50 miles an hour. That means we could see fires. If we see them, they could spread rapidly. The strong winds this morning, throughout the day, and it looks like it wont be abating until midday tomorrow. So current wind gusts anywhere from 29 miles an hour in the Oakland Hills to 23 miles an hour up above the east bay hills. So weve got 40s and 50s, low 60s by noontime. The sun sets before 5 00. Brighter conditions, but it will still be breezy tonight, chris. Lisa, thank you. Firefighters across the bay area are on high alert this morning because of a rare red flag warning in december. A combination of strong winds, low humidity, and warm temperatures could quickly spread fires. The dangerous conditions are especially concerning for people who faced the north bay wildfires. Abc 7 reporter katie utehs has the story. Reporter firefighters are unpacking their wildfire gear after storing it for the season. Cal fire had ended the bay area fire season back in november. In my 25 years in the Fire Department, i cannot remember a time when weve had a red flag warning up here in the northern part of the state in december. Reporter the National Weather service issued a red flag warning for elevations above 1,000 feet from the north bay to the santa cruz mountains. Any spark during a red flag warning could grow into a major wildfire within minutes. Reporter its a scenario the Santa Rosa Fire Department knows all too well. Given that what we experienced in october, we definitely dont want to be caught off guard. Were definitely taking proactive measures to be ready. Reporter around 40 firefighters are on duty this weekend. Theyve called the remaining 100 in the department to be on standby. Well have all equipment remaining in service in districts and available to respond to emergencies. Reporter while the grass is green, predicted gusts of 50 to 60 Miles Per Hour would sweep flames through dry brush and trees. The Fire Department is urging people to avoid sparking a fire. Theyre staffing an Engine Company just in case. Katie utehs, abc 7 news. The city of berkeley is encouraging residents to park in their driveways or garages and leave the street clear for emergency vehicles. In marin county, open burning has been suspended indefinitely. Even though marin county and other local agencies have 21 engines committed to the thomas fire in southern california, Officials Say they are prepared to respond to any new incidents. You can keep track of the weather conditions where you live on the abc 7 news app. Youll get updates from our weather team and you can also monitor the forecast on the go. In other news, the ramp leading from southbound interstate 680 to westbound 580 in dublin is back open after a fatal crash. A person was hit by at least one car at 8 30 last night. All lanes were open nearly three hours later. In hayward, a Catholic Church is stepping up security after a disturbing act of vandalism. Someone cut the heads off statues on the property. And its not the first time. Abc 7 News ReporterKatie Marzullo has the story from hayward. I feel really sad because thats a statue thats related to god. Reporter parishioners of all ages at st. Bede Catholic Church in hayward have been faced with this for the last few weeks. A display of religious statues beheaded. The virgin marys around hands have been cut off along with other statutes heads, now under a sheet. Its not nice to be breaking things that are not yours. Reporter this 9yearolds situation said the situation has become a security concern for the church. Theyre trying for us to be secure. I know theyre working on like a program for security during church, after church. Reporter parishioners said the statues have been targeted before. You can see where the virgin mary has been repaired. The diocese of oakland released a statement calling the vandalism senseless and unjustifiable. It goes on to say, we pray for mercy for those harmed by this act, the perpetrators and all those affected by the violence. The virgin mary is very important. From her baby jesus was born. Reporter in hayward, Katie Marzullo, abc 7 news. Tomorrow some of San Franciscos most prominent people will honor late mayor ed lee. The memorial celebration will be open to the public. Thousands lined up to say goodbye yesterday. Abc 7 news anchor dion lim was at city hall. Reporter the line for mayor lees public visitations grew steadily along with the flowers and personal notes left on the steps of city hall. Dspite their mobility issues, donte and melissa made a point to be here because they say mayor lee was just like them. Many described ed lee as a peoples mayor, approachable and warm. He was always jovial, you know, and everybodys been saying it, always smiling. Reporter everybody paying their respects seemed to have a personal story. Beth was with the mayor during the unveiling of his wax figure at madame tussauds. Your jaw drops, you know, it was a couple of years ago, it was just like, i couldnt believe it. He was not afraid to like talk to people. Regular people, citizens of San Francisco. Reporter something even the youngest of san franciscans can understand. He always cared about everything. When i looked in the newspaper, i saw him somewhere cleaning up trash for San Francisco. And i really loved it. Reporter by 6 40, visitors were turned away so processional plans could be made. Just after 8 00, mayor lees last exit from city hall. In San Francisco, dion lim, abc 7 news. Some of the speakers at mayor lees memorial include mayor london breed, Lieutenant Governor gavin newsom and ed lees two daughters. The memorial celebration of the mayors life will be tomorrow at 3 00 p. M. At city hall. It is open to the public. Well have live coverage right here on abc 7 news. And our abc 7 news