry conditions and steep terrain are challenging to navigate. >> the trees, the redwoods and all of the litter on the forest

floor burn almost as well as if they were dead fuel. >> reporter: the bear fire initially started as a structure fire monday night before spreading to surrounding brush. investigators are still trying to determine what caused it. overnight more than 150 homes in a four-mile diameter around the fire were evacuated to safety. this family found shelter at the fire station in felton, one of two official evacuation centers. >> the packing up is a frantic time, grabbing passports, grabbing phones, forgot the chargers, grabbing toothbrushes. and, you know, a comforter here, a pair of boots there. >> reporter: the weather so far has been favorable for crews. but at least four structures have been destroyed. cal fire officials say of the roughly 600 personnel currently on the ground, five of them have suffered minor injuries. residents nearby are grateful for their service. >> we're here. we've got our kids, we've got our dogs, that's all that matters. the panic of getting out of the

house is over. >> reporter: families hoping for a sense of normalcy sometime soon. in boulder creek, chris nguyen, abc 7 news. >> stunning images there. firefighters, they are closely watching the weather in the area of the fire. >> so is meteorologist drew tuma, who has more on the conditions they're facing. >> guys, the winds right now are thankfully cooperating with all the firefighters in the santa cruz mountains. the bear fire right now, winds are generally on the light side, 4 to 7 miles per hour currently. future wind gusts we'll show you as we go through the early morning and midday hours, the winds will likely remain similar to where they are right now, from 2 to 6 miles per hour, if not tom. even into the early evening hours, 8:00 wednesday, the winds are still cooperating to battle that fire there. we take you into the north bay right now. we still have active fires. the winds are cooperating up north as well. calm to 7 miles per hour. we do expect similar wind over

the next 24 hours. the changes are approaching. live doppler 7 along with the sal light, look off to the north and west and you see this cold front, area of low pressure as well, this will sink to the south in the coming days and not only bring rain, but pick up our winds a little bit as well. we bring it back anytime we have a chance of rain, the system coming in late thursday night to early friday morning. a 1 on our storm impact scale. we're expecting light showers. not a lot of rain, but any rain is beneficial right now. north bay could see up to quarter of an inch. the time line of the system in the full forecast in a few minutes, guys. >> drew, thanks so much. now to the fire in dublin. evacuation orders have been lifted in the area near the wildfire. it's burned at least 180 acres. the fire is now 75% contained. that's where people began leaving their homes when the evacuation orders went out about

5:00 this evening. it's now safe for them to go back. it's not clear what sparked the fire. it started before 2:00 this afternoon. >> to the north bay fires now where fire crews have made more progress against the flames today and more evacuation orders were lifted. >> we got new numbers from cal fire. the acreage has held steady. the redwood fire is at 70% containment. the sulfur fire remains at 92%. >> meantime, the nuns fire containment went up to 87%. the tubs fire up 5% to 87%. and the pocket fire 58% contained. >> napa county officials lifted evacuations for partrick road and part of green valley road. in sonoma county, part of the oakmont neighborhood of santa rosa were reopened. >> in the last 24 hours, we've repopulated 13,000 homes.

at a pretty brisk pace. it's about as fast as we can possibly do it. >> there are still mandatory evacuation orders in napa and sonoma counties. we have a list on abc7news.com. while crews gain control of the north bay wildfires, a danger still remains, sky view 7 shows you a landscape of utter devastation. one of the hardest hit areas, the coffee park neighborhood in santa rosa. among the ruins is a lot of toxic debris on these streets now. katie utis with the immediate and long-term recovery effort. >> reporter: hundreds of north bay fire survivors line up for help in santa rosa. >> i need to get a passport. and i need to sign up with fema. >> you're more than welcome. >> reporter: volunteers hand out food, water, even stuffed animals. amber mccarthy and son eddie

