>> today more than a dozen firefighters concerned with their health found out they will have to monitor their lungs for years to find out if asbestos will take any toll. some are angry they've been put in this position by the city. >> these are young guys lives. to have that little thing tick in thing back of their head is unacceptable. >> we told you how some firefighters were on their hands and knees scraping up dangerous flooring in preparation for live fire training at the boarded up lake side village apartments. this is one picture that a firefighter snapped of the work. we told you how the asbestos problem was well documented in city files before firefighters were sent into the complex. >> how our city allowed it, how our fire document allowed it, how our training division allowed it, i don't understand. >> dr. stan hams revealed that

are low but not zero. >> i do think it's reasonable they get medical testing on a regular basis to make sure if anything does develop they would be able to treat it early on. >> reporter: now, one of the things that the city has done is put a file in each of the firefighter's personnel files that said they were exposed to asbestos in case they get sick in the future. i talked to the doctor how this risk could have been worse. he told me there's one thing that made a big difference. that part of the interview at 6:00. reporting live in orlando, steve barrett, channel 9, eyewitness news. we're following some breaking news right now. in orange county sky witness 9 ask over the scene of a mobile home fire on jean drive near golden red and lee vista. no word on what caused the fire or if someone is inside. we have a crew on the way to the scene so we'll bring you updates as soon as we can. breaking in just the last 15

granted parole to a man who disappeared from a prison camp back in 1959 and was found just last week here in central florida. frank freshwaters was doing time for manslaughter when he disappeared all those years ago. investigators found the 79-year-old living off social security benefits under an alias in rural brevard county. his attorney said he's been living a clean life ever since and never forgot the accident that led to his case. his parole begins after 24th. orange county divers are back searching for an elderly boater that went missing yesterday morning. kathy belich is live right now. the weather is complicating i understand in this search. >> reporter: i'm told the conditions were just as rough yesterday morning when 76-year-old william robel of

bass fishing out here on lake boclair. we're being held back but you can see that the water is choppy. he came here with his wife and daughter for vacation. they're staying at a campground near by. you can see how big the search area at the lake is from sky witness 9. more than 1,100 acres of surface area that's about 10 feet deep here. someone says his boat circling in the lake yesterday morning with no one at the helm and called for help. his family said he went out at about 7:30 yesterday morning and 3 hours later searchers were out. the marine and aviation unit from the orange and lake county sheriff's offices are searching. we're told his wife and daughter are not out here but investigators are hoping to give them answers. they are distraught to have their vacation end like this. kathy belich, channel 9, eyewitness news. political news for florida

a new poll shows donald trump is way ahead of him here in florida. rubio's camp said those numbers are wrong and today they doubled down saying they will win florida. christopher heath joins us now. rubio has yet to win a state but a loss here in florida could be the end for him. >> reporter: the poll put up shows rubio at just 28% support here in florida. the good news, he leads ted cruz and the rest of the field. the bad news, he is way behind this man, donald trump, who is sitting at 44%. rubio has said all along he can beat trump one on one. the question now is will he get the chance. >> the man the entire republican field is chasing said he's ready to take on all commerce, an indication that he's expecting ted cruz and marco rubio to train their sites on him tonight. >> you know, we'll be totally prepared. you know, people have not done very well against me. so far everybody that's attacked

>> trump has won the last three contests increasing his lead is the odds on favorite to win super tuesday. two weeks after super tuesday florida votes. right now the contest is leaning towards trump, not marco rubio. >> a poll shows trump's support is grow anything the sunshine state forcing rubio to go directly after trump. >> the front runner in this race donald trump thinks that parts of obama care are petty good. >> rubio is one of four candidates chasing trump. ohio governor john kasich, dr. ben carson and texas senator ted cruz said they have a path to victory. with cruz pointing out not only did he beat trump in iowa but he's leading trump in texas saying rubio can't even beat trump in his home state. >> i'm curious how many reporters asked marco rubio after losing four states in a row when do you drop out.

democratic side hillary clinton is expected to win big in south carolina. bernie sanders already left the state heading to ohio. clinton leads in all the democratic super tuesdays except for vermont and massachusetts. while you're watching of course tonight's debate you can join me live on facebook. our wftv facebook page will have analysis. you can send me your questions or comments and watch eyewitness news at 11:00 for a full recap. >> should be interesting. a political robocall is being called intense . >> don't vote for a cuban, vote for donald trump. >> during eyewitness news at 5:30 we're asking hour political analyst how it could effect the billionaire's campaign. happening in seminole county, a toddler is recovering from a gunshot wound to the hand. two adults including her mother are facing neglect charges.

