i know he'll always stand with you. i'm charlie crist and i approve this message. >> right now, on newschannel8 at 5:30. >> a devastating house fire claims the lives of two people in sarasota. new details on what could have caused the flames to spread so quickly. go a sarasota home engulfed in flames within minutes killing two people inside and injuring another. 24 hours later the cleanup continues but the questions still remain in this case. we are also learning the victims were trapped inside their home as it burned around them. newschannel8's john rogers joins us now live, so john, could the clutter inside of that home have played a role? >> reporter: it certainly could have. if you look at the ruins behind me, you can see it strewn on

victims as well. firefighters say the home was consumed by flames been five minutes. on wednesday afternoon, the blaze tore through the roof and quickly spread. officials say 68-year-old benjamin langford, his wife cynthia and son ian were trapped inside. they had to knock a mole in the wall to get ian out. >> he was quite large. larger than the average person that it probably took six and eight people to physically pick him up and remove him. >> reporter: sadly, cynthia and benjamin died. the family was morbidly obese and the home was extremely cluttered. >> it is sad. nobody deserves this. >> reporter: liz mulberry often stopped by the house. she said they were a private family and she is not shocked by this. >> i am not surprised.

firefighters on edge. they stayed there all night dousing the house. >> when you have that much material in there like a compost pile where you have a large amount of heat that is compressed. it is allowed to intensify and grow. >> reporter: the state fire marshal says it started in the rear of the home but they have not learned the exact cause. it is still under investigation. fire crews are still here even at this hour. us that there were some issues with the power lines right here the home yesterday. they said some power lines were down, the transformer blew up. one neighbor said that a surge protecter blew up. now, a lot of people speculate this could have been a factor in this blaze. fpl we are told is cooperating but it is too early to tell if that contributed to this fire. >> john, is there an update at all on the injured sun? >> reporter: yes.

general. at last word, he is in fair condition and recovering. >> john rogers live in sarasota. thank you john. a standout football player at tampa's jefferson high school who went onto play professionally in the bay area is dead after crashing his car into a lutz home. mary mcguire has more on the life of the driver and how the homeowner is recovering. >> reporter: this is the spot deputies say 26-year-old maxwell holloway ran off the road, first hitting a utility pole, then, hitting a line of garage. broken glass and business cards remain near the site where deputies believe 26-year-old maxwell holloway ran off the road and into this home. just before 2:30 this morning. >> it sounded like a bomb went off. >> reporter: candace dunn livers in the neighborhood and came back to the scene soft what she heard. >> i was worried about the

garage. >> reporter: no one was injured inside the home. but, holloway died at the scene. a standout football player at tampa's jefferson high school from 2004 to 2008, he went onto play for boston college and the tampa bay storm. he later returns to jefferson working as a pe coach and teacher from 2013 to 2015. according to his online boston college football profile, he is the son of in the nfl with the patriots and the raiders. the crash site marks a sudden end to a life of achievement on the field. i got a chance to speak with the homeowner and he says he and his family will be staying with a neighbor while repairs are being made. reporting in lutz. i'm mary mcguire, newschannel8. >> grief counselors were at jefferson high school today where a number of faculty members new max holloway quite well. coach danny lee is one of them.

for boston college. he said holloway was a player's player. >> he is all the things that are good about football. he was one of the hardest workers like many who have gone onto good things. you didn't see how hard he worked. he ran 1000-yard dashes when work was done. >> the hillsborough county sheriff's office is investigating exactly what led up to the crash. a florida judge has refused to push dalia dipalido's murder for trial case. they say jury selection will begin as scheduled on december 1. he is accused of hiring an undercover cop posing as a hit man to kill her husband in 2009. meanwhile, this volusia county man is behind bars after deputies say hysteriad to kill another man with a pick ax while he was high on meth. according to deputies. daniel brown and the victim were doing drugs together when