stopped in to research relief options. >> people need to get back to life, huh? >> yeah. >> reporter: they escaped the coffee park neighborhood. it's an example of the toxic cleanup that needs to take place. >> houses are full of all kinds of different chemicals when they burn. it leaves a lot of residue. that's the first priority is removing that material and getting disposed of appropriately. >> reporter: one of many officials meeting with fema. who landed in santa rosa this morning to see the fire destruction firsthand. >> we're going to be here through the fire suppression piece, and also support californians through the recovery. getting people back in their homes or back on their properties, or care and shelter. those are the discussions going on right now. >> reporter: long said he's never seen a fire like this. >> this is a tremendous event for an urban area. which is scary. we've got a lot of thinking to do about how you mitigate this

from happening in communities down the road. >> reporter: while there's not a lot that residents can do in neighborhoods like coffee park because it's simply too toxic here, the fema administrator said you can register at the local assistance center. senators dianne feinstein is raising the system that sends alerts to your cell phone. you may have seen one as an amber alert. they said it didn't transmit information during the fires because of technical deficiencies in the system. they said they sent out the warnings through the alert service, but those systems do require residents to register in advance. the senators say currently a wireless emergency alert cannot be sent without reaching large numbers of unaffected residents and they say that would risk mass panic. a lot of people have been worried about looting.

it hasn't been a huge problem, but 14 people have been arrested in sonoma county. as officers keep watch in the fire zone for looters. >> of the 14, we had a fake fire truck. so decommissioned fire truck that someone drove in acting like a firefighter. and one coming in in a security jacket. they're getting creative. >> while none of those arrested by sheriff's deputies were actually caught in the act of looting, santa rosa police arrested a 50-year-old man over the weekend. this photo shows some of the things officers say he stole. investigators now believe someone deliberately sent this wildfire in novato sunday afternoon. it burned about three acres in an open space area near 7th street and carmel drive. the flame threatened several homes and forced evacuations there. so if you saw anything suspicious, the novato fire district wants to hear from you. let's move on to something else, very different. the warriors are playing their season opener right now.

>> larry beal at oracle with the thrilling start. not to mention all those diamonds. >> reporter: it's opening night. all kinds of fun. it's electric inside. the warriors' opening night show, not about staff, not about kevin durant, would you believe it's the swaggy show, new guy, nick young is lighting it up. we'll have first half highlights when we come back live at oracle. >> how fun. thanks, larry. the air quality in the bay area gets worse. now, meteorologist drew tuma is next with the full forecast.

the golden state warriors are back on the court tonight for the season opener, and the ring ceremony. >> larry beal is at oracle arena tonight with more. larry? >> reporter: how are you doing? i met a couple of fans leaving at halftime. they felt the game was comfortably in control. warriors up nine, by the way. nothing comfortable. the warriors have their championship ring ceremony. and had to quickly refocus, because after you stare at the

rings, you have to go out and play a game against the rockets. let's start with the ring ceremony. warriors' chance for the second time in three years. kevin durant finally getting his bling. this is what he came to golden state for. steph curry, his second championship ring. and the new banner hanging from the rafters there. time to play a game. steph curry, knocking down his first three of the year. in early foul trouble. klay thompson started the game 3 of 3 from beyond the arc. the feed from k.d. and knocks it down. he had 11 points in five minutes. and swaggy pete nick young, 5 for 5 to start out as a golden state warrior, sticking the tongue out at kobe right there. but james harden so difficult to deal with, has 18 points at the half. the lead is cut to one. second quarter, swaggy p is feeling it. he's got 20 at the half. kevin durant, maybe a little over amped early.

took 16 minutes to get his first field goal. with over five minutes left, the pass to draymond green. and another swaggy sighting here. 5 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first half, my goodness. right now they're at halftime. the warriors are leading by a score of 71-62. we've been talking about it throughout the preseason that injuries really might be the only thing that keeps this warriors team from repeating as nba champions. there was a gruesome injury tonight in the celtics game. i want to warn you right now, we'll show you the before and after the injury, because it's too hard to look at. new celtic gordon hayward on the drive here. and you see the reaction from the opposing team, and all the players on the court. they were just stunned. they put gordon hayward in an air cast. the diagnosis is a broken ankle. and he is almost certainly done for the season. played less than six minutes in

