a home engulfed in flames. firefighters trying to save it in frigid temperatures. we're live on the scene as crews investigate what caused that fire. ice-covered roads sending cars spinning on local highways setting up for a potentially dangerous commute this morning. we're on top of that for you. the coldest weather of the season so far is fueling that threat on the roadways as we take a live look at center city and the flags blowing in the wind there. and look on the bottom of your screen. 19 degrees in philadelphia. even colder air is on the way. good morning. this is "nbc 10 news today" on this wednesday. i'm chris cato. yes, the snow we had yesterday is over but brutal and even dangerous cold is now setting in.

we have live first alert team coverage for you this morning to prepare you for this frigid blast and the dangers that could come with it. let's start with meteorologist bill henley in his first alert forecast. bill, it seems like the 19 degrees out there, amazing that that's going to actually be warmer than what we will feel tomorrow, right? >> yeah. it's going to get colder and colder, and you'll really feel it today, more so for the wind but it's cold even without the wind. they're making snow once again in the pocono mountains after the snowfall yesterday. there are lots of icy spots in the area this morning, untreated roads, and you'll find them first thing this morning. during the day, the bitter winds will kick in and that will bring us near record cold temperatures tomorrow morning. right now, 21 in philadelphia 17 in trenton. it's dropped to 18 degrees in wilmington. that's 15 in pottstown. going to have to layer up this morning. the wind is blowing, and it is going to be gusty. 20 at 9:00. by lunchtime, we could see a few scattered flurries or even a brief snow shower blowing

through the area and just 23 degrees. we'll go through it hour by hour with the future weather in ten but right now, let's check in with first alert traffic reporter jillian mele. good morning. >> good morning to you, bill. in new jersey burlington township, we have a closure because of an overnight accident. route 130 southbound closed at lincoln avenue. take 2 5i9 as your alternate. 195 is looking pretty good right now. we're not reporting any accidents on the highways around philadelphia. this is a live look in center city, the vine street expressway, right near 76. this would be the westbound side as drivers head out to 76. you can see it is very quiet out there right now. chris? >> of course jillian will be watching for conditions like this this morning. black ice is blamed for several cars that spun out overnight in germantown. skyforce10 was over the scene. you can see the slick icy patch there on roosevelt boulevard between 9th street and berkeley street. thankfully, no one injured in those spinouts but this does highlight the danger that you may see on roads this morning. nbc 10's katy zachry is patrolling some of those roads

for us and joins us live from the fox chase section of philadelphia. katy, what did you see when you headed out this morning? >> reporter: hi chris. over the last hour we've been on roads in philadelphia and montgomery counties and i can tell you, the primary roads near where we are, cottman avenue and this is central avenue so this is a secondary road right off of cottman avenue they look pretty good and that's what the philadelphia streets department told me leading up to yesterday's storm, that they were going to be attacking primary and secondary roads. but if we swing the camera around, you can see this smaller side street is not paved. and if it was paved last night, it was paved at a time when the snowpack had really frozen to the ground because you can't really, even if you go down to my foot right now, i'm trying to cut through this snow and the ice and you can't do that. so, i also want to draw your attention to some of the cars parked along this road. for the most part they have been cleared off, their windshields free of any snow but some of them are not. and you're really going to need to allow for extra time not just to warm your car up because

of the frigid temperatures outside and you're going to want to be somewhat warm in your but it really takes a while to get the snow off of the windshield because it is frozen on. and i can tell you from experience this morning, it took quite a while to clear that windshield so you can have a safe drive. so, we were actually out earlier this morning. there was black ice along roosevelt boulevard. we're going to show you that and we're also going to take you county by county and show you some of the slick areas you should avoid. that's coming up in the next half hour. reporting live in fox chase, katy zachry nbc 10 news. >> and katy we'll highlight a couple of those areas now. we spent last night and early this morning driving around checking roads across the region to see what it's like in your community. in the manayunk section of philadelphia, which is very hilly, we found this homemade sign warning drivers about icy dangers there. we also spoke to a woman wondering when a city snowplow would visit the street. >> it's just pure ice, like you can't even walk on it. so, it is frustrating. a lot of the streets in manayunk aren't plowed, which is bad, because they're all hills. >> and just so you know city road crews in philadelphia will

