BUTTE COUNTY (CBS SF) – A fire burning out of control in Butte County has doubled in size since Saturday afternoon.

The Swedes Fire, as it has been dubbed, is burning east of Oroville near Swedes Flat Road and Oro Bangor Highway, according to CAL FIRE.

As of 7 p.m., the fire spread to 400 acres and it was not contained.

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It was first reported around 4 p.m.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL (KPIX) – San Francisco International Airport officials were advising travelers to allow extra travel time, and expect delays for 20 days, starting Saturday, due to repairs on one of its busiest runways.

Crews will be removing surface paving, and installing a new base layer on Runway 28 Left (28L). SFO said up to 600 construction truck deliveries are expected in a 24-period during peak times.

Drivers should expect more traffic at the intersection of Millbrae Avenue and Old Bayshore Highway. Some lanes may be closed during construction.

As of 10 p.m. Saturday, SFO says there were 247 delays, 107 cancellations, and delays averaged 3 hours.

“You see how I am dealing with this, just taking rest, waiting for my flight so I can go home and sleep and wake up in the morning,” said traveler Fahad Farooqi.

He was napping in the terminal, waiting for his flight to Seattle. Farooqi has been traveling for almost two days from Pakistan.

He received text messages about delays from United Airlines, alerting him that runway construction is reducing the number of planes the FAA will allow to land at SFO.

“We flew from Los Angeles,” said Esther Lord. “It was when we were just about to board, that they said there was a delay.”

Luckily, Lord’s delay won’t cause her to miss her flight home to New Zealand.

“We’re due back at work on Tuesday, so if we didn’t get this flight that would sort of change those plans. I don’t think our bosses would be too happy,” she added.

SFO says the closure is expected to affect about 26 flights a day. Airlines are voluntarily reducing their flight schedules, cutting total flights by 14 percent.

United Airlines is going a step further and issuing travel waivers for customers booked during the construction period. They will allow them to change their flights or connect through a different airport without paying a change fee.

The runway is expected to reopen on Friday, September 27th.

VALLEJO (CBS SF) – An Oakland man suspected of kidnap and sexual assault is in custody after a manhunt put a Vallejo neighborhood on lockdown.

Police arrested 41-year-old Tynel Cole of Oakland, ending the standoff which lasted several hours.

It all started when a victim called 911 around 2:15 p.m., on Saturday, and claimed a man had kidnapped and raped her.

When police arrived and confronted the suspect, he fled into a home on Holly Street and refused to come out.

“The house that he ran into on Holly Street, there was a family inside,” said Lt. Jason Potts. “They came running out and contacted our officers, and that’s when we decided to activate our SWAT team.”

Dozens of law enforcement officers responded and residents were ordered to evacuate and in come cases, shelter-in-place as police and SWAT teams searched for the suspect, according to police.

Authorities set up a perimeter at Peach Street, Willow Street, Almond Avenue and Holly Street.

“We didn’t even now it was out here, until we came outside, getting read to leave and they wouldn’t let us out,” said resident James Perry. “They finally moved and let us out, but then they wouldn’t let us back in. I pray and hope they finally got the guy.”

At about 8:30 p.m., the SWAT team entered the home, located the suspect, and arrested him without incident.

The evacuation and shelter-in-place order has been lifted.

Police were still investigating the rape and kidnapping charge.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call Detective Long at (707) 648-4514.

KELSEYVILLE (CBS SF) – Firefighters were battling a vegetation fire in Lake County on Saturday.

The so-called ‘Oak Fire’ started around 2 p.m. near Live Oak Drive and Highway 29, south of Kelseyville. It is burning on both sides of the highway.

“Air support along with firefighters are aggressively working on stopping the advancing fire, progress is being made despite a west wind,” according to a report from CAL FIRE.

The fire destroyed one structure and threatened multiple others.

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Evacuation orders were lifted to a warning, and all roads were to be opened as of 10 p.m. Saturday night.

The order was issued for Live Oak Drive from Gross Cut Off to Cruickshank Road, Cruickshank Road from Live Oak Drive to Highway 29, and Highway 29 from Cole Creek Road to Cruickshank Road. Residents were told to, “leave the area immediately,” according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Department.

As of 9:30 p.m. the fire was 50 percent contained. Full containment is expected on Sunday.

OAKLAND (KPIX) – A once vibrant East Bay park now looks desolate.

Madison Square Park is located in Oakland Chinatown, between Madison and Jackson Streets. It was a popular hangout spot for Chinese seniors but they stopped going there after the homeless set up tents in the middle of the park.

“People would be dancing over there. [There would be] another Tai Chi group over there,” said De Juan Zhu through a translator, pointing out different parts of the park. “It was filled with at least a few hundred people.”

The Chinese grandmother started coming to the park to do Tai Chi in 2002. She said it helped her improve her health and meet a lot of new friends. There was a sense of community and unity.

“Every morning at 7:30, we would do Tai Chi here. Over there, about one hundred people would exercise. It was very fun, very vibrant,” said Zhu, who gave KPIX a tour of where people would work out in the park.

In old YouTube videos shot about 10 years ago, the footage showed a packed park with hundreds of seniors. People were stretching, dancing, and playing badminton.

She said the community broke apart after the homeless set up tents about two years ago. Slowly after, many seniors stopped coming to the park.

“People were fearful to come. They saw the tents and the trash, and everybody got scared. It turned this into a desolate park,” said Zhu.

Joe DeVries, assistant to the Oakland City Administrator, said they removed some of the homeless about six months ago after people complained they were harassing students who came from nearby schools for their PE classes. Now, the schools and students have also stopped using Madison Square Park.

“They [were] inappropriately touching the kids and also scaring off many seniors,” said Chinese Community Leader Carl Chan.

The playground in the park is now full of weeds. It appeared no one has used the slide or the swings in a while. On Saturday afternoon, I small kid about 5 years old tried to play at the playground, but his mom pulled him out of there.

“People are smoking marijuana. It’s not the right place for kids. We have to leave. My son’s not happy,” said Yu Fang Ding, who’s hoping the city will do something to clean up the park.

Chan said he’s doesn’t want to kick the homeless out without providing shelter. He said the right solution is to find permanent housing for them.

“We want to help them, but at the same time, we are hoping that we can [continue to] allow our seniors, our children to come back.,” said Chan.

DeVries said they will set up a cabin community two blocks away from the park in October. That’s when they plan to clear out the remaining six tents from the park and ask the homeless to move to the cabin community.

“Hopefully that will happen, at that time, we all are going to celebrate,” said Chan.

Some seniors are skeptical. They worry the homeless will come back once city workers leave, which happened before. That’s why they want a permanent solution so they can finally have their park back.

PETALUMA (CBS SF) – Two Richmond residents were arrested Saturday afternoon by Petaluma police, who found a generator officers believe had been stolen a short time earlier from a San Rafael home improvement store.

Petaluma police were called about 1:35 p.m. Saturday to the Kmart on North McDowell Boulevard, where security employees had followed two shoplifting suspects outside. Police pulled over the suspects’ car near the Kmart parking lot, and found the generator and also methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Police said the men showed “random receipts” to pass through checkout lanes without paying.

Jesocimo Rilles, 54, was arrested on suspicion of burglary, and Pao Chiam Saechao, 44, was arrested on suspicion of possession of controlled substance, drug paraphernalia, and a switchblade knife. Both men were booked into the Sonoma County Jail.

MILL VALLEY (CBS SF) — Police released a surveillance photo of a man suspected of robbing a Mill Valley bank and then fleeing on a bicycle Saturday morning.

A suspected bank robber at a Wells Fargo branch in Mill Valley. (Surveillance image via Bay City News)

About 10 a.m., the suspect presented a note to a teller at the Wells Fargo bank branch at 525 Miller Ave., demanding money and saying that no one would be hurt, police said.

Witnesses told police that no weapons were seen.

Officers were alerted while the robbery was still in progress and arrived within two minutes but the suspect had already fled, reportedly on a mountain bike, police said.

Mill Valley officers, along with Marin County Sheriff’s Office, and Sausalito and Tiburon police searched for the suspect but didn’t find him.

Officials didn’t release the amount of cash stolen in the robbery.

The suspect was described as an Asian male in his 30s to 40s, 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing about 130 pounds. He was wearing a black SF Giants hat, a black windbreaker-style jacket and black sunglasses.

He was seen riding east away from the bank on a red mountain bicycle lacking markings.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call (415) 389-4100.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

ALAMEDA (CBS SF/AP) — Antonio Brown has signed with the New England Patriots hours after the Oakland Raiders cut him, going from the NFL’s cellar to the defending Super Bowl champions on Saturday despite wearing out his welcome with two teams in one offseason.

Brown had been scheduled to earn up to $50 million from Oakland over the three-year deal. Instead, the Patriots guaranteed him $9 million this season, with the potential to earn up to $15 million.

Brown posted a picture of himself in a Patriots uniform on Instagram shortly after ESPN reported the signing. The post was soon liked by New England receiver Julian Edelman.

Brown posted on his Instagram account Saturday morning that he’s not angry but wants the “freedom” to disprove his skeptics.

“I have worked my whole life to prove that the system is blind to see talent like mines (sic),” he wrote. “Now that everyone sees it, they want me to conform to that same system that has failed me all those years. I’m not mad at anyone. I’m just asking for the freedom to prove them all wrong. Release me @raiders. #NOMore”

In a press release a few hours later, the team granted Brown’s wish.

“The Raiders have released WR Antonio Brown from the team today,” the terse statement read.

