courthouse square. we remember the days and nights, the weeks that we covered the terrible north bay wildfires. here we are, it is a new page. >> on the drive up, it was hard to not think about the 40 people killed, all those injured that remain in the hospital. the 9,000 structures destroyed. many of them homes just around the corner from us here in downtown santa rose a the tens of thousands of people that ran for their lives. saying n i also think about the first responders, the deputies and the police officers, the nurses, the doctors, the firefighters who helped people run for their lives on that day. i have been up here to sonoma county a few times in the last couple of weeks. i do get a sense of a little frustration. people are still displaced. not everybody has friends or families that they can stay with after their apartments or homes were destroyed. there is also that sliver of hope and even more determination, that individuals and businesses will rebuild and the communities not just in sonoma county but mendocino and napa county, they are determined to rebuild and be stronger. they were strong before a month ago but they will be stronger in the months and areas ahead. >> driving up on 101 i saw numerous signs thank you to our first responders. we are going to be speaking to key figures that we saw during the days that the fires were unfolding. we will talk with them and people that are faced with rebuilding their homes and businesses here in sonoma county. napa also heavily impacted. that's where we find our partner, sal castaneda. good morning, sal. >> reporter: good morning, gasia and mike. we are in front of the uptown theater. we will be talking to business owners and community leaders about what napa is doing to get people back up here. it is very important obviously as micah lewded to to get people back in the economy, spending money again because a lot of the people who were affected obviously have jobs. they need to go back to the jobs and they need the economy to recover. i'm going to be speaking to someone and asking the question, okay, everybody in the bay area knows that napa needs you to come. what about the rest of the world. napa has travelers from all over the world. trying to get the word out may be a tough task. we will talk about that later on. mike and gasia. >> thank you, sal. joining us now is the sheriff of sonoma county, rob gerdano. thank you for taking this time. the tubbs fire burped from calistoga and apartment rosa in about four hours time. you've been a busy man. doing a great job at what you do. have you ever had the chance over the last month to just kind of sit by yourself whether at home or work and think about what actually happened near in your county? >> you know it is funny you ask it that way. things have finally slowed down that we've been able to think about what we went through. you said how far it burned. it burned so far so fast. absolute devastating fire. you think of how hard the community was hit. it also brings back home people came together to make it happen and how many lives were saved and how fast we were able to put things back to the new normal. we have a lot of years rebuilding ahead of us. >> you had several hundred people, thousands of people missing at times initially after the fire started. you were reporting on 20 deaths in your county alone. we saw you in multiple daily briefings. what was the most difficult time for you? >> really the deaths were so hard for us. we were really concerned there would be a lot more. and the fact that -- 23 is not good but it beats what could have been up there when look at the devastation and the amount of home that's were burned, it is unbelievable. >> we watched you in the news conferences almost day. there was one line that stuck out during the news conferences. you said so far in the recovery, we have found bodies that were almost completely in tact and bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones. you have a difficult job. but that moment giving the updates was that the most difficult talking about the injured and those who lost their lives. >> absolutely the part that hits you the most. what hits you the most is your employees are out there picking up the remains up. having to deal with that and bring the remains back. and the same employees, 29 of them lost their homes. they were all working while this was going on. it hits you on so many different levels. personally, professionally. so many different pieces of the puzzle. having done this job for a lot of years, i knew what it was like to go in the houses. >> how are you one month out. >> we are doing good. the sheriff's office is back to the new normal. i say the new normal because things won't be normal for a while. we are back to normal staffing. the county is doing a great job with recovery and rebuilding. our job is support now. our role was big in the beginning. not as big as now. overall the office has been able to catch their breath and the employees are dealing with their losses. 