rosa is being searched for anyone who didn't make it out before the wildfire swept through. >> we told the guys, get the boots on the ground. do hard work today so that way, by this afternoon, this evening, when that wind comes up, hopefully we'll be ahead of it. >> the weather has firefighters worried. the change ahead and what it means for the wildfires burning in wine country. plus -- >> it is pretty devastating to realize that everything that you have is gone and not only your possessions but those possessions that have been bequeathed to you from all of your ancestors. >> and some people are now being allowed back home. some finding that their houses are still standing, others returning to nothing more than ash. good evening, everyone. i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. it is another very busy day in the north bay as wildfires burn out of control. right now, this afternoon, the sonoma county sheriff issued a new mandatory evacuation order

for the pocket fire near geyserville. that order is for people living north of highway 128 from geysers road to chockhill road. cal fire says a staggering 90,000 people have been forced out of their homes by the massive fires burning across northern california. at least 34 people have now been killed. and roughly 9, 000 firefighters are battling the fires. but there is some progress to report tonight. two of the largest fires in sonoma and napa counties are now at least 25% contained. there are now 18 people confirmed dead in sonoma county in the aftermath of the firestorm and sadly, that number is expected to rise. today recovery teams poured through the rubble of a few neighborhoods that burned to the ground. ktvu's tara moriarty joins us from santa rosa where more

human remains have been found. reporter: crews sifted through the rubble here looking for remains. you can see all of the devastation and, you know, they have been told by someone who is missing a loved one that they believe that a family member did not make it out alive. so that's why they are here. earlier today, recovery teams were at the journey's end mobile home park off mendocino avenue and fountain grove parkway where they recovered some bones. they were the remains of at least one person found on a mattress in a bedroom. this fire as you'll recall struck at nighttime when many people were asleep so that's really the first room teams are looking at when they go out to these homes. they have been going to areas where they have missing persons reports so it's targeted as to not waste resources. now, there were two missing person reports out of the mobile home park so that's actually good news considering that there were hundreds of people who escaped. crews then will transport the

human remains to the coroner's office. >> we have forensic people up there trying to identify the remains and we have to confirm that the person inside the residence is actually the person that was reported missing. whether it be through tatoos, through dental records, um, fingerprints, we recovered people with medical devices and things like that. >> reporter: there are unconfirmed reports was 69 linda tunis. she had called her daughter at 3:45 sunday morning when the fire was raging and the family searched shelters, hospitals, but they were unable to locate the 69-year-old so they notified authorities. the crews that were just out here in the fountain grove park area, this is on millbrook drive once again, they have just left they are going back to their command center at the base of this hill. next they will head out to another location. they have been hitting a

couple of places actually all week but are keeping that information private. this is a sensitive process they are going through right now. this has been draining for a lot of these recovery teams emotionally. live in santa rosa, i'm tara moriarty, back to you. >> it is tough, tough work. tara, thank you. we got an update earlier today from cal fire on the conditions that fire crews are facing. >> we have some good aggressive firefighting going on. we had some dozers and hand crews do some work in the forest and put some dirt on the ground -- excuse me, bulldozer blades on the ground. got around it, came back improved that with the wind event coming up. hopefully those trees aren't going to torch. so that's a concern in that area. >> those winds are a big concern tonight. that's why another red flag warning is issued for the north bay. chief meterologist bill martin is monitoring the conditions in the weather center.

>> so far, so good. is somewhat cooperating. tonight, late tonight and early tomorrow morning is the linchpin. see the wind directions now green arrows? not a bad direction. that's high moisture. humidity. you have temperatures that are on the mild side. the winds aren't out of control. they are not howling. so red flag warning in effect. through the evening, watch the winds and the color changes. and also watch the green arrows. what do they do? that big swap. see how the winds pick up? they're going north there. then they turn northeast look at the yellow and orange. this is 10:00. we are going to be able to verify this on the ten o'clock news. we watch on the winds -- especially if i pay attention what's happening in redding and the pressure gradients. we'll know early on how significant this wind will be. the models right now are

