This was near the 680280 interchange near clayton road you. Could see smoke for miles. Peggy bunker was on the fire line and joins us tonight in san jose. Peggy . Reporter good evening, raj. You know, the conditions were perfect for a fire such as this. Hot, dry. With strong bursts of win, pushing up the side of the hillside. Firefighters say it was really the homeowners who helped in preventing this from being a lot worse. Neighbors say they saw smoke pouring out of an empty house on clayton road today, flames jumping from the first house to the second one, demolishing them both. A huge response included 17 San Jose Fire Department engines and cal fire hitting it from the air and the ground. Neighbor robert long says people who live there know how to protect their homes. He wasnt concerned a bit. And weve got everything cleared to 100 feet around the house. Youre not worried right now . No. Reporter it turns out this is what long does for a living. He disks land around homes and business, protecting them from fire. He shows me his yard, with 100 feet of dirt all around it. He says most of his neighbors have done the same. Today their prevention paid off. One thing i do have to admit for the homeowners in the local area, that they did a great job at their Defensible Space around the home. Thats what kept the grass moving at the slow rate of speed instead of a fast rate of speed. So that was very good on their part. Reporter the San Jose Fire Department tells me that no other homes in this area were threatened by the blaze, and no evacuations were ordered. Richard long says its all about building a fire buffer for your house. Youre going to be the first protector of your house. Theyre going to be ten minutes away, 15 minutes away. By then, your house can be gone. Reporter now, you know, if you have never heard of that term discing before, its really a process of pulling up the grass, leaving the exposed dirt. That really cuts down on the fire damage. Many of the homeowners are very familiar with this process. They say they knew this would happen one day. And today, tonight, theyre very happy that their homes are safe. In san jose, im peggy bunker, nbc bay area news. Okay, thanks, peggy. San jose Police Officers are voicing concern tonight over new and unprecedented mandatory overtime. Today the department announced the plan, saying it is the only way minimum Staffing Levels can be met. When overtime is needed, volunteers will be asked first. If there is still a shortage, some officers will be required to work up to extra three hours on patrol. The union is arguing that overtime leads to stress and tired Police Officers. Union leaders say a new contract would enable more officers to be hired. From full contact to safer contact, that is the idea being tossed around in sacramento by state lawmakers looking to reduce concussions for high school and middle School Football players. Theyre asking the governor to limit full contact practice time. Some worry that could actually hurt players more when it comes to game day. Annette miranda joins us live in san jose. Nanette, the governor has a tough decision to make here. Reporter thats right. Coaches say theyre trained very well and know when a kid has had enough contact. But medical Research Shows that hits dont have to produce concussions to have long lasting effects. Hes been playing since he was 6 years old. So it scares me to death. Reporter Marleau Sander has been watching her son play football for years, and worries about all those hits he has taken. He wants to just go out there and hit. I want him to be more or less just kind of take it easy. It scares me to death. Reporter the California State Senate sent Governor Brown a bill that would limit full contact practice time for middle and High School Players to just two workouts a week, 90 minutes each day. No full contact practice at all in the offseason. Conditioning and drills do not count against those restrictions. Author assemblyman ken cooley says the goal is to curb the number of brain injuries and concussions. Vincent polanco suffered three concussions. He thinks players will actually get hurt more under the proposal because they wont have as much experience being hit. Its football, you know. Its how the game is. You came in, you know its going to half. Its expected, you know. You cant prevent it all the time. Reporter when it comes to college scholarship, some coaches worry California Kids wont be able to compete with players from other states that have unlimited full contact practice all year long. And therefore have better skills. Many of them cant afford to go to school. So if this is going to hurt our chances for our kids to make a scholarship opportunity, then i think we have to be careful about it. It would be unfair. Reporter but marlo sander hopes Governor Brown approves the practice limitations. Their safety comes first, thats for sure. Reporter 19 other states have full contact practice limitations in effect. Once he receives the proposal from the senate, Governor Brown has 12 days to either sign it or veto it. If he signs it, then it would take effect january 1st. Live in san jose, nannette miranda, nbc bay area news. Okay, nanette, thank you. Hold on the your phone. Two out of every three robberies in San Francisco and oakland involve smartphones. But that might be changing. San francisco District AttorneyGeorge Gascon joined new yorks attorney general today. They say kill switches lower crime. Gascon says iphone thefts have dropped ever since apple added that kill switch last september. Google and microsoft are also joining in. Soon 97 of all next generation smartphones will have the builtin kill switches. However, he wants them