south lake taeoe, ski resorts, hotels, casinos and more than 30,000 homes remain in the fire's path. good evening, everybody. thank you for joining us for kron 4 news at 6. i'm pam moore and i'm ken wayne firefighters working around the clock to try to keep the flames from destroying any more homes. >> here's a look at just where the fire is burning. the flames are being fueled by some strong winds and they spread about 15,000 acres in just the last 24 hours, the fire remains about 4 miles from the shore of lake tahoe. so far it's burned more than 200, 4,000 acres. and it's just 20% contained. almost 730 buildings have been destroyed, including hundreds of homes. but keep in mind that since the fire started. that doesn't mean they're all burned in tahoe. 35,000 buildings are still threatened. kron 4 has team coverage of the counter fire. tonight. we begin our coverage with chip yost who joins us live now from south lake tahoe checked.

>> yeah, good evening. we are in downtown south lake tahoe. the resort area. but what you can see behind me is really the hillsides. the hillsides covered in smoke with. there's a little bit of good news and what we're hearing today. we'll talk about that first show you a map. to give you an idea where we're at compared to where the fire line is that we are in south lake tahoe. if you look at that map and you see where lake tahoe is on the map there in upper right hand corner. we're kind of on the southeast tip of at lake tahoe is where we're standing right now. the fire line, as you can see in red as a little bit. it weighs on the outskirts of south lake tahoe from where we're at. the good news i was talking about is this. they were expecting that fire line, possibly to be much bigger in this area, then it actually ended up being and that's because they got kind of a break. let's first take a look at some video, some new video we just got in from some of the fire lines today, some of the firefighting they're doing today. what they were expecting is a horrible when situation overnight were under red flag warnings here. the winds have been awful. they've been pushing this fire

sometimes more than a mile at a time by taking one ember blowing at more than a mile starting another spot fire last night. they were expecting a very bad wind situation that was they were expecting to cause a lot of problems move this fire into some of the communities they were trying to protect however, it appears mother nature gave them a little break. >> we're lucky we looked little bit yesterday with some of the winds that didn't come up quite as hard as we expect them to, although we do have some ridge winds last night probably 20 to 30 miles per hour to the most part. we had a nice inversion come probably around midnight. 1 o'clock in the morning that put a real damper on things and slow lot of growth. so a lot of opportunity to make some progress last night. >> here's a look at what the fire has been doing to air quality. this view from an airplane coming in monday evening to the region. you can see the smoke all over the place is bad. air quality all around as far as the fire fight, even though they did have a little bit of good news. the fight is not over. they still have some problem areas. a lot of problem areas. remember this is a about a 300

square mile fire. they're dealing with. so while south lake tahoe, the communities right around south lake tahoe looking a little better right now than maybe they were yesterday. they still have some problems spots specifically on some of the southern parts of the fire. they're still dealing with and they have the winds to contend with, which could change things around here or any other part of the fire in the next 24 hours right now. we're still under a red-flag warning that red flag warning does not end until 11:00pm this evening. for now reporting live in south lake tahoe. i'm chip yost. send it back to you. thank you for this live report. of course we have a couple questions. one being and what's happening with air support in this firefight. in light of all that thick smoke that can often make it difficult for the. >> air drops that are needed to help drop the fire retardant. >> well, they do have dozens of air resources on hand here, including planes and helicopters and they did have an issue, though, yesterday because of the you know, this all this smoke laying over the

fire. it was causing visibility issues. so they did say they had some problems as far as being a precise water drops and even safely being they have the being able to have some of the aircraft up in the air. but they do have a lot of resources that they i forget the exact number. i know it's in the dozens at a briefing this morning kind of went through the whole laundry list of resources they have on this fire. so they do have that. they are making water drops and it does seem even though as bad as that is where pointing out that can hardly see the mountains there. i got to tell you, it's a little better than yesterday. looks like it's cleared up a little better. a little more than yesterday. so hopefully that's helping them with the drops. and also another thing that helped them is i told you about the winds how they kind didn't want as bad as they were supposed to be last night that actually gave them a little break where there cut more lines around the fire and do some more protection before the fire reaches any other communities are trying to protect. >> yeah. chip. there's such a strong connection between the bay area in lake tahoe. many people have homes there or go up there a lot and they're all very worried about what's going on up there. i just want to wonder what if you can say anything about the situation that could reassure people