Brown was free to sign with any team in the league at 1 p.m. PT on Saturday and it didn’t take him long to agree to terms with the reigning Super Bowl champions, who happen to be facing his former team in the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1. Brown will not be eligible to play in the game, however, as he was not on the roster as of 1 p.m.

The latest twists to this melodrama came a day after Brown returned to the team following a one-day banishment and apologized in a meeting and in a brief public statement.

Complete Coverage: The Antonio Brown-Raiders Saga

A person familiar with the situation said Brown had been fined by the team Friday for the confrontation with Mayock in practice two days earlier. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the fine wasn’t announced. That dustup came after Brown posted a letter Mayock had sent him detailing nearly $54,000 in fines for missing a practice and walkthrough.

ESPN reported the new fine was for $215,073 for conduct detrimental to the team. That could allow the Raiders to release Brown before the season opener without having to pay him more than $29 million in guarantees over the next two years.

Brown later sent an email to ESPN saying: “no way I play after they took that and made my contract week to week.”

Brown also posted a video on YouTube on Friday night that includes audio of a phone conversation with Gruden from an unspecified date. Gruden asks Brown whether he wants to be a Raider. Brown said he does and the question is if the Raiders want him. Gruden then urges Brown to stop all the theatrics and “just play football. How hard is that? You’re a great football player. Just play football.”

The video concludes with Brown saying, “I’m more than just a football player, man. I’m a real person. It ain’t about the football. I know I can do that. I show you guys that on the daily. This is my life. Ain’t no more games.”

The Raiders acquired Brown after he wore out his welcome in Pittsburgh. Oakland gave up only a third- and fifth-round pick for the four-time All-Pro receiver and gave him a hefty raise with a new three-year contract worth $50.125 million.

The Raiders had been counting heavily on Brown to spark an offense that lacked playmakers a year ago. Brown had 686 catches and 9,145 yards receiving the past six seasons in Pittsburgh, the best marks ever for a receiver in a six-year span.

But Brown was unable to practice at the start of training camp after getting frost bite on his feet during a cryotherapy accident in France.

Brown was activated July 28 and took part in one walkthrough and part of one practice before leaving the team to get treatment for his feet and to fight the NFL and the NFLPA over his helmet.

Brown lost two grievances with the league in his attempt to use an old helmet now banned for safety reasons. He skipped practice on Aug. 18, prompting Mayock to issue an ultimatum for Brown to be “all in or all out” and also to hand him a $40,000 fine.

Brown returned to the team the following day but then missed a mandatory walkthrough before an exhibition game in Winnipeg on Aug. 22, leading to a second fine of $13,950.

Brown had several issues in Pittsburgh as well, leading to the team’s decision to trade him even though he topped 100 receptions and 1,200 yards receiving in each of the past six seasons.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report

SANTA BARBARA (CBS/AP) — The search for the final victim of a boat fire off the Southern California coast has been suspended until early next week because of gusty winds and rough seas.

The dive boat Conception burns off the coast of Santa Cruz island in southern California

Authorities said they also suspended efforts to salvage the Conception off of Santa Cruz Island because the conditions were expected to last through the weekend.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Lt. Erik Raney says the Conception has been secured underwater, where it will remain until it is safe to resume the salvage operation.

Thirty-four scuba divers died when the boat caught fire and sank before dawn on Monday. They were sleeping in a cramped bunkroom below the main deck and their escape routes were blocked by fire.

Medical examiners say the victims appear to have died from smoke inhalation.

A photo from Santa Barbara County shows divers and support crews from many agencies working the scene of the dive boat fire off Santa Cruz Island, Calif. (Santa Barbara County via AP)

Authorities in Santa Barbara on Friday released the names of 22 people who died in the fire, including seven from the Bay Area.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said Friday 23 of the total 34 victims had been identified. However, one victim’s name was not released pending notification of family.

The 22 names that Brown released Friday include Bay Area residents Raymond “Scott” Chan, 59, of Los Altos; Daniel Garcia, 46, of Berkeley; Yulia Krashennaya, 40, of Berkeley; Caroline McLaughlin, 35, of Oakland; Carol Diana Adamic, 60, of Santa Cruz; Steven Salika, 55, of Santa Cruz and Tia Salika-Adamic, 17, of Santa Cruz.

Chan, who was a physics teacher at American High School in Fremont and his daughter Kendra have previously been named as victims in the tragic boat fire.

In addition, the city of Santa Cruz has identified Kristina Finstad, a former city employee, as another victim with ties to the Bay Area.

A total of 39 passengers — including five crewmembers that were the only survivors — were aboard the boat when the blaze started.

A vigil for the victims was held Friday evening at Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara.

In addition to the Bay Area victims, the sheriff released the names of 18 others on Friday after making contact with their families: Justin Carroll Dignam 58, of Anaheim; Marybeth Guiney, 51, of Santa Monica; Alexandra Kurtz, 26, of Santa Barbara; Ted Strom, 62, of Germantown, Tennessee; Wei Tan, 26, of Goleta; Kendra Chan, 26, of Oxnard; Angela Rose Quitasol, 28, of Stockton; Evan Michel Quitasol, 37, of Stockton; Nicole Storm Quitasol, 31, of Imperial Beach; Michael Quitasol, 62, of Stockton; Andrew Fritz, 40, of Sacramento; Charles McIlvain, 44, of Santa Monica; Neal Gustav Baltz, 42, of Phoenix; Patricia Ann Beitzinger, 48, of Chandler, Arizona; and Vaidehi Campbell, 41, of Felton.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Friday night’s first-ever Chase Center concert, which featured Metallica on stage with the San Francisco Symphony, drew fans from all over the world.

“I left my wife in Myrtle beach, South Carolina in the hurricane to be at Metallica,” said Jim Brown of South Carolina. “I’m sorry, honey!”

Aaron Bilgrad of Los Angeles said this would be his eighth time seeing Metallica.

“This is like a once-in-a-lifetime event, well twice in a lifetime,” said Bilgrad. “You can’t miss this event. This is rock ‘n’ roll history.”

Ankush Anand traveled for 34 hours for the inaugural event.

“I came from Bangalore just to watch Metallica. (I) heard about the Chase Center so came to check out that,” he said.

Lars Ulrich is the band’s drummer and co-founder.

“It’s incredible as we are 38 years into this journey,” said Ulrich before the show. “Even though we feel like we’re just getting started.”

Traffic getting to Chase Center was a big concern before the show. For the most part, fans said Muni and ride-sharing did not present any major delays.

“Took a train and it wasn’t too bad, we got here a little bit early,” said Courtney Downes of Canada.

Many concertgoers arrived well before the show kicked off past 8:30 pm.

“Traffic was a piece of cake. I haven’t been to a lot of sports venues here but I grabbed an Uber and it was super easy,” said Mike Scherer of Sonora.

The concert ended after 11:30 p.m.

The concert marked the 20th anniversary of Metallica’s collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony. They last played together at the Berkeley Community Theater in 1999.

“Berkeley that was more of a theater set up,” said Ulrich. “Obviously this is a sports arena but, as you know, everything here is state-of-the-art.”

The new Oljon Trail was revamped and is now ready for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians in Midpen’s El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve, just off Skyline Boulevard.

The new Oljon trail in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve, off Skyline Boulevard. (Charlie Krenz/Midpeninsula Regional Open Space
District)

The trail and surrounding area is free and open to the public daily, from one half-hour before sunrise to one half-hour after sunset.

Measure AA, approved by local voters in 2014, helped Midpen complete the new trail and forest habitat restoration, Midpen General Manager Ana Ruiz said.

“The increased public access is readily apparent, but the parts you don’t see are critical too: the old, eroding logging road that was returned to nature, the improved quality of the water flowing under a new bridge or through a repaired culvert, and the curvature of the trail ensuring water flows off quickly and filters into the earth,” Ruiz said.

The watershed work keeps sediment out of the streams that provide critical downstream habitat for endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead trout, Ruiz said.

The new 1.3-mile segment of the single-track Oljon Trail required removing a half-mile of old logging roads and more than a half-mile of the steep Steam Donkey Trail, to complete the El Corte de Madera Creek watershed protection program.

The program included work on 24 miles of roads and trails to control erosion and bring the watershed back to health.

The Oljon trail follows a redwood-forested ridgeline on the western slope of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The trail allows visitors to explore many new loop trail options without having to travel along Skyline Boulevard and Bear Gulch Road, Ruiz said.

There are signs of clear-cutting that began in the 1860s in the area, such as notches in old-growth redwood stumps and rusted remains of heavy equipment. A few remaining old-growth redwoods can be still be found, including the Methuselah Tree just across Skyline Boulevard.

The preserve is also known for large tafoni sandstone formations weathered by thousands of years to create patterns and cave-like indentations in the rock.

The preserve was established by Midpen in 1986 with a 2,200-acre acquisition, the largest at that time, which has grown to 2,906 acres with 34 miles of multiuse trails.

To help protect valuable natural resources and reduce soil erosion and sedimentation in streams, visitors are required to remain on designated trails. This preserve is closed to all off-trail use.

More information is available at openspace.org

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

However, the U.S. Forest Service says winds and drier fuels could complicate their effort Saturday as they work to contain the fire in Plumas National Forest.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered for scattered rural properties in the forest, as well as in rural parts of Tehama County further north as crews continue to work to increase containment of the Red Bank fire that has burned more than 12 square miles west of Red Bluff. That fire is 9 percent contained.

© Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — San Francisco park officials on Friday announced two confirmed mountain lion sightings in the city in recent weeks, one at Golden Gate Park and the other at Lake Merced in the southwest part of the city.