29 people lost their homes. everybody has been impacted. this community was hit hard. it's not that big. so everybody is just adjusting to it. we're just getting to the slowdown point where you can feel what happened. >> what is the latest with regards to those individuals who are still reported missing? you were in the 900s at some point. >> we don't have any more missing people. we cleared the list completely. >> what is your best advice going forward? you talked about the fact that not a lot of people have land lines any more. what is your best piece of advice that you would like to give everybody. >> the best safety advice, sonoma county you sign up for the two systems that we use in the county. if you live somewhere else, go to the county website and find out what they use for emergency broadcast and go to your local law enforcement agency and find out what they use for the broadcast. that's how things work today. >> it is the modern way. >> absolutely. >> looking back on it, do you think -- i don't know if it is alert fatigue, that people get overwhelmed by the amount of alerts on their phones, but do you think that the alerts should have gone out differently that sunday night. >> we are looking at that intensely to see if we can do it better. we have already upgraded the service that we have to get the information out. >> good. >> and i'm actually looking for more standardized responses in the industry. i think we will see that in the future. that is the improvement point that we can make here. >> thank you, sheriff, for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. >> it is our pleasure. not far from where we are, i was in coffey park and i remember talking to people who say i'm going through my burned home and i want to see if anything survived, and they were walking away empty handed. coffey park saw so much devastation. >> alex savidge joins us live with more on this wednesday morning from coffey park. >> reporter: yeah. a drizzly wednesday morning here, one month later after the fires. we are here in the coffey park neighborhood which we have told you over and over was just leveled by the fire. pretty much everywhere you look in the neighborhood, you see that homes have been left in ruins. this is one of many homes that was destroyed. this is a single story place. was a single story home here on espresso court here in coffey park. and this was the home that jeff and stephanie called their home for the past six years. and they're kind enough to join us this morning. sort of reflect a little bit about where we are. thank you for taking the time. i know it is not easy. one month later, does it feel like it has been a month since you lost everything? >> no, it does not feel like a month. it is hard to believe really. we lost track of days in the immediate aftermath. the first week, it was hard to keep track of what was going on. getting up to now, we're starting to get back up to speed of what our lives were like before with work and family and all of those things. >> reporter: jeff, stephanie, and their cute 2-year-old son tillman, you guys are all staying with your parents who are close by. thankfully. we have heard this time and again what a tight knit community this is. so many have family that they're able to stay with. you have a place to stay as you try to get back on your feet. talk to me about what it's going to take to rebuild your home here on espresso court. >> it's going to take a lot. there are a lot of facets and moving parts. you have the debris removal, whether to opt into the government program or not. they are trying to move that as fast as possible because the rains are coming and this -- the toxins could go into the watershed. then you have permitting issues, design issues. what contractors, what labor are they going to use. where are they going to how's that labor. where are people going to stay while the houses are being rebuilt. there is a lot going on. it is hard to say how it will play out. >> reporter: are you getting any sense about a timeline? is there anything down the road that you can see a milestone that maybe we will begin to rebuild at a certain point? >> i've heard people say the goal is to have the debris removed by either the end of winter or beginning of spring. and then hopefully the soil comes in and gets graded down. and we will have a lot to be able to be built on hopefully by the summer. that is the goal. there are so many things going on there, is no play book for this. nobody knows how it will work out. it is the biggest natural disaster in terms of complexity of building that we have seen because of insurance, mortgages and that sort of thing. >> you have a little boy that is about to be two in a couple of days. you were able to salvage a couple of things. one of his favorite cars got burned in the fire. but you're going to try to have it restored. it is the little things that you hang on to after something like this. >> yeah. you start to not care about a lot of things after this. you lose everything. pretty much. and the stuff that you can go and buy again that you had that you thought was cool you can always replace. it is the sentiments al things. we were able to find my wife's father's dog tags in the rubble. the car which is an old 1950s pedal car that is built to last. my brother-in-law is looking to refurbish that. he works on cars. we are hoping to get that done and have a little bit of semblance of what we used to have. just move forward. that's all we can do. >> do you envision coffey park ever returning to what it was? >> i hope so. i really do. this was a place pure americana. people living here for 28 years. starter homes for new families. i hope it ends up the way it was. it was taken from us. we didn't lose it. it was taken. we just want it back the way we had it. >> jeff and stephanie, i appreciate both of you taking the time to join us here this morning. just one family of thousands who are in the midst of the recovery process. and as we know, a very slow process. it is going to take a lot of time for neighborhoods like this to rebuild. for now we want to send it over to sal. sal, you're in napa and talking about how people in that community are recovering. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, alex. we do have recovery right here that i can point out to you. today is the first day of the napa valley film festival. it is really kind of neat to see people lining up here. you know, 9:00 in the morning, for the first film of the film festival. in fact they thought of perhaps canceling the film festival. but they said no, no, no, we're not going to do that because this is exactly what we need to get the town back in stride here. in fact i want to bring in patsy mcgoy. first of all, thank you for joining us. >> absolutely. >> reporter: i wanted to ask you, you know, the wine making industry obviously a $13 billion industry here in napa. what are they telling you about the fires and how they can get back on their feet. >> they are definitely telling us that business is down. not only what is happening right now but looking ahead they've had cancellations for months going into 2018. we want to get the word out that we are open for business. that napa valley is as beautiful as it ever was. the wine tastes great and we're eager to bring visitors back to the community and show them the warm hoes pill for which we're known. >> was up here a couple days ago and i heard that after the fires it was really bad air quality. and that also kept people away. and then within 48 hours after the fire, you had a lot of cancellations. >> we did. and while the fires were burning in and the horrific images were being played around the country and world, people were thinking, is that really where i want to be? now that the fires are contained and the air is beautiful, we've had some rain. and it is just, you know, napa as you have always known it to be. >> reporter: napa has visitors from all over the world. in the bay area, the media outlets have been talking about recoverly. i think the locals know that we need you to come up here and patronize the wineries and the shops. what about the worldwide effort? people come to napa from, you know, europe. how are you getting that word out? >> we are grateful to not only people like you helping to get the word out in the bay area and to the customers here that come up from san francisco. they are certainly an important part of what is happening in napa valley. but around the world, yes we get visitors from all over the u.s. and china and europe. there are a couple things that we're doing. we're relying on social media. it is beautiful and photographic and there is a great way to tell a story. we are working in partnership with our local destination marketing organizations, visit napa valley and visit california. statewide they are helping us to get the word out and let people know that napa is open for business. >> when i drove up here the other day, i was on highway 29. when i drove in, i didn't see any of the devastation. in fact, it looks just as it normally did. i came to downtown, it all looks the same. i think the word has to get out that this looks pretty much the same. obviously there are some neighborhoods that have been devastated. >> right. >> but it is important for those people to get back to work. >> absolutely. napa is a place that people come to relax and enjoy the scenic beauty and the hotels and the wines and the food. if you have a fear that it doesn't look like it did or people are suffering, you may not want to take your next vacation here. but that is not the case. we're optimistic and we're ready to rebuild and get back to business. and they will have an amazing time. >> thank you very much. so mike and gasia, as i toss back to you, there is a lot of activity. definitely downtown is bustling on the first day of the film festival and people are having a good time. >> the festival is a go. i love to hear that. i'm one of those vicks who still gets the newspaper every day. >> old fashioned. >> this is the sunday chronicle that i have. i brought it because i counted six or seven ads, big page ads from wineries in napa valley as well as sonoma, encouraging people saying, hey, we are open. one of them is actually donating all tasting fees collected at the winery up to thanksgiving to fire victims. and then this full page one on the back says visit sonoma county. the advertising campaigns are out there. they are doing their best to encourage people to go. we always go to sonoma county quite often to contribute. we have been there the last couple of weeks. i will have a story about buena vista winery. that is coming up in the newscast. >> very good. i cannot get over the fact that we have umbrellas on stand by where where in santa rosa. we talked about the possibility of rain. steve, we welcome this cool, wet weather. certainly it is of the season. not like it was on this day a month ago. >> well, i think you will have right. you had light drizzle, light rain. >> right. >> yeah. that's about all you will get. until tonight, thankfully. you timed it just right here. there are some areas getting light rain. the heavier stuff, if you will, comes in later this evening, tonight and overnight into tomorrow. this ahead of it is light. take a look at santa lowe's -- santa rosa. i think you would have a better opportunity up to st. helena. but these are all light. we had light rain up there. a couple one hundredths but now the band is moving through so it should decrease pretty fast. off of the marin coast, the system will show up tonight. it will get here. you can see that is a really deep system for this time of year. the front is still offshore. what is over us now is the precursor. there is a really good breeze coming up. look at san jose. already 60 degrees. half moon bay, 59. it will be warm towards the south. and