his debut as a boston celtic. everybody that looked at that tonight at the arena just shuddered, because it was horrifying to see. best wishes for his recovery in the future. as for the warriors, second half still to come. we'll have the highlights and post-game reaction tonight on abc 7 news at 11:00. dan, deion, back to you. >> thanks very much, larry. former major league baseball player johnny gomes is helping fire victims recover. you're looking at pictures posted on twitter showing gomes helping people remove destroyed cars in napa. gomes is also online hoping to raise $1 million and urging others to help in any way they can. >> open your homes if you're in the area for these people. please, any little dollar helps. and boy, it's going to go to a great cause. thank you. >> you'll find a link on abc7news.com. if you want to help the former oakland "a" raise $1 million for fire relief, go to the go fund

me page. smoky skies triggered a spare the air alert today. it will remain in effect through tomorrow. many people could be seen wearing face masks from downtown san francisco and other areas. late this morning, air quality decreased to red, or unhealthy levels according to city officials. the regional air quality management district was tracking the pollution with sensors which says it can provide an accurate picture of exactly what's going on in your area. >> the air district has 30 different air monitors across the bay area that measure pollution every hour. that data is then put into that map, and it will show you what the latest readings are in your area. >> now, the district is giving the now familiar advice to stay indoors if you can, and avoid strenuous activity until the air quality improves. smoke certainly causing problems for flights at sfo tonight. at least 31 flights were canceled there. more than 250 flights were canceled last week.

abc 7 news meteorologist drew tuma has been following what's happening on the fire lines very closely, and the smoke. >> indeed. lots of prayers for rain, drew. >> yeah. we'll see some of that rain later on this week. but that air quality today at some point was unhealthy across the entire region. we're seeing fresh air move in tonight. we expect the air quality to be a bit better tomorrow. what it's showing you up above, what we had for much of the day, a few high clouds passing from time to time. a very nice evening at hand in terms of weather conditions. outside we go, the golden gate bridge, look what has returned, yes, the fog. we have cooling air moving in. and that fog is just really an indication that a marine layer is back. that's going to bring in some fresh air overnight tonight. the fog was a beautiful picture earlier this evening. this coming in from morgan and piedmont, taking a look at the san francisco skyline.

thank you, morgan, for sending that in. winds right now, we are seeing that onshore push finally. sfo right now coming in at 13 niles per hour. fairfield 12 miles per hour. the noticeable thing is the wind is moving onshore from the ocean. what that's going to do, improve the air quality ever so slightly tomorrow. so we'll see moderate air quality, widespread. still, we have issues in the north bay where we have the active fires with poor air quality. the combination of the onshore breeze and a little bit of rain moving in here thursday night into friday, you'll see air quality improve areawide over the weekend. out there right now, some spots are running almost 20 degrees cooler right now. than we were this time last night. we're down to 52 in san francisco. 50 the current number in santa rosa. 63 in san jose. antioch checking in at 67 degrees. overnight tonight, a bit of fog developing on the coast. patchy fog developing in and around the bay first thing

tomorrow morning. still hazy skies in the north bay. most spots will fall into the 40s over the next 12 hours. on your wednesday, we're getting back to near average in the temperatures. not too many 80s like we had today. 68 in oakland. 76 in san jose. 79 in antioch. we do expect partly cloudy skies, haze in the atmosphere once again thanks to our fires. future tracker, winds, as we get into thursday night, especially, we do expect the winds to increase. this is all ahead of that cold front that will bring us some rain. the winds from 15 to 20 miles per hour. throughout the day on thursday. we bring in the storm impact scale. we're tracking that system late thursday night. it is a 1 on the storm impact scale. light showers. not a lot of rain, but certainly beneficial in the areas that we need it, like the north bay. hour by hour, we'll time it out for you. we get you into 11:00 on your thursday. the north bay will likely see the showers first late thursday,

early into friday morning, likely sinking south, becoming more widespread in nature. a quickly moving system. by sunup we expect the showers to be out of here. rainfall potential, take a look at this. light, but still appreciable for this time of year. in the north bay, likely the highest, close to a quarter of an inch. cool marine air moves in. that will help our air quality. there's the chance of the shower thursday night into early friday morning. it clears out. our air quality gets better over the weekend and warm weather returns for early next week. >> you have to go see the big sun in the forecast. >> yeah. >> we'll take it. thanks, drew. one family is doing all it can to help its stake in the wine industry. >> the race to get the liquid gold into barrels and ready for drinking is turning into a m marathon effort. that, and more.

