we built and put into the place and now it's reduced -- reduced to what you see here. [ pause ] >> firefighters are working around the clock to try to stop the flames. it's wednesday, october 11th. i'm michelle griego. >> i'm anne makovec in for kenny choi this morning. fire commanders keeping a close eye on the forecast because shifting gusty winds making their way into the fire zone. right now, there are at least 17 fires burning across northern california. this is a look at the biggest ones. they are still causing major problems. here is what we know right now. 17 people are now confirmed dead because of the fires. that number is expected to rise. more than 2,000 homes and businesses are destroyed. crews have been making a little bit of progress. the largest fire the atlas fire is 3% contained. two other big fires in the area now 1% contained. the nuns fire is tearing through parts of glen ellen near the napa-sonoma county

border. jackie ward is live near the area right now. jackie. >> reporter: we're on bennett mountain road and this is as far as we could get on the way to glen ellen right now. we got stopped at sonoma mountain road because of road closures. i just spoke to cal fire. they have a station just down street here. firefighters have been at this now four days straight without any sleep. and right now, behind me, it looks like a black hole but up on the ridge, that's highway 12. and when we got here earlier, could you see how intense the flames were. right now, that fire is moving southeast towards glen ellen and they have already had a tremendously terrible time with this fire. chopper 5 got some amazing video of homes being destroyed one after the other. this was -- we also got access to cavedale road. it's a narrow single lane and you can see the magnitude of the fire as it took down everything in its path.

some people said this is a terrible time. [ pause ] >> reporter: right now, glen ellen has some mandatory evacuations. arnold drive at state hospital between madrone road and warm springs road. enterprise road west of jack london state park. so right now, sonoma county is recommending that people who live on agua caliente between highway 12 and madrone road have a packed bag ready to go because we have seen just how fast the fires have moved. right now, we have three bulldozers out there that are trying to cut back the fire lines to get rid of any brush to prevent this fire from spreading any more than it has. in sonoma county, jackie ward, kpix 5. in santa rosa, there are new evacuation orders for the oakmont neighborhood. that's where the nuns fire is flaring and spotting down this

ridgeline towards homes. as we said at the top of the show, this fire is 1% contained. new video gives us a clear look at the damage being caused throughout santa rosa. smoldering ashes remain, house after house is gone with only brick chimneys and charred washing machines to mark the sites of family homes. the wildfires have burned so hot that windows and tire rims melted off cars leaving many vehicles resting on their steel axles. the santa rosa fire department's fire station 5 is among the structures burned. it is located in santa rosa's fountain grove area, built back in 2015. these before and after photos were posted on facebook by the mountain view fire department which has crews in the area helping out. this morning, there are new evacuations because of the atlas fire. the biggest fire burning in wine country now covers 26,000 acres. it is straddling napa and solano counties. people are being told to get out. the fire has jumped to wooden

valley road and is moving southeast. >> winds are prompting more evacuations near the atlas fire fire. let's go live to kpix 5's jessica flores in solano county now with the latest. >> reporter: we are here near wooden valley road and twin sisters. this fire continues to grow. the flames more intense. the thick smoke all around us. and i have to keep this short because we are just told we have to move. fire crews need to get in here to stop that fire from marching closer to this property! so i'm going to send it back to you guys and we'll give you an update later on in the show. >> all right, jessica. be careful out there. thank you so much for your reporting this morning. the virginia veterans home in yountville in napa county evacuated 900 residents and 400 staff, the largest veterans home in the united states. the veterans home posted on twitter that the building is not in danger but they evacuated as a precaution. we want to let you know about some new evacuations