suggesting like calistoga 25 miles an hour, 22 sonoma valley. these are bearable winds. but one of the problems is, the direction they are coming from, the canyons and the grooves and the hills, tend to lie in a north-to-south alignment so these winds will funnel. friday at 10:00, then boom, there's the reds, right? this is danger zone. through about 6 a.m., okay, so the real -- i think 3 to 6 a.m. is danger zone. this is when firefighters have their work cut out for them. they know it. cal fire has been on top of it. through the day the winds back down. that's the forecast. doesn't mean this is what is going to happen. this is less than what happened on sunday night when this started. after midnight into early tomorrow morning, the most -- one of the most critical times since this fire started. right now, we are tracking it. the winds hopefully will be bearable. and we'll know a lot. by 10 p.m.

we'll know a lot. even with the winds picking up tonight, containment of the two largest fires is up to about 25%. >> we have team coverage from the fire lines tonight. ktvu's maureen naylor is in the northern part of the city of sonoma. first, though, we go to tom vacar in napa. tom. reporter: i want you to have a look over here. this is one of the fire areas, one of many, many fire areas. not three minutes ago, those were just columns of smoke rising in the air because there was essentially no wind. now they are leaning to the left a little bit and the whole valley is very, very smoky now. so the wind has picked up just a little bit. but it's just a little bit enough to change what this looks like. what's important about all of that is is that they are variable winds right now. and at this altitude, they are still not very strong but that seems to be coming. this terrain and this wind truly makes these fires unpredictable.

reporter: a major area of concern today is the large area around mount feeder between yountville and rutherford and the western side of napa valley. the goal if possible keep the currently slow-moving fire from crossing dry creek road. we have different types of fuels that either are smoldering or flaring up but nothing to be concerned with as long as we can keep it on this side. >> reporter: the winds are expected to increase as the fire marches northward towards dry creek road. >> we have contingency plans that are placed further out to -- with additional hand crews and a plan for aerial attack if it get to that point. >> reporter: at that point

residents and businesses would have real concerns. >> if that fire comes down here, we are worried about it getting into the valley. >> reporter: a wind from the north would retard this fire's progress if it holds. but it could complicate other fires making little or no wind the ideal situation. >> we have winds from the north that should help the nuns fire pushing it in the opposite direction of dry creek. >> reporter: and so the situation remains variable as bill said, that the fires laying over a little bit more. but the reality of the situation is that we have to wait for something more substantial and that will come later tonight. now, coming out live, i want you to take a look, firefighters not unaware of what's going on here. you will see that one lone firefighter over there in that bluff area. but there is plenty of other fire equipment all around here. in fact, up here on this hill, there were five or six pieces of equipment up here not all that long ago. but now they have gone

obviously to take up a different position. we'll keep you updated on this in terms of it what's going on as soon as we know more in the next hour. for now, though, i'd like to send it to my colleague, maureen naylor, north of sonoma. reporter: tom, i'm standing on moon mountain road in sonoma county north of sonoma. this is where the fireline came up right here. it came up to this road and is still smoldering at this hour. just a minute ago a fire crew was here putting out hot spots. they wanted this area to burn because they are trying to burn this canyon out. they are at this point trying to protect homes as this firefight continues. reporter: crews fought fire with fight lighting backfires to burn fuel. as hand crews brought help on the ground, a national guard helicopter assisted with water drops from the air. the marin county fire crew cut a hole in a swimming pool cover to use water to protect

this house on moon mountain road in sonoma county. it's one of many beautiful homes that dot this landscape north of sonoma. >> so what we are doing today is kind of twofold. the first thing we want to do is protecting homes. right? what we need to do is get a perimeter. >> reporter: the heart of wine country is shrouded in smoke. nearby at the monte rosseau vineyard you will see dusty grapes still on the vine and quite a side down the road dry pink fire retardant seemingly painted on the driveway and plants alike. >> it's fighting fire since -- what day? >> reporter: that's what happens when you have been on the fireline for five days with a 12-hour bank. this fire captain's family ran for their lives sunday night and he raced to fight the fire. >> the text i got from my family and friends, saying that my wife left at 11:30. >> reporter: that's tough. >> it's life. >> reporter: once the camera