plow snow only if it's 6 inches or more but they do treat the roads, and crews did work through the night. and we have more details on philadelphia's snow removal process on nbc10.com. and this morning, salt trucks are making the rounds in parts of south jersey. crews are treating major roads, like route 70 for the most part, not so much on the side streets. you'll still want to take it slow when you're out driving this morning. and be sure to take the first alert weather team with you through this cold blast for up-to-the-minute forecasting with our nbc 10 first alert weather app for your smartphone or tablet. it's a free download. you can get it right now at nbc10.com. 4:05 now, and this is the opposite of frozen. skyforce10 was over this scene, a massive house fire last night in bucks county. and this morning crews are still on the scene in new briton along curley mill road. firefighters battled heavy flames, which engulfed the home. they also had to deal with those freezing, subfreezing temperatures. nbc 10's jesse gary is live on the scene for us now.

jesse, what's the story this morning? >> reporter: chris, right now, crews are bringing in another tanker truck. they were hosing down the house with an aerial hose mounted on a lader but they've stopped. they're bringing in another tanker to have more water. and i've noticed some firefighters on the inside with flashlights, kind of searching around surveying the damage from the inside. the flames started last night around 10:30, quickly grew to engulf this large property on curley mill road. four residents on the inside made it out safely without getting hurt. obviously, a very difficult job for firefighters not only battling the fire but also the ice because of the 15-degree temperatures we have here. when we pulled up just a short time ago, we talked to one of the police officers on the outer edge of the scene who said it was so cold he couldn't feel his toes. coming up in the next hour we're going to explain how firefighters have been able to try and keep warm as they battle this blaze. live in new briton township bucks county this morning, jesse gary, nbc 10 news.

>> jesse, thanks. six minutes after 4:00 now. this morning, there is new information on the search for that missing airasia flight. crews have found the tail section of the plane in the java sea. now, that's important because the tail holds the black box recorder. so far dozens of bodies have been recovered, but more than 100 people are still missing. the plane crashed more than a week ago after taking off from indonesia and heading to singapore. a man opened fire at a veterans clinic in west texas yesterday, killing one person and himself. it happened yesterday afternoon at ft. bliss in el paso. some reports say that the man shot and killed a doctor before killing himself. police have not yet released the names of the shooter or the victim. the fbi's investigating. the trial continues today for former philadelphia sportscaster don tollefson. yesterday during opening statements tollefson told the jury he's a bad businessman, but not a thief. he's accused of pocketing more than $300,000 that was meant to go to charities. he's representing himself at trial after withdrawing a guilty plea.

and the trial is set to begin today for the philadelphia firefighter who's accused of attacking his ex-wife, who was eight months pregnant at the time and her boyfriend. police say michael lawson and a female accomplice who is also a firefighter, carried out those assaults on two separate occasions last september. lawson was facing several charges, but all of them were dismissed except for simple assault. lawyers for this accused killer and carjacker will go to court today for a pretrial conference. authorities say last july in the tiogea section of philadelphia cornelius crawford took a woman's suv at gunpoint and raped her and then crashed the vehicle into a fruit stand, killing keisha williams 15-year-old kiara williams, 10-year-old thomas reed and 7-year-old terrence williams. happening today in philadelphia, we will learn if the city's recreation centers are spending tax dollars properly. city comptroller allen butkovitz will release an audits of the

recreation and advisory councils. he's previously criticized the department for dangerous and hazardous conditions at city recreation buildings and playgrounds. today, parents can pick up their children's records from a closed charter elementary school. walter palmer charter officials closed the school over the winter break, displacing 600 students. the school owes the philadelphia school district millions of dollars. the high school closed back in october. now, your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> an icy start in much of the area. untreated surfaces have that layer of ice this morning left over from the snow. wind is blowing, but it's really going to get stronger during the day today. now it's just cold outside. a little bit of light snow falling in the pocono mountains. it will be on and off during the day today. 12 degrees right now mt. pocono. trenton is 17 degrees and in the teens right now in wilmington. a much colder start this morning. and the cold will stay with us. and it is freezing in cape may.

