>> from the bay local news station. we now with breaking news. >> and we continue our

breaking news coverage in this hour. fire crews scramble to battle a large blaze endangering homes and the oakland hills. thank you for joining us for kron. 4 news tonight at 6. i pay more time can weigh in. the fire department said the fire broke out on a toucan drive around 4.30 this afternoon. so far there are 3 structures affected. the good news. no injuries have been reported from force route. joins us now. he is near where the fire was burning. bring us the latest. and this is a very active scene here. i'm on a can drive. the road is right behind me. you can see the fire trucks here. the fire happened to the left of those trucks. it was a 3 alarm fire. the first building, the home. they say that they know the fire chief gave an update moments ago. he said that the fire started outside of the home and it did spread to surrounding homes. i want to show you some video that we have the cell phone video shows just how serious the flames were. i saw several cell phone video footage like resident showing it to me on

their phone. >> as they shot the video, flames shooting up into the sky. when i first arrived, the flames were no longer happening, but you could see smoke covering this entire neighborhood. residents walking around an n 95 mask and a lot of water running off of the hill as well from the water that they had to use to put out this fire. according to the oakland fire chief. he says there were no injuries. he gave an update to reporters just a few minutes ago. here's what he had to say. i fire zone. >> so our firefighters and our officers, the initial into the commander made the right call but elevating our response as he opened fire department. thankfully station. 24, it's less than a mile away. they got here in a matter of minutes. and it's true because of their quick response and the efforts of our firefighters to where we did not have more laws will be had. joining me now >> is gene and gene, you have

lived in oakland for how long? 72 years. 72 years. quite a while. you are one of the witnesses that actually saw the fire as it happened. what did you see when you walked up to the scene? well, first, i heard helicopter and didn't hear any sirens. but when i heard the sirens, i walked out the door and flames shooting at least 50 feet in the air, going completely vertical. there was no wind, which is a good thing. >> no embers blowing around. >> i imagine you are pretty worried, though, when you think about you, let you live in this neighborhood. you know your concern for your own home. a lot of people were because it spread to the homes next to it. were you worried about that? not at all, because 2 planes are going completely vertical. nothing horizontal at all. now, a lot of folks like eugene, they remember the fires from the early 90's that were really bad. 91 yesterday 1000 so that was that's a high concern. i remember one of the phone call to come to the scene. i was told, you know, there's a lot of memories of those fires that did you have flashbacks of that when you saw this? oh, absolutely, yes, because i was

very scary. the only thing stopped that fire, which to win reversed direction but only thing that stopped writers are having no effect on the and i you were here when when the fire chief gave his update. the good thing is no injuries, which is which is great. but obviously, you know, your neighborhood right now is very blocked off as fire trucks are you know what your last thoughts? well, i'm going to make sure i have everything ready to go for a basketball. through. a lot of residents learn lessons when they see something like this because you never know when it could be your home. luckily, it wasn't. and luckily, no injuries seen. thank you your time. appreciate it. thank you. as i said, ken and pam, the number one thing no injuries reported from this fire as the fire chief as well about, you know, damages to the area because there was a lot of runoff that happened as they had to put this off the set. >> he had no snformation on that at this time and they're going to continue to investigate to see what exactly caused the fire. they only know that it did happen outside of the home reporting live in the oakland hills. i'm rob nesbitt kron. 4 news. all

right, rob, thank you for that. yes, a lot of very sad strained memories about 91. those winding narrow roads. >> but conditions for a lot different then as far as weather can certainly that and a lot of other things have changed as welcome force. chief meteorologist lawrence karnow said that resident who saw the oakland hills fire >> notice that the embers were going straight up. yes, an indication about what was happening with the when g made a really good observation. you get fires and if you set for going straight up, you get a pretty good idea. there's not much in the way of wind. >> and that was really what the oakland hills fire was all about. was those horrible, horrendous, 60 plus mile an hour gusts up there. and of course, that happening at a different time of year that happening in october that everything was completely dry after summer. this one happening it winter time when everything is green out there right now. but again, these fires can burn even in wet conditions. you get a fire hot enough. the fires can burn specially in terrain like that with all those trees up there. thank goodness for those oakland firefighters that were able to get that fire out. the