stopped, burbank got emotional describing how his wife safely drove out of their sonoma county home with their three children and encountered a wall of flames covering the freeway. this is where some authorities have put yellow tape so they can keep track of the residents who are under mandatory evacuation. at 7:00 tonight there is going to be a meeting at the sonoma veterans memorial hall so people can get more information from cal fire. the reason why this is so important, this area of the nuns fire, fire crews say this is an important line because if it were to jump this, it would move farther south towards the city of sonoma. but at this point, they say that weather was favorable. they did make progress today. they are concerned about the winds picking up tonight. reporting live in sonoma county, maureen naylor, ktvu fox 2 news. ♪[ music ] coming up, some residents are being allowed to go back home and we'll go along with them as they see their neighborhood for the first time since the fast-moving flames forced them to leave. plus -- >> helping a vulnerable group volunteers are collecting

donations for displaced immigrant families who feared going to evacuation centers means deportation. >> and don't even try it. that's the message from law enforcement to anyone looking to loot. we ride with officers as they patrol looking for looters.

breaks. a 4.0 earthquake hit a mile and a half north of the redwood valley. that area of course is also dealing with major wildfires. it's unclear if there are any injuries or an effect on the

fighting of the fires. >> what should we be watching for tonight and early-morning hours? mark neveau joining us. >> thousands of firefighters are coming. the red flag warning is -- sunday we are concerned about the direction of the wind and how fierce they could fan the fire. that's the big concern. they have had some containment . they have grown from 27% on the atlas fire which is wonderful, great progress in the last 24 hours. i know that the weather is going to be key here -- >> are the next 24 hours, by this time tomorrow night, either we're going to find out that they are going to get some good containment or could this potentially explode once again? >> i think they have worked hard enough to have containment. i think they are concerned about spotting. if that thing starts to roar up with embers going miles away, they are also concerned about the head of that fire. but that plan put in place developed yesterday is

considering for the red flag period coming up so they are thinking that way. >> how critical are the lines? we saw maureen naylor's report on the nuns fire that they are -- they have made a good stand with that deer creek road and letting the fire burn to the edge of the road. if it was to jump the road it could go into the town of sonoma. >> they are using indirect attack, fire to fight fire. they are trying to remove the fuel so it doesn't jump the road. they seem to be able to accomplish that a number of different areas. >> the numbers are staggering. we have 9,000 firefighters, 4,000 federal firefighters on their way including a number of hotshot teams. what would be the point of bringing in the hotshot teams? >> hotshots are really ground folks. they have the ability to do a lot of the firing out like we saw that they are talking about. that capacity will grow for the firefighters. the hotshot crews are good at

cutting line, cleaning out and getting into that very difficult terrain. we saw tom vacar's report about how difficult some of the incline in the valleys they are dealing with. hotshot crews are very good at that. >> as firefighters to battle, what should people who have been affected by the fires be doing now? so many people lost everything. what's your advice to them as far as what they can do? >> good news. the press authorized individual assistance for sonoma county i think it was and santa rosa is going to have a local assistance center opening up i believe tomorrow. basically people who are survivors can go down there and get services they need. a lot of people had to leave quickly so they didn't have time to take papers. one of the best places to start is to go to the dmv. fingerprint will get you a license. and then you can start the process of applying for aid. also, disaster.gov

disasterassistance.gov. they have a -- unfortunately a long road ahead. mark, thank you. >> great advice, thank you, mark. and so here we go. tonight's sort of an important -- well, it is very important component to what's been going on this whole week. sunday night this thing started, firefighters, cal fire have done a nice job preparing, i think really for tonight. i think yesterday and the day before a lot about tonight because the winds will shift and they will become 25, 35, maybe stronger. and they will funnel. right now the wind direction of those arrows are northwest. the winds after midnight tonight are going to start coming out of the north. and that's a direction i always say this but if you know anything about topography, the way these canyons lie in the coastal hills and in the east bay hills and north bay hills, a lot of them have an orientation north to south. generally that. and when the winds start to blow up from the northeast, they sink and get funneled in and if it is not going north to south it won't funnel in