cal fire said crews are making significant progress on nearby fires as well. >> west of the mendocino fire is about 70% contained. the fire has blackened nearly 36,000 acres there and blamed for eight deaths. >> the sheriff said all mandatory evacuation orders in mendocino county have been lifted, but potter valley remains under evacuation orders. >> the sulfur fire burning in lake county, is 92% contained and burned 2,200 acres. evacuation orders have been lifted but warnings are still in place. the fires in lake and mendocino counties have destroyed a total of 436 homes. the search for the missing in the north bay fires.

>> plus, a new view of damage in the north bay from the air with emergency responders. also -- >> it feels great to be able to support someone who's just lost everything. >> a group of students learns an important lesson about loss and the power of kindness. plus -- >> getting back in their houses, getting recovered, getting reimbursed for firefighters and first responders. he's done that. >> he's provided funds for fire victims, but is president trump falling short in his role as consoler in chief? even a

we'll begin this half hour with the north bay fires.

late tonight napa county officials lifted the mandatory evacuations for parker road and in santa rosa they're let back home now. >> search and rescue teams continue to comb through t burn area looking for victims in sonoma. there are still more than 50 outstanding missing persons reports. >> according to the latest numbers from cal fire, acreage has held steady this afternoon. the nuns fire went up to 10% to 87%. the atlas fire is 87% contained. 87% tubs fire and pocket fire 57% containment. >> we're getting a broader view tonight of the devastation caused by the wildfires. >> wayne friedman took an aerial tour. >> reporter: at ground level, we're beginning to run out of words as views of ruins begin to run together. this is fountain grove, a landscape of telling remnants

and details. and now, a broader view from a higher plane. >> i didn't think it was that big. in the residential areas at least. but now actually seeing it, it was unbelievable. >> reporter: that was u.s. air force reserve staff sergeant from auburn, after he escorted us into a helicopter that took us on a most sobering aerial tour of the fire zones. >> it's a landscape that looks so familiar until you fly over it. then it's wasteland. >> reporter: this is what remains of coffee park. it looks flattened from above, as if by a bomb. and that was just the first flyover of many. >> about 11 miles east of santa rosa. >> reporter: now above an active fire area. the white smoke sending a not so subtle signal that here in the rough country, flames continue to have their way. up front, major ken yandling compared this to what he's seen

in afghanistan and iraq. those places were tough, he told us. but this is home. and it's not his first taste of american tragedy this year. >> a few weeks ago we were in florida working hurricane recovery. so, you know, in either scenario, you start thinking about what it would be like to be that person with that loss. and it's -- it's remarkable. it's got to be a tough spot to be in. >> reporter: more like tough spots in northern california on day nine. big, black, billowing ones. above the fire zone with the air national guard, wayne freedman, abc 7 news. >> really great vantage point to see what's happening. 11,000 firefighters are on the front lines battling these blazes. this afternoon, in napa county, cal fire said 245,000 acres have burned statewide in just the last nine days, if you can imagine. the head of fema is in the north bay, as this disaster transitions into the recovery phase. >> california's a special state,

a beautiful place. we have to be working very dilige diligently, not only today, but for many years to come. seeing the urban nature of the wildfire and what it can do to, you know, hundreds of homes in an area, you don't see that very often. it's pretty disturbing. >> administrator long will be meeting with governor brown tomorrow. a convoy of trucks and trailers filled with supplies is part of a generous outpouring of support for victims. abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley has a look now at how students in the central valley are helping. >> reporter: there's this alpaca, a flock of chickens, goat galore. no one knows their names. >> they were rescued off of fire zones from the atlas fire. some came down from the tubs fire. up near calistoga. we pulled some out of kapel valley. >> all of these animals, if we hadn't gone up and had the facility, all these animals wouldn't be here. >> reporter: but they need to