that's a live view from the marquis de lafayette hotel. you can see a little bit of ice on the street there. radar is completely clear in our area right now, but the winds are going to kick in and we'll be watching some of these scattered snow showers blow into the area this afternoon. won't be anything like we had yesterday, but you can see some scattered flurries or even a brief snow shower during the day. and then the temperatures, well, they're not going to be pretty all day long. we will be in the 20s at best. at noontime today, middle 20s along the i-95 corridor. look at north and west. a brief snow shower for allentown and reading at noontime, 22 degrees. and those winds will blow those snow showers into the delaware valley. at 2:00 temperature actually coming down in philadelphia to 22 degrees, and a few more scattered snow showers north and west. so, it's going to be a blustery and bitter cold day, thanks to the winds, and they'll really be kicking in. a brief snow shower a few flurries with little to no accumulation in those areas that do see them and winds gusting to 40 miles an hour. so, temperatures will be in the

20s, but the windchills will feel like they're in the single digits for much of the day. i'll take you through the future windchills hour by hour when i'm back in ten. >> windchills in the single digits. all right, bill we'll deal with it. 11 minutes after 4:00. nbc 10's first alert traffic reporter jillian mele is here. jillian, the ice scraper will also be people's best friend right? >> oh, yes, it will. keep that close by. good morning, chris. majors around philadelphia no problems on roads like 76 95 even the vine street expressway but in jersey in burlington township, we have this accident closing route 130 southbound at lincoln avenue. you can take 295 as your alternate. area bridges this morning, we are seeing speed restrictions on most of them just because of the icy conditions out there to 25 miles per hour. so, make sure you slow it down. chris? the case against kaine. when we could learn the results of a grand jury investigation involving attorney general kathleen kane. plus your house could earn you big money. a profit you could make for offering up your home to strangers for a week.

we'll tell you what it has to do with pope francis's visit. plus a fast food chain dealing with a french fry shortage this morning. you'll see what's causing the short supply.

we are bracing for the coldest day of the season so far. it's 19 degrees now in philadelphia, as we take a live look at i-95 in south philadelphia. on the road this morning, you'll definitely want to watch out for black ice. we could have had some refreezing overnight, certainly, with some of the slush that had melted after yesterday's snow refreezing overnight. so give yourself some extra time and take it easy on the roads this morning. meteorologist bill henley is back in a moment with a look at tomorrow's weather that will feel even colder. happening today, president

obama will visit a ford assembly plant near detroit. he will focus on the success of the auto industry since 2009 when the government bailed out a lot of automakers. ford did not get a bailout like chrysler or gm but all three are now profitable. the president's trip is part of a three-week run-up to his state of the union address. the 114th congress is off and legislating now. new members were sworn in yesterday. john boehner won re-election as house speaker, despite a group of conservatives voting against him. republicans are now in control of both the house and the senate. new senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said the keystone pipeline bill will be a top priority. the white house has said president obama will veto that measure. house majority whip steve scalisie will face reporters today for the first time since acknowledging that he gave a speech to a white supremacist group more than a decade ago. the louisiana republican will join other house leaders at a media event this morning. in 2002 while he was a state legislator he gave a speech for

an organization founded by former kkk leader david duke. last week he apologized for giving the speech but said he was not aware of the group's platform at the time. the results of a grand jury investigation surrounding pennsylvania attorney general kathleen kane could be released soon. the special prosecutor in that case isn't talking publicly about it but there are reports that kane is under investigation for leaking information about another grand jury investigation. now, we spoke with an expert who says, even though the deadline has passed the grand jury may keep working. >> they could issue a report just summarizing everything and saying that it doesn't rise to the level of a contempt citation, it doesn't rise to the level of criminal charges, however, we're very concerned about the actions displayed by the attorney general. >> kane and her lawyers did not have a comment for nbc 10 yesterday, but she has previously said she's done nothing wrong. in montgomery county, district attorney reese vetri furman announced she will not seek a third term.