but east to west. north to south it gets funneling down the line. that's what happened in fountain grove and the east bay hills too and that's what will happen tonight in the fact that we'll see funneling. funneling changes the rules of fire quite a bit. we know you probably know, all do you is look at the fountain grove stuff. um, the winds are not going to be that strong tonight. they are not forecast to be that strong tonight. but see the wind shift? see that? boom. there we are. now we're in the critical zone. this is about 1 a.m. that is blowing. this is big-time stuff. you can see sonoma, calistoga, 31 miles an hour. 39 up to 40 in calistoga to 6 a.m. that's the critical time. 1 a.m. to 6 a.m., very critical. and i don't think cal fire is not all over this. they keep saying this but they are all over it. winds die down quickly. when i say all over it they have been building fire lines based on this forecast model. so as we go through time, the winds die down certainly on saturday. but the critical time it's all coming down in my mind to 1 to

7 a.m. red flag warning in effect right now. it was dropped yesterday. again good progress has been played. over 20% in both the tubbs fire and the atlas fire. that's impressive. tonight is going to be one of those nights where i'm going to be here at 10:00. um, hopefully not later than that. we'll watch and we'll know by 10:00, we'll have a pretty good idea if those winds are going to materialize because we'll look at pressure gradients and the winds that are occurring way north of here up in redding and the north valley. those winds, if it's howling at 50, 60 miles an hour at redding tonight at 10:00, we are going to have a problem. we are not expecting that. i'm just saying, we can look at that. if it's blowing 20 miles an hour in redding at 10:00 tonight, okay, the forecast is probably on track. air quality is bad. cal is playing. raiders play on sunday. um, san francisco air quality today as bad as it has been in this entire, um, event.

um, you -- you talk to people there all day and they are snowing smoke. so lots of smoke in the area. between 1 and 7 a.m., as critical a time as i have seen in the bay area in terms of fire and what could happen, what might happen, what will happen. >> what's your best hunch here? does the numbers that were you showing -- >> my best hunch is 25 to 35 miles an hour. there may be a random blow way up at the top of mount st. helena higher elevations. i think that's what's going to materialize. what you're hoping is it doesn't go further. i think you guys tonight around 10:00, 11:00, there's indicators that i can look at and it will give us a good idea. the other night remember two nights ago we had that red flag warning? i said it's not going to be as bad. i said that because i looked at pressure gradients. 10:00 tonight i'll be able to look at some indicators and we'll have a better idea. this blowing 50 miles an hour in redding at 9:30 tonight, we

got trouble. >> we'll be here and we'll be watching. >> thank you. silverado was hit by the wildfire in the north bay many left running for their lives literally. today they were allowed to return home to find out what, if anything, was left. we'll show you the north bay sports venue that's become a growing evacuation center. ♪[ music ]

♪

♪ ♪ ♪ flames burn close to the famous sonoma raceway today. but officials there say the

track and facilities were spared. as you can see from this footage from skyfox, air quality and visibility are very poor in the area. the raceway tweeted a photo that shows just how close the fire came to the racetrack. the raceway has 50 acres of campgrounds open to evacuees with rvs. one of our ktvu crews drove by and saw up to 100 campers there. race officials are no longer accepting material donations for evacuees because they have been overwhelmed by the response from the public. the first community damaged by the deadly fires was silverado. residents were forced to evacuate late sunday night when the atlas fire roared to life without warning. now the danger is past, the evacuation order is lifted. ktvu's rob roth met with residents and they returned for the first time to see whether their homes survived. reporter: the fire whipped through silverado sunday night blow torching home after home

but leaving others alone. almost everyone evacuated and residents have spent the week not knowing for sure if they still had a home or not. >> we didn't know if an ember was going to come with these trees here. >> reporter: kim doyle returned to her home and good news, her home behind the silverado country club golf course smelled smoky but otherwise still standing. >> huge relief. we didn't get a lot of information. we have been waiting to see and we got the "all clear" last night. so this is the first time we're back. >> reporter: her neighbors chose not to evacuate and shotthis video of the atlas fire bearing down. >> i was stunned. the ferocity with which the fire was moving and i was probably within 200 feet of the flames that were on atlas peak and i felt like i was about to get roasted. >> reporter: but many of his neighbors up the hill on greenbrier circle came home to scenes like this. >> it is pretty devastating to realize that everything that