winds are going to be picking up as we head through the night tonight. and so that is great news. they're able to come put that out before spreading any further winds going to get gusty out there tonight. in fact, you can and are start to see some of those winds along the coastline. they're beginning to whip out toward the beaches, southerly winds. these are winds pretty typical. what you get out ahead of a cold front, some 20, maybe some 30 mile an hour gusts moving in overnight tonight. and that would have been the oakland hills. remember, that was up in elevation to so that could have been an issue. but also some good news. we've got some rain on the way and that rain will take care of things overnight tonight. that's going to be a nice little soaker. we're going maybe see maybe a quarter of an inch, maybe a 3rd of an inch down in the urban areas, maybe half an inch over some of the mountain tops. but this is the first in a series of storms that will impact the bay area will trying time those out for you. coming up in a few minutes. thanking or fire news tonight. pga is now facing manslaughter charges over its alleged role in a twenty-twenty wildfire that >> killed 4 people. the zogg fire burned about 90 square miles in shasta county. cal

fire says the blaze started when a tree fell and hit a pg e power line. among the victims. an 8 year-old girl and her mother. the pair were caught by the flames while trying to drive away from their home pg and e pleaded not guilty to 11 felony and misdemeanor charges last june arraignment is set for february 15th if found guilty, pga could be fined in order to take corrective measures. >> in the north bay, a fire broke out in a home in the nation and sent 2 people to the hospital this morning. you can see look at this video here. the firefighters say they responded to bayview circle about 6 o'clock in the morning and you can see the heavy smoke and flames coming from 2 sides of the house. there. the crews managed to put this fire out and 15 minutes and no other structures were threatened. one of the 2 victims in his 70's. they are both in stable condition tonight. the cause of this fire is still under investigation. >> a warning tonight for bank customers in one east bay city

robbers are targeting people for their money as they are sitting in their cars. well, of course, as the men reports. >> an alert from police, 4 people baking in the city of richmond. >> well, as we've noticed is a trend where it appears victims are going to local atms are banks and after they leave the bank or on the parking lot of the bank, they're being and then the money that they just withdrawn at the bank is being stolen richmond. police investigators say they are for banks within the vicinity of the. >> 4300 block of mcdonald avenue up to san pablo avenue. 10 victims have been targeted over the past 6 months. the most recent back on january, 25th investigators say the crimes are not just happening in the parking lot. the other trend that we're seeing is that there are also following these victims away from the bank. >> sometimes a mile or 2 away. potentially. so the victim lowers their guard and the mother unsuspecting. we stopped a stoplight or stop

for traffic. they then exit their getaway vehicle run-up, smash the window out of their vehicle, grabbed the backpack, bag or purse, and return to their vehicle plea. >> investigators say the unidentified robbers may be connected to similar crimes occurring in neighboring cities like oakland. it does appear that it's somewhat of a rain. we are seeing this kind of an orchestrated effort. the robberies appear to originate one of 2 ways inside the bank. with robbers looking for anyone making large withdrawals and at other times outside in the parking lot after victims take out cash at the atm, richmond, police officials advise bank customers to be on the lookout for anyone who may be watching them. >> and instead of putting that purse or wallet with cash on the passenger seat or rear seat of the vehicle, if you can secure in either a lack glove box, if it's a smaller package are put in the trunk of the vehicle, police investigators say they have no suspect or vehicle descriptions to release to the public at this time.

>> has it made you cry on for news? >> political news now as of today is very clear who california's nancy pelosi is back in to replace senator dianne feinstein, although the former house speaker's endorsement does come with a kron four's. catherine heenan joins us now live from our newsroom with that story and some other political headlines, catherine. nancy pelosi says that she will support representative adam schiff of southern california to replace senator feinstein. but only on the condition. feinstein decides not to run again. she says shift has focused on strengthening the democracy, the economy. he is chair of the house intelligence committee. pelosi's endorsement might give him an edge because she is after all, one of the most powerful women in u.s. politics. but representative katie porter, there she is of orange county has also announced a bid for feinstein's seat east bay congresswoman barbara lee expected to formally announce probably soon. some insiders

are surprised. in fact, pelosi is endorsing shift instead of porter or lee. meantime, the 89 year-old feinstein has not announced her plans. her campaign fund is only a few $1000. also today, a bitterly divided house voted to oust representative ilhan omar of minnesota from the foreign affairs committee. omar infuriated both democrats and republicans in 2019 for making what were considered anti-semitic remarks. 2 years later, she seemed to be quite what you called atrocities by the u.s. military to the taliban. she did later apologize and both counts. she was also one of the lawmakers who signed a resolution today recognizing israel as an ally and condemning anti-semitism, although reportedly there were weeks of talks to get her to that point, today's vote was along party lines. and as for omar, she says she is the victim of prejudice for being