The city Recreation and Park Department said it has posted signs after a mountain lion was seen in the park’s west end on Tuesday and at Lake Merced on August 21. Neither report indicated aggressive behavior toward humans, park officials said.

Warning signs have been posted by the park department, along with San Francisco Animal Care and Control and the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The park department said mountain lion attacks toward humans are rare but asks people to keep pets on leash, keep a close eye on small children in areas where the big cats have been spotted and to avoid hiking, biking or jogging alone at dawn, dusk or at night.

Anyone who sees a mountain lion is asked to call 311.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report

PALO ALTO (KPIX) — A popular hiking area in Palo Alto is extremely vulnerable to a potential wildfire but now there’s a plan to reduce the threat, according to city leaders.

A Palo Alto Utilities spokesperson said they just put together a utilities wildfire mitigation plan that includes rebuilding, replacing and rerouting overhead power lines and poles, as well as managing vegetation around utility equipment. The foothills are at an “elevated risk” for a wildfire because of the utilities in the heavily wooded and dry-grass area.

The city’s plan to mitigate the risk follows a new law passed after several of the state’s recent wildfires.

“If the fire comes down this way there’s an evacuation plan,” said Palo Alto foothills resident Doug McLean. “We all have go bags and we’ll be ready.”

McLean has lived in the area for more than two decades and has been working on an ember-suppression project for the past six months. A sprinkler system is designed to take water from tanks near his home and spray the perimeter of his home to prevent embers from catching his property on fire.

“It’s hard to look at the fires up in the northern part of the state and what happened to Santa Rosa and not realize that this is just another fire lane here. We just haven’t lit up yet,” said McLean.

He said a fire marshal visits him and his neighbors a couple times a year to make sure the vegetation around their homes is cut back enough in case of a fire.

“We want to be able to see the fire coming and so we’re lobbying the city to put cameras on that fire station,” he said, adding that it’s a matter of when — not if — a fire hits the foothills.

“I think it’s just a matter of time,” said McLean.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (CBS SF) — A San Francisco International Airport runway is scheduled to close Saturday for a 20-day reconstruction project and officials are advising air travelers to expect delays and drivers to expect increased traffic.

Runway 28L will close at 12:01 a.m. Saturday to allow crews to immediately begin removal of the surface paving for installation of a new base layer.

During the project a large volume of construction trucks will be entering and leaving the site, with an expected increase in traffic volume at the intersection of Millbrae Avenue and Old Bayshore Highway.

“At the peak of construction activities, up to 600 truck deliveries are expected in a 24-hour period,” the airport said in an announcement. Flaggers and airport police will conduct traffic control during construction, which may require some lane closures.

Motorists are advised to allow extra travel time in the area or take alternate routes.

The runway is expected to reopen on Friday, Sept. 27. The cost of the federally funded project is projected at $16.2 million.

During construction, the airport will curtail the hours of its program maximizing nighttime flights over water and away from land and populated areas. The program will end at 6 a.m. instead of its normal 7 a.m.

to minimize delays by allowing extra use of runways 1L and 1R for departing flights. The change is expected to affect about 26 flights a day during the closure.

“Airlines have collaborated with SFO to voluntarily reduce their flight schedules to lessen the length of delays,” the airport said. “When combined with reductions from other non-airline flight operations, total flights at SFO have been reduced by 13 percent during the 20-day period of the runway 28L closure.”

Airlines have also shifted some schedules to reduce demand during peak times.

Flight delays during construction, both domestic and foreign, are expected to begin after 9 a.m. and to average 30 to 45 minutes, but some could be delayed as long as two hours. Travelers are advised to schedule flights before then if possible.

The highest potential for delays will be Wednesdays through Fridays.

Runway 28L was repaved in spring 2017, but inspection showed that the base underneath was “showing signs of fatigue cracking due to the large amount of aircraft activity in this area,” the airport said.

“The closure is being conducted to construct a new base for Runway 28L, one of two runways used primarily for arriving flights, in the area where it intersects with Runway 1L and 1R, which are primarily used for departing flights. These runway intersections are the most heavily-traveled areas of the entire runway system at SFO, with more than 68% of all flights crossing these intersections.”

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — A man died after he was found with at least one gunshot wound Friday afternoon in a parking lot in San Jose, police said.

The man was found in the lot at Parkmoor and Meridian avenues after police received calls about 12:40 p.m. that a person was down.

The man, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital, where he died.

San Jose police are investigating the death, which is the city’s 25th homicide this year. No suspects have been arrested.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Anthony Kilmer or Detective Ted Reckas of the San Jose Police Department’s homicide unit at (408) 277-5283. Persons wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

OAKLAND (KPIX 5) — It’s a discussion many Bay Area households have had in recent years: Is it better to rent or buy? BART, it appears, is ready to settle down.

“Financially it is going to be good for us,” explained BART Board of Directors President Bevan Dufty. “We’ve already had a plan for an escalation in cost for real estate.”

For decades, most of BART’s offices have been rented space in the Kaiser Center. Like everywhere else in Oakland, rents are rising. In BART’s case, it’s a projected rise of 60 percent.

“Being able to purchase this building for 25 years really gives us an asset, not just burning money paying rent,” said Dufty.

BART is looking to buy, and they’re not looking far. 2150 Webster is right across street and was recently renovated top to bottom.

“You know, probably an A- building, major renovation,” explains Stephen Banker, President of LCB Associates. “It would have all the new seismic life-safety amenities, so it will be a top-of-the-line building.”

Banker is a commercial real estate broker. He said BART’s $220 million dollar investment idea could be a good one in the long term.

“You know, markets can go up, markets can go down,”  said Banker. “If you own the asset, then I think it’s a smart move.”

BART would buy the building with low-interest rate bonds. The purchase would not involve the $2.5 billion set aside for those new train cars, or the $3.5 billion voters approved to rebuild system infrastructure that was neglected for so many years.

BART says this investment is actually a long-term money saver.

“If we remained as renters, it would be costing BART, and our taxpayers, $115 million to $271 million more over that 25 year period,” said Dufty.

This is something BART has been looking at for years. Staff actually started presenting options back in June. The BART Board of Directors will take up the issue later this month.

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — Whatever the investigation into the deadly fire that destroyed a dive boat off the Southern California coast finds, the boat’s owners could draw on a 19th century law to keep the victims’ families from seeing any compensation.

The law is called the Vessel Owners Limitation of Liability Act of 1851.

Truth Aquatics, the owner of the Conception Dive Boat., has filed a petition asking a Federal Judge in Los Angeles to eliminate its financial liability to the victims’ families. Maritime attorney John Hillsman says he’s seen this tactic before.

“The principal behind it is when a vessel is involved in a maritime causality, the owners liability is limited to the value of the vessel and it’s pending freight — or money due to the vessel — after the casualty,” explained Hillsman.

The burned hulk of the Conception now lays on the bottom of the Pacific. Truth Aquatics claims in court documents that the value is zero.

“They will serve summons on all 33 families, in fact all 34 families, because there was a crewman involved in this tragedy, and require them to appear in Admiralty, without a Jury, where the issue of both liability and limitation will be tried before a federal district judge,” said Hillsman.

One of the most famous vessels to use this law for protection was the Titanic. Debris and lifeboats were appraised at approximately $96,000. Nearly 1,500 families had to split that sum. The owners of the Deep Water Horizon also used this law after one of the worst oil spills in history.

“Unfortunately, that’s just a kind of normal cause of action in Maritime Law, and this is the action and advice to us that we need to take,” Truth Aquatics owner Glen Fritzler said during a recent interview.

“The substantive consequence is that you can have the liability of the owner limited — in this instance — to nothing!” said Hillsman.

It is unclear how many families — if any — have already retained legal counsel.

LOS ANGELES (CBS SF/AP) — Health authorities announced Friday they are investigating California’s first known death associated with vaping a marijuana product, and 10 other cases of lung injury have been reported that are potentially linked to the use of cannabis vapes.

The disclosure came on the same day that U.S. health officials renewed calls for people to avoid vaping until they figure out why some users are suffering serious breathing illnesses. Officials have identified about 450 possible cases, including as many as five deaths, in 33 states. The count includes newly reported deaths in Indiana and Minnesota. Deaths previously were reported in Illinois and Oregon.

In California, health officials have identified 57 potential cases of acute lung disease among people with a recent history of vaping, beginning in late June. Some of cases involve people who vaped cannabis products purchased from unlicensed sources, though the agency has not provided a specific number.

Locally, doctors in the East Bay have identified five possible patients.

Art Reingold, a professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health, said the number of reported cases across the country are likely lower then the actual problem.

“It’s at least 450 [cases]. But it’s almost certain the numbers are greater than that. There’s been substantial under recognition on the part of the public and on the part of clinicians,” Reingold said. “This will ultimately be seen as an outbreak.”

One East Bay e-cigarette user told KPIX 5 the CDC recommendation to stop vaping won’t stop her.

“It just depends. It affects some, and in some people, it doesn’t.  I think that you should live your life how you want live it,” said Zena Martin, who’s been vaping for about four years.

In Los Angeles County, officials did not disclose the name of the deceased patient, who was described as an older adult, at least 55 years old, with chronic health conditions who was vaping a product containing THC, the high-inducing ingredient in marijuana.

ALSO READ: Stunning Vaping Study: One Third Of Santa Clara County High School Students Have Vaped

“Vaping was a probable, potential cause of death in this person,” said Dr. Muntu Davis, the county’s health officer.

Overall, the county has received 12 reports of hospitalizations for pulmonary injuries related to vaping, all but one of those involving marijuana products.

For now, county health investigators have a puzzle.