you have is gone. and not only your possessions, but those possessions that have bequeathed to you from all of your ancestors. >> reporter: she and her husband brought in an excavator to see if they can find under all the rubble a precious heirloom. >> we are really in quest for this toy cannon that was my husband's great-grandfather's toy cannon. >> reporter: her neighbor survived but she isn't asking herself why me. >> oh, no. not at all. in fact, i feel sorry for a lot of these neighbors that, you know -- our house is down every day and they are going to come home every day to a war zone. >> reporter: it's unclear how many silverado homes were lost, maybe 100. most were multi-million dollar homes. the fire's aftermath brings a mixed bag of emotions, happy for those who made it heartsick for those who lost them. whether the house burned or didn't, people say they know someday this community will return to some sense of

normalcy. but right now, that day seems far, far away. in napa, rob roth, ktvu fox 2 news. not just the bay area being hit by massive fires. mendocino county sheriff's deputy is also getting hit hard. coming up next, a look at the situation there. plus -- >> we don't have a right to just stop because there's a tragedy. >> we talked to the postal worker who is getting attention because of this video. what he was thinking as he made his rounds through all that destruction. >> immigrants are really kind of, um, villainized and they feel that pressure right now. >> also illegal immigrants escaping the north bay fires too scared to go to shelters despite losing everything. tonight meet a woman on a mission to get them the help they need without the fear of deportation.

drones were flown off coffey park today. it was destroyed when fires broke out sunday night. the teams are looking for hot spots and collecting images to build a 3-d map of the area. search-and-rescue crews will use the 3d imagery to keep track of which areas they have searched. no civilians are allowed to

fly drones because think don't want interference with the firefight. henry lee reports. reporter: firefighters are trying to chip away at all these devastating wildfires here in sonoma county. they are watching carefully about the winds, concerned about the possible 40-mile-an- hour winds tonight. but they are happy with their progress. the firefight here in sonoma county continuing in earnest by air and by ground as several fires continue to burn out of control. 18 people have died so far in sonoma county. that number is expected to rise as first responders try to find 256 people still unaccounted for. firefighters are keeping watch on red flag conditions and the possibility of 40-mile-per- hour winds even as they work to get residents back into their homes. >> we're aggressively working on two pressing operations simultaneously. sighting the fire in some areas and also preparing -- fighting the fire in some areas and also preparing for repopulation in other areas

that have been evacuated. i have said it time and again. as soon as we evacuate folks, we are thinking about repopulation. we start talking about it immediately. we don't want to keep anybody out of their homes one minute longer than we have to. >> reporter: official hope to bring some santa rosa residents home in the next day or two. they are trying to re-open kaiser medical center and they hope to open an assistance center at the "pressdemocrat" office. >> they may release some body cam video? >> yes. in about 30 minutes the sonoma county sheriff's department will release body cam video showing the rescues that their deputies made during this devastating firefight. now, we'll warn you there might be some expletives in here because of the high stress dynamic nature of these rescues but we do expect to see some of the heroic rescues made by some sheriff's

deputies during the beginning of the fire. >> all right. when that happens, we'll bring it to you live. it's supposed to start about 6:00 tonight. henry, live in sonoma county, thank you, henry lee. there is a new tool to tell you about tonight that will give people a closer look at the fire damage. ktvu's frank mallicoat is here now to show us how it works. reporter: early this morning a link created by robin kraft out of oakland is an interactive map behind me of the fire zones and it's on the website. look behind me. you can see silverado country club right here. everything in red is vegetation. you can see some of the trees that didn't burn and these are the fairways. right here atlas peak road. up here on the ridge homes burned. you can't tell you about you have a map. you can zero in and go into the neighborhoods and check out how random the fire

burned. you can see here on west gate we have a home down, gone, gone, gone. but across the street, look at that, this home didn't go down whatsoever. but it gives people who were evacuated a chance to go on to this map and find out if their home is still standing. and if not, at least they get a little bit of closure. also, it's good for the county and authorities to get a good idea of what has happened. by the way, in the fire zone, so if we squeeze it down quite a bit, i mean, you can go through all of napa county and all of sonoma county. so it's a really useful tool that authorities and homeowners are using to see what happened this week. if you would like to check out the link, we have posted it at our website, ktvu.com. you can see it there. >> frank, thank you. today the federal government said that they have suspended immigration enforcement operations in the areas of northern california