then cool and cloudy with some off and on very light rain to the north. overall the system arrives tonight. that will give everyone rain. there will be decent amounts. something to keep an eye on for areas. i think sonoma county, napa county and northward over the next couple of days. 60s and 70s for the temps. tonight and tomorrow, rain. a little more friday. but a break for most of the weekend, you guys. >> steve, very good. thank you. >> yep. still to come, we are joined by tom. he reports about a family that he has been following since the fires. more from tom coming up. i looked down and saw the embers down my street. it was like out of a movie. i went knocking on doors and ringing bells, but i could only only hope. it came on quick. absolutely. i said i hate to wake you up but i have to wake you up because there is a fire. five minutes later, it is coming fast. >> it is a cool, gray, drizzly day this wednesday morning. we are live in santa rosa and napa on the 9. specifically we're here in courthouse square. thousands and thousands of families have lost their homes. they are one month into the process of grieving and rebuilding. really trying to reset themselves for what we saw a minute ago from the sonoma county sheriff will be the new normal. >> tom vacar joins us live now from courthouse square here. and you have been covering this story extensively since october 8th. just briefly your thoughts, you know. >> well, this is going to be an object lesson for a major earthquake. the same kind of massive loss of housing and property. people should pay attention to the stories because in an earthquake, it is essentially the same thing. you don't have quite the fire devastation but you can on top of all of the other stuff. i think that is the lesson for all of us. the other part is that these are folks that through no fault of their own, through no fault of the officials or anything like that find they will selfs in a god awful situation. there is a lot of help at the beginning. the question is, can we keep this up for the six months, year, two years that it will take to recover. that's really what will happen. people get tired of this disaster and we move on to the next disaster. for the bay area, this is a target that we must target to really help people. otherwise it will be a very, very difficult thing for many people. i'll give you an example. a shout out to the catholic charities. they were going to close the last shelter that closed down a week before but they stepped in. there were still 76 people in there. they arced for short term living. only short term living. but the center closed yesterday. and we were there when some of the very last folks left. >> they are commit today helping the evacuees eventually find stable housing. but each chase has their own problems. consider amy lopez. wife and mother of two. a caregiver who now needs care for her family. all they possess is on their backs and in the back of this vehicle and another one. >> this is my husband's work stuff. >> reporter: just before the fire, she says the owner of the home they were renting for years put it on the market, forcing her family to live in a hotel while they searched for another home. that hotel burned down in the fires that ravaged the north bay. >> what is a mother to do? >> i don't know. just trying to take care of my kids the best that i can. >> it is scary kind of not being sure where we're going to be able to stay. what we're going to be able to do. can't really even get a job right now because of the harsh situation we're in. >> reporter: like so many others, they are in rental hell. >> there are five or ten families there looking at the same place. and they're even -- not even taking actual applications. they're doing a screening form first. having the owner decide. and our worst situation is that a lot of properties, they don't want pets. even though there they're service animals, they don't want pets. so that's our hardest part is trying to stay in tact as a family and not lose our pets. >> reporter: the pets are staying at the marin humane society which took in 400 evacuated pets for free. a count now down to just 30. >> when your world is turned upside-down, to know that your animal is safe and give them a scratch behind the ears or feed them a treat has been important for the people in healing. >> reporter: the next disaster is already in the works. >> preparing inform what we're calling a second wave of victims or homelessness. >> reporter: when the housing market collapsed a decade ago, former homeowners instantly became renters. many existing renters pushed out but the new renters became homeless. >> it is happening faster than with the foreclosure crisis now. >> reporter: with winter coming, it is much like carol king's song, too much rain has fallen. >> pray and wait. there is not much that we can do. i'm still looking. so -- >> hard for people to find a job and hard for people to find a place to rent. talk about the stage that's they're going through after a disaster like this. surely you have the anger. maybe the anger is still there. what is to follow? >> i have covered these things going on 40 years now. usually at the beginning there is au fora. we survived. for some people, it is shock. for some people it is denial. this didn't really happen. like when someone dies, you say i can't believe they're gone. there is a period of pain. then there is a period of anger when things are not going right. maybe they're having trouble getting permits. there is anger. then there's this period that is not quite set in with most people. it is depression. what in the