No specific device, brand or ingredient has been implicated in the health problems. The known cases cut across all age groups, and people in varying health conditions. The cases are not concentrated in a specific area within the county, the nation’s most populous. It’s not clear if the problems are linked to a chemical irritation, an allergic reaction or something else.

Many of the sickened — but not all — were people who said they had been vaping THC. Many are teens.

There are “a lot of unknowns,” Davis told reporters at the county Department of Public Health.

ALSO READ: ‘It’s Very Scary’: Teen Says Vaping Put Her In A Coma

The county began receiving the reports of illnesses in mid-August. In some cases, smokers were using cannabis products as well as nicotine vapes.

“What liquid was used, was substances were used, what devices were used, it’s all under investigation,” Davis said.

Health officials have only been counting certain lung illnesses in which the person had vaped within three months. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the body apparently reacting to a caustic substance that someone breathed in. Symptoms have included shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain and vomiting.

The illnesses have all surfaced this year, and the number has been growing quickly in the last month as more states have begun investigations. A week ago, U.S. officials pegged the number at 215 possible cases in 25 states.

It’s unclear whether such illnesses were happening before this year.

“We’re all wondering if this is new or just newly recognized,” Dr. Dana Meaney-Delman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters Friday.

An Illinois health official, Dr. Jennifer Layden, said officials there don’t know when such illnesses first began, but she said there has been a marked increase since spring.

Indiana officials said the person who died there was an adult, but they didn’t say when it happened or release other details. Health officials in Los Angeles said they were investigating a vaping death as well. And Minnesota health officials said that state’s first known vaping-related death was a person over 65 years with a history of lung problems who had vaped illicit THC products and died in August.

ALSO READ: Undercover Study: Half Of California Tobacco And Vape Shops Don’t ID Teens

Recent attention has been focused on devices, liquids, refill pods and cartridges that are not sold in stores.

New York state has focused its investigation on an ingredient called Vitamin E acetate, which has been used to thicken marijuana vape juice but is considered dangerous if heated and inhaled. State investigators have found the substance in 13 cartridges collected from eight patients. In several cases, the ingredient made up more than half of the liquid in the cartridge.

CDC officials said they are looking at several ingredients, including Vitamin E acetate. But Meaney-Delman added that no single factor has been seen in every case.

Also Friday, the New England Journal of Medicine released a series of articles that give medical details about cases reported in Illinois, Wisconsin and Utah.

An article on 53 illnesses in Illinois and Wisconsin noted that nearly one-fifth of the cases were people who said they vaped nicotine and not anything that contained THC or CBD oil.

For that reason, doctors and health officials are continuing to suggest people stay away from all vaping products until the investigation establishes exactly what’s at the root of the illnesses.

Meaney-Delman said avoiding vaping is “the primary means of preventing this severe lung disease.”

It’s not yet clear what impact the recent illnesses are having on vaping rates, but some health officials are hoping more Americans will become wary.

There’s been a split among public health experts about the value of vaping nicotine. Some argue e-cigarettes are not as lethal as conventional cigarettes and can be a valuable aide to smokers trying to kick the habit.

But others say studies have not established that adult smokers who try vaping end up quitting smoking long term. And they fear that kids who might never have picked up cigarettes are taking up vaping.

The National Association of County and City Health Officials “has long been cautious about endorsing e-cigarettes even before the recent spate of illnesses, because little scientific evidence exists to show that e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery devices are effective cessation devices,” spokeswoman Adriane Casalotti said in a statement.

The states reporting vaping-related lung illnesses to the CDC are Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.

© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — With the Chase Center in San Francisco hosting its inaugural concert Friday night with Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony, officials at the venue are encouraging people to take public transportation.

The new arena has a small fraction of the parking that was available at the Coliseum complex — only 900 parking spots compared to nearly 10-thousand at the former site in Oakland.

“Over time, people might figure it out. But in the beginning, it’s going to be hard to get in and out. People are used to driving to the games and concerts,” said Victoria Turner, who works in the area.

Unless drivers are already holding reserved parking spaces in the Chase Center garage, there is not going to be parking at the venue’s garage for them.

• Getting to the Chase Center: Arena Info | SFMTA Info | Caltrain Info for Metallica Concerts

Those coming from outside the city are being encouraged to take BART or Caltrain. There may be some parking about a half a mile away by Oracle Park, which is also where the temporary ferry terminal will be, eventually.

The Warriors’ real game plan is Muni and the T Line that runs out of the Embarcadero station. That is about a 20 minute trip to the Chase Center, without crowds and traffic.

“If you have a valid ticket to any event at Chase Center, that also serves as your ticket on MUNI as well,”said Erica Kato, a spokesperson for SFMTA.

Ditching their cars and jumping on public transit wasn’t a tough sell for many concertgoers.

“If you’re going to Chase Center, it’s free to use the MUNI. Why wouldn’t you use it if it’s free? It doesn’t cost you anything. Be safe, be responsible and have a good time,” said Sam Harman, a Metallica fan who drove up from Southern California for the concert.

For cabs and ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft, the pick-up and drop-off zones are on the Bay side of the building. That’s also where fans will find dedicated bicycle lanes and valet bike parking.

MILPITAS (CBS SF) — Surveillance video from the scene of two burglaries reported in August helped Milpitas police identify and arrest a 48-year-old San Jose resident as a suspect.

The two thefts were reported on Aug. 27.

At 7 a.m. a resident in the 1400 block of Currant Drive told police that a $1,700 bicycle was taken from an open garage.

The second report, made online, was a package theft in the 200 block of Garden Street.

A check of surveillance video from both locations showed the suspect was the same in both incidents.

The Milpitas department shared the video footage with other agencies in the area and the Santa Clara and Alameda police departments both identified the suspect as Patricia Vasconcelos De Abreu.

A $50,000 Ramey arrest warrant for De Abreu for burglary and petty theft was obtained and on Sept. 4 she was taken into custody in the 600 block of North King Road in San Jose and booked into Santa Clara County Jail.

The video was crucial in identifying a suspect, the Milpitas Police Department said.

The department also reminded residents to lock doors and windows, and activate alarm systems.

Anyone with information about the either incident or the suspect can call the Milpitas Police Department at (408) 586-2400. Information can be submitted anonymously by calling the Crime Tip Hotline at (408) 586-2500 or via the Milpitas Police Department website.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The author of a hot-button California bill limiting medical exemptions for vaccinations on Friday accepted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s last-minute demand for additional changes, setting up a final series of votes before lawmakers adjourn for the year next week.

Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan of Sacramento amended a companion bill to reflect the governor’s wishes, days after lawmakers sent Newsom a bill cracking down on doctors who sell fraudulent medical exemptions.

Pan said in a statement he appreciates Newsom’s commitment to sign the bill and the amendments, which he says will “ensure we maintain the community immunity needed to protect our kids.”

The amendments would give school children grace periods that could last several years on existing medical exemptions. For instance, a kindergartener with an exemption could retain it through 6th grade, while a 7th grader could be exempted through high school.

That is similar to the phase-out period allowed when California eliminated personal belief vaccine exemptions in 2015, officials said.

Another new provision would revoke any medical exemptions written by Robert Sears, a Southern California doctor who has been disciplined by the Medical Board of California for writing improper vaccine exemptions. The provision would apply to exemptions written by any doctor who has faced disciplinary action, but at this time Sears is the only California doctor to be disciplined regarding medical exemptions, said Carlos Villatoro, a medical board spokesman.

Other changes would make it clear that enforcement will start next year, meaning doctors who previously granted a high number of medical exemptions won’t face scrutiny. They also would remove a requirement that doctors swear under penalty of perjury that they are not charging fees to fill out medical exemption forms. And one change would ensure that an expert panel reviewing appeals of exemption denials could consider additional information from the doctor beyond the exemption form.

Newsom spokesman Nathan Click said the governor would sign the bill once the new amendments have also won legislative approval.

“These amendments clarify legal and administrative processes in SB276 in order to ensure medical providers, parents, school administrators and public health officials know the rules of the road once it takes effect,” Click said in a statement, referencing the bill number.

Newsom’s 11th-hour demands had roiled the Legislature and frustrated the bill’s supporters, all of whom were caught by surprise when he announced them in a tweet this week. It prompted several newspapers across California to editorially question the freshman governor’s commitment to limiting vaccine exemptions during a year of record measles outbreaks.

Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, a fellow Democrat from San Diego, on Friday said in a statement that Newsom should first sign the bill already on his desk, one that she said “has been vigorously vetted and negotiated for months and deserves to be enacted on its merits in the form that was agreed to.”

Having that bill signed into law would make it “easier to move forward with new language that has been proposed,” she said.

Signing the bill would also counter opponents who have threatened and harassed Pan and other lawmakers over the pending legislation, she said: “It is important that we send the message that loud and violent will not drown out reason and science in how we govern California.”

Newsom’s office had no immediate reaction.

The last-minute amendments are unlikely to mollify opponents who have swarmed the Capitol and had hoped Newsom might veto the bill, given his insistence on significant changes in June and again this week.

But the compromise pleased the bill’s supporters.

American Academy of Pediatrics, California, chief executive Kris Calvin and Vaccinate California executive director Leah Russin both praised Newsom and Pan for working out their differences.

Russin called the agreement “a victory for science over fear and for sound public health policy over conspiracy and misinformation,” while also urging Newsom to immediately sign the bill already on his desk.

Calvin said her group supports the amendments if it means both bills become law.

“We are perfectly satisfied that this bill will satisfy its objective of making sure that bogus medical exemptions are uncovered … while protecting valid medical exemptions,” Calvin said.

SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) – A Bay Area lawmaker’s bill aimed at increasing housing production amid the state’s housing crisis cleared the legislature Friday and is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

Senate Bill 330 by State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) is up for the governor’s consideration after passing the State Senate in a 30-4 vote. Earlier this week, the Assembly approved SB330 on a 67-8 vote.

The bill aims to addresses a slowdown in homebuilding which is contributing to the state’s ever escalating rents and high home prices. SB330 would bar housing-constricted urban areas from reducing the number of housing units allowed or enacting moratoriums on new housing construction through 2025.

Cities and communities would also be required to reduce the time it takes to process residential construction permits on projects that meet local zoning rules. Municipalities would also be prevented from raising fees or changing permit requirements once a builder submits the required information.

The measure would also limit the number of public hearings on projects that comply with local rules to five.

“Experts agree that California needs to build 3.5 million units in the next five years,” Skinner said in a statement. “SB 330 is designed to help us achieve that goal.”

Earlier this week, numbers from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office show the state is far from reaching the goal of 3.5 million new homes by 2025, a goal that Newsom campaigned on. Only 61,200 residential building permits have been issued in California through July of this year, and officials said the state is on pace to permit less than 100,000 units in 2019.

“The recent slowdown in housing permits is the most severe since the Great Recession,” the analyst’s office said in a statement.

The legislature is considering other housing bills before adjourning next Friday, including a proposed measure that would cap rent increases, and a measure to create a Bay Area agency that would address the housing crisis at a regional level.

SANTA BARBARA (CBS SF) — Working around the clock since last weekend’s deadly dive boat tragedy, a group of coroners from around the state have been able to identify 18 of the 33 bodies recovered from the wreckage of the 75-foot Conception, officials said Thursday.

The names of nine of the confirmed victims were released by the sheriff’s department — five have Bay Area connections and included for the first time the name of UC Berkeley grad Wei Tan.

Here are the names of the other eight:

• Raymond “Scott” Chan, 59, of Los Altos
• Justin Dignam, 58, of Anaheim
• Daniel Garcia, 46, of Berkeley
• Marybeth Guiney, 51, of Santa Monica
• Yulia Krashennaya, 40, of Berkeley
• Alexandra Kurtz, 26, of Santa Barbara
• Caroline McLaughlin, 35, of Oakland
• Ted Strom, 62, of Germantown, Tennessee

Coroners are using equipment and forensic technology deployed during last year’s deadly Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise and claimed the lives of 85 people — many overwhelmed as they attempted to flee the wall of fire.

“Due to the intense nature of the fire that occurred on the vessel, the recovered remains have suffered varying degrees of fire damage which requires DNA analysis,” said Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Bay Area Mourns Dive Boat Fire Victims

He added that authorities have been able to connect with the families of all 34 victims on the boat. But once their loved ones have been confirmed by the coroners, Brown said, a second more personal contact would be made with the families.

That process was underway of the nine others who have been positively identified.

Brown also told reporters that initially the coroners believe the victims died of smoke inhalation and not from burn injuries.

“The indicators are from the preliminary examination of the bodies that the victims died prior to being burned,” he said. “The burn damage to the victims was post-mortem.”

Wei’s sister took to Facebook to tell family and friends of Tan’s death.

“Dear friends, it is with great sadness I announce the passing of my beloved little sister, Wei Tan. She was one of the victims in the unfortunate boat fire accident that happened in California on Sept 2,” she posted. “At the moment, my family is coping well while we wait for DNA testing to be completed. My elder brother, Sejay Tan, is currently on site in Santa Barbara to handle all paperwork and arrangements. Details on the ceremony will be provided later.”

“We sincerely thank all relatives and friends for your love and concern as we get through this difficult phase.”

“It hurts, it will always hurt, but we will move on…”

TRACY (CBS SF) — An airline mechanic from the Bay Area was placed under arrest Thursday, accused of sabotaging an airplane in Miami, according to authorities.

60-year-old Ahmed Alani of Tracy was arrested Thursday morning. The incident in question happened at Miami International Airport in July.

Alani appeared in federal court in Miami on Friday on a charge of willfully damaging or disabling a plane.

Alani was working as a mechanic for American Airlines.

According to the FBI’s criminal complaint, he tampered with the plane’s system which reports aircraft speed, pitch and other critical flight data to the pilots.

The plane was in the process of taking off when several alarms went off and they aborted takeoff.

The complaint alleges Alani confessed to investigators stating he didn’t intend to cause harm to the plane or its passengers, Rather, he said he was upset over a contract dispute and wanted to delay or cancel the flight to possibly obtain overtime work.

Court records from a lawsuit in California indicate that for some years, Alani worked both for American and Alaska Airlines until Alaska fired him in 2008 after several errors including failing to verify that repairs were working and installing the wrong battery on a plane. The Federal Aviation Administration suspended his mechanic’s certificate for 30 days, according to court documents.

Alani, who was born in Iraq and became a U.S. citizen in 1992, sued Alaska Airlines for discrimination based on national origin. A judge dismissed the lawsuit for lack of evidence.

The lawsuit and Alani’s firing by Alaska were first reported by Business Insider.

The federal investigation into the incident continues.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

(CBS San Francisco/CBS Local) — The San Francisco 49ers enter their Week 1 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with more questions than answers. At the top of the list may be quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. His less than stellar showing in the preseason has 49ers nation wondering: Is he their QB of the future, or even the present?

Jimmy Garoppolo (Photo Credit: Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

Garoppolo missed most of the 2018 season with a torn ACL, and was only serviceable in his short time before the injury. His first regular-season action this year may not be a strong gauge of his ability to lead this 49ers team. As SportsLine senior analyst Larry Hartstein sees it, “given how bad each of these defenses are, I don’t think we’re going to have much of an adjustment period at all. I think both teams are going to excel through the air.”

Stream your local NFL on CBS game live with CBS All Access.

It still would be nice to see your high-priced quarterback, returning from injury, excel in a game situation, even if this Bucs defense won’t provide the challenge of a reasonable NFL defense. And Garoppolo has some talent to work with. As Hartstein sums it up, “You’ve got Tevin Coleman. You’ve got Marquise Goodwin back. You’ve got, of course, George Kittle.”

The 49ers defense will also have its hands full Sunday, as the Buccaneers aerial attack features its own array of weapons. “You look at the Bucs, with Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, O.J. Howard, Jameis Winston,” according to Hartstein, “with Bruce Arians calling the plays, being aggressive down the field. He doesn’t care if Winston throws an interception or two. He’s going to keep attacking against that 49ers pass defense, one of the worst in the League last year.”

This game has the makings of a high-scoring affair. But even if Garoppolo turns in a big afternoon, it shouldn’t be interpreted to mean he’s back and ready to lead the 49ers to greatness… at least not yet.

The 49ers meet the Buccaneers Sunday @ 1:25 PT.

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SANTA BARBARA (CBS SF/) — Just like the victims of Oakland’s deadly Ghost Ship Warehouse fire, those who died in the Southern California’s dive boat tragedy were killed by smoke inhalation, not burns.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said the coroner has determined the “victims died prior to being burned.”

“The burn damage to the victims was post-mortem,” Brown told reporters.

In Oakland’s deadly 2016 Ghost Ship Fire, the coroner made a similar ruling that the 36 victims died of smoke inhalation as they were trapped in the second floor of the burning warehouse.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Bay Area Mourns Dive Boat Fire Victims

More than half the 34 people killed as they slept in bunks below deck early Monday have been positively identified through DNA, and their family members around the world are being notified, Brown told reporters. Divers are searching for the one body that still has not been found.

Five crew members jumped overboard after trying to rescue the 33 scuba divers and one crew member whose escape routes were blocked by fire, federal authorities and the boat’s owner said. The crew, including the captain, said they were driven back by flames, smoke and heat.

Multiple investigations into the disaster are focused on determining what happened and have not become a criminal probe, though Brown said charges are possible.

Notifying families that their loved ones were aboard the Conception and gathering DNA to identify remains burned beyond recognition has taken an extraordinary worldwide effort.

A mother in Japan was told Thursday that her child was on the boat. The FBI also had to deliver the news to a family in Singapore and relatives from India who flew into California, Brown said.

The remains of 18 people have been positively identified, and the sheriff released the names of nine whose families have been notified.

A salvage crew working with the Coast Guard was trying to recover the ship that sank in 60 feet (18 meters) of water off the rugged Channel Islands, where the boat took a three-day excursion.

Speculation has grown about whether the captain and four other crew members who survived had tried to help the others before jumping from the flaming vessel. But they said that by the time they saw flames, it was too late.

The crew members told investigators a “harrowing story” about the moments after the blaze erupted before dawn Monday as it lay at anchor, Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

They jumped from the bridge area to the main deck — one breaking a leg in the effort — and tried to get through the double doors of the galley, but they were on fire.

That cut off both escape routes from the sleeping quarters: a stairway and an escape hatch that exited in the galley area. The crew then tried, but failed, to get into windows at the front of the vessel.

“At that point, due to heat, flames and smoke, the crew had to jump from the boat,” Homendy said.

Captain Jerry Boylan stayed aboard trying to send radio distress calls and was last in the water, said Glen Fritzler, co-owner of Truth Aquatics Inc. of Santa Barbara, which operated Conception.

“The other crew at a certain point when the flames had engulfed the boat and they were in the water, they could see Jerry jump from the upper deck, a long jump. And there was a trail of smoke following him. They thought he was on fire,” Fritzler told KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara.