because although the fire is at the edge of the south and of south lake tahoe. it hasn't gotten into the town yet. and what's your sense just talking to firefighters and people there about how they feel about are they going to dodge a bullet or is it just up to the wind and mother nature. >> well, it's in there feeling a lot more comfortable about the situation right now than they were yesterday. yesterday. they're very worried about miers and other community on the outskirts of south lake tahoe and some other neighborhoods in this area because what they feared could happen with the winds last night, but they had a little break and the way the direction the fire is going appears to be east not northeast where we are. so it appears that it's bypassing the communities around south lake tahoe right now. but one wind event could change that. and that's one thing. firefighters are worried about. they have been cutting a line the wrong one of the roads here near one of the roads here trying to protect this community in the communities around here. but, you know, they got to get those lines cut. no one big wind gusts could center number over that line so that they

they're they're cautiously optimistic. >> chip yost live in south lake tahoe tonight. thank you for that. report. and in the face of everything else going on. cal fire is now down to one of its strike teams at the caldor fire because of covid-19. >> we lost a hoax, tracked him a cruise yesterday. we lost a finance section c chief too covid positive. so understand do not come to this briefing without a mask on. >> cal fire says more than 4200 personnel working the caldor fire a cal fire engine strike team consists of 5 vehicles with 3 or 4 personnel in each officials are warning crews to be stay masked up. they say that it only takes one firefighter to get sick to potentially rule and protection for all the communities in need. >> the usually packed streets of south lake tahoe are empty right now. just days ahead of a normally busy labor day weekend. this is a live look

at heavenly village, which if you've been there, you know, gets very crowded there's lots of restaurants and shops. there. lots of stuff to do at the bottom of a heavenly the lift in all of that sun right now. it looks deserted. 22,000 residents still can't return home with those mandatory evacuations in place as the caldor fire closes in and gets at least close to the shore of south lake tahoe water cannons are firing off at the heavenly ski try to keep those slopes and lifts and burned buildings there from burning. >> this fire is still very active and it's threatening life and threatening property threatening environment. 2 weeks and plus and there's really no end in sight at this point. >> firefighters are preparing to protect the resort again tonight with wind expected to pick up. our team coverage on the counter fire continues now with a pair of tahoe evacuees sharing their experiences trying to get back to their homes to get personal belongings, but then having to be turned away. kron four's haaziq madyun has their story.

>> yeah, we're pretty much like down the road. from my house. mayor. like there's no way i'm so sorry. like. >> you got to get out of town. >> these 2 cousins, 18 year-old venture breuder of myers and 23 year-old sabrina green of south lake tahoe are describing what happened at a roadblock when they tried to get back to their homes to retrieve belongings in danger of being burned in the caldor fire. >> most of all, of her belongings everything there. luckily the animals are safe and the family safe. but no way back in sabrina green says both of their families self evacuated last week with the air became too difficult to breathe. we're not waiting because of the smoke. and then when heard myers the neighborhood i live in was evacuee warning. we tried to erase back of trying to some stuff from my house when i was on sunday night midnight when we got into town and there was a roadblock. they shared these photos. this one showing the major traffic jam trying to get out of town.

>> and this one showing fire burning in christmas valley. but all your family made it out, ok. >> yeah, they did. it's definitely emotional roller coaster. >> it's been really intense the past few days deali g with waiting and the reality of things trying to figure out information on our home and also being like right now currently staying in a hotel. they really welcomed us and give us great hospitality is so that's an awesome. they're both guest here at the handler. a union square hotel in san francisco, which is now a resource for caldor fire evacuees i have to do is we ask that you show from the fire evacuation areas and then what we do is we pass on a preferred rate of $75 and includes parking as we figure everyone's going to be i think anything not just us but anything anyone can to help these people out. we really

wish the bus for like all the families of south dakota to. yeah, because i know that a lot of them are already struggling. and so now is a really tough time for everybody. so has made you kron. 4 news. >> we have continuing coverage of the caldor fire on our website. you can find interactive evacuation maps the map showing where structures have been damaged or destroyed. and where evacuees can get help. just scan the qr code that you see on your screen all the information is at kron 4 dot com want to head to the north bay now are firefighters appear to have a handle on a grass fire that prompted some evacuation orders. our grant lotus joins us now with the latest on that situation. this fire actually started this afternoon 2.30 to 3 o'clock yes. before 3 o'clock. i don't know how it started to be stiff. maybe they're dodging a bullet in south lake. they dodged a big what, you know, the weather was in their favor. it was cool today. the winds were ferocious or blowing. it towards homes kind of low will fire up a hill. so