ordered this morning. mandatory evacuations in the city of calistoga. anybody living north of grant has to evacuate immediately. >> calm winds right now, but it is because of what they are expecting to see, there's a lot gustier conditions. so i think they are calling these evacuations before those gusts really start to pick up. we are expecting to see that this morning. let's show you what you can expect today. so this morning, winds will be strong. and they are going to continue to stay strong this afternoon, tonight and tomorrow. now, here's what's going to happen. tonight, we are going to see our wind direction shift. that means we are going to get drier air tonight. right now it's not as dry. we have humid conditions but with those winds expected to pick up, of course, there's always a concern with those fires. so checking the areas where those fires are now, napa, south-southeast winds at 3. sonoma, as well. yountville 3. glen ellen, calm conditions. but this morning, 25 to 35-mile- per-hour gusts expected. other areas with the wind speeds west-northwest winds

picking up in san francisco at 8. sfo west winds at 7. so these west winds are clearing the air for much of the bay area today. the south bay, as well. not as smoky out there. fairfield though winds staying strong there this morning at 13. and it looks like our winds are going to pick up especially in the northern portions, northern fires, mendocino county, those gusts are as high as 15 to 20 right now. we have a wind advisory in effect for tonight. 5:00 through thursdays 5:00 because gusts can get up to 50 later on tonight. that means blowing embers, debris. it won't be as strong as sunday into monday when the fires picked up. but it's still dangerous especially because we'll get north-northeast winds coming in. that's an on offshore wind returning. humidity will be low to 10 to 20%. right now across san francisco, clear skies. yesterday this was a much different picture. we saw all of that smoke sitting right over the bay and the bay bridge covering it up but right now that's not the case. we have cooler conditions out

there. and clearer conditions because of the onshore flow. that's what's pushing the smoke out of here. now, when that onshore flow shifts to become an offshore flow, coming in from the north, then the smoke will return. so that's why we also have a "spare the air" alert again today and fire danger intensifies. good morning. we are still tracking closures for many drivers in the north bay right now highways 128 and 121 remain closed. also, portions of highway 12 between watmaugh and highway 121 as well as oakmont and los alamos roads are closed. mass transit troubles, right now bart running 20 minutes delays between sfo and south san francisco stations due to an equipment problem earlier. now muni bus lines 2, 3 and 19 are delayed due to a crash on

city streets. this is at polk and post just a heads up there. back to you. today a number of schools in the fire zone will stay ls closed. all schools in the napa valley unified district, calistoga unified and santa rosa city district schools. santa rosa junior college and sonoma state university. >> tens of thousands of people still without power. pg&e says 75,000 customers at last check. the majority of them are in santa rosa, 50,000, and napa 15,000. a lot of you want to know how you can help. donate to the red cross at 1- 800-red-cross, go do redcross.org or go to cbssf.com for more ways to donate. >> our coverage continues next with a look inside the air traffic control unit that helps coordinate with the air tankers that are working to put out the growing wildfires.

>> plus, the air we are breathing extremely hazardous in many parts of the bay area. this morning, it could get worse. we'll explain next.

the deputy was driving on franz valley road near the start of fire early mon take a look at this video from a sonoma county sheriff's deputy. the deputy near the start of the tubbs fire early monday. you can see the flames on both size of the road. embers flying all around the patrol car. obviously dangerous for these officers as they try to get into these neighborhoods to make sure that residents got out alive. >> amazing to see that video and how close they get. we are now joined on the phone with scott alonzo with sonoma county. thanks for joining us. what happens with crews out there today? >> reporter: good morning. thanks for having me. we are still battling multiple

fires in sonoma county. our first responders and law enforcement personnel are doing amazing work out there. we are getting mutual aid om multiple counties across the state. we had new mandatory evacuations this morning in agua caliente, geyserville. so the situation is still dangerous. so sign up for alerts for immediate law enforcement updates. call 707-565-3856 to report missing persons. we have operators standing by to take reports. >> in case you didn't catch the number, we'll get it on the screen four. >> scott, we're talking about geyserville, new evacuations in, in another city at this point that appears to be another scary situation like we saw things moving into the city