the seminole county sheriff's office. investigators have had a hard time getting a clear story about what happened. >> reporter: it is now child protective services here with the sheriff's office that's now investigating and wants to know why that child was left alone in that garage with a gun and drugs while the child's mother and another man who were supposed to be caring for her were in another room. >> you're looking at the mug shot of erin davis and devolia simms. they were arrested and charged with child neglect because police say a toddler was shot in the hand late tuesday night. >> they determined that the juvenile was unattended in a garage and had appeared accidentally shot by a firearm. >> davis and simms brought that wounded child to central florida regional hospital. when investigators arrived to question them their stories continued to change. >> we received a number of accounts of the events of the evening from them.

changed her story several times from saying she was not present during the shooting to saying she was in the garage. davis refused to provide a statement as investigators worked to find out who the gun belonged to. they did learn it was in davis' garage where the shooting happened and what they found inside no child should be exposed to. >> they did find some drug paraphernalia, a number of storage units for ammunition. >> i spoke with the grandmother of the child who told me she would be caring for the child while the child protective services continued their investigation into davis and simms, the victim's mother. >> reporter: while simms and davis have since bounded out of the seminole county jail i did ask the child protective services what they were doing to ensure that child's safety following this investigation. what we find on eyewitness news at 6:00. outside of the seminole county sheriff's office, roy ramos, channel 9, eyewitness news.

pass a bill that would give hundreds of thousands of dollars to two families shattered by a home invasion. in november bessman okafor was sentenced to death for the murder of 19-year-old alex zaldivar. okafor also shot two others that survived. he was on house arrest and violated it but nobody checked on him. orange county has agreed to a settlement to pay $400,000 for negligence. we are learning more tonight about an organized effort to sell heroin across central florida. investigators say the major drug cartel was running just like a business with members being held accountable like employees. >> jeff deal spoke with the agencies that busted the heroin ring. they said the group sold massive amounts of the drug in and around the tourism corridor. >> reporter: yes, they say these guys were bringing anywhere from $12,000 to $15,000

they were setting it up with a business with a phone number that would change every couple of months and then do the deals in parking lots like this along the i-drive area. >> on the streets of central florida there's no doubt heroin has become an epidemic. >> since january of this year the orange county sheriff's office has responded to as of february 20th 75 different heroin drug overdose incidents. >> of those eight have died. federal and local law enforcement age ncy -- agencies came together to announce they took a bite of the street level heroin dealing in orange county. >> the name of this conspiracy was la company. >> it means the company, the name the drug cartel gave itself. investigators with the dea said it was run like a company by 31-year-old angel fontenz. they would sell heroin

they sold mostly at parking lots on the terrorist corridor making appointments through their heroin hotline a phone number that would change every few months. >> when the heroin hotline number changed the new number would be texted out to all of the customers. >> investigators used confidential informants and got cameras inside the tattoo shop. most of the customers were local but investigators believe they may have operate in the i-drive area to blend in and go unnoticed. >> people were busy. two 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with those phones selling heroin. >> reporter: in all 12 people are facing charges. 11 of them have already been arrested even though that barbershop has changed names it appears to still have the same management. reporting live in orange county, jeff deal, channel 9, eyewitness news. at 4:00 you heard us press fdot for answers on why the i-4 ultimate project is at a standstill.

>> new for 5:00 when the work will begin again. >> stunning admission from sea world. the park has been send, workers to spy on pita. how the ceo defended that move today. >> the first indoor shooting range attached to a restaurant and bar is opening its doors. next the technology the owner said he's using to keep his customers safe. >> our taste of winter just getting started. how much colder lowe's presents: how to put your foot in your mouth.

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for the past 15 minutes we've been watching firefighters work to put out the flames from this mobile home. from sky witness 9 you can see they have pretty much done that. this is on james street in east orange county near goldenrod. at the top of the newscast you could see flames billowing from the roof as firefighters worked to get things under control. still no word on any injuries.

will bring you any updates as soon as they come into our news room. guns and booze typically don't go together but in volusia county an indoor shooting range is about to open and it's attached to a restaurant and bar. the owner said he's using technology to keep his visitors safe and today gave blaine tolison an up close look. >> i'm standing in volusia county's first indoor shooting range attached the a restaurant and bar. the owner walked us through. it's a state of the art facility. he showed us how he's going to keep his customers safe. >> ron perkinson showed us how he's running shooting range combined with a gun store and restaurant and bar. >> every single person has to give their identification. >> he showed us his entire operation. we shot awful rifles at zombie targets on the indoor range. >> he said he had to win over

who approved of his business. now he's reassuring non-gun owners that it's a safe one. >> i hope they will just come out and take a look for themselves instead of snap judging, putting judgement on something i've done. >> technology is what he said will keep track of who is drinking. >> this is i-detect. this is where a customer has to scan their driver's license whenever they order a drink at the restaurant or bar. >> when the same customer comes to the shooting range they have to scan their id again right here. >> there will be no drinking and then shooting. i can control that. i will know. >> customers can rent gun s. perkinson said if they bring their own they have to lock them in the cars when they get done shooting. no guns allowed at the bar. the only place not under surveillance is the bathroom. >> i honestly feel this place is safe. >> in volusia county, blaine tolison, channel 9, eyewitness news. >> our facebook fans are

