Alex. We begin this afternoon of the south bay. More than one dozen homes evacuated because of a grass fire. This grass fire started around 12 15 around santa teresa boulevard in set south san jose. So far the fire has burned 75 acres, 15 homes evacuated and people in the surrounding area are being told to stay indoors because of heavy smoke. Crews say they have stopped forward progress of the fire but the extreme heat today is taking a toll on efforts. And increases the workload on the firefighters. It also in creases the spread of fire. As fuel dreiser, humidity dries out pick the fire may have started after a vehicle hit a power pole. Pg e says about 1700 customers are without power and santa teresa boulevard is closed in both directions. As flames spread in the hillside in san jose, fire crews brave triple digit temperatures to clear brush in the east bay. Tom vacar joins us from Wildcat Canyon road on the challenges facing firefighters. Reporter this enormous project we are going to tell you about is really just about halfway done now. Reporter utility, park and conservation agencies are racing to clear tinder dry brush and vegetation from under trees along a 17 mile corridor from berkeley to lafayette. Today it was so hot, it would have been dangerous to for crews to wear traditional firefighting gear, used mostly protecting from breyers, sticks and other dangerous. We are maintaining safety, having people work in longsleeved tshirts to give them a little more ability to maintain the temperature. Maintaining body temperature is crucial when heatstroke is a real danger. We go over work versus rest cycle so we want to increase rest cycles when the heat goes up. There are designated shaded areas for cooling, water hydration statements stations are always start. Air conditioning trucks stand by to help with cooling as well. Weather in the immediate area is measured hourly. We check it every hour and have planned activity levels went the relative humidity hits a certain level and the winds hit a certain level. We stop working. During intense heat, all terrain vehicles with 40 gallons of fire suppressant standby. Each crew has firefighting tools should that tools market fire. This has already been cleared, removing decades if not generations of lowlying debris, brush and other things that can easily catch fire. Could it still catch fire . Yes but it is not tall enough to send those flames up into those trees where a real forest fire can start and the embers from those trees can be blown ahead for miles and miles. You see during heat wave wildfires, the danger is far greater. On days like today when you are in that turn on your, it is brutal. You are dripping sweat, your turnout boots actually filled with sweat. You are losing so much fluid but now add to that physical activity on pulling hose lines in the heat of the fire it increases tremendously. This massive project should be done early fall which means it will be done just in time when the worst and most dangerous present themselves. Reporting live, tom vacar, ktvu fox2 news. Firefighters are taking proactive steps even amid all of this hot weather. We told you about the fire in san jose a few minutes ago. The heat is taking a toll on the efforts to fight the fire. We join in with carl on the look at the efforts. Remember the rain we got and now we have the heat and thats what makes it difficult this time of year. I do want to talk about the conditions of where they are fighting the fire pit the winds have picked up over the last hour or so. Thankfully the wind is not bad, it is staying basically under 50 miles per hour, now 11 miles per hour, humidity is 26 , not terrific but at least not in the teens. This is the problem, 98 degrees. The heat will make it difficult for them fighting the fire. Take a look this. This is satellite imagery. You can see that trace of smoke going there. That is, the technology we have now, the satellite is amazing, the detail you can see pick a window around the bay, it has been picking her up a little bit. We are in the 10 to 14 mileper hour range. Half moon bay, 7 miles per hour, a little onshore throat flow that will pull us down, not to quit quickly today. In the wind and sun is also in center rosa, concord has picked up to 15 miles per hour. Look at these numbers, everybody. Santa rosa, 90 degrees but the Weather Service about to 00 they hit a record from 1950, they beat the record in san jose from 1950. It was kind of warm a 1950 apparently. 108 in fairfield right now, 104 in concord, 86 in San Francisco. That is a warm one, too. A live look outside, the oakland estuary. As you look across you can see San Francisco, a little bit of hayes there because that is the heat we have been dealing with today. A little hazy. We are still under the heat advisory that goes until 8 pm tonight. If you look to the east, we have the excessive heat warning that goes until 10 pm on friday. We are going to start cooling down. We will see you tonight as we move into the upper 50s and low 60s and we will start to see that onshore flow. The well cool down comes over the weekend. We will talk numbers and i will give you details and just a moment. A number of cooling centers are open again today. This is to help people stay cool if they dont have access to air condition. There are about half a dozen in san jose, two in brentwood and one of the Concord Senior Center to suppress from baldwin park. The center also offers games and free wifi. We are the only cooling center so it is not like just for seniors, especially on days that is triple digits and it is