eat. enter central valley ffa students from near merced. they trucked in three truckloads of supplies like hay and feed today. special delivery. >> when we were driving up here on the highway, you see fields burned, vineyards burned down to the ground. it feels great to be able to support someone who's just lost everything. >> reporter: someone like tray hennis. >> seeing the two stock trailers roll up, and a bunch of kids just jump out ready to work was heartwarming. >> reporter: trey's family's house burned down to the ground in coffee park. he scooped up toiletries and clothes here at the high school. donated from the high schoolers from the central valley. but there's more to cope with. santa rosa high school's farm burned down. >> we lost the house. we lost 62-acre facility. we lost all of the pastureland. we lost the two barns that had

all our kit supplies. >> reporter: it will all be replaced eventually with the help of fellow ffa students. >> they already had compassion, and this was just compassion put to work. >> reporter: in addition to these animals, there are also some that suffered burn injuries in the fires. they're being cared for by the ffa students along with students from uc davis' vet school. reporting in napa, i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. it may be too early for presidential visit to the fire zone with fire fighting and recovery efforts still under way, but some californians are wondering why president trump hasn't taken to twitter as he so often does to express concern. here's carolyn tyler. >> reporter: governor jerry brown calls the wine country fires one of the greatest tragedies the state has faced. president trump has signed an emergency federal disaster declaration. >> we have a lot of people helping government in california. >> reporter: but on twitter, his favorite method of communication, we've heard

nothing from mr. trump. and politico's mar i nuchy said california yans are taking noti >> billions of dollars of damage including the wine industry, president trump this week has been tweeting about the nfl, about the stock market. he has not mentioned california on twitter. >> reporter: republican strategist sean walsh has worked for the reagan and bush administrations. he said in politics, there's an expression, show the love and show the money. he believes president trump has shown the money through the emergency declaration. >> for what really matters to californians, getting back in their houses, getting recovered, getting reimbursed for firefighters, and first responders, he's done that. has he done everything he should from a communications perspective to make people feel good? probably not. >> reporter: john burton, the recently retired chairman of the

state democratic party calls the wildfires a human catastrophe. worth tweeting about, or somehow expressing empathy. >> as long as you tweet about everything in the world, what would hurt with just doing that. in showing, ithink, the empathy and compassion. >> reporter: california, as you know, is a silently blue state and president trump's poll numbers here are not good. but the democrat and republican strategists that we talked to both do not believe politics are at play in the lack of tweeting about the fires. in the newsroom, carolyn tyler, abc 7 news. meantime, the white house blasted a federal judge in hawaii for blocking the latest version of president trump's travel ban. the justice department plans to appeal today's decision. a judge made it hours before new restrictions were set to take effect. president trump's latest attempts to block people coming to the u.s. would have included the following countries -- chad, iran, libya, north korea, syria,

yemen and somalia. it also limited some venezuelan officials from visiting the u.s. the state of hawaii has sued three times over the travel ban. president trump is standing by his claim that past presidents didn't always call the families of fallen service members. mr. trump even mentioned his own chief of staff, jbl john kelly, who lost a son in afghanistan. here's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega. >> reporter: even in the face of mounting criticism, president trump today defended his claim that other presidents, including president obama, did not personally call the grieving families of fallen soldiers. the controversy ignited when president trump finally broke his silence over the deaths of four american special on ops soldiers killed in niger. two weeks after the deadly siege, he had yet to mention them or their families. >> i've written them personal letters. they've been sent, or they're

going out tonight. but they were during the weekend. >> reporter: but then he said this. >> the traditional way, if you look at president obama and other presidents, most of them didn't make calls, a lot of them didn't make calls. i like to call when it's appropriate, when i think i'm able to do it. >> reporter: he tried to walk it back. >> president obama, i think probably did sometimes. maybe sometimes he didn't. i don't know. that's what i was told. all i can do is ask my generals. >> reporter: but the backlash was immediate. president obama's attorney general tweeted, stop the damn lying. you're the president. an aide to george w. bush said he called or met privately with hundreds, if not thousands of grieving families. and some gold star families going public with their outrage, too. this mom tweeting, trump does not speak for me and did not speak for my son. he is an embarrassment. white house press secretary sarah sanders insisted the president wasn't criticizing