this story online and you can join them by going to facebook.com/wftv. two activist groups have stepped up to help three college students in their fight against valencia college. the letter said valencia college violated the constitutional rights of its students by demanding that students have transvaginal ultra sounds performed on them in the sonogram class. the judge dismissed a lawsuit by three students who said they were penalized for not doing this procedure. today we got a glimpse of the progress being made on the orlando city soccer stadium. sky witness 9 flew over the construction site where the stadium is slowly going up. next week they will start installing steel beams, a major milestone in construction. it's

sky witness 9 flew over the construction of the king kong ride. this is the latest image released by universal studios showing the gates into the ride. it's replacing the old king kong ride that closed in 2002. this new ride will be the longest of any attraction. what a beautiful day it was today, nice and brisk and windy but beautiful. >> fantastic. big winter storm moved by. it's still in the northeast. we're on the positive side of this storm. there's our live view from daytona beach where we have 63. almost a 20 degree drop from yesterday. of course getting ready for a falcon 9 rocket launch along the space coast. the winds and cloud cover all that is much better today. an 80% of favorable weather conditions assuming all the technical stuff works just fine. temperatures will be cooling

back into the 40s later tonight. 63 in ocala now, 63 also in orlando. there's that cool dry air that's filtering on into this area tonight. over in winter garden temperatures back into the mid 40s by 6:00 a.m. we'll have a bit of a wind chill around 40 to 42. usually we have to get into the 20s to get a chill advisory. we've had a couple of those this season. 38 for ocala, 39 in the villages. you see low to mid 40s for the rest of us. board for tomorrow. so we will kind of stamp, carbon copy today onto tomorrow weather wise but not quite as gusty. that's going to let temperatures drop further on saturday morning down to 40 to 42 across the i-4 corridor. could get some patchy fog in the wind sheltered areas. it's going to be a great weekend. icflorida.com a lot of

festival downtown. we had mixed weather for it. february is a tough month for getting the weather perfect but this weekend we don't have a lot to fear. it's going to be very nice. along the coast a greek festival friday to sunday in melbourne and up into the port canaveral area. 70s for the seafood fest. a lot more at icflorida.com. it is the chamber of commerce. the five day forecast with the weekend always in view, back in the 40s the next three mornings. 75 is our average. we'll be very close to that on monday. here comes another warming trend. near 80 by tuesday. brutal impacts caught on camera and they're happening inside our hospitals. coming up 9 investigates the dangerous conditions putting loved ones at risk and leaving staff and patients to fend for themselves. >> a bizarre phone call sent police to an innocent family's home. >> there must have been 100 people everywhere. >> new at 6:00, why it's difficult for police to track

>> sea world's ceo admits today the park sent a worker to spy on pita. why it would toes, noses, eyes,

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sea world's ceo is admits at least one park worker posed as a pita member to spy on the animals organization. they said it was a way to protect workers and park visitors. angela jacobs is live outside of sea world tonight. the company won't say how many workers may have been involved in this. >> reporter: they did name one employee specifically out of sea world san diego but said out of security concerns all other matters related to this will be handled internally. >> this morning sea world's ceo explained why the park would use an employee to spy on opponents. >> this activity was undertaken with efforts to maintain the safety and security of employees, customers and animals in the space of threats. >> after an internal investigation spurred by acquisitions from pita see world announced the practice is over. >> tourists we spoke to weren't sure how they feel about the issue but liked that sea world owned up to it.

people going to the park at the end of the day. i think most people just go there for the attractions and the rides. >> since then sea world said the san diego park employee involved who was put on administrative leave during the investigation is back at work and assigned to a different department. >> we recognize that the need to ensure all of our security align with our core values and ethical standards. >> across the street from its orlando location this park goer said she doesn't see the big deal. >> places do things like that to see what the other side is doing. i don't see anything wrong with that. >> reporter: back out here live, sea world said it is currently working with a new consultant to develop new policies and controls to guide operations and security practices. reporting live in orlando, angela jacobs, channel 9, eyewitness news. florida's highest court just sided with a woman who said red light cameras violated her constitutional rights.

at 5:00 what a rental company did that sparked that legal fight. >> don't vote for a cuban, vote for donald trump. >> who is leading the push behind these calls to voters to try to sway them from marco rubio or ted cruz. >> the 21 smile stretch of the i-4 ultimate project is shut down because of a deadly

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the $2 billion project to renovate i-4 is still at a standstill because of in fatal construction site crash. >> we want to make sure that it's safe on that corridor for the public and for the workers as well. >> all new at 5:00, pushing fdot to see when work will start again. >> in the past hour we received a statement from the construction company involved. >> at this point nobody will say when that work is going to resume. we've been working to get answers since yesterday afternoon when a dump truck backed over a worker near kennedy boulevard. tim barber is live at that site tonight. the contractor's spokesperson told you the company has had