just too hot. And make sure everyone is welcome. Absolutely. For more information about the cooling center, perhaps wonder you, you can head to our website, ktvu. Com. Be sure to stay uptodate with Current Conditions with our weather app. Search ktvu in your app store. Also in the news this evening, a recent case in San Francisco shining a light on the criminal justice system. We are talking about this video here. It stems from this assault case. A woman attacked right outside her apartment building. The suspect in this case, released from jail by a judge just 72 hours later. Ktvu crime reporter, henry lee has been digging into the case and joins us live from San Francisco with more. Henry . Reporter we are outside the building with the attack happened. The victim is thinking about leaving now that the suspect is on the streets Austin James Vincent was freed by a judge after being charged with a terrifying attack caught on video. Vincent has no local address. s whereabouts are now unknown. I cant stop thinking about the fact that this man is free. After what he did to me. The woman who was attacked doesnt want her last name used. She now wants the judge who released him recalled. The judges Christine Van aiken of San Francisco superior court. In a tweet, she wrote, i need answers and tax former governor jerry brown who named van aiken to the bench last year and governor newsom. She said the judge is not fit for the job and is putting all of our lives in danger. What are you waiting for . Please, you have to do something. I stop by the hall of justice and watched the judge at work. She is a former San Francisco deputy City Attorney who played a key role in cases the stock market bounced back a bit after losing 800 points yesterday. The dow gained 100 points today. Earnings by retail giant walmart help to lift the dow. Still ahead, removing the rights of transgender employees under the 1964 civil rights ac fortunderway by the Justice Department and as it seeks support from a federal Employment Rights agency. Israel bars two american congresswomen from visiting the country. This after a tweet from President Trump, why the president says today that he supports israels decision. Today, John Hickenlooper is dropping out of the race. If you remember, he was booed at a democratic debate saying that socialism was not for america. Two congresswomen have now been barred from entering israel for an upcoming visit. Israels interior Ministry Announced the decision earlier today and set off a political firestorm. As Lauren Blanchard explains, the trip was canceled following a treat from President Trump. Reporter israel reversed their decision to allow bill martin 29 and tlaib to visit israel. An unjust, racist decision. Reporter the decision came after tweets from President Trump saying,it would show great weakness if israel allowed rep. Omar and rep. Tlaib to visit. They hate israel all jewish people, there is nothing that can be said or done to change their mind. The president called the congresswomen a disgrace. The israeli interior minister is thing they are denying omar and tlaib entry because of their involvement in the bds movement. Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu wrote only a few days ago we received their itinerary for their visit which revealed that the plan to visit whose sole objective is to strengthen the boycott against us and deny israels legitimacy. Quote this time against two duly elected members of congress. Netanyahu said if tlaib submitted a humanitarian request to visit her family they make consider allowing her to visit. It is her right to visit her country and her family. Reporter the American Israel Public AffairsCommittee Say they disagree with representatives omar and tlaib however, they believe every member of congress should be able to visit and experience israel firsthand. In washington, Lauren Blanchard, fox news. The department of justice is reportedly actively looking for support in their efforts to strip away the rights of transgender employees. Currently, the Lgbtq Community is protected under the 1964 civil rights act. It states employers cannot discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The Obama Administration stated it also protects lgbt persons but the Trump Administrations doj contends it does not pick up according to bloomberg law, the Justice Department wants the equal opportunity excuse me the equal Employment OpportunitiesCommission Step to back them in their stance against this. We are joined by david levine, officer with Uc Hastings College of law. Lets get right to it. We will hear the case of amy Stephen Stevens who was fired from her job in a funeral home in michigan. Watches as Trump Administration what the backing of the eeoc on this . There are several cases coming up in this is one of them. It is a question of whether the civil rights act, whether or not the word sex includes transgender status. Or not. And when somebody wants to make a transition or not. So that is on that specific one, that is what is underlying it. Whether or not this protection so the Justice Department was the way in against this woman and in favor of the funeral home that fired her. What is the Justice Department need the eeocs support on this . Because it is an employment matter. The eeoc is the equal Employment Opportunity commission so they are part of the government but that is the specific part. What is interesting is the eeoc defendant, stevens, when this initially all help and. That was a long time ago. Now that we are under this new Trump Administration, does that