it was scary for a lot of people who were told they have to leave their homes. the murray county sheriff, though, just said about a half hour ago that all evacuation orders have been downgraded to warnings. so people are free to return home tonight. and you can see all the smoke folks saw this from all over marine one, across the san pablo bay there. this is burning right near mount lassen in lucas valley just north of lucas valley elementary. if you're familiar with the area, 30 acres went up in flames. the fire again, first reported just before 3 o'clock. this afternoon. containment went from 20% up to 80% in the last hour or so. so first responders are still there. but they have told all of the choppers and planes that they can go home. so they're feeling very confident that this fire is no longer a threat. you will still see smoke this is a time lapse we in the area and you can see about an hour or so ago. it was really going lot of flames, lot of smoke folks

were scared rightfully so if you're told you have to leave your house right now that will happen will continue to monitor this situation just in case there are any flare ups. but again, things are looking good. just north of center fell in lucas valley as crews have jumped on this grass fire. pam and ken, now back to you. all right. grant, thank you very much. now for a closer look at the conditions out there with these wildfires burning. >> our rodriguez recent. yes, certainly getting a break from mother nature with cooler temperatures were well below average. >> double digit cooling for most north bay and east bay valleys out there this evening. 66 degrees in the area where that lucas fire is burning right now in that valley and we are tracking overall relative humidity up to 60% and wind speeds. fortunately on the light to breezy side around 14 miles per hour. and as we head toward south lake tahoe. we're tracking 71 degrees relative

humidity, though extremely dry out there in the teens right now at 14%. wind speeds. fortunately in the lower elevations in the single digits. but it's the ridgecrest that we need to watch out for because they could still see gusts upwards of 45 miles per hour from now through 11 o'clock tonight and relative humidity throughout today going to be anywhere from 5 to 15%. so extremely dry out there with those cooler temperatures, though, making its in the nighttime hours. we are going to notice more moisture content for south lake tahoe area. but overall, we're tracking breezy winds out there with this live camera. i 80 at donner summit and very hazy skies as well. in fact, very poor to worse air quality tomorrow going to be a cool day 74 degrees for south lake tahoe warming up into the upper 70's by this weekend for your labor day weekend. details on that in your full bay area forecast in just a few minutes. ken, pam, back to you. thank you. bree said the most restrictive abortion ban in the country took effect in texas today.

>> coming up, the national ramifications. 2nd half. >> i'm dan kerman. and san francisco. we'll talk to planned parenthood and legal experts about their concerns with the texas law as it relates to california. >> and later, how a spelling mistake on a covid vaccination card leads to an arrest in hawaii.

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>> a big story we are following tonight. one of the strictest abortion laws enacted in this country since roe v wade takes effect in texas today. not only does it ban abortions as early as 6 weeks into pregnancy. as long as the fetal heartbeat heart be can be heard. it also allows individuals to sue anybody who helps a woman get an abortion. this is happening in a larger context. state legislature set the record this year for the most abortion restrictions signed in one year says robust versus wade in 1973 the new law's opponents say the fetal heartbeat criteria is before many women even know they are pregnant. >> the lack of action in texas could certainly be read as an indication of where the supreme court is headed in the fall. >> now that the texas law is in place. it is likely other conservative states will also move to implement similar abortion restrictions. the u.s. supreme court is already scheduled to hear a mississippi abortion case during its upcoming term that

law bans most abortions after 15 weeks. meantime, president biden is promising to protect the constitutional right to an abortion as laid out in the landmark roe v wade case. he released a statement today that reads in part, quote, the texas law will significantly impair women's access to the health care they need particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes and outrageously it deputize is private citizens to bring lawsuits against anyone who they believe has helped another person get an abortion and quote, that texas law and the supreme court's failure to act is leading to surprise and concern among legal experts and abortion rights supporters from 4 dan kerman joins us live in san francisco with their reaction and what this could mean for california ban. >> well, planned parenthood very surprised as well as legal experts at the supreme court did not step in at least to put a pause on this until

it worked its way through the federal courts. also talk to us today about the impacts they think this and other things might have an abortion laws in we will get this morning with. >> without protections that we've had for the last 50 years. planned parenthood affiliates of california reacting to the nation's most restrictive abortion law that went into effect wednesday in texas. >> we're heartbroken for the for the patients and providers in texas. what this means is about 85 to 90% of abortions in texas will now be banned. and that has huge practical implications for the 15 million women who live in texas legal experts say since the texas law is in conflict with roe versus wade. >> which remains the law of the land. the supreme court was expected to halt the texas law until it's litigated in federal court. but so far that's not happened. all that really legally is absolutely