that have been devastated by fires. even so, many immigrants are still afraid to head to evacuation centers because they are worried about deportation. ktvu's candice nguyen talked to one woman on a mission to help them. reporter: we're in santa rosa at aaron gomez's house. people all over the bay area are calling her an angel and this is why. these are donations for families impacted by the fires but particularly displaced immigrant families to fearful to go to evacuation centers. reporter: since the fire started, gomez has been driving through town and the coast to encampments immigrant families in tents and cars. even though they are told evacuation centers are sanctuary areas, some are still too nervous to go because officials at those centers ask for personal information. on friday, i.c.e. said it is continuing to suspend enforcement activities in areas affected by fire except if there is a serious criminal threat. still, these families are distrustful so she started

collecting and bringing supplies to them. >> we are in a very heated political climate right now where, um, immigrants are really kind of, um, villainized and they feel that pressure right now. and so i think the community just needs to remember that this is a humanitarian effort. there is no political platform here. there's no, um, judgment. >> reporter: efforts to help immigrants aren't from gomez. there are people in oakland and other parts of the east bay brigido nations here and she says if you want to help, find more information on a facebook page she created called fire victims not in evacuation centers. candice nguyen, ktvu fox 2 news. we are monitoring the situation in mendocino county. the redwood complex fire has burned 35,000 acres. it is burning north of ukiah and west of mendocino national forest. and on this friday night, the fire is 10% contained. 8 people have died and

thousands of other people have been evacuated from that area. 245 homes have been destroyed. and we spoke with amber anderson with cal fire today on the "4." homeowners who have been let back into their homes in mendocino county need to stay alert. >> we want to urge the homeowners that have been let back into the area that even though the evacuations and warnings are downgraded, the threat is still there and they need to stay tuned to their news resources and fire information. >> the causes of the fires in mendocino county are still under investigation. for many students in the north bay they have lost their school and their homes. and that's difficult to take. >> this is hard having lost your home and finding out about the school being damaged, as well. >> how that teen is working to help his friend and get his school back up and running. >> also ahead, many of the four-legged victims of the fires in the north bay are finding help here in the bay area. >> and we are learning more

about the story behind this video. today we spoke with this postal worker who is still making his rounds through a neighborhood in santa rosa that was destroyed by the fire.

♪ with the alaska airlines visa signature card you get a companion ticket every year. so why not take someone that you see all the time. someone like, i dunno, me? i mean i always spell your name right and put a little unicorn in your foam. no pressure but i really need to get out of here. they've been playing the same playlist for three months and i'm pretty sure you're not supposed to eat scones for dinner this many days in a row. mexico, hawaii, costa rica, i don't really know. i'm a quick packer. ♪ this video has received a lot of attention since we first aired it yesterday. it shows a neighborhood

destroyed by fire and a lone postal worker on the job. we know more about that postal worker today. he was seen delivering mail to the mailboxes that were still standing. >> yesterday, we showed you the viral drone footage of that lone postal worker delivering mail in a burned- out neighborhood there in santa rosa. and today we spoke with him. trevor smith was delivering mail in a retirement community and some people asked him to deliver their mail if their mailbox was still standing. >> we don't stop. we just keep doing it. we feel like we have an obligation to get that mail out. we don't have a right to just stop because there is a tragedy. >> smith has been delivering the mail in the orchard community for eight years and has gotten to know the people he delivers to. the drone video showing trevor smith delivering the mail was taken a few days ago and cal fire wants to remind people in no uncertain terms, not to fly their drones over any of the fire sites. tony la russa's animal

rescue foundation is lending a hand to animals affected by the fires in the north bay. the company has set up teams since tuesday to help walk dogs and deliver pet supplies to shelters. the rescue foundation is also taking in pets from napa county shelters so they can make room for animals that were separated from their families. >> we'll continue to go up every day to assist all the different shelters and families that we can to help reunite the pets with owners or provide new homes for these animals that are displaced. >> arf says it is waiving all adoption fees this weekend. adorable. how cute are they? so that they can make room and accept more animals that need help from napa county. getting a plan together. how some north bay students are doing everything they can to help out including getting their school back up and running. >> no fighting atsome football

games canceled tonight because of smoke in the bay area. coming up more information on what's happening and what's been canceled. ♪[ music ] >> a red flag warning back in effect, critical time tonight for the fires in the north bay. we'll break it out and give you an idea when the winds could be strongest.