hell are we going to do about this and how long is this going to take. and that can lead to some very, very serious problems. then there's the period of working through it. and basically the turn around and hope. we're really early into the stages. a lot of these folks are, you know, doing it on their own. and that's a good idea if they can do it. but a lot of them can't. none of us really can. so it is important for people to understand once again that this is an object lesson for all of us. this could happen to any one of us. there are plenty other coffey parks throughout california and the bay area. we need to understand that helping these people we are truly helping ourselves. >> tom, thank you. >> thank you so much. i remember the first night after the fires we all went home and checked our insurance policies and checked if we had a go bag right by the front door. you talk about preparation. you talk about survival and you talk about recovery. i metairie sently with the owners of a little tiny ranch in calistoga. they have begun through all of the statementings. i'm honored to bring you the story of john and suzanne, the owns of the ranch in calistoga that burn today the ground. we will talk about what they are doing today and where they will be going next. i've been a firefighter for 20 years. i haven't seen fire quite like this. >> we're not magicians but we're going to do our best to stablize and protect property. >> we're engaging this thing ask taking it by the horns. we will be here until the job is done. ♪[music] >> i think we're in full recovery mode. we just haven't seen the guests returning yet. we're spending a lot of time and effort notifying people, not only in the bay area but nationally. >> thousands of hourly workers in napa are getting help from the napa community foundation, grape growers and individual donations. at the same time, small businesses are still sending out the call that napa is open for business and welcoming visitors. >> reporter: and welcome to downtown napa. i'm standing in front of the napa theater where the film festival is beginning today. you might innosense people lined up here. definitely a lot of activity in nap a the film festival continues for the next few days. and napa people want to you come up and visit. you know, recently i took a tour of some of the napa businesses and spoke to business owners about how they are recovering after last month's event. the smoke has cleared and the vines are still mostly in tact. this time of year the napa valley is usually enjoying robust tourism during the fall harvest. most people drive in using highway 29. you can't really see the effects of the devastating fires last month. however, since the fires, fewer people have been coming to visit the world famous wine growing region, taking money out of the pockets of local businesses. >> we have seen large amount of cancelingas of hotels and restaurants to tastings in the wineries and wine tasting rooms. >> reporter: the cancellations mean room to get into hard to get into hotels and restaurants and wine tasting rooms. the john anthony tasting room, we found a spacious lounge with plenty of wine on display and ready to taste. across the street at annette's chocolate factory, the shelves are stocked with chocolate in many varieties waiting for customers. many business owners say the region is battling a problem of perception. >> i imagine why people think there is nothing left in napa because the fires were pretty scary. but most of napa is in great shape. >> it has been difficult because when they saw the smoke and fire, they immediately canceled vacations, weekend trips, day trips. those are all of the things that once again run our economy. and the biggest part of the year for us. >> reporter: it is not hard to find optimism, especially with the locals. >> a lot of people lost their homes. that is devastating. we're hoping they can get back on their feet with help. but the city is still here and going strong. you can't keep us down. >> reporter: napa county business leaders say within 48 hours after the napa fires, 75% of hotel lodgings were canceled. so if you have ever wanted to come up and get a spot at a restaurant or, you know, get something that is normally hard to get maybe, maybe you have to stand in line for it, now is the time to come to napa according to business owners. they are ready and waiting and you would be helping out a lot of the fire victims still going to their jobs. let's go to gasia now who is in santa rosa. gasia. >> good morning, again, sal. the rain has started in earnest in santa rosa. that is okay. so many people are so happy to share their stories of where they are one month after the fire. i don't know if you were with us that monday morning, hours after the fire started. we talked by phone with matt of santa rose a he lost his home in the mark dale neighborhood and escaped with minutes to spare. i'm happy to meet matt in person and say good morning, thank you for joining us. you lost your home in the fires, in the beginning hours of the fires. where are you now one month later. >> we're living in sebastopolas at one of my client's guest houses. >> they saw that you had a need and had a space for you and your wife and children. >> yes. this is our fourth location. first was the in-laws and then another property and to another in-laws and now we're at this place until the end of july. >> how has it been for and you your family. >> it has been hebrew tick. we're living in grocery stores and there is no organization, no systems, no schedules. it is very challenging. we're finally at a place that we can organize