instead, she plans to run for judge in the county. >> i think that it would be an amazing way to kind of continue public service and to stay in the community that i've been a part of for so long but to do something different. >> vetri furman was montgomery county's first female district attorney and has worked in that office for 23 years. she will finish out her current term as d.a. one of the two new york city police officers shot while responding to a robbery call is expected to be released from the hospital today. officers palarano and dosy were in plain clothes and about to end their shifts when they got a call about a deli robbery in the bronx. video shows jason polanco firing at those officers. he was arrested along with a second suspect. last month, as you know two nypd officers were killed in an ambush attack in brooklyn. a former delaware county teacher charged with molesting students will learn his sentence this spring. paul hochschwender entered a no

contest plea. prosecutors say he molested nine students in two different districts, some students as young as 7. he taught at darby township elementary for nine years. a judge will hand down his sentence in april, but he has volunteered to begin serving his time immediately. investigators in pittsburgh are hoping recently released video will help them find a missing montgomery county native. 22-year-old paul kochu has been missing for two weeks now. this is surveillance video from the night he disappeared. kochu worked as a nurse at allegheny general hospital and is a native of pottstown. since his disappearance, police friends and family have been looking for him. a $20,000 reward is offered for information leading to his whereabouts. this morning police in north jersey are in search of baby jesus. police in sayreville middlesex county, say thieves stole a baby jesus from a nativity scene in front of a church on saturday night, and here is the

surveillance video that shows that apparent theft. police posted it on facebook. you see the nativity there. wise men, camels the whole nine yards and a couple of people in sweatshirts walking up to it. moments later, one grabs the baby jesus. there he goes. police said it's the fourth time in five years that thieves have taken baby jesus. 4:19 now. pope francis will make his mark in philadelphia this september of course when he arrives for the much-anticipated world meeting of families. about 2 million people expected to descend on the city in hopes of getting a glimpse of the pontiff. surprisingly there are not enough hotel rooms in the region to accommodate those crowds so city dwellers are stepping in offering their places for rent for some big money. some homeowners are renting out their places for nearly $10,000 per week $10,000 per week. but before anyone can collect that cash the city code says

all of the homes need to be licensed -- or do they? on the all-new nbc 10 app for the iphone right now, we'll tell you why some city officials are saying licenses are not necessary, despite that city code. you can see the full story now on the nbc 10 news app. now, your nbc 10 first alert weather with meteorologist bill henley. >> it is a cold start this morning, and the winds really haven't kicked in all that much just yet. you can see just a gentle breeze blowing here at the nbc 10 studios. the cold well that's here. it's 14 degrees in reading, 21 in philadelphia. atlantic city at the airport is 15 degrees right now. back to making snow in the pocono mountains. got a little bit from mother nature, but they've actually been making more snow. but the manmade stuff is piling up. and the cold air is going to stay here all day today. temperatures are running colder compared to yesterday at this time. down by 13 degrees in lancaster, 4 degrees colder in wilmington and a little bit colder for philadelphia. it will feel much colder because

of the wind and that could blow an isolated snow shower through the area around midday. but mostly you're just going to have to bundle up because it's going to be a cold one. very calm right now for reading, pottstown, wilmington and mt. holly, but during the day, we'll see these wind speeds increase to 25 miles an hour and gusts possibly as high as 40 miles an hour. that's going to make for a very cold feeling day. your hour-by-hour windchill shows at 10:00 this morning, windchill 14 degrees in philadelphia. then the wind gets stronger, blows a few scattered snow showers into the area and drops the temperature. it will feel like 9 at 2:00 this afternoon. and then during the late afternoon hours, it gets even colder feeling, 2 degrees in pottstown, 2 below for reading and 17 degrees below zero the windchill in the pocono mountains. so bitter winds will be kicking in. we'll be in the 20s, but with winds gusting to 40 miles an hour it's never going to feel that warm today. we will see some warmer

temperatures. i've got the seven-day coming up in the next half hour. >> all right, bill. 4:21 now. we are keeping an eye out this morning for any frozen over ice on the roadways out there. we saw several people last night spinning out on some of the major routes. nbc 10's jillian mele is watching all of the roads for us. >> good morning to you, chris. so far, no big accidents on a lot of the highways across the area including 95. this is what it looks like right near the philadelphia international airport. just a few drivers out there, but you need to slow down. and keep in mind you could see black ice out there this morning all across the area so just watch for that. route 130 southbound in burlington township is closed at lincoln avenue all because of an accident that happened overnight. you can still to 295 as your alternate. but so far, this is our only accident that we're dealing with this morning. chris. well a local hospital is joining an elite list. next, the recognition given to a health care facility in the lehigh valley that comes with an important duty. plus there's a new warning this morning about nut allergies and a problem that may have you questioning the labels on some of your favorite foods.

4:25. burlington township high school is dealing with the death of two students. ado ado hakic's father says he committed suicide without warning at 15 years old. then on monday his friend 18-year-old michael steve, also committed suicide. those who knew him say that he was distraught over hakic's death. hakic's father is still looking for answers. >> no discussion no note no just killed. >> administrators at the high school say they will provide grief counseling for those who need it for as long as

necessary. well, a lehigh county hospital has joined an exclusive list of health care facilities designated as an ebola treatment center. lehigh valley hospital mullenberg in bethlehem is more than three dozen hospitals across the country selected by the cdc for that designation, meaning the hospital has the staff, resources and training to provide safe, long-term care to an ebola patient. children's hospital of philadelphia and hospital of pennsylvania are also ebola treatment centers. a health warning for parents this morning. doctors say the number of children with nut allergies is skyrocketing and that misleading labels could put your kids at risk. there's confusion now about certain ingredients like coconuts. and here's why. the fda considers coconut a tree nut, which is a common allergy, but many products containing coconut are labeled nut-free. >> the fda does label coconut as being a tree nut, but in general, the vast majority of tree nut allergic people and children do not react to coconut, and it's a very rare

allergen. >> the number of cases of nut allergies has doubled over the past two decades, but doctors say they really don't know why. well, if you want fries with that in venezuela, you're out of luck. more than 100 mcdonald's franchises have run out of potatoes and are now serving up tervetives to french fries. mcdonald's is blaming a contract dispute with west coast dockworkers for stopping the export of frozen fries to the country. leaders say they're working to resolve the shortage problem. now, your nbc 10 first alert weather. >> a cold start this morning. snow blowing across the pocono mountains. that's manmade snow. but there are a few snow showers destined for parts of the area today as well as bitter cold winds. right now it's 19 degrees here at nbc 10 at 4:27. jillian mele is in the traffic center. good morning, jillian. good morning to you, bill. so far, so good on the boulevard. this is a live look at the boulevard right near broad street. no accidents, no delays but what you have to watch out for

this morning is that black ice. coming up in a few minutes, i'll take you to a live look at the blue route. plus all new at 4:30 hazing wiped out the football season at a new jersey high school. now we've learned whether or not the sport will return this fall.

flames lit up the night sky as fire destroyed a bucks county home while firefighters worked to save it in frigid temperatures. ice-covered roads are sending cars spinning on local highways setting up for a potentially dangerous commute this morning. and the coldest weather of the season so far is fueling