to come with the switch already turned on. Not only the technology has to be available, but the technology has to be universally applied. And if i as a consumer decide not to use the technology, then i can turn it off. Gascon added the concept of installing a kill switch without being automatically activated by the companies makes little sense. A bizarre story on the bay bridge. Take a look. A dancing man and a burning truck. This brought traffic to a crawl this morning during the peak of the morning commute. Witness says a man was dancing and acting erratically as flames engulfed his pickup truck. You can see him there right near that white truck. This was just past the toll plaza. A Homeland Security officer happened to be passing by. So he and other officers detained the man. The chp says the driver admitted he set his own truck on fire and seemed to be suffering some sort of psychiatric emergency. If he did light his truck on fire but still had the sense to pay the toll and pay his due before attempting to cross the bridge. I dont know. Something was off. The chp will not charge him with anything. They say their goal is to get him the help he needs. New tonight at 11, warning labels about climate change. Were used to seeing them on cigarettes, medication, and even small toys. But now berkeley may become the first city in the nation to require stickers on gas pumps about Global Warming. Its an environmentally progressive idea with some detractors. Cheryl hurd is live in berkeley. Cheryl, what are people saying about it . Reporter well, a lot of people didnt have time to talk to me tonight. But i did manage to talk to a few about this warning sign that could be attached to gas pumps in berkeley soon. This warning is about Global Warming. Some people like it. Some people dont. When you fill up at gas stations in berkeley, the warning signs are already there. Gas station owners may soon have to make room for another warning sign. This one is about the state of californias conclusion that gas emissions contribute to Global Warming. Its not about guilt. Its about, you know, sort of a gentle nudge to remind people there are alternatives. Reporter berkeley city councilman Kriss Worthington came up with the idea. The state of california has suggested that, you know, Greenhouse Gases are a serious problem, and Global Warming needs to be addressed. Maybe we can do things that are alternatives like Public Transit and alternative transportation. Reporter for worthington, the warning sign on the pump is just a reminder for people who want to clean up the environment. But members of the western States Petroleum association sees the berkeley proposal as an infringement on consumers First Amendment right. What exactly are consumers supposed to do with the information that the city of berkeley is suggesting be forced upon service station operators . We asked consumers about it. Would it make you think twice before filling up . I already think twice. Slightly. But i still need the gas. Its only going to do so much. At least for people that have to use their cars to get places. Reporter the proposal has been approved by two commissions. It could go before berkeleys city council in the fall. Reporting live in berkeley, im cheryl hurd, nbc bay area news. With vta at any time operating trains with defective wheels . No. The coo denies it, but state inspectors say just last month, vta trains were running on defective wheels at risk of derailment. Im vicky nguyen. We investigate serious safety concerns at the valley Transportation Authority. Thats next. Also, it was a fathers day hell never forget thanks to an unexpected delivery. Why even the nurses were surprised. Plus, its hard to believe. The stunning crash caught on tape, and the victim walks away with no injuries. Youll hear his amazing story. And good evening. Im meteorologist jeff ranieri. A little bit of fog rolling into San Francisco. Well tell you what that is going to mean for tomorrows temperatures. Plus, of course, a look at the weekend in just a few minutes. How safe are the trains . We investigate Major Concerns tonight involving the trains that carry thousands of riders every day and will carry many more once that 49ers new stadium opens this august. Inspection records reveal the Santa Clara ValleyTransportation Authority has operated dozens of trains with faulty wheel, some as recently as just last month. And they have the potential to derail. We bring in now Investigative Reporter vicky nguyen. What did you find . The 49er stadium opens in two months, and the vta says it will be ready. But these state inspection reports we have uncovered reveal a list of fixes the vta has been slow to make, from the potential for headon collisions to worn out train weels. We investigate the vtas train safety. Vta trains travel at a top speed of 55 miles an hour. Carrying 140,000 riders a day and sharing the roads with thousands of cars. They are letting some trains run that shouldnt be rung. Reporter a vta insider with knowledge of how these trains are maintained and operated asked to be disguised for fear of being fire. Is safety a priority at vta . Only when they get caught by the state or the federal government it is then a priority. Reporter through a series of public records requests, the Investigative Unit obtained these state inspection reports that reveal vta has failed to properly maintain critical signals on many of its trains. The report details safety hazard that could lead to derailment and trains colliding headon. In a report summary from february 2013, vta has knowingly and willfully violated safety procedures and cpuc investigation regulation. And vta does not have the capability to repair and