the few things that we do have and make it easier. >> you have already plan today rebuild. you have an optimistic timeline. you are moving back. >> yes. we loved where we lived and we're going back. >> i asked what did you bring and you said kind of nothing. looking back, did you have any idea that you would be in this situation today. >> never. never. at the time i never thought that the house would burn. i hosed down the front and backyard and thought we will leave because we have to evacuate. but i didn't think it would burn down and i would be in this position ever. >> your little one, your 9-year- old is in a different school. talk about the day in and day out that you're dealing with, aside from the insurance company, et cetera. >> day in and day out is stressful. we're out of our routine. my wife has lost a sense of home and my 9-year-old. he actually likes school. he brought his homework with him when we left. they have combined a couple of schools but he wants to go back to the original school. >> the routine is what he is missing. >> yes. >> when you look back over the past month, what was the most difficult moment for you. >> the most difficult moment was waking up one morning and realizing that i had nothing. we had our house and looked at it and it was ashes, a complete loss. one of the frustrating factors too was the number of closures because they were putting out the fires and doing all of the emergency services that had to be done. that was frustrating as well. getting back to our roots. >> when was the first time that you felt that you're going to be okay. >> when we landed in our fourth place, where we live now in sebastopol. >> thank you for joining me, matt. keep in touch. i hope you're in the new home in about a year from now. >> thank you. >> here in sonoma county, we saw a lot of devastation. to the north, the story was similar. let's go to mike. >> thank you, gasia. another big fire sparked up. the redwood valley fire in mendocino county. it destroyed 36,000 acres, more than 500 structures destroyed. nearly a it's people killed. joining me on the phone right now is the sheriff in mendocino county. i know you couldn't make it down to santa rosa. good morning and thank you for calling in. >> mike, thank you very much. thanks to ktvu for staying on top of this. i appreciate it. mendocino county, we certainly have been trying to go through the recovery effort. we had nine deaths associated with the fire. we didn't lose any infrastructure, schools, but we lost 230 primary residences. the recovery, i will say this to the state and fema right now. i'm going to give them a shout- out. they understand that the hard rains are coming. as a matter of fact, on friday i think we will be getting a couple inches of rain. and they are really working with local contractors to get some of this disaster covered or the debris removed so it doesn't get into our very critical watershed areas. so there's a lot of people hustling up here. and, mike, i'm going to tell you this. you and i have known each other for five or six years. i have not heard one person up here complain. people are just truly stepping up and saying let's move forward. let's take care of our victims. we had a fundraiser this last saturday that was put together by about six people that raised a quarter of a million dollars. that is money that will be given directly to the true victims of this fire. and we're coming together as a county. >> that's great to hear, sheriff. let me ask you this about potter valley, about redwood valley. what are your thoughts? take me there today in regards to the people who lost property. are you 100% sure that everybody is going to come back and stay there in that community? >> well, i certainly talked to people who -- it's almost a ptsd kind of situation, mike. it is -- you know, no one could have fathomed this happening. and the same in sonoma county and lake county and napa county. no one could have fathomed the magnitude of this. so those people who are coming back, they're certainly discussing that they will be building smarter. they will be building better and more fire conscious. one of the interesting things about this -- i have been up here for more than 30 years in law enforcement. and i have seen local fire departments have to take their sirens out of commission because of noise complaints. people are like we don't like that siren going off when there is a fire. now there is a huge, huge cry to return to those old type fire sirens, air raid sirens that are going to be immediately notifying the public. because, mike, we had one community up here that once the communications tower was taken out within three hours of the fire, the city lost all cell phone, internet, hard lines, all 911 service. so the communication to get those people was nil. and so i think you're going to see the -- you're going to see the return of some of these older area sirens that fire departments are going to activate. that's what public safety should be concerned about. that's what we're working on. >> sheriff, we have to go. i want to ask one more question quickly. this is in regards to john shepherd and his wife and the story that they went through in losing their children up there, two of the nine that passed away. is there one particular story for you? i mean, you are the sheriff of one of the largest counties there in the state of california. is there one story from this devastation of your fire that just kind of sticks out in your mind? >> you know, we always talk about fire fighting. and our fire engines go in there to fight fire. early on one of the fire commanders made an