during that argument. brown grabbed a pick ax, swung it at the victim. the victim is okay. a push to the polls or voter shaming. some lee county voters are being graded on their voting history. people are finding voting report cards in their mailboxes. the report card not only grading people on their voting history, it also compares it to the state average. it is an effort to get people to get out but people are torn are whether it is the right approach. >> i'm not sure a voter report card would do any good. either you are motivated to vote or not. >> they say they are a nonpartisan organization. still to come, having a baby comes with a lot of life changing. >> for one bay area woman, the changes nearly claimed her life. newschannel8 takes a closer look at the dangerous heart condition brought on by her

story of survival. plus. >> to keep their playoff hopes alive, they beat their cross county rival in a thrilling game. i will show you how they did it and became newschannel8's team of the week coming up. >> we will have that high school football forecast for tomorrow, but today, we had a high of 86 degrees. should set up a pleasant evening. that and your weekend forecast ahead. >> we'll have that and more coming up. you're watching newschannel8, the station that is always on

omotes safe solar, and is endorsed by florida's firefighters. so, why are out-of-state billionaires attacking it? because amendment 1 stops their subsidies. amendment 1 ensures that if you don't choose solar, you don't have to pay for those who do. amendment 1 blocks special subsidies for special interests. it's solar done right.

gus! he's gus! gus bilirakis. gus bilirakis! gus is for us. for us. all of us. and he gets things done. and he gets things done. gus stood up to his own party... to stop flood insurance hikes. he's protecting our veterans... and our seniors. and he's fighting to keep america safe. gus is for us. gus is always for us. gus is for us. for us! all of us! vote gus bilirakis for congress. i'm gus bilirakis, and i approve this message. >> imagine going in to have your first brady and going in two-and-a-half weeks later to find out that your baby is fine, but you nearly died. that is what a mom found out. newschannel8's stacie schaible

remarkable story. >> i never knew anything was wrong. the swelling on my feet, i thought that was from pregnancy. >> reporter: when she went to the emergency room at 38 weeks pregnant. she never knew how much her wife would change forever. she had a life threatening heart condition brought on by pregnancy. >> basically, my heart had enlarged and >> reporter: cardiologist dr. debbie rendyhoffman was one of the people who cared for her when she arrived by helicopter and taken straight to the or. >> the surgeons put her on a machine. we call it echmo. it is an external heart and lung bypass machine. >> reporter: it kept her alive long enough until she had an assist device implanted in her

condition, daynis gave birth to a perfectly healthy little girl named daniella who is 20 months old. >> what's she like? >> she's a handful. she ... she is my everything. >> reporter: but she didn't get to meet her daughter until two- and-a-half weeks until she was born. daylynis was so sick they put her coma after her c-section. people with the implant need it for the rest of their life or a heart transplant. they explanted hers and she is recovering well. >> is her story miraculous? >> absolutely. >> in what way? >> first after all, she was as sick as she was. baby is okay.

>> reporter: it is not often you see a heart doctor get choked up. a testament to just how sick she was. >> it is just ... it is very emotional for me because it has been a difficult journey. something that i didn't expect from having a baby. >> reporter: and josh, that is a rare thing to have happen. it does happen. they are not sure why. and the funds we are raising for the heart association, they research problems like that. she knows she is touching to see her doctor get that choked up. >> you never see that. and the device is pretty heavy. >> reporter: it's a large device. she is not relying on it anymore. but it is still inside her. she doesn't need a heart transplant. she is doing great. >> thank you very much. talking about the heart walk, the 2016 heart walk is just two weeks away and newschannel8 is committed to raising $100,000 but was need your help.