a santa rosa high school student is trying to get donations of technology, space, money, all to get cardinal newman high school students back in class.

he is doing this even after losing his own home in the wildfire. ktvu's ann rubin brings us his story. reporter: many homes burned in the fountain grove area of santa rosa. this family escaped and also warned their neighbors in time. so what if -- that's what scares me. >> reporter: it was the next day that they found out just how much had been lost to the fire including cardinal newman high school where their son marcus was a junior. >> this is hard having lost your home and then finding out about your school. >> reporter: it lost 20 classrooms, library and main office so the family was staying with family in san jose and formed a plan. marcus set up a facebook page to fundraise not for himself but for his classmates. >> i want to branch out and

ask for help from academic institutions, companies, businesses, all around the bay area. >> reporter: they are already working to get online classrooms up next week and they are in talks with neighboring schools to share space. but they say the vidaurri's actions show how resilient the school community can be. >> they have the best understanding of what's at stake because you lose something of value. you don't want to lose everything. losing your home is terrible. but losing your school is terrible, too,. >> reporter: the mother says she is proud that in the face of all this loss, her son is thinking of giving back. >> we all need a reason to get up in the morning. we all need a plan. and again, to use his words, being in limbo is harder than working hard to get something back. >> reporter: he set up a facebook page to help with the effort. school officials are working quickly but there are no word on when children will be back in class. in the south bay bureau, ann

rubin, ktvu fox 2 news. an update now. all oakland unified school district high school football games have been canceled for this weekend. the oakland district also canceled other events like middle school flag football and a high school cross- country meet. other football games cal takes on washington state tonight, that will go on as planned. stanford's homecoming game tomorrow night also a go. and the raiders will also play their game on sunday afternoon as scheduled. obviously the air conditions out there are bad but also even more importantly, bill, the situation with those winds. the next 24 hours will be crucial. >> it most likely will be fine but it's forecast to 35, 40 miles an hour which will add

serious aggravation to the cal fire efforts. you see the green arrows and wind direction and wind speed. this is right now. watch what the green arrows do and watch the direction shift. that's when you see the colors shift, too. the colors represent wind speeds. they correlate. red and orange are stronger. 7:00, see the winds this shift? they start blowing east, and when they start blowing east, the minute they do look at the yellow and orange. that's 10:00. that's 12:00. now, this is -- now you got -- you got some fire here. you got some fire winds. that's why the red flag warning is up. these winds peak between about 1 and 5 a.m. 1 to 6 a.m. i think the critical time for us is between 1:00 tonight and about 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. things die down very quickly after that. so i can do it again. this is important. does this mean this is what's going to happen? no. these forecast models will change between now and 10:00. we'll update you on the

changes. we can look for indications that this is going to verify or not. um, so okay, here we are at midnight. right there, about 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m. firefighters having a heck of a time. and then things back down rapidly after 8 a.m. right? so that's crucial. so we got that straight. so anything that happens between now -- if we can get past that time, get past that frame, we'll be in good shape. i'm not saying the winds will materialize as the model says. that doesn't have to happen. we'll look at pressure gradient tonight around 10:00. we look at wind speeds in the north valley and we'll have a good feel for t those models and numbers will change and hopefully be downgraded. air quality bad. people are asthma, respiratory illnesses, issues, it's brutal. julie, you notice it don't you? >> i have noticed it. all week. it's better in the east bay