predecessors, but stating a fact. but hours later, president trump once again pointed the finger directly at president obama, implying he didn't call current white house chief of staff john kelly in 2010 when kelly's son was killed in afghanistan. >> i mean, you could ask general kelly, did he get a call from obama. >> reporter: kelly has repeatedly made it clear to reporters he does not want to talk about his son's death. and he would not go on the record today. but the white house tells us, he never got a call from president obama. obama aides do not dispute that. but they do say kelly did attend a white house breakfast for gold star families where he sat at the first lady's table. cecilia vega, abc news, the white house. today marks the 28th anniversary of yet another disaster in the bay area, the 1989 loma prieta earthquake. this image right here sticks in a lot of people's minds. part of the bay bridge's old

eastern span collapsed when the earthquake hit. massive fires broke out when gas mains ruptured in san francisco's marina district. that magnitude 6.9 quake was blamed for 63 deaths. >> we'll never forget that. a historic catholic school is marking a new beginning. st. ann's school is just completing a massive earthquake retrofit. the school was nearly a century old. principal tom white said engineers literally worked from the ground up to protect it from future earthquakes. >> watching each step of the way with all the of the rebar, all of the concrete, tons and tons of concrete that went in was unbelievable to see how much work went into putting up one wall, but again, it was for the safety of the kids. that's what we're looking for, to make sure all of the work and effort that goes in there assures everybody's safety over time. >> in the 100 years, the ann parish is certainly no stranger

to earthquakes. it was destroyed in the 1906 quake and replaced by the church which stands today and now has been renovated. we posted a video on our website. that includes moments when the quake struck, and the damage that resulted. it is certainly worth checking out on abc7news.com. i'll never forget being in the marina after that. >> i can only imagine. right now, a sacred religious text is making an international journey home. >> coming up, a sendoff from the bay area that this group of

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a synagogue on the peninsula that restored a 200-year-old tora is returning to the original home in the czech republic. vick lee with the story you'll

only see on 7. >> reporter: the torah was allowed through after a personal screening. this sacred bible is receiving the vip treatment from united airlines. on its journey to the czech republic. the 200-year-old torah has been at the sinai congregation since 1970. it came from a synagogue in a village called omus, in the czech republic. a village where jews were murdered by the nazis during world war ii. the ritual art i facts confiscated or destroyed. the torah survived and made its way to the ln done and to foster city. the jewish community has rebuilt itself. >> they asked us if we would help restore the scroll to its original status. >> reporter: for the cantor, all

of this is an incredible coincidence. his wife's parents fled from omus, this was their synagogue's tor torah. >> i never knew that. >> if you look closely, you can see some of the letters are still faded and cracked at the top. >> reporter: the torah still needs restoring, which will be done in the new home on sunday. the journey will be a comfortable one. >> they were nice enough to reserve a seat for it. >> reporter: and its own boarding pass. vick lee, abc 7 news. the effort is on to save the harvested skorved area of wine country. >> the inside look at

jack: why am i sitting here at jack: this ridiculously long table in the middle of nowhere? jack: to invite all my friends in the industry to try this. jack: fast food's first ever ribeye burger. jack: made with 100% ribeye beef, grilled onions, a red wine glaze and creamy havarti cheese. jack: ahh, here comes the competition now. jack: and of course, since they work for my competitors, i've obscured their identities jack: except for this guy. jack: he is so screwed. jack: try my new havarti & grilled onion and all-american ribeye burgers.