“Within minutes, they would’ve been consumed,” he said. “So they did their best. They did re-enter the vessel from the back of the boat after they swam around it. They could not get to firefighting equipment because everything was engulfed.”

The survivors used a skiff at Conception’s stern to reach a nearby boat, and two of them then returned to see if they could rescue any other survivors, Homendy said. They found no one.

Fritzler said the experience has traumatized the survivors.

“They’re breaking down,” he said. “They’re seeking counseling. It’s a very tough time for them.”

Meanwhile, Truth Aquatics filed a lawsuit Thursday in federal court that uses a pre-Civil War provision of maritime law to limit their liability from any victims’ claims. The lawsuit argues that the company and its owners made the boat seaworthy and it was properly manned and equipped.

Coast Guard records show the boat passed its two most recent inspections with no safety violations. And previous customers said Truth Aquatics and the captains of its three boats were very safety conscious.

The NTSB is just a few days into what will be a lengthy investigation that seeks to determine the fire’s cause and identify potential safety enhancements to avoid future disasters.

Investigators are examining potential ignition sources for the fire, including electronics, kitchen stoves and the vessel’s wiring systems. Investigators know photography equipment, batteries and other electronics were stored and plugged in on the Conception.

“We are not ruling anything out at this point,” Homendy said.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The Oakland Raiders roller-coaster preseason with star receiver Antonio Brown was on an upswing Friday as he was at the team’s practice facility and was expected to play in Monday night’s regular season opener against Denver.

What a transition from just 24 hours earlier when Brown was not at the facility and there were rumors he was to be suspended for an ugly confrontation practice field Wednesday with Oakland General Manager Mike Mayock.

“Antonio’s back today, we’re really excited about that,” head coach John Gruden told reporters. “We ready to move on. He’s obviously a lot of time to think about things. We’re happy to have him back and Raider Nation’s excited about that too.”

When asked if he would play against the Broncos, Gruden said: “That’s the plan.”

“Antonio’s back today, we’re really excited about that. Ready to move on.”

Jon Gruden says Antonio Brown will play Monday night. (via @BairNBCS)pic.twitter.com/0rbHPDTmXu

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) September 6, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Brown also met with reporters.

“I’m excited to be out here today,” he said in a brief statement. “I want to apologize to my teammates, the organization…I’m excited to be a part of the Raiders. See you all soon.”

Earlier in the day, ESPN reported that Brown had appeared before his teammates and apologized for his on-field confrontation.

The apparent act of contrition came after a wild Thursday when Brown did not come to practice and the team appeared to be considering actions to void his three-year, $50.125 million contract.

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter reported that Brown and Mayock “got into it” on Wednesday and that the team was planning a suspension, citing league sources.

The Next Chapter: Antonio Brown and GM Mike Mayock got into it Wednesday, and the team is now planning to suspend its star wide receiver, league sources tell ESPN.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 5, 2019

Mayock then issued a statement to reporters.

“I’ll make it short and sweet,” he said. “Antonio Brown is not in the building today, won’t be practicing. I don’t have any more information for you right now. When I have some and it becomes appropriate you guys will all get it. But that’s it for today.”

Gruden also refused to answer any questions from reporters about the Brown situation.

“He wasn’t here today,” he said. “We have been practicing without him, we’ve been preparing to play no matter …We had to adapt and unfortunately, we had to adapt today, but we are really excited about our receivers corp.”

“We’re still getting to the bottom of everything… I’m out here on the field coaching the guys who are here.”

Brown on Wednesday posted a letter from Mayock on his Instagram story page in which the team informed Brown that he was being fined $13,950 for missing a walk-through on Aug. 22nd and $40,000 for missing Raiders preseason training camp on Aug. 18.

Antonio Brown posted this image on his Instagram story Wednesday. (AB/Instagram)

In response, Brown wrote: “WHEN YOUR OWN TEAM WANT TO HATE BUT THERE’S NO STOPPING ME NOW DEVIL IS A LIE. EVERYONE GOT TO PAY THIS YEAR SO WE CLEAR.”

There are those around the league who now believe the Raiders could suspend Antonio Brown with the idea of trying to void the $30.125 million of guaranteed money in his contract.

Which obviously would end his time in Oakland.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 5, 2019

Brown had 686 catches and 9,145 yards receiving the past six seasons in Pittsburgh, the best marks ever for a receiver in a six-year span. But he still wore out his welcome with the Steelers after leaving the team before a crucial Week 17 game last season, and Oakland was able to acquire him in March for the small price of third- and fifth-round draft picks.

ALSO READ: Raiders’ Antonio Brown: ‘Steeler Nation Is Having A Bad Day Today’

Antonio Brown was unhappy about being fined and had an exchange with #Raiders general manager Mike Mayock on Wednesday. He was held back by a couple of teammates, sources said, and is now facing a team suspension.

— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) September 5, 2019

The drama that surrounded Brown in Pittsburgh didn’t stop upon his arrival in Oakland.

The gifted wide receiver was in the headlines for much of the preseason and it had little to do with his play on the field. First, he suffered severely frostbitten feet while undergoing cryotherapy treatment in France, forcing him to start training camp on the non-football injury list.

ALSO READ: ‘My Ex Still Thinks Of Me’; Raiders Antonio Brown Takes Shot At Steelers Fans

He was activated on July 28, but immediately became embroiled in a dispute with the NFL and the NFLPA over his helmet. The NFL and NFLPA won’t allow him to use the same Schutt Air Advantage that he has used throughout his career, it doesn’t not meet the new safety requirements.

Twice he filed a grievance and twice he lost.

Pittsburgh watching Antonio Brown absolutely implode in Oakland pic.twitter.com/9CvcsJAxwl

— Pick Six Podcast (@picksixpod) September 5, 2019

At one point, Mayock issued an “all in or all out” ultimatum.

“You all know that A.B. is not here today,” Mayock said in a video on the team Twitter page. “So here’s the bottom line. He’s upset about the helmet issue. We have supported that. We appreciate that,” Mayock said. “But at this point, we’ve pretty much exhausted all avenues of relief. So from our perspective, it’s time for him to be all in or all out. So we’re hoping he’s back soon. We’ve got 89 guys busting their tails. We are really excited about where this franchise is going and we hope A.B. is going to be a big part of it starting Week 1 against Denver. End of story. No questions.”

ALSO READ: Lawsuit Claims Raiders’ Antonio Brown Failed To Pay Chef’s Bill Of Nearly $40,000

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE (KPIX 5) – Bay Area drivers heading to South Lake Tahoe this fall will have to take a long detour, as a stretch of Highway 50 will be closed for two weeks next month due to construction.

Caltrans is closing the highway over Echo Summit in Placer County for bridge work. Officials said the closure is slated to take place from October 18th through October 31st.

While the closure only involves ½ mile of the road, travelers will need to use a detour to get around a 50 mile stretch of the highway from Placerville to South Lake Tahoe.

Officials are suggesting several alternate routes from the Bay Area to South Lake Tahoe during the closure. The signed detour from Sacramento involves taking eastbound Highway 16, to southbound Highway 49 to eastbound Highway 88 to northbound Highway 89. Drivers can also take a detour from Placerville, using Highways 49, 88, and 89.

Another route being recommended is via Stockton, using Highways 88 and 89.

Exact closure dates may be impacted due to weather conditions, officials said.

YOSEMITE (CBS SF) — National park officials confirmed Friday that a woman from Arizona fell over 500 feet to her death off Half Dome at Yosemite Thursday morning.

Park officials said the deadly fall happened at approximately 11:55 a.m. on Thursday, September 5. The female hiker was visiting the park and ascending Half Dome via the cables that allow hikers to reach the iconic granite dome’s summit when she fell, officials said.

The hiker, identified as identified as 29-year-old Lake Havasu City, Arizona resident Danielle Burnett, fell over 500 feet down steep, rocky terrain. She was deceased when Park Rangers arrived on the scene.

Yosemite park officials said the incident remains under investigation and had no additional information about the fatal incident. There were no photos or video of the fatal fall.

Earlier this summer, three visitors to Yosemite were injured, including one fatally, in falls near waterfalls at the park. Officials implored tourists to avoid venturing off-trail.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Thousands of tourists could soon have to make a reservation and pay a fee to drive down the world-famous Lombard Street in San Francisco.

California lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill that would give San Francisco the authority to establish a toll and reservation system for the crooked street. The bill still needs Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority has suggested a $5 per car on weekdays and $10 on weekends and holidays.

Residents say the scenic thoroughfare has become more like an overcrowded amusement park than a residential road. They have been calling for years for officials to address the traffic jams, trash and trespassing by visitors.

Tourism officials estimate that 6,000 people per day visit the 600-foot-long (183-meter-long) street in the summer months, creating lines of waiting cars that stretch for blocks.

© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

(CBS SF/AP) — The U.S. Justice Department and two other federal agencies are moving to dismantle a deal between California and four automakers to abide by emissions and mileage standards tougher that those proposed by the Trump administration.

Ford said Friday the company received a letter from the DOJ informing it of an antitrust investigation into an agreement by Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW to adopt California’s stricter emissions standards. Ford spokesman T.R. Reid said the company is cooperating with the department.

The deal reached in July would bypass the Trump administration’s push to relax pollution and mileage standards nationwide that were set by the Obama administration. The administration says the extra expense to comply with the requirements will raise the price of new cars, making them unaffordable and depriving buyers of new safety technology. Many experts, including former EPA engineers, challenge the administration’s argument.

In additon Friday, the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency told California officials in a letter that deal appears to violate federal law, since the Clean Air Act and other laws prohibit states from setting motor vehicle fuel economy standards.