of santa rosa on monday morning. it's a different deal. . >> there are multiple fires in the area and it's unprecedented. we are thrilled with the professionalism and experience first responders are using to save lives and property. we have 36 shelters open in the county starting in cloverdale down to petaluma. nearly 3800 people are in those shelters. and we know that thousands more have evacuated. >> what kind of community outreach have you seen so far just in the last couple of days? >> it's tremendous. we have a lot of individuals and businesses reaching out to us wanting to volunteer. the red cross is also organizing shelters and volunteer efforts. and if i could give out one more phone number if you want to volunteer, please call 707-573-3399. >> thank you, scott. >> thank you for having me.

we are going back out to jessica flores who was near a home that was very near to the flames and had to be relocated. jessica, where are you now? >> reporter: we are near wooden valley road and twin sisters road. that home still here, still standing but i want to show you these flames have grown more intense. the smoke still filling the air and these firefighters are basically guarding the home at this point. they are hoping that the fire basically burns itself out. they don't have enough water to fight this fire that's taken over this entire canyon here in solano county. this is atlas fire that's already burned 26,000 acres in napa county and solano county. you can see we're just feet from the fire. it continues to grow. it's probably grown i would say it's moved about 30 to 40, maybe 50 feet closer to us in the hour and a half or so since

we have been here. so firefighters are doing their best to basically create a line around it. this is overwhelming. right now, fire crews, their resources are stretched thin? >> we know firefighters have about 500 firefighters on the ground. they are hoping for more resources from other counties to get here today to help leave them because these people have been working nonstop shift after shift. some working triple shifts. so you can just imagine had they're tired but they continue to help try to defend these properties. but right now, the main priority is life-saving. they don't want anybody else getting hurt. we know in this atlas fire alone among those 17 that died in all of the fires, two have died here in the atlas fire. an elderly couple, a couple that's been married for 75 years. one was 100, one 98 years old. we talked to the son yesterday. he says that they just were too

old to escape. and they died together. the family today finding some comfort in knowing that they went together. but this is a devastating fire. again, we are feet away from the fire over on this side, 20 feet away from the fire, a home. now, these folks have evacuated here in solano county. the solano community college is set up as an evacuation center as we made it into the county we saw dozens of vehicles parked there. folks waiting it out seeing if they could return to their homes but this is a very long battle ahead. they don't know when this fire will die down. they do have about 3% containment in the atlas fire. but it continues to grow with the dry brush and winds fueling the flames here. we'll update you on this fire as it moves closer to this home here in solano county.

>> new evacuations this morning parts of calistoga, geyserville and agua caliente. we are working to get more information on those new evacuations for you. a key part of firefighting efforts is an attack from the air. katie nielsen explains more. >> reporter: i think we saw some of that yesterday. the main goal of those aerial attacks is to stop the fire from moving forward. airplanes designed to drop retardant were making nonstop round-trips from the air to the fire lines t kept air traffic control operators busy making sure those planes were able to get in and out as quickly as possible. it only takes about 15 minutes to refill those planes' water tanks. >> we have to decide where they fit. in other words, create landing

opportunities and departure opportunities for those that have to go. >> reporter: there are 12 air tankers dedicated to fighting these fires in northern california. cal fire tweeting out, the mcclellan road space broke records on monday pumping 266,000 gallons of retardant into those planes. now, very important to note, these aerial teams can only my during daylight hours. that all depends on smoke and wind conditions. but they cannot fly if people are flying drones above those fire lines. so cal fire begging people, ground your drones. keep those on the ground so that those planes can work on gaining the upper hand on these fires >> thank you. with these wildfires bringing thick smoke and haze to much of the bay area, experts are warning this could be the worst air quality we have had in at least 10 years. plumes of smoke like this causing an increase in hospital visits particularly to emergency rooms and the bad air is certainly not confined to the north bay.