incredibly brave, bold decision to say we are removing our self from fighting fire right now and we are going to immediate life- saving modes. in other words the firefighters weren't putting water on the fire. they were banging on the doors and dragging people and saying get out of here as they drive. if that hadn't had happened, our fatality rate would have been higher. i'm proud of that decision. >> hats off to all of the first responders in your county. thank you for taking the time. wishing you the best and all of the residents there. we will be in touch, sheriff. >> all right. thanks. come on back up, mike. we miss you. come on up. >> all right. will do. >> thank you. >> joining us live on the 9. gasia, back to you. >> i was so thankful to go back to one of my favorite places in calistoga a couple of days ago. the north bay fires have touched everyone. if you love someone who lost their home, perhaps you lost a loved one, maybe you had a special place in napa and sonoma county that you went to that approximate felt like a second home and you were thankful to be able to enjoy that with people that you love. that was the case for me and my family weeks before one of the fires. i went back to the ranch the other day and pound out that it had in fact burned to the ground. >> 21 years of my life reduced to nothing in an hour is hard. very hard. >> suzanne and john foust survey of what is left of the mountain ranch that flames reduced it to nothing in the beginning hours of the tubbs fire. >> we just can't take 104-year- old thing and walk away from it t was a tradition. >> an unassuming bed and breakfast built a century ago for the working class where everyone was welcome. >> you were under $100 for a cabin for my family of four. >> right. and we want to be able to do that. if the county is going to make us jump through these hoops, it will be tough. >> john and suzanne are running neubauer at rick red tape around permits and other things that the ranch had begun grandfathered under because it was there before the laws were. >> it is exhausting. some days are good. some days not so much. some days it is if i can get through the day without crying the whole day, it is unusual. >> meanwhile the mayor tells me that tourism as a o whole in calistoga is about half of what it was before the fires. shops and restaurants are open and owners are eager to recoup the financial loss that came when the entire city was under a mandatory evacuation order. just three miles away at the ranch -- >> i didn't see myself at this point in my life doing this. we were looking at retirement. and our youngest son was looking at taking over more of the business and stuff. now it is like, okay, here we go. >> though they feel overwhelmed at times they also found themselves humbled by an out powering of support. guests are offering to help from architects donating services to a man with a fleet of box trucks to help with the debris clearance. donations have taken over the reservation page. i was there two weeks before the fire. even during that visit we were all making plans to come back. john and suzanne say they have no idea when they will rebuild and reopen the ranch but they know they will. >> we will do it one way or another. i just don't know how yet. >> never for a minute, mike, did they waiver. they thought we're going to rebuild. as you watch the story, you see the highs and the lows they have been going through with so many in napa and sonoma county. >> thank you for that story. ahead, i head to the oldest winery in sonoma county to talk about the fire fight to save that during the fires. the 9 live from courthouse square in downtown santa rosa. right back here after the break. i can't sit around and cry and do nothing. there is stuff that has to be done. i'm doing it. everybody has given up their time. some people have worked five, six, seven days in a row. volunteered their time. and that's the giving. there is more love in the air than smoke. hmm i can't believe how great this tastes! i can't believe it comes in... vegaaaan. and organiiiic. enjoy i can't believe it's not butter! in it's vegan! and it's organic! hey, l'eggo my eggo. i don't see your name on it. really? ba bam! know the rules. keep your eggo. l'eggo my eggo. okay. >> welcome back to the 9 live here in downtown santa rosa. you know that we like to go wine tasting. there are plenty of them out in there in napa and sonoma county. there was a battle there. not necessarily a month ago but a few days into the fires burning, all of a sudden the winds picked up again. more on the fire fight to save the oldest winery here in sonoma county. >> join us for a tasting. >> reporter: reds and whites. sparkles and stories [laughter] >> reporter: the buena vista winery is a classic dating back to 1957. it is still stands and is impressive. as echoed throughout the property, there was no laughing weeks ago. >> we started to see the winds increase. >> reporter: six days into the fire, the winds whipped up and the flames took off. >> reporter: the fires could have not come any closer to buena vista. >> reporter: the general manager, tom blackwood. >> i thought we lost the winery possibly three times. friday night into saturday morning. when the fire jumped the lines here in the sonoma valley and just exploded about 2:00 a.m. >> reporter: the flames barreled from buena vista to the north, east and west. a fire fight to save the oldest winery in the val wee was underway. >> when we have a chance to save an asset like this, it is a valued thing. it is an iconic location. we're going to put all our efforts into it. >> there is an old reservoir