a muslim woman from africa. >> are 2.18, than days or to a lab in the resolution is adopted. my leadership and voice will not be diminished. >> if i am not on this committee for one term, my voice will get louder and stronger and my will be celebrated around the world as it has been. >> and there is yet another document search to update the fbi reportedly planning to revisit former vice president mike pence. agents will return to his indiana home and they will look for additional classified documents. that's after some were found at his home last month and transferred to the national archives. pence's staff had notified officials of the fact there were some documents in the home saying that he had been unaware of the fact that he had any sensitive material and there are reports tonight the fbi will also search

pence's office in washington, d.c., pam and ken. >> catherine, thank you for that update. well, a massive suspected chinese spy balloon the size of 3 buses is currently bling tracked flying over the northern united states. according to the defense department, the pentagon says it has been tracking that balloon for a couple of days now as it has made its way over u.s. territory at this time. officials do not plan to shoot it down because of potential risks of harm for people who are on the ground. officials acknowledge, though, that it has been flying over sensitive locations, particularly in montana, montana, which is home to several u.s. nuclear sites. this news comes as the secretary of state antony blinken is set to travel to beijing in the coming days to follow up on the president's trip there last year. so far, chineseiofficials are not commenting. >> coming up tonight at 6, one step closer in oakland as further negotiations could see

a black owned group as a major owner of a popular sports sites. >> and what it is seeing, alameda district attorney, so you reopen 8 cases that involve police shootings. in the wake of the tyre nichols how might that plan affect police officers? a legal analysts will join us live to weigh in. and another round of layoffs for bay area tech companies. after the break, we're going hear from experts on why the cuts keep coming in. how many more might expect. (vo) at wells fargo, direct deposits come up to two days early with early pay day. what if everything came two days early? (hero) have a good weekend! alright now... have a good weekend. (co-worker) but it's wednesday... (co-worker 2) see you monday! (co-worker 3) am i missing something? (hero) it's the weekend baby... see you later. (vo) like getting things two days early? when it comes to payday, you can with wells fargo. (co-worker 4) what are you doing this weekend?

>> another day, another round of layoffs for tech companies headquartered here in the bay area. pinterest miro and oak to are now among those companies showing workers the door. tonight kron four's dan kerman. talk to analysts about what happened in their concerns about what happens next. >> many of the largest tech companies headquartered in the bay area experienced big layoffs since the pandemic began. the website layoffs. fy i is tracked. 47,000 laid off employees in 2022. and 32,000 employees so far this year. so over half the total from all 2022. >> were laid off in january so forcing the pace is in 2023. so far the numbers are overwhelming, especially for those impacted. however, analysts say this is more of a correction that a downsizing. this is coming the way phenomenal hiring 2021, even

into 2022. so you if you take all the announced layoff company by company, but many of them, their employment levels are still higher than they were in twenty-twenty. well, many of those laid off have been able to land new jobs. others have not. they're not tech workers, which is important because the the tech workers are facing the market with. substantial job openings, whereas say cafeteria workers laid off at facebook. are facing a pretty job market and possible recession. the big unknown remains. what's next? analysts say it depends if the layoffs continue with gets cold in the bay area. eventually the economy to just go. and i think need to see what not to companies do over next few months in terms of their own hiring. i don't think this is the beginning of substantial

retraction in the bay area tech or the but >> could be a pretty difficult. >> 2023 for some some residents. >> dan kerman kron, 4 news. >> when it comes to apartment rent prices. san francisco is seeing one of the biggest drops in the nation. a senior economist with zillow says over the last couple of years the city experienced an exodus and during the pandemic, people simply wanted more space. he also says it is too early to know if tech layoffs are playing a part in the market. >> the slowdown due to kind of higher interest rates and affordability challenges is definitely the number one factor here for y grants are also starting to slow down. >> experts say this time of year is also typically slow for renters. and they expect the prices will climb in the busier spring and summer months. >> a black owned developer group founded in oakland in