The July agreement bypassed the Trump administration’s plan to freeze emissions and fuel economy standards adopted under the Obama administration at 2021 levels.

The automakers agreed with the California Air Resources Board to reduce emissions by 3.7% per year starting with the 2022 model year, through 2026. They would have gone up by 4.7% per year through 2025 under the Obama standards, according to California officials.

Pollution standards are closely linked to fuel economy requirements.

The Justice Department wouldn’t comment on the investigation.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

PETALUMA (CBS SF) – A 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with two robberies Wednesday night at a store in Petaluma, police said.

Armando A. Monter, of Petaluma, is suspected of stealing items during two visits Wednesday to the Pic N Go Market at 905 East Washington St., according to police.

During the first visit Wednesday night, Monter bought some items but allegedly stole others as he left the store, the market’s clerk told police.

The store employee told police he believed that Monter, a frequent customer, was intoxicated and decided to confront him later.

About 8 p.m., Monter came back and reportedly tried to take more items without paying for them, police said.

When the clerk asked Monter to pay for the items, the suspect threatened the clerk and then reportedly struck him in the face with his hand, police said.

The clerk attempted to retrieve the items as Monter was leaving but was hit again, according to police.

The incident was captured on video surveillance. Monter was arrested on suspicion of robbery, criminal threats, and for violating his post release community supervision, and taken to Sonoma County Jail. The clerk did not require medical attention, police said.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

(CNN) — The Department of Homeland Security plans to begin requesting social media information on applications for immigration benefits and foreign travel to the US, an expansion of data collection already taking place.

Some foreign travelers to the US, as well as applicants for immigration benefits, will be asked to list their social media accounts and usernames for the past five years, according to a notice in the Federal Register. The information will be used to determine whether an individual “poses a law enforcement or national security risk to the United States.”

Social media platforms that DHS will ask about include Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Ask.fm, Weibo, Myspace, YouTube and Linkedin. The agency says it will not collect passwords and will review only publicly available information.

The change comes amid furor over a Harvard student, Ismail Ajjawi, who was at first denied entry into the US based on information discovered during a US Customs and Border Protection inspection.

According to The Harvard Crimson, Ajjawi alleged he was told that there were “political points of view that oppose the US” expressed by people he follows on social media. After he was questioned, the Crimson reported, his visa was revoked and he was sent back to Lebanon. He has since been allowed to enter the US and attend school.

The State Department is already requesting social media information from most US visa applicants.

In June, the State Department said the forms for both immigrant and non-immigrant visa applicants had been updated “to request additional information, including social media identifiers.”

The DHS social media collection stems a 2017 executive order which requires the implementation of vetting standards and collection of information related to entry in to the US and immigration benefits.

The updated data collection will affect nine US Citizenship and Immigration Services programs for immigration benefits, such as applications for naturalization and asylum, as well as three Customs and Border Protection forms — for visa waivers, visa updates and the Electronic System for Travel Authorization document.

This is the first time Citizenship and Immigration Services would require social media accounts and handles on these applications, according to a DHS official. It’s unclear whether Customs and Border Protection was collecting this data in the past.

The proposed changes are expected to begin in 2020, the official added.

Last week, Citizenship and Immigration Services, which manages legal immigration benefits, updated its privacy policy, which said in part that it would allow the agency to use fake social media accounts or identities to identify threats and detect fraud in the immigration system.

These two developments are “a reflection to the extent US government agencies have really expanded use of social media surveillance,” said Hugh Handeyside, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project.

“There are some serious problems. The potential to misinterpret online speech is through the roof,” said Handeyside.

He also told CNN it will “inevitably hamper freedom of speech,” because people self-censor when they know the government is watching, adding that there is “no way DHS can do this without also sweeping up the online speech of US citizens.”

Earlier this year, the ACLU brought a lawsuit in federal court seeking records related to social media surveillance by the government — the policies that govern the process and the tools used to do it.

Obama administration Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson previously delegated authority to Citizenship and Immigration Services to conduct law enforcement activities, including the use of fake accounts to access public social media information, provided that they be conducted by “properly trained and authorized officers,” and that they meet privacy and civil rights obligations.

The immigration agency is allowed to use the fake identities only to review publicly available social media accounts and must have supervisory approval.

The department currently uses social media information in its vetting of applicants, but says it is labor-intensive to connect social media accounts to applicants. Collecting usernames, DHS says, will reduce the time needed to validate social media accounts.

Privacy advocates have argued that social media collection has limited value and can create a situation ripe for discrimination.

“There’s no evidence at all that social media monitoring is useful in identifying security threats,” said Faiza Patel, co-director of the Brennan Center for Justice Liberty and National Security Program.

Patel also pointed out that “social media is inherently very difficult to interpret,” adding that it’s highly context-dependent and often includes slangs, cultural differences and languages other than English.

According to a Brennan Center report, “Social Media Monitoring,” a 2016 brief prepared by DHS for the incoming administration found that “the information in the accounts did not yield clear, articulable links to national security concerns, even for those applicants who were found to pose a potential national security threat based on other security screening results.”

When asked about the 2016 brief, the DHS official told CNN that “the proposed collection of social media identifiers will make the review of publicly available social media information more efficient.”

Customs and Border Protection retains information on two of its applications, which is will require social media information, for three years in an active database and 12 years in an archived database, according to the DHS official.

Information in Customs and Border Protection’s Electronic Visa Update System, an automated system to determine eligibility to travel to the US on a 10-year visitor visa, will be archived for 12 years.

Any retained data linked to law enforcement records will remain “accessible for the life of the law enforcement activities,” said the official.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten. CNN contributed to this report.

VACAVILLE (CBS SF) – Vacaville police have a Davis man in custody Thursday night suspected of identity theft, fraud and possession of stolen property.

Nolan Bell, 27, was apparently sitting in a Kia Forte outside a home in the 700 block of Shady Glen Road where police were conducting a probation search around 1 p.m.

A check of the license plate determined the Kia was a “felony vehicle” and the driver was wanted on a $45,000 felony warrant related to the theft and fraud offenses, Lt. Mark Donaldson said.

During an encounter with Bell an officer fired at least one shot and Bell fled in the Kia, Donaldson said.

Nolan Bell. (Vacaville Police Department)

Bell allegedly led officers on a high-speed chase but officers lost view of the Kia in the area of Pleasants Valley and Gates Canyon roads.

Donaldson said Bell checked himself into Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa and police were alerted to his presence there.

Bell suffered one gunshot wound that is not considered life-threatening.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

In announcing the deal, General Manager Doug Wilson left little doubt about the depth of the love affair Sharks fans have with Thornton.

“Words cannot equate the impact that Joe has had on this franchise since his arrival in San Jose in 2005,” said Wilson. “Joe is a generational player who seemingly blazes past an existing Hall-of-Famer with each game he plays.

Last season, Thornton registered 51 points (16 goals, 35 assists) in 73 games, finishing seventh on the Sharks in assists, eighth in points and tied for fourth in game-winning goals.

After missing nine of the first 11 games of the season, Thornton skated in all 71 remaining contests and reached several milestones on the NHL’s all-time scoring lists.

Entering the 2018-19 season, Joe Thornton ranked 21st in all-time games played, 12th in assists and 16th in points. By the end of the season, Thornton climbed to 12th in all-time games played (1,566), eighth in all-time assists (1,065) and 14th in points (1,478), passing several Hall-of-Famers including Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Marcel Dionne, Teemu Selanne, and Gordie Howe.

“His leadership and dedication to the organization and his teammates is inspiring,” Wilson said. “He has the rare ability to make the players around him better and we’re excited to see him healthy and back wearing the Sharks crest.”

On Nov. 8, 2018 at Dallas, Thornton skated in his 1,500th NHL game, passing Mike Modano for sole possession of 19th on the NHL’s all-time games played list. With the achievement, Thornton became the first player in NHL history selected first overall in an NHL Draft to appear in 1,500 career games.

A few nights later, Thornton recorded the game-winning goal for his 400th career NHL goal. He became just the seventh player in NHL history to skate in 1,500 games, collect 1,000 assists and score 400 goals. Five of the six other players are in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Acquired by San Jose from Boston on Nov. 30, 2005, Thornton has 780 assists and 1,024 points in 1034 games with the Sharks. During that span, no NHL player has more assists than Thornton and his 1,024 points with San Jose ranks third amongst all NHL players since the trade.

In 2006-07, Thornton became only the third player in NHL history to have back-to-back 90-plus assist seasons (96 in 2005-06, 92 in 2006-07), joining only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

Thornton led the NHL in assists in 2005-06 (96), 2006-07 (92), and 2007-08 (67). He became just the fourth player in NHL history to lead the League in assists for three consecutive seasons, joining Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, and Stan Mikita (Henrik Sedin has since joined this list in 2011-12).

Thornton was named the winner of both the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy in 2006, the season he was acquired by San Jose. He been selected to six NHL All-Star Games (2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009), and was named an NHL First All-Star Team in 2006, and an NHL Second All-Star Team in 2003, 2008 and 2016.

Internationally, Thornton has represented his native Canada on numerous occasions, including winning gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owners of the dive boat where 34 people perished in a fire off Southern California filed a lawsuit Thursday to head off potentially costly litigation, a move condemned by some observers as disrespectful to the families of the dead.

Truth Aquatics Inc., which owned the Conception, filed the action in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles under a pre-Civil War provision of maritime law that allows it to limit its liability.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Bay Area Mourns Dive Boat Fire Victims

Investigators are still searching for what caused the blaze that wrecked the boat, which remains upside down at the bottom of the sea near the Channel Islands.