app. Theres an online petition to rename the Embarcadero Plaza after ed lee. Last month the city struck Justin Hermans name from the plaza. He ran the redevelopment agency. Some blame him for bulldozing the western addition, taking away minority housing. The space has temporarily been renamed Embarcadero Plaza until a new name is chosen. The petition can be found at change. Org. More than 1200 people have already signed it. A community celebrated for one of the men at the center of the bay area immigration debate, hugo mejia walked into a school gym amid applause last night. Mejia, an undocumented father of three, was released from federal detention last month after being arrested by i. C. E. In may. The community worked for six months to help set him free. We are human beings. Everybody makes mistakes. I think its not a mistake im here to look for a Better Future for my kids, for my family, to follow a dream. Mejias supporters understand that he does not have legal status and are trying to help him gain amnesty. Meteorologist lisa argen is here. Lisa, youve been tracking that fire danger for us. We have very gusty winds, over 40 miles an hour in the upper elevations right now, so it feels milder out there. But you may be hearing the wind. A lot of you who live above, say, 800 feet or so. Temperatures are in the 40s and 50s. Exploratorium camera, 54 in the city and san mateo with low 40s in livermore. That wind blowing the bad air quality out but drying out the air. Well talk about high fire danger for this weekend coming up with my accuweather sevenday forecast. Also ahead, a university of california regent caught making a lewd comment might resign. And the last minute push to save christmas for thousands of bay area children. Weaving your own shoes. By out of flax. Or simply adjust your thermostat. Do your thing, with Energy Upgrade california. Here is a live look outside from our east bay hills camera. You can see the camera bouncing a little bit right there. Meteorologist lisa argen is tracking the wind and the red flag warning thats in effect this morning. Shell have more in the accuweather forecast, coming up. New details about the university of california regent who was recorded last year asking an actress if he could hold her breasts. The chronicle reports the regent is considering resigning. He apologized for his remarks last year but refused to step down despite student protests. He told the chronicle, if he resigns it wont be because of a scandal. He says hes considering retirement after he turns 75 years old next month. Uc officials did not discipline or investigate him because he was not on University Business when he made the lewd comment. Crews are still battling that deadly thomas fire in southern california. Today is the 13th consecutive day of red flag warnings. Thats the longest period of fire weather warnings on record. The fire is now a quarter of a million acres in size and 35 contained. Firefighters are now working to protect homes in the carpinteria area ahead of the winds that could bring the fire in that direction. We placed the perimeter of the fire over the bay area so you can get a better idea of its enormous size. Abc News Reporter matt gutman has more. Reporter the thomas fire north of los angeles has been roaring back to life, chewing through 3,000 acres for the past 24 hours, infernos sparking new evacuations in the town of fillmore. We were there as it exploded. You see this palm tree burn. Reporter what is incredible is the sheer size of those embers. And that is how a fire like this jumps over firefighters containment lines. The numbers as staggering as the flames. It is the fourth largest fire in california history, scorching 400 square miles, nearly a thousand structures destroyed, more than 90,000 people forced from their homes. And this fire, deadly again. Firefighter cory iverson killed in the line of duty. A gofundme page set up to raise money for the eightyear veterans pregnant wife and young daughter. For the 8300 firefighters still on the front lines, theres no giving up. Is the team pretty burnt out . No, its what we train for, its what we do. They come up here and help us, we come to help them. Real simple. Reporter the winds will be high this weekend. One reason firefighters expect to be battling the thomas fire until after the new year. Matt gutman, los angeles, california. San franciscos aquatic park is closed to swimmers this weekend after the second sea lion attack in 24 hours. The latest attack happened around 8 00 yesterday morning when a swimmer was bitten in the lower extremities. The water was full of swimmers at the time, who helped the injured swimmer ashore. He is expected to be okay. This sea lion attack follows one on thursday when a 56yearold man says he tried to fend a sea lion off. He came at me from the right. And i blocked him like this. And his head slid down my arm and one tooth went into my forearm here. He says he was losing blood quickly when he managed to flag down a sailboat. He was rushed to Zuckerberg San Francisco general where doctors expect him to make a full recovery. The mavericks big wave surf competition is coming back to half moon bay. The World Surf League is taking over after last years event was scrapped because of financial problems. For the first time, the worlds best female big wave surfers will be competing. Abc 7 News ReporterMelanie Woodrow has the story. Reporter San Francisco surfer bianca valenti, who has been surfing since she was 7 years old, will do something shes never done before, surf in the mavericks competition. This is an exciting moment in our sport. Reporter she describes the mavericks as one of the pinnacle spots in her sport. The waves can get up to 100 feet. Reporter the World Surf League