built. >> reporter: he walked me around the property pointing out the burn area next to the building where the wine is stored and made. >> this is really where they fought it back. i believe -- >> we're talking about five feet from the building. >> literally. it couldn't have come any closer without burning the building. >> the only thing is back home in chicago, all we're seeing is the devastation. >> reporter: despite that, chicago resident tom said he had no doubt about keeping his plans to come visit sonoma valley. >> the hotel, everybody called me to let me know they're operational. so no hesitation. >> reporter: blackwood credits every firefighter in the ground and on the air who sacrificed their lives to save this piece of history, a piece of history that he hopes people will come and see. >> we're wine country strong. we're all affected by this and we want you to come back and see us. >> come back right now. not just on the weekends but the weekdays as well. >> right. right. an extra drink, an extra bite. it is for a good cause. we're welcomed by the santa rosa mayor. santa rosa suffered some of the biggest losses in the entire north bay fires. we will talk about bringing business back to sonoma. first, mayor, i would like to start with you. when we talk about santa rosa, just miles from where we are here in courthouse square, you have coffey park, you have other neighborhoods that were just devastated. what is the state of your city today? >> the state of our city is strong and resilient. but we have a huge problem as well. we lost 3,000 houses. nearly 3,000 houses. that is about 5% of our housing stock. reward had a housing shortage a month and one day ago. now we have a huge housing shortage. so we are working towards rebuilding as fast as we can. we enacted emergency ordinances to get people back on their feet. >> bypassing permits. >> permit relief, fee relief. allowing people to put second units on their property, temporary units on their property as they build. you can put an rv on your property as you're building. we need to find a lot of places to live. we already had a labor shortage before this started. so we've got complication upon complication from this fire. but we are moving to work on those complications and get things rebuilt as fast as possible. >> there's a line in the press democrat this morning from you that says you're not celebrating this anniversary. >> no. >> that's because of what you just said. the work that has to get done. >> yeah. you know, an anniversary, is connotes a celebration. >> right. >> this isn't anything to celebrate. we need to observe it and move forward. not dwell on what has happened in the past month. but really concentrate on the job in front of us. >> gary, there was a lot of -- social media was a huge help for many the night of the fires and the days afterwards. unfortunately some bad information got out about the mike mibach winery burned when no it doesn't. tell us what is open and ready to take our dollars. >> absolutely ready to take your dollars. you know, it's been the past -- you know, the past month has been very tryings you were just talking about. but we have -- businesses are open. but at the same time we're cognizant that there are business that's are still not open yet. there are people still out of work. we have one of our most iconic wineries, buena vista, one of our oldest. the first few days of the fire it was reported on social media that it burned down to the ground. that wasn't true. they had damage. fortunately now this weekend they're getting ready to open. they have been closed for a month. >> at a critical time in the season. >> it is sort of the last of what we consider height of tourism season for us. they lost that entire month. they need to come and visit them now. that's what they need more than ever when they reopen on saturday. >> mayor, what is your sense of your residents and those who lost homes and whether or not they're going to rebuild or even remain here in your city? >> i haven't talked to anyone who has told me they're leaving. i have talked to people who say they're not sure. and i think that's a reasonable -- reasonable reaction. we're still in the early stages of this. a month has gone by. but the recovery and rebuilding process will take a few years at least. so people are assessing where they are right now. and there's a lot of -- a lot of confusion about how to go forward. there are a lot of unanswered questions about insurance and those kinds of things. so that kind of work needs to be done. but i want to piggy back on what gary said for a minute. >> sure. >> we're open for business here. all of the things that you love about apartment rosa and sonoma county and wine country are still here. the wineries are here. downtown santa rosa is a great place to visit. a lot of people want to help. one way to help is come and visit. >> when i was at buena vista, i spoke to a couple from chicago. they said during the fire they noticed the images of the destruction. nobody pulled the camera back and never had the wide shot. i know you lost 5% of santa situation that was brewing. it is a clear, cool day. we're thankful to be here with us. thank you for joining us live from santa rosa. >> the coverage of all today's news continues right now on ktvu.com. >> announcer: live from new york city, it's "the wendy williams show." ♪ say it like you mean it feel it baby feel it ♪ now here's wendy! [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >> wendy: thank you for watching. there they are, my co-host, my studio audience!

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