and as kpix 5's len ramirez shows us, the bay area depends on volunteers, as we len. >> reporter: that's right, allen. you know, small rural volunteer fire departments like this one on the outskirts of san jose are all over the country. they are staffed by men and women who don't receive a paycheck but don't hesitate when the call for service comes. >>> reporter: are members of the spring valley volunteer fire department's first-ever training academy going through their final exams. >> these guys put their hearts and souls into being a volunteer. it's not just like a hobby. it's something they're pretty dedicated to. >> reporter: the department is made up of 40 neighbors and people in the community who all have different day jobs. >> my day job is actually out back steak how the in campbell. >> reporter: but want to help. >> just contribute and give back to the community and just to protect the people up here. >> reporter: it was volunteer firefighters just like them who rushed to respond to the fertilizer plant fire and explosion in texas and some of those volunteers are among the missi

len ramirez, len, thank you. >>> what may have been one of the more photographed crimes in history and immediately boston police turned to social media for clues about the bombings. but that effort hasn't stopped with police. mike sugerman shows us the work of the new armchair investigators. >>> reporter: more cell videos and pictures, maybe hundreds of thousands now on the web, one who goes by 4 chan think tank now han 1.2 million hits and that's doubled in just three hours. it has detailed photos of several people with backpacks in and around the marathon finish line. this is a whole new world of police work not involving police. >> definitely social media has changed police work. >> reporter: sfpd officers say all you have to do is go back to the world series celebration last year when a muni bus was torched. people sent in all kinds of video and pictures. >> subsequently they were identified and arrested and are held responsible for the crimes that they committed. >> reporter: because of that, police started a website known as the line-up which features video of crimes sent in by t

as kpix 5's len ramirez shows us, the bay area depends on volunteers, as well >>> reporter: these are members of the spring valley volunteer fire department's first-ever training academy going through their final exams. >> these guys put their hearts and souls into being a volunteer. it's not just like a hobby. it's something they're pretty dedicated to. >> reporter: the department is . in the east san jose and rural foothills is made up of 40 neighbors and people in the community who all have different day jobs. >> my day job is actually out back steak how the in campbell. >> reporter: but want to help. >> just contribute and give back to the community and just to protect the people up here. >> reporter: it was volunteer firefighters just like them who rushed to respond to the fertilizer plant fire and explosion in texas and some of those volunteers are among the missing. about 70% of the firefighters in america are volunteers. and the hazards they face don't discriminate between paid or unpaid. >> the danger is there. we're volunteers and we're -- the fire doesn't know any different

i'm len ramirez in san jose where a similar ordinance has been in effect for almost a year and a half. that story is coming up. >> why can i just pay for something i want to watch? >> how millions of movie lovers break the law to save some money. and why the very companies that complain might actually be glad they're doing it. ,,,,,,,,,,,, bags. th >>> cities on the peninsula are marking this earth day by banning plastic bags. the ordinance is aimed at encouraging customers to bring their own reusable shopping bags. the ban covers most san mateo county cities in the unincorporated areas, as well. recyclable paper bags will still be available for a 10- cent fee per bag. >>> other parts of the bay area have been plastic free for months. kpix 5 reporter len ramirez on how bag bans have become a part of life. >>> reporter: life after the plastic bag ban in san jose. >> i'm glad you asked. >> reporter: a year and five months since it's been on the books, and it's not a sad sack story for jill malone. >> you know, i just have a bunch of bags in my car. if i forget sometimes i just put the f

len ramirez on the recent rash in burglaries that's generating new business. >> reporter: it's not just that residential burglaries are up in san jose, over 32% since 2010. >> my neighborhood got broken into, then there's a little old lady, she got broken into. >> reporter: police are so short staffed, there's no one to respond to the call or investigate the crime. >> is there a burglary right now? >> on paper only. we have two officers, i think, that are assigned just to deal with the paperwork for in-custodies. >> reporter: the police officer's association says officers will only respond if it is a burglary in progress. if you come home and your house has already been victimized -- >> they're going to be waiting a very long time. >> reporter: the surge may be tied to san jose's well-documented budget cuts and staff reductions. >> word is going out that san jose is a pretty easy place to do the crime right now. >> reporter: it's also caused a spike in business for private companies like csc in san jose which is run by a former cop. >> our business in alarms and cameras have increased b