acquired the permit for the competition after the previous organizers went bankrupt. This year, women will be able to compete in their own heat for the first time. When i was growing up, there were really no women mentors to look up to. Reporter in 1975, jeff clark says he was the first one to paddle out and surf the waves in front of the mavericks. He says the first competition came later, in 1998. What you are expecting of these athletes is to go after the biggest waves on the planet during an event. Reporter an event that young female surfers will be watching especially closely this year. Men have been dominating the sport for so along. I feel like its good for wome to finally have their spay. Reporter katrinas sponsor says shes even met valenti. Im excite to see her in the contest. Reporter the mens purse is larger than the womens purse, they say, because there are more men competing who will have to split the money. Still, valenti advocates for equal pay. Change takes time. Reporter sponsors say she hopes to perhaps even compete like the women she looks up to. In half moon bay, Melanie Woodrow, abc 7 news. Happening today, a chance to trade your guns for cash with no questions asked. The San FranciscoPolice Department is hosting a gun buyback program. Its working with the Violence Prevention Organization united playas. Todays event is from 8 00 until noon at united playas headquarters. Organizers say it will help make the city safer. This weekend, south Bay Charities are asking for last minute toy donations to close a big deficit in gifts for children. Sacred Heart Community service in san jose is short 8,000 toys. Theyve collected about 10,000 but they need more donations to help meet the demand. The charity says they need items for one particular age group. People try to relate to toys with younger kids. Once theyre teenagers, oh, we dont have to buy them toys. But teenagers are kids too until they turn 18 to we cant forget about them. Sacred heart will start sorting donations tomorrow. Theyll be handed out to children next week. In pittsburg, the School District gave away dozens of computers to families last night. They had to attend parent workshops to receive the refurbished pcs. Along with low cost internet services. The program is set up to help underserved children with their schoolwork. Happening today, christmas comes early to thousands of kids in San Francisco. Glide Memorial Church is holding its annual toy giveaway for children in need. Volunteers will hand out toys in the tenderloin neighborhood starting at 9 00 this morning. Theres also face painting, a magic show and other Family Friendly activities. Glide says its accepting toy donations. Unwrapped gifts can be dropped off at glides freedom hall which is located at the corner of ellis and taylor. Good saturday morning to you. A look at live doppler 7. And a cold front is pushing through the Sierra Nevada, taking the snow with it and gusty winds are being reported here in the bay area. Take a look at this view from mt. Tam, and the camera shaking, wow, winds are up0 miles an hour here. As a result, look at the temperatures. Oakland, 49. The cool spot, san jose with a little fog, 46. Elsewhere, low 50s for half moon bay. 50 in mountain view. You can see the winds here that are blowing. Theyre just going to get stronger. In fact were looking at the wind advisory and a red flag warning in effect right on through 10 00 tomorrow morning. Santa rosa, napa, novato in the 40s and 50s with 55 by the delta. Its 53 in concord, good morning, livermore, 41 for you. As you look at emeryville, you can see the camera shaking just a bit. Your forecast highlights calls for gusty winds and high fire danger over the weekend. It will be bright with better air quality throughout the weekend. And well look for some extra clouds and some sierra snow by wednesday. But that was our only chance really of some bay area rain next week. It has all but fizzled out. This morning with the wind anywhere from 15 to 21 degrees warmer than yesterday due to all that wind. So weve got the clear sky, the better air quality. Surface winds up to 20 miles an hour in concord, 24 in novato, and at the airport 17 Miles Per Hour. Certainly tricky for takeoff and landing at sfo today. Near in the upper elevation wind gusts, 29 miles an hour the Oakland Hills. Spring valley up to 17. Here is the color coding, which indicates the gusty winds. Were also worried about the dry air. Right now the morning and the evening hours is when we see the highest relative humidity. Right now only 61 in san mateo. As we go through the afternoon hours, everyone pretty much is in the 20 to 30 range. But you go up a thousand feet and youre down to about 5 relative humidity. So this is going to be the case for the next several days. At least right on through tomorrow. So here is the wind profile for today. 7 00 in the morning, you follow the time here, and the color coding, and youll notice those offshore winds anywhere from 20 to 30 miles an hour through noontime. And then we go through the evening hours. No changes. Fast forward into tomorrow morning, when the wind advisory expires. And you can see the winds will be lighter throughout your sunday afternoon. Its going to be dry. Its going to be sunny. It will be windy at the coast today. 62 there. 64 for you in palo alto and san jose as well as fremont. Another mild afternoon with temperatures about five degrees above average. Download our accuweather app and you can keep track of the temperatures, the wind, and if we see any changes in our extended outlook, because were all looking hard for them. Youll notice in the 60s today with high fire danger. Cleaner air, though. Well increase the clouds midweek. If youre headed to the Sierra Nevada nex