the effort to save grapes, there's more than bottles of wipe at stake. david louie is in glen allen tonight with a look at the livelihoods on the wine. >> reporter: they need to maintain specific temperatures for fermentation and to do the crush. imagery had $2 million of wine when it raced through glen ellen. >> as far as heating and cooling, it's very, very critical to the quality of what we're doing. >> reporter: he located three high-capacity generators. one crisis was solved. but another quickly emerged. road blocks and road closures prevented truckers from bringing in the remainder of the harvested grapes. the sooner they can be picked and trucked the lest chance they can be damaged by the thick smoke the fires produced. the smoke can pass through the

mem rain and leave the grapes unsuitable for wine. >> tastes like an ashtray. it's not something we really want. >> reporter: he said four employees lost their homes but demonstrated grit and determination by coming to work. >> employees of this winery are so passionate about they do, they worked all year long growing the grapes, it's time to pick the grapes. they want to get it in and make the wine they wanted to make all year long and finish the job. >> reporter: he estimates only one-fourth of the wineries are processing grapes. it remains wait-and-see. >> they're in their prime. hopefully, you know, a lot of them can be saved. that's something we're going to have to evaluate. >> reporter: david lousie, abc 7 news. >> let's turn our attention to the weather forecast one last time. >> meteorologist drew tuma standing by. >> we're tracking cooling air moving in tonight. a lot of folks already saying on

twitter and facebook the natural a/c finally passing. it's a pretty quiet night. the winds remaining on the calm side for the most part. a little bit of fog on the coast. an indication the marine layer has established itself. a couple of 50s on the board. 51 in santa jose. 48 in richmond. dropped to 45 in fairfield. wednesday, another bright looking day. but we'll have high clouds in the afternoon. a little bit of a haze as well. you see 60s and 70s, back to reality, with the temperatures widespread 80s that we had earlier in the week. 65 in san francisco. 76 in san jose. 79 that number in santa rosa. the storm impact scale, late thursday into early friday, 1, light system with light showers. it will bring beneficial rainfall. especially into the north bay. that rainfall could be up to a quarter of an inch. north bay, it could be likely less than .10 of an inch of

rain. cooling marine air in right now. showers thursday. that will bring better air quality for the weekend with the sun returning sunday into early next week. >> the start of storm season. >> drew, thanks. if you've seen any of the wildfire briefings from sonoma county, you've seen her face. >> she helps get out critical

coming up tonight at 11:00, new fires rage across the bay area today, alarming people who fear it could be just like the north bay. plus, an incredible before-and-after showing the devastation in santa rosa. join us for abc 7 news at 11:00 over on channel 7. finally here, if you've watched the wildfire updates by the sonoma county sheriff's office the last few days, you've likely seen the sign language interpreters who put their heart and soul into translating every word. >> they really do. abc 7 news reporter jonathan bloom got to know two of them today. and learned how they work together as a team. >> this is the 1:00 p.m. press

conference. >> reporter: you may not know her name, but you know ruth mcclen none. she's the interpreter for the deaf who doesn't just sign, she acts. >> it's very rocky. where it gets rocky, it gets slippery. >> reporter: there's something about her you may not know. >> i was born deaf. i grew up deaf. i went to a school for the deaf. >> reporter: she signs everything they're saying. she can't hear a word of it. >> we've worked together for several years. >> reporter: jacobs interprets by herself often. but situations like this call for a speaker. >> my first language is american sign language. >> now we've got the main fire burning to our backfires. >> reporter: she adds the flair and clarity only a deaf person can. >> hearing people stress things that make people understand points. that's how i use my facial expressions. >> frustrated people take their frustration out on the national guard. >> reporter: from road closures to safety hazards. >> a lot of trees that could fall across the road, that could fall on residents. we're cleaning up a lot of that

area. >> reporter: information everyone needs. >> so for deaf people to get it, through a native signer, is just going to make it that much more accessible to them. >> reporter: the interpreters came to serve the community but what they didn't expect is just how grateful the community would be, and how much attention they'd get. >> the people see us as exceptional. everybody loves them. we've got great comments on facebook. >> reporter: well beyond sonoma county. they may be the only presenters wearing uniforms, their goal is the same. >> just like the firefighters, just like the law enforcement. i'm here to make sure people's lives are saved. the lives of the deaf community. >> isn't that fascinating how they do that important work. >> and so fast. gosh, all the coordination. >> amazing. that's it, everybody. >> for all of us, larry biel out at oracle, we appreciate your

(eerie music) - [narrator] today, the stories of two murder cases. one in emporia, kansas. the other in durham, north carolina. in our first case, what seems to be a tragic accident leaves a pastor in mourning, and a church secretary offering far more