len ramirez on the need right here in the bay area for the same support. >> these are members of the spring valley volunteer fire department's first ever training academy, going through their final exams. >> these guys put their heart and souls into being a volunteer. i mean, it's not just like a hobby, it's something they are dedicated to. >> the east jose foothills is made up of 40 neighbors and people in the community who have different day jobs. >> my job is the outback steak house. >> contribute and give back to the community and just to protect the people up here. >> it was volunteer firefighters, just like them, who rush to respond to the fertilizer plant fire and explosion in texas and some of those volunteers are among the missing. about 70% of the firefighters in america are volunteers and the hazards they face don't dediscriminate between pain and unpaid. >> we are volunteers. >> for that reason, the training standard in california is the same for volunteers as it is for paid firefighters. they are finishing up a seven month academy where they trained on haz mats and they

kpix 5's len ramirez tells us at&t's offering a big reward in hopes of finding whoever did it. len. >>> reporter: it is a big reward, allen. $250,000 now being offered by at&t for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for what now appears to be a very well planned coordinated attack. >> i think anytime you try to take out a critical infrastructure, i would say that's sabotage. >> reporter: santa clara county sheriff lori smith says two attacks again power and telecom utilities yesterday were almost certainly done by the same person or persons. >> i think it was an intentional act. i think someone went to a lot of work to do it. so i don't know what kind of sabotage, but certainly it was an attempt to take down phones, data and power. >> reporter: it started after 1 a.m. when someone climbed down a manhole and cut fiber optic cables under monterey highway near san jose. then a high-powered rifle was used to shoot up transformers near the metcalf substation a half mile from the first incident. the suspects were gone and the d

len ramirez on the savings and the worries it could drive away some of the best officers. len. >> reporter: allen, sort of a good news bad news proposition for the city of san jose. yes, there was an agreement on this one aspect of the deal as it relates to new hires. but no, this does not mean labor peace in san jose. new recruits to the san jose police department will receive the same training and face the same dangers on the streets as officers do now. but they will have to work longer to retire and they will get a stingier pension than those who came before. >> we have now the worst pension benefit in all the statfor law enforcemt. >> reporter: that is the police union president who says the city is penny wise and pound foolish when it comes to the new pension deal because officers won't stick with san jose. >> for the next year and a half, it will look like we're kind of keeping our head above water. but by about the year 2015, the dam is going to break and we're going to have a flood of people leaving between retirements and resignations. >> reporter: the deal was br

we sent kpix 5's len ramirez to find out the pros and cons. >> reporter: allen, i'm here in san jose. and san jose was one of the first big cities to have a bag ordinance in effect. it's been going on for more than a year so a lot of folks are getting used to the idea. and regular shoppers say it is now the new normal. >>> reporter: life after the plastic bag ban in san jose. >> i'm glad you asked. >> reporter: a year and five months since it's been on the books, and it's not a sad sack story for jill malone. >> you know, i just have a bunch of bags in my car. if i forget sometimes i just put the food in a cart and i put it -- bag it in the trunk m i think it>> rte but others complain about paying the extra dime f recyclable bag if they come shopping without them. >> it's a pain to buy them when i forget them. >> reporter: more cities are banning plastic bags including 12 new cities in san mateo county. plastic bags end up as litter, clog storm drains, don't biodegrade as easily and most are made out of unrecyclable material. santa clara is one of the places that still allow them. >>

the ambulance company has paid nearly $5 million in violation fines, len ramirez on what could happen if it doesn't get up to speed fast. >> reporter: rural metro has only missed its response time on a small number of occasions. but in a industry where lives are saved or lost in just a couple of seconds, it is considered significant and it is a breach of contract. rural metro has been the provider for a year and a half but it has violated the contract twice by responding to emergencies too slowly. >> obviously a breach of contract, the county has the option to terminate the contract. >> reporter: county officials say that 375 million-dollar contract is in jeopardy if the violations happen again. >> anytime a provider, especially in this kind of service miss requirements of the contract and in this case response time even though it's a small amount, it's a big concern to us. >> reporter: the violations happened on three occasions, the last two in late 2012, the contract requires ambulances to arrive in under 12 minutes 90% of the time. and they missed that goal by 4 calls in october an