raise. so go to wfla.com/heartwalk to donate or join stacie schaible's team. it is november 12. the orlando magic honored victims and survivors of the pulse nightclub shooting at their season opener. they held a ceremony before their game against the miami heat. more than 100 survivors and family members who lost loves ones were in attendance. a banner was raised to the rafters remembering the 49 lives lost on june 12. well, it is almost time for the friday step close tore making the playoffs and in front of the home crowd, they did it in thrilling fashion. newschannel8's anthony allred shows us how the zephyr hills bulldogs knocked off their undefeated cross county rival to become our team of the week. >> reporter: with the 5a district a title hanging in the balance, the zephyr hills bulldogs were all jacked up and ready to defend the dog pound. >> it was like a nervous day. we knew we lost the game.

and letting our city down. so we just played our hearts out. >> reporter: the bulldogs down. then, a blocked punt falls into the praying hands of javar surface trough wilson and he takes it 40 yards for the bulldogs first special team score this season. >> we wanted to try and get a touchdown on special teams so we practiced for the student. >> reporter: with less than three minutes to used special teams to score from 43 yards out to beat the undefeated wesley chapel wildcats 28-20. >> we just wanted to come out. execute. play the game. >> reporter: bulldogs holler at me! [ screaming ] >> bulldogs, bulldogs! >> reporter: i googled the definition of a bulldog and it said tough and tenacious.

and the special teams scored two touchdowns to win the game. i have to say, that's a definition of a total team effort. that is why you are newschannel8's team of the week. >> yay! [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: congratulations to the zephyr hills bulldogs. newschannel8's team of the week. >> bulldogs! bulldogs! bulldogs! >> reporter: with the bulldogs, anthony allred, newschannel8 ts >> congrats to them. sea world animal handlers have to get clever to help a penguin who lost its feathers. they worked with the costuming department and created a wet suit for the little bird. it performs the job handled by feather to keep her warm especially while in the water. now, max defender 8. the

meteorologist steve jerve. >> south florida seeing showers today. we are seeing fairly dry conditions. you can see on max defender 8. not much going on at the moment in terms of precipitation. all clear. looks like the easterly flow will continue to build up more local moisture, but it is not going to see much in the way of shower activity. can't rule it out. 10%. here in enfist brook, we have a southeast wind at 9 miles an hour. been watching folks out golfing on this in brandon, at famous tate, 79 degrees with an east wind at 9 miles an hour. kind of overcast describes it. you will see on satellite why. a good stream of clouds coming from the south to keep quite a few clouds around the area. 08 degrees at connorton. in terms of rainfall, since october 1, we showed you this a couple of days ago. inch-and-a-half of rain, that is slightly below our average. but we had a very, very wet summer overall. now, this is at tampa

over 52 inches of rain. that is 10 inches above normal. obviously, some folks got more than that. some folks got less. that is just our official location that will go into the books. 80 degrees this evening. breezy winds staying on the warm side. a mix of clouds. and some clear patches. 69 degrees at 7:00 a.m. 79 degrees at noon tomorrow. 86 breezy and warm. a few more clouds around in the afternoon hours. 83 degrees tampa international airport. still holding at a very reasonable level in rm dew points are still pretty decent though some folks are seeing higher humidity. dew point of 67 degrees similar to what it was 24 hours ago in downtown saint pete. 79 degrees. we the thank the easterly wind bringing in a bit more moisture off the bay. this area, the hurricane center said about a 10% chance of development. over the next five days but it is an area that will continue to watch. this has happened in the tropics before where we see

the waters are warmer and it is all helping to push high clouds across the state of florida. around the florida keys, we kept showers and thunderstorms throughout the day. streaming across this area. we have not seen precipitation on max defender 8. as for tomorrow night, similar evening looks like. dry light breeze at kickoff. staying on the mild side. maybe a few clouds around. 75 degrees but a very comfortable night to then, for tomorrow night, this game played on friday night, navy, and usf partly cloudy skies and mild game played in tampa at 7:00. only had one games. thanks guys for kicking in the music for the short period of time. [ laughter ] high pressure is our feature. that is helping along with the very consistent easterly flow. the air pressure gradient is tighter in the south.