>> air quality was clearly a concern nearly bodega bay. a man heading to his home in san francisco took this shot in the area showcasing the haze over the waves there. jeffrey said it was a troubling scene with people displaced by the fires crying near their cars. >> oh. >> all right. of course, the wind has taken some of that bad air away some of that smoke in the air but winds are changing. >> they are changing. they are constantly shifting today and that's the problem. that's why the evacuation orders are being put out there now ahead of those stronger gusts that we are expecting. so let's show you what's happening right now in the area of those fires. so the napa, sonoma, santa rosa area, it looks like currently cool conditions, calm winds at the moment. but we are expecting to see those gusts as high as 25 to 30 miles per hour. but they are coming in, in napa at south-southeast at 3. humidity is up there. so that's at least good news. cooler conditions also going to help those firefighters out. to the north in mendocino county, clearlake lakeport, they are already starting to

see gusts pick up to 18. right now, lakeport i just checked, 21-mile-per-hour gusts there. humidity is a little bit lower but those are still good ranges. here's our futurecast. i want to take you hour by hour throughout the morning into the evening to show you what we can expect with the winds. staying strong. in 40 minutes, santa rosa and san rafael will see sustained winds into the 20s, 22 for fairfield but calm in napa. san francisco, half moon bay also going to see sustained winds picking up. this is a northwest wind coming in. 8, 9:00 it will intensify for fairfield. by 10 a.m. napa will start to see their winds pick up, as well. and then we are going to get a northeast wind coming through and that's that dry offshore flow. it's going to cause humidity levels to drop of throughout the afternoon picking up santa rosa and san rafael.

overnight by 10 p.m., into early tomorrow morning, more gusty conditions for the entire area dealing with massive wildfires. so today and tomorrow will be a major concern because of this low to the north that's going to bring rain up to oregon. it won't bring any to california. but it's bringing us cooler temperatures. right now, we continue to monitor all of the road closures and again highway 128, that remains shut down between chock hill road and tubbs lane as well as other highways. we are tracking a problem on the san mateo bridge. we have a traffic alert in effect and a multi-car wreck about six cars got into it, have at least one lane blocked at this time and traffic is backed up. it's 45 minutes to cross the san mateo bridge. that's westbound out of hayward. use dumbarton or highway 237. they are both at the limit. back to you. time is 6:22. as the wine country wildfires

burn out of control, we'll look to the south the damage left behind in the anaheim hills.

my name is cynthia haynes and i am a senior public safety specialist for pg&e.

my job is to help educate our first responders on how to deal with natural gas and electric emergencies. everyday when we go to work we want everyone to work safely and come home safely. i live right here in auburn, i absolutely love this community. once i moved here i didn't want to live anywhere else. i love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other people's lives. together, we're building a better california.

the devastation caused by a wildfire in orange county. it tore through more than a dozen buildings.. most of them people are seeing firsthand the devastation caused by a wildfire in orange county. it tore through more than a dozen buildings most of them homes in the anaheim hills. as the temperatures cooled, crews have the flames more than 40% contained. and some residents who had to evacuate from the fire zone are being allowed to return home. the smoke from that fire cast an eerie scene over california adventure park at the disneyland resort. visitors posting photos on social media of the orange sky

over the theme park. the resort stayed open despite the smoke. we continue to track the wildfires burning in wine country this morning. still ahead, we'll take you to the disaster zone in mendocino county, an entire community cut off. >> we are in the front lines of the atlas fire in solano county. we'll have the very latest coming up. (dog panting) another 2am stroll, huh? i'm worried. i have this medical bill.