extraordinary that by doing nothing by being silent. the supreme court would allow a law that clearly contravenes its own case precedent to go into effect. experts say the texas abortion restriction should have no impact on california abortion law. and while changes are unlikely with california's highly democratic legislature planned parenthood fears if the recall of governor newsome is successful that could have impacts the governor had. >> as. >> the power. >> the line item veto of many things that if you have a leader that helped bands and taking away. protection like an access to reproductive health care. their avenues, they can do to limit that of even greater concern is a highly restrictive mississippi abortion law. >> which goes before the supreme court in the fall. a legal experts say a supreme court ruling in favor of mississippi shouldn't impact

california law. >> that's not the case. for many other states. we also expect that over half the states some 26 states to be impacted. >> and pretty quickly by that ruling. >> if that happens, california will be impacted because planned parenthood expects more out of staters coming here to california for abortions live in san francisco. dan kerman kron 4 news. stan, thank you for that. let's go outside. see how the golden gate bridge looks with the overcast skies. as we talk about our weather as rhyme and reason riga standing by and it was definitely cooler today. i was one of the people who like that. and i know there are others who may not. but i know. >> fall is right around the corner already have i am ready for the cooler weather after these above average temperatures even adding so let's take a look at how cool i got today. we're about 5 to 10 degrees below average, 20 degrees below normal for those of you. and santa rosa 66 degrees when you should be in

the mid 80's. and you could think fog carla for that because we are tracking that marine layer making our way across the bay but also keeping an eye on what was once hurricane ida. she's just hovering over the northeast. tornado warning in effect for bronx, new york one just touched down in trenton, new jersey, severe weather with heavy downpours out there right now. but calmer conditions by thursday morning as that storm starts to shift south and east by the end of this workweek, even out of new england by friday. taking a look at temperatures out there right now low to mid 60's. upper 60's. for those of you in antioch, livermore barely in the low 70's right now for your wednesday afternoon. temperatures low double digit cooling for the north bay and east bay valleys and overnight lows tonight on account of that low to mid 50's. so cooler forecast tonight, even santa rosa in the mid 40's. so you're definitely going to feel the chill there. so bundle up temperatures tomorrow. some warming but still going to be on the cool

side. 3 to 5 degrees below average concord in livermore warming up into the low 80's low 70's. for those of you in oakland napa 72 degrees with mid 60's for downtown san francisco in half moon bay. taking a look ahead at your long holiday weekend forecast. we're going to warm up just in time for this weekend after all, it is a long holiday labor day weekend forecast and monday, even looking seasonable at that. so enjoy the warmer weather heading your way. this weekend. pam and ken, back to you. >> thank you, coming up, some september transit deals. how you can catch a free ride around the bay area and it is the lifeblood of the tahoe economy now cut off by the economy now cut off by the caldor fire. the message ♪ ♪ ♪ economy now cut off by the caldor fire. the message ♪ ♪ ♪

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>> for your money tonight. bart rides will be half off all this month for riders using clipper cars. the reduced fare is an effort by the transit agency to attract more riders bart says that it is still saying only about 25% of its pre pandemic weekly ridership numbers and 40% of its weekend ridership. all riders are required to wear a mask and it is not just bart that it's offering deals this month. caltrain is also offering half off its fares. ac transit will let people ride for free on fridays. muni is offering free rides to people younger than 18 years old and several transit agencies in the east. bay are offering free rides all month

long. more details are on our website at kron. 4 dot com. >> stay with us. we continue our team coverage of the caldor fire. we're going to check in with residents who evacuated to alpine county and how some ski resorts are trying to protect your property and from your laundry to your landscape. but new irrigation system could recycle water from your washing machine and keep

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>> as fuel is burning these hot embers are casting off of trees and timber and then they're landing in easily igniting vegetation ahead. >> it's 6.30 fire crews. have a long battle ahead as they try to clear the landscape and strengthen containment lines among the along the fast-moving caldor fire trying to stop it from reaching south lake tahoe. thousands of people have evacuated south lake tahoe area. evacuation centers quickly filled up that several of the shelters originally set up in california hit full capacity. >> fours terisa reports many residents are fearing for their homes. >> i'm here in gardnerville an evacuation center the caldor fire is burning just over the past not far from here. i just came from south lake tahoe. and that is just a complete ghost town right now. everyone has evacuated to that. the firefighters can do their job and put out this fire. in the meantime, as i was coming back, i stopped and