partly cloudy start to the day. temperatures across the southern portion of the state, the mix of clouds and sunshine we have seen for the past several days. 80 degrees this evening. 85 for a high tomorrow. the rain chances are low. less than 10% throughout this period. halloween looks pretty good too. not much changing here as we get toward the end of the period, we are seeing our seasonal averages slowly fall off. so i think we will just edge off of that high temperature. as i mentioned 86 degrees. not a record, but fairly warm. certainly above the normal of are fantastic so enjoy. >> without question. thank you. >> okay. harassed and targeted because of their vanity license plates. >> we will show you what an oregon couple put on their cartings that is causing other drivers to be aggressive. >> and, remember, you can join jenn holloway, julie phillipsand me on newschannel8

>> now to what's making headlines across america. one person is dead. another left fighting for life after a massive fire ripped through an apartment building in new york city overnight. the flames broke out in a building on the city's upper east side. look at these flames.

buildings. the cause of the fire sunday investigation. and an unusual assault in rhode island of men dressed like clowns. three men dressed as clowns forced their way into a woman's home and attacked her. she was able to fight back and fend them off. now, investigators are working to find out who they are. an oregon couple says they are being targeted and harassed for having their last name their plate. their last name is trump. the owner has had the plate about nine years and never had a probable until now. >> they started screaming obscenities at me and swerving their vehicle into my lane trying to run me off the road. >> oh boy. in light of everything that has happened. they plan to put a sticker on the cars that says it is my last name and i have better hair. all right, well, i hear in and out burgers are pretty tasty, but are they worth going to jail over? one man seemed to think so.

in phoenix. during the chase, he got hungry so he pulled into an in and out drive through window and ordered food. then he got out of the parking lot without being stopped by police. he was caught a few minutes later and arrested. at least he is well fed. newschannel8 at 6:00 is up next. >> a family changed forever during their drive home from church. >> two children sand their mother are among the five people killed in a tragic crash. coming up, new information from investigators to this wreck. >> plus, a mysterious trouble make troublemaker in a pasco county neighborhood. a mystery monkey running around. >> deer killed. fish and wildlife needs your help to find the person or persons responsible. >> he is not around to fight for his rights so his wife is taking up the fight for this veteran. >> those stories plus your

on newschannel8, the station that is always on your side. hillary clinton: far too many families today don't earn what they need and don't have the opportunities they deserve. i believe families deserve quality education for their kids, childcare they can trust and afford, equal pay for women, and jobs they can really live on. people ask me what

heart of my presidency. i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message. i moved on her like a [bleep]. you can do anything. grab them by the [bleep] we have to make sure that donald wins this election. no we don't. marco rubio stands by trump and failed to show up for florida. here's what i believe in. bringing people together and reaching across the aisle to get things done.

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>> right now on newschannel8 at 6:00. >> five lives lost in an instant. as grieving families wonder how this crash could have happened, investigation. >> helpless animals cruelly slaughter. the new reward offered to find a deer killer. >> plus, her husband served our country and lost his life. how this widow is fighting for him and countless other veterans. good evening. i'm keith cate. >> and i'm stacie schaible. thank you for joining us. tonight, countless hearts are broken after five people died in a fiery crash. among the victims, a mother, and her two young children

the family was driving home from church at the time. the mother and her two little children died in the crash. a third child did survive and is now fighting for her life at tampa general. melanie michael is there live tonight. and mel, this is just an unimaginable loss for that family. >> reporter: you know, stacie, first of all, good evening to you. many of us cannot imagine, cannot fathom what it would be like to lose an entire family. but, a husband is going through three loved ones, his teenage daughter is fighting for her life right here at tampa general. >> he is suffering right now. and he is no pieces and i don't wish this upon anybody. he is in pieces. >> reporter: it happened in an instant. the most painful heart ache a family could ever go through. this husband, john bernall lost his wife, his youngest daughter, and his little boy. all at once. his teenage daughter seen here