maintain safe vehicles. In one unannounced visit that month, state inspectors found multiple wheel defects and worn out tread on four different trains. What kind of safety risk does that pose to to people who are riding these trains or operating the trains . Its a risk of derailment. Reporter paul king is the States Deputy director for rail safety. When your cpuc inspectors found these problems, what did they instruct vta to do . Not run those vehicles. And we found that they did run them after that. Reporter king says as recently as last month, more than a year after inspectors first cited problems, vta was still sending out trains with condemned wheels. Was vta at any time operating trains with defective wheels . No. Reporter Michael Hirsh is in charge of operations at vta. He says he didnt know that vta was running trains on wheels that didnt meet Safety Standards until we showed him the inspection reports. This report says that one of the vehicles they inspected departed for service with condemned wheels. Im not aware of that. Reporter last may the state instructed vta to remove 29 trains from service to replace wheels that were out of compliance. Thats nearly a third of the entire fleet. The agency is currently running 55 of its 99 trains. But in recent press releases, vta says it will have 80 trains on the tracks by august. In time for the niners season. I think they are being rushed to get into compliance. If theyre making the same progress over the next couple months they have made over the last year, i dont think theyre going to be ready. Reporter and getting enough trains into compliance isnt vtas only problem. Did vta have multiple incidents last year where trains were headed toward each other on the same track . No. Except that i will tell you we operate single track sections. So there are there are places where trains will have to wait for a train to go in the opposite direction, if that makes sense. Reporter cpuc said on multiple occasions, there were concerns about signals being prosed and those trains potentially colliding headon. Are you saying thats not true . The cpuc may have that concern. We do not have that concern. Reporter inspectors had that concern because of this. Multiple incidents in 2012 and 2013 where inspectors found problems with signals that were allowing trains to head toward each other on a single track in potential headon collisions. There would be signals between those trains. There would be another place for the train to stop or the train would be required to stop. Should that happen at all ever, even if there are signals in between, should two trains be heading toward each other . No. Reporter the report notes various reasons for failures to Defective Electronics to deficiencies that caused confusion for controllers. In one incident inspectors were very concerned both trains were traveling at a high rate of speed, 55 Miles Per Hour and 45 Miles Per Hour toward each other before they stopped. It happened here on the line between fruitdale. Lets give you a better look from the sky. This is a one and a half mile stretch of track that north and southbound trains have to share. If they continue traveling at those speeds, they would have collided in less than a minute. There has never been an incident where vta trains or an accident where vta trains where in a headon collision. It disturbance me he is minimizing the problem. Theyre just lucky. Reporter Russell Quimby is a rail safety expert who spent 20 years with the National Transportation safety board. We asked him to review the state inspection reports. It tells me that this maintenance problem has been going on for a long time to the point now where its going to take a major fix to come back up to speed and make sure the cars are up to standard. Reporter inspectors say they are now asking the state commission for the power to Issue Citations when transit agencies dont fix their safety violations. Time has run out. Theyve had plenty of time to fix this. It hasnt gotten fixed. Records meanwhile, the vtas coo says the agency is working to fix the signal and wheel issues. Vta is a very safe operation. We have very professional operators. And i encourage everyone to ride vta. Reporter but with tens of thousands of new riders expected, some inside the agency say they want proof, not promises that these trains are ready. If youre going to push public transportation, it needs to be safe. And right now its not safe. Vta is currently running a little more than half of its existing trains, about 55 out of 99. The agency insists it will have 80 of its current trains up and running by august. We of course will continue to follow the fixes and keep you updated on the transit agencys progress. Jess, raj . Vicky, thank you. If you have a tip for vicky nguyen or anyone else, call 888996tips or send us an email directly to theunit nbcbayarea. Com. Lets check in with jeff ranieri. It is extremely important, jessica, especially with the fire in east san jose. Weve been monitoring the wind. It certainly has calmed down. Sustained wind right now northwest at 6. And its not gusting at all. Thats a great news for the fire danger. Unlimited visibility back here across downtown. So well take you to the Sky Camera Network right now. Also some good news on the fire danger front. At least at 11 19 tonight. Well take all we can get now that were in this threeyear drought. What youre going to see in San Francisco, the cloud cover is beginning to increase, and also areas of fog. That is most notably impacting the east bay, where humidity values are now rising to 76 . That increased humidity helping out the forecast quite a bit. Well, were not fogged in San Francisco. What youre going to see