The time-tested legal maneuver has been successfully employed by owners of the Titanic and countless other crafts — some as small as Jet Skis — and was widely anticipated by maritime law experts. Still, the fact it was filed just three days after the deadly inferno Monday came as a surprise to legal observers.

Families of the deceased, who are not named in the complaint, will be served with notice that they have a limited time to challenge the company’s effort to clear itself of negligence or limit its liability to the value of the remains of the boat, which is a total loss.

“They’re forcing these people to bring their claims and bring them now,” said attorney Charles Naylor, who represents victims in maritime law cases. “They have six months to do this. They could let these people bury their kids. This is shocking.”

Professor Martin J. Davies, the maritime law director at Tulane University, said the cases always follow accidents at sea and always look bad, but they are usually initiated by insurance companies to limit losses.

“It seems like a pretty heartless thing to do, but that’s what always happens. They’re just protecting their position,” Davies said. “It produces very unpleasant results in dramatic cases like this one. … The optics are awful.”

The U.S. law dates to 1851, but it has its origins in 18th century England, Davies said. It was designed to encourage the shipping business. Every country with a shipping industry has something similar on the books.

In order to prevail, the company and owners Glen and Dana Fritzler have to show they were not at fault in the disaster.

They asserted in the lawsuit that they “used reasonable care to make the Conception seaworthy, and she was, at all relevant times, tight, staunch, and strong, fully and properly manned, equipped and supplied and in all respects seaworthy and fit for the service in which she was engaged.”

Even if the captain or crew are found at fault, the Fritzler’s and their insurance company could avoid paying a dime under the law, experts said.

All of those who died were in a bunkroom below the main deck. Officials have said the 33 passengers and one crewmember had no ability to escape the flames.

Crew members told investigators they made several attempts to rescue the people who were trapped before abandoning ship, the National Transportation Safety Board said. None of the survivors has spoken publicly.

The court filing not only seeks to protect the boat owners from legal exposure, but also will require any lawsuits to be filed in the same federal court.

A judge will hold a non-jury trial to see if the company can successfully show it wasn’t at fault. If that’s the case, any claimants would only be entitled to the value of the remains of the ship, which the suit said is a total loss with zero value.

There’s a long history of ship owners successfully asserting this protection. The case involving the White Star Line, the owners of the Titanic, went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that a foreign owner could assert protection of the Limitation Act, attorney James Mercante said.

In that case, plaintiffs eventually withdrew their lawsuits and filed them in England, where the company was based. British law, even though it also limited damages, provided a bigger payout than the value of the remaining lifeboats.

While the law can shield owners from damages, over 90% of cases where injury and death are involved are settled before trial, Mercante said.

Attorney A. Barry Cappello, who is in discussions with another firm to represent family members of the Conception victims in court, said there’s a strong case to show negligence in the boat fire and that good lawyers can find a way around the admiralty law in federal court.

“The law is so antiquated and so skewed in favor of the ship owners that damages for wrongful death type cases is very limited unless one can prove exceptions,” Cappello said.

Cappello recently prevailed in a case in which a company that rented a paddleboard to a man who drowned in Santa Barbara Harbor had asserted the liability protection. A judge ruled the admiralty law didn’t extend to such crafts, though the company has appealed.

Davies said from what he’s heard of the disaster, there’s a realistic prospect the owner might prevail if the boat was properly equipped and the cause of the fire remains mysterious.

If the owner loses, there’s the potential of unlimited liability.

“That’s why the fight is always about limitation because if you’ve got unlimited liability, well, … 30 dead people is a whole lot of money,” Davies said.

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — A wheelchair-bound woman was trapped and killed early Friday as a 2-alarm fire swept through her double-wide mobile home in San Jose, neighbors and authorities said.

San Jose Fire Captain Cesar Martinez said crews responded to a 911 call after midnight reporting a fire in a mobile home at 218 El Bosque Drive.

“We responded to the fire, a second alarm was called in after reports of a trapped person,” he said. “We have a fatality.”

Neighbors told KPIX 5 that the victim was an elderly woman in a wheelchair who had lived in the neighborhood for several years.

“I was woken up — they were banging on our windows saying — ‘Fire! Fire!’,” said neighbor Paul Ruiz. “It just too seconds, minutes for it to catch on. Instantly, everything caught fire.”

Another neighbor – Gloria — said her son was heading off to work just before midnight when he saw the mobile home next door on fire.

“He saw flames coming out of her house,” she told KPIX 5. “He ran baack into the house, pounded on the doors and told us all to get out.”

Firefighters gained control of the blaze, but not before flames had completely destroyed the home. There were no other injuries and an arson investigator was on the scene trying to determine a cause of the fire.

The woman’s identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin.

MENLO PARK (AP) — Two bipartisan groups of state attorneys general are launching separate antitrust investigations into Facebook and Google, adding to regulatory scrutiny of two of the world’s largest and most ubiquitous tech companies.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, confirmed the Facebook investigation in a news release Friday, saying the probe would focus on Facebook’s “dominance in the industry and the potential anticompetitive conduct stemming from that dominance.”

“Even the largest social media platform in the world must follow the law and respect consumers,” she said. “I am proud to be leading a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general in investigating whether Facebook has stifled competition and put users at risk.”

She said the probe would seek to determine if Facebook endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumer choices or increased the price of advertising.

Menlo Park-based Facebook had no immediate comment.

The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, citing sources they did not identify, have reported that a coalition of attorneys general will announce a separate investigation of Google in Washington, D.C., on Monday.

Google, based in Mountain View, issued a statement that didn’t comment directly on the antitrust concerns but said its services “help people every day, create more choice for consumers, and support thousands of jobs and small businesses across the country.”

“We continue to work constructively with regulators, including attorneys general, in answering questions about our business and the dynamic technology sector,” it said.

James said the coalition she is leading on the Facebook investigation includes the attorneys general of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and the District of Columbia.

The U.S. Justice Department announced in July that it was opening a sweeping antitrust investigation of Big Tech, though it did not name any specific companies. It said it was investigating whether online platforms have hurt competition, suppressed innovation or otherwise harmed consumers.

The House Judiciary Committee is also conducting an antitrust probe into major tech companies.

© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Crewmembers who survived the fiery sinking of a scuba diving boat off Southern California tried to rescue the 34 people who died but were driven back by flames, smoke and heat, federal authorities and the boat’s owner said.

The crew told investigators a “harrowing story” about the moments after a blaze erupted aboard the Conception before dawn Monday as it lay at anchor off the Channel Islands, Jennifer Homendy of the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: Bay Area Mourns Dive Boat Fire Victims

Speculation has grown about whether the captain and four other crew members who survived had tried to help others before jumping from the flaming vessel. Authorities said those sleeping in bunks below the main deck were trapped by the fire.

But crew members told investigators that by the time they saw flames, it was too late.

Crew members jumped from the bridge area to the main deck — one breaking a leg in the effort — and tried to get through the double doors of the galley but they were aflame.

That cut off both escape routes for the 33 passengers and a crew member in the bunkroom: a stairway and an escape hatch that exited in the galley area.

The crew then tried but failed to get into windows at the front of the vessel.

“At that point, due to heat, flames and smoke, the crew had to jump from the boat,” Homendy said.

Captain Jerry Boylan stayed aboard trying to send radio distress calls and was last in the water, said Glen Fritzler, co-owner of Truth Aquatics, Inc. of Santa Barbara, which operated Conception.

“The other crew at a certain point when the flames had engulfed the boat and they were in the water, they could see Jerry jump from the upper deck, a long jump. And there was a trail of smoke following him. They thought he was on fire,” Fritzler told KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara.

“Within minutes they would’ve been consumed,” he said. “So they did their best. They did re-enter the vessel from the back of the boat after they swam around it. They could not get to firefighting equipment because everything was engulfed.”

The survivors used a skiff at Conception’s stern to reach a nearby boat and two then returned to see if they could rescue any other survivors but none were found, Homendy said.

Fritzler said the experience has traumatized the survivors.

“They’re breaking down,” he said. “They’re seeking counseling. It’s a very tough time for them.”

Searchers recovered 33 bodies and continued searching in the waters just off Santa Cruz Island for the lone remaining victim.

Meanwhile, Truth Aquatics filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles that uses a pre-Civil War provision of maritime law to limit their liability from any victims’ claims. The lawsuit argues the company and owners Glen and Dana Fritzler made the boat seaworthy and the craft was properly manned and equipped.

Coast Guard records show the boat passed its two most recent inspections with no safety violations.

Previous patrons said Truth Aquatics and the captains of its three boats were very safety-conscious.

The NTSB is just a few days into what will be a lengthy investigation that seeks to determine the cause of the fire and identify potential safety enhancements to avoid future disasters. Investigators are examining potential ignition sources for the fire, including electronics, kitchen stoves and the vessel’s wiring systems. Investigators know photography equipment, batteries and other electronics were stored and plugged in on the Conception.

“We are not ruling anything out at this point,” Homendy said.

None of the names of the victims have been released by authorities but many have surfaced through relatives, friends and employers.

They included two Northern California high schoolers, a hairdresser, software engineers, a special effects designer for Disney, a nature photographer, a nurse and a family of five celebrating a birthday.

On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement identifying two of the victims as Adrian Dahood-Fritz and her husband, Andrew Fritz. Dahood-Fritz had worked for the California Natural Resources Agency’s Ocean Protection Council since April as a senior environmental scientist.

“Adrian led the state’s efforts to manage California’s network of marine protected areas, and she cared deeply about the ocean and biodiversity,” Newsom said. “She embodied marine conservation and was a highly accomplished and respected scientific researcher.”

© Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed