suzanne? suzanne: the student in critical condition under went surgery at the medical center. a second student is in serious condition at the burn unit. this was an easy day until an accidental fire broke out. the helicopters took the seriously injured students to downtown washington hospitals while the three others were taken by hospital to fairfax -- inova fairfax hospital. this is after a chemistry experiment failed to cause a dangerous fire. >> a whoosh sound. fire ball sound. a fire ball came out sideways. suzanne: daniel's sweatshirt caught on fire. he grabbed his phone and ran from the classroom. >> the only time i saw someone on fire was in the hallway.

i saw them on fire and they disappeared. suzanne: 2,400 students were evacuated from the hospital and held at a nearby football stadium for several hours. the students were unsure if it was a drill or a host. >> everyone around us thought it was a joke. >> i was scared. is there friends with an injured boy. >> i was really scared. i started texting him saying i'm hearing things about you injured. what is going on? the rumors that this happened and that happened and everyone got scared. suzanne: the fire chief today said the teacher in the lab did what she was supposed to. she rapidly evacuated all the students and then by closing the door to the classroom, she

prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the school. reporting live, suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. leon: thank you. richard reeve continues the team coverage with the effect that the day's accident is having on the football game. is the game going to go on? rich: it will go on against west springfield. earlier today the school tweeted out and said yes the game will happen. #woodsonstrong. that sums up the emotions here. behind me they are setting up the field. we saw the football team walk by us. they are concerned from the students that went to the hospital. thigh think it's a time to unite. a parent said yes, i was relieved my child was fine when i drove to pick her up but i am concerned about those

injured. >> our prayers go with the students who were hurt and their family. they have a tough evening. but we can rally and say we care about you. wi -- we are woodson strong. rich: the principal will address the stadium briefly and say have the injured folks in their thoughts and they will begin the game against west springfield. the kickoff is in where you know hour. live from fairfax, richard reeve, abc7 news. leon: all right. that is the filing spirit. thanks. count on us to push for answers about what went wrong in the classroom. we are monitoring the condition of the students hospitalized. we will keep track of that on wjla.com. maureen: the other big story we're following, u.s. troops heading to another sovereign nation. the obama administration confirmed today special troops are -- special forces troops are headed into syria in the

fight against isil. senior political reporter scott thuman is following the developing story. scott, we hear the white house says this is not a combat mission. scott: yeah, it's interesting how it's being presented. there is the arguing over the wording here. but the most importantly to note this is the first time that the u.s. forces will be openly deployed to syria. it presents a dangerous and a complex scenario. they are already rushing in the -- there are already russian and iranian troops deployed. many here wonder what is the end game. the fight in syria is about to get a u.s. boost. somewhere under 50 special forces troops are headed to the country to he in the fight against isil. isn't this what the president vowed would not happen. >> i will not put american troops on the grounds if white house. scott: the white house says they will be there to advise but don't have a combat mission. that is the difference, they

insist. >> our strategy in syria hasn't changed. the score is build up the capacity of the local forces to take the fight to isil in their own country. scott: saying the presence will have the impact they are not meant to be a game changer. that will come from diplomatic and political transition. the announcement coming at the same time that secretary of state john kerry was consulting with other leaders on how to turn the tide in syria. that, too, a challenge. >> prime minister and i and the others agree to disagree. >> no matter how the group is used, it will not be without danger. >> i don't want to diminish the significance of the risk they are taking. scott: for security reasons the white house won't say precisely what the almost 50 troops will be doing. the u.s. deloying f-15 and other resources that will be

in turkey, jordan and lebanon. maureen: thank you. two drastically images telling the story of fleaing the war. the first is off the island as the hundreds of refugees tried to travel from turkey to greece. the boat sank killing 29 people. 274 were rescued. two boats made it to refugees in greece. they paid thousands for cramped spot on the boat. leon: fan duel. pierre garcon filed class action lawsuit on behalf of all nfl players and says they are using the player's name and likenesses without their concept and making large profits off of it. the other major fantasy football site draft kings has the licensing agreement with the nfl players association. fan duel does not. alison: coming up at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- new information on that

military blimp that broke free from the mooring. and what brought it down. what is being taken from the crash scene? plus, catastrophic weather across texas. these are live pictures from san marcos and what we know so far about the damage. leon: later, trick-or-treating gets off to an early start. some of the highlights so far. pictures that you sent to us. doug: i'm doug hill in the belfort furniture weather center. i have a forecast for trick-or-treaters tomorrow night. look ahead for the whole weekend. the next seven days. that's still to come right here at "abc7 news at 6:00". narrator: for state senate, who shares our values? jeremy mcpike - supports school funding.

thinks women should make their own health care decisions. and favors background checks on all gun sales. hal parrish? as mayor, he slashed education. fought to block women's health clinics. parrish gets an "a" from the gun lobby - they oppose background checks to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. virginia extreme or mainstream? vote mcpike for virginia. feinblatt: everytown for gun safety action fund sponsored this ad.

maureen: devastation in texasment storms rip across the state. this is san marcos where you can see the highway and buildings surrounded by water. in the same area southeast of san antonio, a tornado ripped across small towns. the winds were so high a truck trailer was found lodged in the roof of a hotel. in central texas, that intense flooding forced evacuations. and left neighborhoods underwater. the water rose so quickly the students haded to be rescued from the two school buses in bexar county. no one was hurt. leon: closer to home, the jury in the charles severance murder trial has gone home for the weekend.

they wrapped up the second day of deliberation. be the first to know when the verdict is reached in the case. jeff goldberg is back in the courtroom monday morning and live tweeting developments. arlington man is behind bars accused of murdering his estranged wife. bliss arrested david black and charged him with the stabbing death of bonnie black. police found her body inside her home this past april after the neighbor saw the young children outside wandering around. court documents indicate bonnie black had a restraining order against her husband. maureen: fall-out tonight from what the republicans call an offensive debate on cnbc. both republicans and democrats criticized the questions of the debate and the tone of the presidential forum. the candidates openly criticize the network in the debate. the republican national

committee says it will not allow nbc to broadcast the february 26 primary debate. the debate however will go on as planned. leon: coming up next at 6:00, will we be in for trick or treat going out for halloween? doug hill has the hour-by-hour forecast. plus, we will show you the costumes we are seeing. robert: i'm robert burton. coming up in sports, no redskins this sunday. so you can support d.c. united. we'll preview wizards and bucks. that and more as we continue

leon: officials at reagan national airport estimate a jet fuel spill in the potomac river there will be cleaned up overnight. between 7,500 and 9,000 gallons of fuel spilled in the river south of the airport this morning. the fuel did not make it to the main channel. airport operations were not affected and the environmental impact is expected to be limited. maureen: they are about to launch 360 degree virtual tour of thenail academy in annapolis.

a spokesman says it will allow them to navigate streets and enter buildings. google shot the academy using handheld cameras at the academy. the academy will review the foot the only make sure it doesn't compromise security. and midshipman faces are blurred. leon: the remains of the break-away blimp will be removed this weekend after the state troopers had to use the shotguns and bring the balloon down after it broke loose. they took 100 shotgun shells. the rest of the balloon is removed from the trees where it came to rest. you knew it would happen. somehow, some way. someone has made the jlens blimp halloween counter.

maureen: who is this? summer in waldorf sent us the ninja turtles. the pets are in on this. they are the beanie babies. if you want to join in send pictures to pics@wjla.com. leon: ninj outer thes are hanging in there. they have to be 25 years old. maureen: they're still fun. leon: halloween is fun. officially it's tomorrow. but some kids got a big head start tonight. maureen: a big kid is steve rudin. live on connecticut avenue northwest to explain what is

going on. steve? leon: hey, man. steve: let me tell you. i'm dressed up and ready to go. they had great festivities here. this is a fantastic i vent that has wrapped up -- event that wrapped up. kids were having fun and getting stressed up in the cos chalm. this is night before the halloween. doug hill will have more on that in a few minute. it's a chilly evening. but it is a great night for a fun event in upper northwest d.c. leon: how appropriate is that? he is full of starbucks on the inside and now he is on the outside.