where i was today. it was the nicest today. >> but it's funny. i don't usually notice smoke. i grew up in a place where you burn garbage up in the north. so the smoke was always around but i actually noticed it. this is significant. >> you can smell it in the building here right now. >> absolutely. it's getting in the air- conditioning units, sure. >> it almost reminds me of just a heavy blanket of fog where you can't see anything. generally i can see san francisco out of my window up in oakland. i can only see a couple of blocks now. >> this is as bad as anybody can remember for smoke in the bay area. i go way back. you guys go way back. i could talk to my dad and people are going, hey, haven't seen it like this. >> so again, tonight at 10:00, that's when -- >> we'll have an idea, frank. after midnight and about 6 a.m., that's going to be the period that will be most critical. >> all right, bill thank you. law enforcement officers in the north bay have a message to anyone going into the fire zone to steal from

fire victims. >> don't come here. we're arresting people. they will go to jail. >> coming up next, we go on a ride-along with officers on the lookout for looters. >> and taking a look live now at the sonoma county fairgrounds where we are expecting a press briefing. the news conference is set to begin at 6:00. we are expecting to see body cam video of rescues from over the last couple of days. when that press briefing begins, we'll bring it to you live.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

officers from agencies all over the bay area are in the north bay helping to provide mutual aid to the fire zone. one of the focuses is making sure those who don't belong in the area stay out. christien kafton rode along with officers on the lookout for looters. >> reporter: earlier today i spoke with the sheriff of sonoma county. he says on a regular day he has 30 deputies patrol the streets. today he has more than 300 officers under his supervision. reporter: all around, destroyed homes, vacant homes, signs of destruction in the evacuation currently under way in santa rosa. sonoma county sheriff says officers from throughout the bay area are on scene answering the call for help. >> we have the most incredible response from local agencies. >> reporter: in fact, santa rosa police just posted a facebook message about daly city officers arresting a pair of looters overnight. the officers stopped the vehicle and became suspicious of the occupants' intentions due to the fact that the

vallejo men claimed to be checking on family members' homes yet did not know the names and addresses of the family members. more than 100 miles outside of their normal operating jurisdiction, santa cruz county sheriff's deputies are looking for looters, too. >> one of those situations that he have people that will come out and take advantage of the opportunity to loot. so that's what we're doing today is trying to help patrol some of these neighborhoods. >> reporter: among the first to answer the call for mutual aid, san francisco sending dozens of officers who have already arrested looters. san francisco officers say it's a matter of looking for anyone who doesn't belong here. >> there shouldn't be many people walking around unless they're in uniform or have credentials from the county so when there are people walking around in plays, that's immediately going to pique our suspicion and we are going to make contact with folks. >> reporter: with the combined police presence, the sheriff has a simple message for anyone looking to take advantage of someone else's tragedy. >> yeah. don't come here. we got plenty of cops who are arresting people when something goes wrong. the d.a. promised to prosecute them. they are going to go it jail.

>> reporter: so far the sheriff has made about five arrests for looting of the officers here say they are committed to staying now, tomorrow and in the weeks to come until this community is back on its feet n santa rosa, christien kafton, ktvu fox 2 news. flames burning, death toll rising and additional evacuations in place, but tonight there is progress on the firefight in the north as recovery crews sift through the rubble looking for victims. >> you know, we have recovered people with medical devices and things like that. >> right now, a forensic team is going through a mobile home park in santa rosa where we're told several people may not have made it out alive. good evening, everyone. i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. it was a good day for firefighters but that relief isn't expected to last with high winds expected overnight. this afternoon, officials said two more people have been

confirmed dead in napa. and one in mendocino bringing the number of deaths across the state to 35 since those fires began on late sunday. we have just learned that tomorrow, governor brown along with senators dianne feinstein and kamala harris will visit sonoma county. cal fire now says 5700 buildings have been destroyed overall. and roughly 9,000 firefighters are battling these fires. there is some progress to tell you about tonight. two of the largest fires in sonoma and napa counties are at least 25% contained at this hour. >> they made better progress today in hopes of -- we told the guys, get the boots on the ground, do hard work today so that way by this afternoon, this evening, when that wind comes up, hopefully we'll be ahead of it. >> this afternoon, the sonoma county sheriff issued a new mandatory evacuation order for geyserville as the pocket fire continues to burn. that's at the