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of harm's way. >> we're trying to get the cattle out of this hill right here but looks like we are going as to have to cut fences and let them run wherever they can. >> some homes are reduced to rubble, others are still burning. it's wednesday, october 11th. i'm michelle griego. >> i'm anne makovec in for kenny choi. right now, there are at least 17 fires burning across northern california. this, a look at the biggest ones that are still causing major problems. >> the number of people killed in these fires is now officially 17. that is expected to rise. more than 2,000 homes and businesses are destroyed. crews have been making a little bit of progress the largest fire the atlas fire is 3% contained. two other big fires in the area now 1% contained. and new mandatory evacuation orders were issued at around 3 a.m. in the city of calistoga for people north of grant street. also, new evacuations in sonoma county for geyserville and the

agua caliente neighborhood. >> this morning, new evacuations because of the atlas fire, as well. that now covers 26,000 acres. it is straddling napa and solano counties. people are being told to get out. that fire has jumped to wooden valley road and is now moving southeast. kpix 5's jessica flores joining us live now from solano county right on the firelines. jessica. >> reporter: we are at wooden valley road and twin sisters road and i want to show you what's going on behind me. just moments ago, there were massive flames. you can see there's still a lot of smoke. but firefighters here, they put some water on it. and they are of course digging those lines as you can see. that's because look around over here. there's a home just about 10 feet away from where that fire was raging. this again solano county near wooden valley road and twin sisters peak. there's three firefighters here that have been here for hours

watching the fire snake up the canyon towards this home. they have been trying to basically get it to move back but they don't have enough water at this point. so they are hoping it burns out for the most part. but when it gets closer to the home, they are putting that water on it and they are creating those lines as you can see right now digging as you can see that firefighter digging right now but what's fueling this fire all this dry brush around. you can see it on the hillside. this is at the solano community college where it's an evacuation center where people are waiting it out seeing when they can go home. that's the big question right now for folks impacted by in atlas fire. there are thousands of people

that have evacuated and they don't know if their homes are left standing or when they can go back home. over in napa, the silverado resort community really impact. 40 homes have burned to the ground. firefighters are hoping that's not the same story here in solano county. so they are garretting this home watching this fire closely. making sure it doesn't continue to march up the hillside here. and we are here with them. as soon as they tell us to leave, we are gone. so guys, we are monitoring our safety and making sure that we are okay. but we want to show you just how close this fire is just how hard these guys are working behind me. they have been here for hours. the resources are stretched thin. firefighters have been doing triple shifts. they haven't had a rest. but cal fire says that resources are on their way to help relieve some of these firefighters. reporting live, i'm jessica flores, kpix 5.

hope they get there soon, jessica. thank you. flames still carrying through glen ellen at the napa- sonoma county border and threatening more homes. we are joined again by jackie ward who got closer to the nuns fire. jackie. >> reporter: michelle and anne, we had been at sonoma county road and they have let us through because flames died down. as we drive down, we saw where there used to be ranches and homes and now it's nothing. it's an incredibly depressing scene right now. a few families have actually come up tok this healthcare officers who are stand -- up to chp officers standing by the roads asking about their homes and the officers aren't releasing information but have told us there is nothing left in this area. so right now, we are looking at video from glen ellen. that's an area of about less than 800 people that live there and the ridge of flames along highway 12 just destroyed so

many homes there. it's a very small area southeast of santa rosa just south of kenwood next to jack london state historic park. but yesterday, we were along the cavedale road. it's a narrow single lane and you can see the magnitude of this fire as it blanketed the hillside and terrified the people who live there. >> winds shift tonight. cars are packed, sprinklers on in the yard and rooftop, we'll see what happens. >> reporter: arnold drive between madrone and warm springs road. west of jack london state park enterprise road which is a road we just drove down evacuated. wall road at trinity and cavedale all closed so now three bulldozers are out somewhere in these hills behind me cutting down the fire lines as best they can. this is thick vegetation.

you can't see the flames that well from where i'm stand, they are out there and they are very strong. only to get stronger as we have been telling you all morning because of the expected winds. in santa rosa, jackie ward, kpix 5. thank you, jackie. many of the region's world class wineries have had a major blow some damaged or completely destroyed. the wineries in sonoma county did a little better than the napa. the chateau st. john winery in kenwood is still standing even though it was reported it burned down but even the wineries that were largely untouched by the flames are still affected. >> the smoke is so thick that the grapes that are still on the vine they can pick up what we call smoke taint. and you at will get into the actual wine. >> workers at the kenwood winery can't even get inside because the fermenting grapes have filled the cellars with co2 and can't be vented until power is restored to the

building. >> that is going to be one of a major economic impacts that we can't even begin to start counting at this point. >> firefighters are warning everyone about the conditions. winds will shift which means it could shift towards new neighborhoods. let's show you the fire dangers today. they are increasing this morning especially in the north bay hills. fire behavior will be erratic today and tomorrow and we are also going to be dealing with drier conditions. so we have a bit of moisture in the air but we'll get an offshore flow returning and unfortunately that means it will bring our humidity levels down i just checked the latest conditions for places like calistoga where evacuation orders are in place.

gusts will be up to 35 miles per hour. west winds through san francisco at 8, sfo at 7, so we are clear skies for the central, south and east bays today so you can see the bay bridge this morning. we are seeing clear conditions and cooler conditions this morning because of that west wind. the onshore flow. this low is going to shift further east though and unfortunately, by later on tonight through tomorrow, we are going to get north- northeast winds to continue and that means humidity levels will go down and again that causes more erratic fire behavior. jaclyn? along with the many road closures we're tracking for you in the north bay, we are also tracking problems here. san mateo bridge completely backed up due to an earlier accident. now in the clearing stages but still over an hour and a half for drivers just to cross the san mateo bridge from 880 over to 101. so do expect delays over there if you want to use the dumbarton or 237. those are looking good.

and looks like 84 dumbarton is still in the green. westbound 580 traffic backed up beyond highway 24 approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. many residents in napa county were trapped as flames from the atlas fire closed in around them. hear about how the california highway patrol's helicopter teams were able to make some those daring rescues. >> plus the white house approves disaster aid for california. why one local lawmaker says it isn't enough. jack's breakfast pockets for 2 dollars each.

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k-p-i-x five's jessica flores joins us live from solano county, with more on what's happening. the atlas fire is

threatening homes. jessica flores reports with more on what's happening. >> reporter: guys, we're right near a home here near wooden valley road and twin sisters road. here's the home the fire about 30 feet away and these firefighters have been here all morning trying to do anything they can to get this fire to back down the hill. but as you can see right now, they are using water, they are using shovels, they are doing what they can because this fire continues to march towards the home. they just don't have the resources at this hour to put out the fire that's marching up this hillside here in solano county. but they are trying to protect the home. the first priority though is to save lives. so firefighters, police officers, sheriff's deputies have been going door to door evacuating folks in this area. we're not too far from the

solano community college. that's now set up as an evacuation center. we passed it going into solano county. we saw trailers and cars parked there. folks waiting it out trying to see if they could go back to their homes but at this time, it's going to be a long firefight ahead. there is no estimate as to when people can get back into their homes. but i want to show you something before i send it back to you. look at all this dry brush. this is what they are dealing with. these are conditions here in wine country in northern california. and not only that, today they are also going to be dealing with high winds. now, we did see some of the flames being whipped up by those winds. you can obviously see a lot of smoke at this hour. right now, things are a little calm but later on today, that's when firefighters are going to have a tough battle ahead. firefighters are working

nonstop for four days. relief is on the way for the firefighters, though. 3% containment here. we are hoping for better news today. we'll learn more at a 9 a.m. press conference. but again, this fire already has swallowed up 26,000 acres here in solano county and napa county. back to you guys. >> thank you. authorities now confirm three deaths linked to the wildfire in mendocino county. a lot of people in the county are feeling cut off because the fire has wiped out cell phone service in many areas. fire damaged a major tower so many folks are not able to call 911. a large crowd showed up at a library yesterday to get information and demand answers from authorities. >> so yeah, a lot of people are kind of cut off with what's going on. and they are all scared and, you know, so it's not good. >> other problems, as well. there have been cases of atms out of order, gasoline running low and stores running out of bottled water. help for people in the path

of these fires is coming at times from unexpected places. >> katie nielsen joining us live to tell us about rescues by the highway patrol. >> reporter: true heroes. the helicopter pilots from chp are credited with saving dozens of lives by helping to evacuate residents trapped in the atlas fire in napa county. the no, sir incredible part, the pilots had -- the most incredible part, the pilots had no radio communications. they were flying above the fire lines looking for those on the ground trapped by the fire. one of the toughest was when they were trying to rescue a family but didn't have room in the helicopter and left the father behind. >> he said to take his family, which we did. we dropped them off. we told him we would come back for him and we did. and he got out, as well. >> so that dad was later rescued by those pilots. those same pilots are credited with saving almost 50 people, five dogs and a cat. chp's golden gate division posted on social media this morning saying they will

continue to attempt rescue missions during the heavy smoke conditions so long as they can see to land. and no doubt in the next coming days and weeks we'll hear more stories about the heroics. >> no doubt about it. thank you. let's head over to neda. you have been tracking the wind conditions. that's going to play a huge part in the firefight today. >> keeping a close watch on it. it's expected to pick up. it's calm which is good news but it's going to change here in the next few hours. so here's what we can expect when it comes to fighting these fires and what the poor firefighters have to deal with. winds will pick up today and tonight. and here's what's happening tonight. wind direction is going to shift bringing us an offshore flow which brings us dry air. so we are seeing cooler temperatures out there today through even saturday. but unfortunately, when those humidity levels drop that fire danger increases even more. we saw the dry grass, dry fuels out there and that's going to continue to burn. here's the futurecast taking you hour by hour tomorrow to

show you what's expected. by 8:00, napa, fairfield, we'll see sustained winds picking up 14 to 25. 20 for santa rosa. san rafael. it's going to stay strong through 9:00 even 10:00. it will die down a bit for santa rosa but you can see it along the coastline, as well. our winds will feel breezy for half moon bay and then by 1:00, 2:00, sustained winds around 10 to 120 miles per hour. tonight it gets more intense. then we start to see this northeast wind come through. look at fairfield there. by 8:00, 9:00, into midnight up to 29-mile-per-hour winds sustained. so gusts even higher. 40 to 50 miles per hour expected tonight through early tomorrow morning. so when we see you back here tomorrow morning, it is expected to stay intense for napa and fairfield. that's why there is a wind advisory tonight at 5:00 through tomorrow 5:00 because of those gusts up to 50. blowing embers, blowing debris expected again, unfortunately, and then we are under a red

flag warning because of humidity levels dropping tonight through tomorrow. so right now, we are looking at the skies. it looks a lot clearer than this time yesterday. this is actually smoke and fog. the smoke is moving out because of west winds. santa rosa 40 degrees right now. we have a "spare the air" alert today because the winds are shifting. the smoke will return when we get the offshore flow. west winds are clearing the skies. temperatures only expected to reach 65 today in san francisco. 70 oakland. san rafael 73. 73 for napa. and we are going to stay cool through saturday. then sunday into next week warm air returns. federal help is on the way for those areas dealing with the wildfires. president trump has approved a major disaster declaration for california. the relief won't allow money for individuals just yet. for now, funds will be used to fight the fires and set up

emergency facilities like shelters. house minority leader nancy pelosi says more must be done to help victims of the fire recover and rebuild. she released a statement saying, quote, speaker ryan and republicans must work with democrats to update federal relief estimates and adjust the supplemental disaster package so we can make available all necessary resources for those devastated by these wildfires." we are in the front lines of the atlas fire as it moves into solano county. we are here with firefighters monitoring their progress here. we'll have the latest coming up. oh, you brought butch.