doug: the weather will be fine. i it will be dry. we have had period of cloudiness. looking at the rockville campus in montgomery college. getting through the evening the skies will clear. that and the breezy conditions that diminished it will set the stage for a chilly night. pollen count, the mold spore in high range and everything else small detection. through the next few days the clouds are the story. the numbers for you. 61 and 49 are the average high. 64. the average morning low is 46. it can get cold as in 1983 and warm in october. close to the average temperatures. if you have a chill already from the numbers, hold on. next week, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, we could be in the 60's. 534 in frederick. 56 in fredericksburg.

the cloud will clear away. the gifts will diminish to 5 miles per hour. the weekend is here. the sky conditions will be sunny to mid-to-late afternoon tomorrow. late afternoon the clouds will roll in. the 60 degrees for the high. 67 with cloudy skies. by late afternoon 30% chance of the rain drops and the showers. we head through the everything hours we don't see the weather threat whatsoever. there will be increasing cloudiness. it will be dry. the visibility will be good. temperatures will be cool in the mid-50's after sunset. the sun sets at 6:09 tomorrow. but it sets earlier on sunday. this is all because we turn the clock back an hour before going to bed tomorrow night.

the effect will be a 7:34 sunrise tomorrow. 6:09 sunset. on sunday, the sun will rise at 2:350 and set at 5:08. there will be late day showers on monday. wi will have temperatures above average in lower 70's tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday. leon: all right. good deal. robert: i can dream, though. i can dream! wizards are playing bucks team. they are off to a good start. can they keep it going? ben olson wants you to be there. we hear from the coach next i

robert: another road test for the wizards. parker, the forward, is healthy now. wizards are off to a good start. 1-0 after beating the magic wednesday. john wall showing good signs. greg monroe is there to help turn it around.

tip-off is 8:00. game three of the world series tonight. if the mets lose this one it's time to hit the panic button. the royals lead the series 2-0. only ten teams have come back from 0-2 deficit. the mets have done it once in 1986. the skipper terry collins says it ain't over until it's over. we are down but not out. this is just another challenge to meet. robert: skins on the bye week. red bulls in the conference semi-finals sunday at r.f.k. check that out. >> they represent the city in every aspect. it's a team that pours the

heart out on the field. leon: a live look at the big high school showdown. the two undefeated faces off. we have it on the high school scores. the caps are 6-2 on the season. playing well. maureen: a lot for people to do this weekend. the games. all the fun. doug: the clouds will increase tomorrow late in the day. dry for trick-or-treaters tomorrow night. cloudy and late day showers. 67 on sunday. tonight at 11:00, steve has update to the outlook. leon: all right.

maureen: "world news tonight" is

narrator: for state senate, who shares our values? jeremy mcpike - supports school funding. thinks women should make their own health care decisions. and favors background checks on all gun sales. hal parrish? as mayor, he slashed education. fought to block women's health clinics. parrish gets an "a" from the gun lobby - they oppose background checks to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. virginia extreme or mainstream? vote mcpike for virginia. feinblatt: everytown for gun safety action fund sponsored this ad.

tonight, on the scene of the halloween horror, reported tornadoes, drivers trapped. buildings destroyed. the husband and father trapped, the fast-rising water surrounding him. recording a message to his family. the storms already turning deadly. and millions facing severe weather tonight. also breaking, american special operations forces will now enter syria. but will there be combat? the race for 2016. and the republican rebellion tonight. suspending an upcoming debate, blasting the questions this week. tonight, their new demands. the school fireball