just a step closer to securing an ownership stake in the oakland coliseum site time forcefully to go reports. oakland has entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with those developers. the group hopes to redevelop the area with affordable housing sports complexes and retail. >> oakland, based african american, sports and entertainment group announced during a news conference outside ringcentral coliseum thursday that it has entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement with the city from our courts. 50% ownership stake in the coliseum complex about. >> revitalizing this community more than anything else. that's what it's about is beyond sport. a city is signing off on a deal that has been negotiating with a a s e since november 2021. >> the group was chosen among a handful of other investment groups, including one led by oakland athletics hall of famer dave stewart to have 2 years. >> to be able to negotiate recommend what is going to happen on this land and bring

it back to the council. the oakland athletics were not represented during the news conference. ultimately they would have to sign off on any plans for the site. >> the a's own half of the land after purchasing alameda county's portion in 2019 thursday's announcement also does nothing to further. the a's plans to build a new stadium and development at howard terminal. the deal centers solely around what happens to the coliseum site next, which could include hosting an expansion wnba team. we have. >> nearly 200 acres of land. that is on bart on freeway on capitol corridor. it is at the heart of the greater bay area, mega region. this is a place that we can have housing at all income levels. mayor sheng tao says the redevelopment will create up to 30,000 jobs in east oakland. the best way we can reduce crime and is to create jobs. >> and this is going to bring so many jobs and not just

that. i want to say again, good union jobs. should the city council approved the developer's plans in 2 years? vice mayor rebecca kaplan's office says it would mark the largest transfer in public land to african-americans in oakland's history. philippe djegal kron 4 somebody. >> at least 8 deaths have now been linked to the ice storm that is engulfing the south that's left about 400,000 homes and businesses without power comes as a severe weather warning has been issued for the northeast part of the country with wind chills expected to reach -50. i would be the coldest levels in decades for areas such as new england with the front described as an epic generational arctic outbreak. it's set to arrive early friday and last about 36 hours. extreme conditions could cause frostbite in as little as 10 minutes. and that's really something lawrence standing by. you've been looking at all of this. ice storms can be so they're they're extremely dangerous

and they cause so much damage. >> along that path, the hundreds of thousands of people without power in freezing temperatures. we've had numerous trees, of course, coming down that ice comes down literally freezes on everything. just gives it a complete carpet of ice across all the plants. all the ground just paralyzes the entire area. that's what they've seen. this with the huge storm rolling on through. and you see right here making its way all the way from texas up to memphis. now the temperatures start to moderate a little bit, but sort of back off somewhat in some of the ice storm. so that's going to settle down. that's good news. the storm continues, though, to stretch across into atlanta and making his way out toward the eastern seaboard. but what we've got some very cold weather coming across the northern tier of the u.s. right now. we're talking temperatures -16 degrees right now in the loop. get this, though, we're going to throw in some wind chill factor as we head in toward the weekend and these temperatures, they're going to be unbelievably cold, maybe historically cold. it's going to feel like -34 degrees in

boston on saturday, -14 in new york. minus. 45 montreal? think some places could see that temperature feel more like -60 degrees. unbelievably cold. >> lawrence, thank you. coming regulating crypto. the first %- steps towards preventing steps towards preventing there's nothing like volunteering at the fire department. there's nothing like hitting the waves. but with my moderate-to-severe eczema it hasn't always been easy,... ...since my skin was so irritated and itchy... ...and even worse with all my gear on. now, i'm staying ahead of my eczema. there's a power inside all of us to live our passion. and dupixent works on the insie to help heal your skin from within. it helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema. so adults can have long-lasting clearer skin and fast itch relief. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening

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lawmakers say a cryptocurrency crackdown is on the way they're calling for more

regulations after ftx took billions of dollars from investors. >> last week the white house presented a roadmap to mitigate crypto currency risks. the house financial service committee services committee is planning hearings into the ftx scandal. they want to find out how the securities and exchange commission missed red flags still draft rules to prevent that from happening again. >> state regulators are ordering california utilities to immediately rollout assistance meant to lower skyrocketing natural gas bills that assistance which comes in the form of climate credits as they're called, are typically apply to customers utility bills in april. but people who are eligible to get those credits can expect to see their bills dropped by 43 to $56 depending on their natural gas provider prices recently spiked due to below normal temperatures around our region and a drop in supply. >> still ahead, tonight's alameda county's district attorney is reopening 8 cases that involve police shootings.

how officers in the county will be affected will have michael cardoza, our legal analyst joining us live t

>> we continue to follow breaking news at this hour. fire crews in oakland have contained that 3 alarm house fire which spread to 2 other homes in the open hills tonight, cruise credit their fast response, including more than 50 firefighters in