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shifting, gusty winds could complicate their task today... here's what we know right now: 17 people are now confirmed dead in the fires, that number is expected to rise. mo mes firefighters are working around the clock in california. right now, 17 people are now confirmed dead in the fires. that number is expected to

rise. more than 2,000 homes and businesses are destroyed. none of the big fires is more than 3% contained. power was restored to 20,000 customers overnight leaving about 50,000 still in the dark and new evacuation orders were issued overnight for calistoga, geyserville and agua caliente. jessica flores has more on the atlas fire live from solano county. >> reporter: we're near wooden valley road and twin sister road. i want to set up where i am. there's a home on this side and then down the hill there's firefighters three of them who have been working all morning long trying to get this fire to move back down the canyon. right now the firefighters' first preor the is to save lives priority is to save lives. here in solano county the fire continues to burn and now we know that there have been

evacuations for hundreds of folks, dozens of people over at the solano community college trying to wait this out seeing when they could return to their homes. over in napa valley we know at least 125 structures have burned but cal fire says there could be many more structures claimed in this fire. we know two people have died. that's an elderly couple who were married for 75 years. the son says his parents were too old to get out. the silverado resort community has been really devastated by this fire. more than 40 homes there totally burned to the ground. but over here, they are hoping that doesn't happen. now, this area as you can see firefighters they have been working all through the morning.

this area has been out and firefighters will stay to save the property. that's their plan. this fire continues to burn here here solano county. i'm jackie ward live in sonoma county on bennett valley road and sonoma mountain road. this is as far as we could get. we were starting in windsor. we were working our way towards glen ellen. but this is as far as we could get because of road closures. the hill behind me is highway 12. there's a ridge right there that when we came up a few hours ago was covered in flames. now there is a ton of smoke. you can kind of make out the glow from where we're standing. the fire were what we understand is moving to the southeast towards glen ellen and we were there yesterday to capture some incredible footage of just how extensive this fire is. it was destroying many, many homes there including multi- million dollar estates. chopper 5 saw these homes start

to crumble right there in front of them. you four days straight. in santa rosa, jackie ward, kpix 5. with these wildfires bringing thick smoke and haze to much of the bay area, this is a live look of the bay area. this is the worst air quality in 10 years. neda iranpour is tracking our high winds and their impact. >> reporter: at least this morning, we are getting a bit of a west wind. we are not smelling as much smoke. berkeley and northwest winds helping to clear the skies. the west wind is pushing fog along the coastline which we have not seen in a while and it is impacting visibility. napa, santa rosa visibility is low because of smoke of course. but right along the coast, that's where we are starting to

see a bit of fog forming. temperatures are cooling this morning. that will change and the winds will pick up and the wind direction will bring an offshore flow into play. we have a traffic alert in effect for drivers making their way along westbound 580 approach towards the maze. traffic backed up to highway 24 and beyond. give yourself extra time through oakland bay bridge toll plaza a mess and san mateo bridge is heavy about 0 minutes to get across the span due to an earlier crash. be sure to stay with us for the very latest on the wildfires in wine country. emergency officials will provide an update on the firefighting efforts and the latest evacuations in napa and sonoma counties at 9:00. we are going to bring you updates throughout the morning, as well. >> and a lot of folks want to know how you can help. call 1-800-red-cross or go to their website at redcross.org and go to our website, cbssf.com for more information. "cbs this morning" is coming up next. your next local update is 7:26.

have a great day. good morning to our viewers in the west. it is wednesday, october 11th, 2017. welcome to "cbs this morning." the death toll rises in california where 17 major wildfires threaten even more destruction. communities are left in ashes after 2,000 buildings burned. we'll hear from fire victims and assess the damage to the region's famous wine industry. the harvey weinstein scandal widens. three women tell "the new yorker" he raped them, a claim he denies. more allegations fro gwyneth paltrow and angina local. sleep loss is