mean that they would abide by whatever the new Administration Says . Right, that is what happens. The Justice Department will, from time to time, do that, it will change positions with the new administration because the administration is entitled to set policy and that will happen sometimes as a case winds its way up through the court. There mightve been a change of administration, a change of heart, a change of position. This is part of what the trump and ministration has been doing in a friday the areas but not unheard of to make this kind of a change. The reason a question that is because the eeoc is supposed to look out for the rights of employees but it seems to me it is embroiled in the political aspects of things. How do you separate the two . It is hard to separate them sometimes. At bottom, this particular case is about what does the word sex carry. What does it mean . Cannot protect somebody whose gender has changed . Can it protect your Sexual Orientation . Or not . The strongest argument in favor of the trumpet ministration is if you think back to when the statute was passed which was 1964, and when the word sex was put into that statute, did the members of congress have in mind protecting Sexual Orientation and gender status at that point or not or is the word brought broad enough to encompass those statuses as well . I just the question is what other protections could be out there legally to protect transgender employees in the workplace if for some reason the eeoc and Supreme Court sided with the Trump Administration. Number one, you would look for states so there is protection here on a stateby state matter. There is always the potential that congress could change the law and say, no, we actually want to broaden this protection. In 1991 there was a major bill passed that president george h. W. Bush passed which change some of the rulings of the Supreme Court with regard to employment so it is possible but the real proction for many people would be what state law allows. State law but you still could go and see your congressperson and encourage congress to maybe act. You know how eeoc is and how easy it is to get lost through congress. Lets talk about the inner workings of the eeoc as we talk about this. Right now, there are a couple of vacancies but it seems to lean republican. Does that tell you that the eeoc indeed could side with the administration on this . They very likely would in this case. But ideally, you want the entire administration, the entire executive branch to speak with one voice and typically, that is actually through the Solicitor Generals Office which is part of the department of justice so in the ideal, you would put it together and yes, indeed, sometimes there is a change and we voted for new administration. We voted for different policies and so the Justice Department can make changes as they go along so sometimes there is a little bit of warfare in the department to have everybody become one but ideally you want the United States speaking with one voice, all coming along in one direction. We have a couple of seconds left in the Justice Department has to respond by to the Supreme Court by friday. Did they need the eeocs is board support before they respond . They dont pick ideally, the eeoc commissioners will sign on but in fact, they dont pick the solicitor general can sign for the amount of the united space make you think that weighs in on the decision . It could raise an eyebrow if you dont have the entire administration all on board and one does position. When there is division it might change votes but it will be one of the major opinions come october, that is for sure. It seems like a rollback of sorts of it does happen. There is still state law protection especially in states like california and some other states. Thank you so much for joining a us. Glad to be with you. Lets talk weather. It has been another incredibly hot day. We have seen records tied, broken, yet again like we had yesterday but we do finally have a cooldown that is at least within our sites. It is not coming to quickly but it is coming. Look at the wind out there. We have seen it pick up up a little bit and an onshore flow will develop as we get into the evening hours. Right now, earlier today, we will more in the 5 to 7 mile perhour range and now we are in the 10 to 15 mileperhour spot so it is an indication of what is to come pick we are still under a heat advisory that goes until 8 pm tonight. The areas in orange there, on the interior portions are in the excessive heat warning and still under that tomorrow until about 10 pm friday. Is going to stay warm for us as well. Temperatures are going down as we head toward the weekend. How far done . We will check this out. Livermore at 105 and will be in the low 80s by sunday. Same story for santa rosa, triple digits to 80s. 90 to 72 at sfo, in just a 90 to 72 at sfo, in just a couple liberty. Liberty. Erty. Liberty. You have to check this out. A glimpse into what it was like for police as they came under fire in philadelphia. The Surveillance Video shows police armed and taking cover behind cars. They were there to serve a warrant with gunshots bringing out that turned into a standoff and it is hard to believe after seeing the chaotic scene that no one was killed. Several officers were injured yesterday in the almost 8 hour ordeal but they are all going to be okay. Leventhal reports Police Believe the suspect should never have been on the streets. There should be charges of attempted murder, pretty obvious, charges of aggravated assault in the firstdegree. Re