apartment building. yesterday abc7 was the first to report the cause of the blast. today we learned more about what happened and where the investigation will go from here. montgomery county reporter kevin lewis is following the story. it's developing quickly. kevin: the a.t.f. spent the last week interviewing more than a hundred witnesses, reviewing countless hours of surveillance video. and hand digging through four levels of debris. they examined the gas line and the oven stove units in the parking lot. >> there is no indication that a criminal act occurred. >> today the a.t.f. stated publicly the explosive inforknow that killed seven and injured 340 others at the flower branch apartments was likely accidental. >> we are prepared to say that the tragedy was the result of a natural gas explosion that occurred in the meter room of il

>> according to the a.t.f., no one set foot in the meter room prior to the explosion. no ignition device such as a bomb was found. >> it's the only response we have had in recent times. >> montgomery county's acting fire chief did confirm someone called 911 on july 25. two yeah weeks before the explosion -- two and a half weeks before the explosion. however, firefighters didn't detect any natural gas levels. the a.t.f. will now pass the investigatory baton to the ntsb which will lead the probe because the natural gas pipeline are classified as a transportation device. >> typically, the investigation may take several months. our goal in this case is to issue a report. in 12 months. >> one party

press conference, washington gas. aside from a few short written statements, one offing condolences to the victim families the utility company kept quiet. live in silver spring, i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. maureen: thank you, kevin. groups from around the area stepped in to help the dozen of families who lost everything in the explosion and fire. to find out how you can help go to wjla.com. search "silver spring." update to a story we broke on abc7. prince george's hospital center says it has found the source of dangerous bacteria in the neonatal intensive care unit. the discovery of the pseudomonas bacteria prompted the hospital to transfer nine newborns to another hospital. hospital leaders say the bacteria was in pipes that led to the unit. two children recently died there. but it's not clear if the contamination was related to their deaths.

neonatal intensive care unit experts continue to investigate any link between the death of any babies and the perhaps of pseudomonas in our water supply. we don't have the answers to that yet. maureen: the hyper is installing hyper clair nation unit to ensure the water remains clean. the washington monument will be shut down until the end of the month after a series of elevator malfunctions. the national park service announced the ten-day shut down this afternoon. stephen tschida is live on the national mall with the reaction to this. must be disappointing for a lot of visitors, stephen. >> breakdown after breakdown, three since saturday. now the elevatorat

washington monument is out of business for ten days. the normal park service wants to go over the elevator system to find out once and for all what is causing the elevator to fail. causing the root of the problem will taker this row inspection and the untimely and the lengthy closure. >> i think it should be fixed sooner, especially with the tourists that come to area. stephen: back live, majestic view from the bottom looking up at the washington monument and incredible view on the top of the monument over the nation's capital. but the national park service is saying that the elevator will be closed for the next ten days. i could be closed even

stephen tschida, abc7 news. maureen: thank you. police are looking for a hit-and-run driver that struck and killed a pedestrian in northwest washington. it happened 2:30 this morning at new hampshire avenue and m street northwest. just south of dupont circle. police hope someone recognizes the car in this video, that they say has serious damage to the front. they say a man crossing the street at the intersection when he was killed. today donald trump's campaign chairman paul manafort resigns. this comes after intense scrutiny of manafort's relationship with the pro-kremlin elements in russia and ukraine. earlier this week the republican candidate reduced manafort's role in the campaign bringing in a new campaign manager. trump's former campaign chair that manafort helped force out said it's the right m

>> the campaign should never be about the staff person. it should be about the candidate. this reflection is all the focus back on mr. trump. maureen: trump spent the day looking at the damage from louisiana flooding. democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton urged people to donate to relief efforts but said she did not want to be a distraction from the efforts by visiting the area. the flooding in louisiana is blamed for 13 deaths and thousands of people forced from their homes. new twist in the scandal involving four american swimmers. the new apology as one of the swimmers, a rockville native returns to the u.s. the final time a motorcycle ride in memory of

terror attack victims and why it's coming to an end. what happened on a test drive that sent a $60,000 mercedes careening through the parking lot? doug: weatherwise the weekend is getting five a great start. will it stay like this all weekend long? i let you know next at "abc7 news at 6:00". stay with us.

mercedes benz, a new one apparently did not go as planned in arlington. look at this picture. the aftermath of five-car crash in the dealership's parking lot. a woman hit the gas pedal too hard and sent it out of control. the driver's insurance rates will probably also be hurting a little bit. annual tribute to those lost in the worst terror attack on u.s. soil coming to an end. the 9/11 ride rolled into arlington for the last time a couple of hours ago. since 911 hundreds of bikers made the ride to honor those killed in pennsylvania, at the pentagon and the world trade center. organizers decided to end the tradition because it uses too many resources. >> you get the highs and lows. it will rip my heart out. this is family. >> the ride raised nearly $1

scholarships and equipment for local police departments in the last 15 years. a stafford man who died in a coast guard training run in new jersey is now an honorary graduate of the coast guard. 21-year-old aaron redd died in july. he had just begun his training days earlier. the coast guard honored redd in his graduation ceremony today for his recruiting company. up next an apology in what is called the "lochte mess." what we learn about the four american swimmers are not out of hot water. doug hill is back with the timing of the weekend storms and the cooldown coming our way. erin: we are live at fedex field ahead of the redskins second preseason game. take a look behind me. some of the players out here warming up. they are ready. the fans are starting to pour in as well. we look at the keys to the game later in sports.

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expressing relief his son is back on american soil. he and the fellow swimmer arrived in miami this morning. the pair had been pulled off an airplane this week in rio to be questioned about an ad robbery involving them. jimmy feigen and gold medalist ryan lochte were also questioned. of course, yesterday, brazilian police say that ryan lochte made up the story of that robbery. the truth was that the four swimmers had gotten into trouble after breaking down a bathroom door after a night of partying. as marci gonzalez reports, lob lock is apologizing. marci: olympic swimmer ryan lochte now saying he is sorry after disputed claims that he and three teammates were robbed at gunpoint in rio. lochte pointing online i want to apologize for my behavior last weekend, for not being more careful and candid in how i described the events. referring to a confrontation at this gas station during which lochte initially told the po

were targeted -- athletes were targeted by armed men posing as police. >> he pulled out a gun. cocked it. put it to my forehead. marci: but men in rio say they were approached by an armed security guard after this. one of the swimmers pulling a sign off the wall. one breaking down a bathroom door. investigators claim the men were detained and forced to pay $50 to cover damages. brazilian officials are considering charges against all four swimmers. but lochte, gunnar bentz and jack conger are back in the u.s. jimmy feigen is still in rio but struck a deal to get the passport back after paying $11,000 to a charity. >> lochte, nothing. meaning he is now in the united states. he is not going to get extradited as a result of this. feigen needs to be concerned because he is there. >> still no full explanation in the account. but in the apology lochte said it was tra

foreign country with someone pointing a gun at him but adding regardless he should have been more responsible. marci gonzalez, abc7 news. alison: now an update to a case that abc7 has been following since february. the city of frederick is now using chemicals to fight an algae growth in a lake that feeds the city's main water source. in february, we showed you the red algae growing in lake t lake -- in the lake. the frederick news post reports that the crews are adding copper sulfate to the water to get rid of the algae. this is to ensure the growth and not block the water intake pipes downstream. health warning. new warning about the zika virus. the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention is warning pregnant women to avoid miami beach and the miami winwood arts district. it comes after they confirm five locally contrac

there are 36 confirmed cases in the miami area. the massive wildfire in southern california has destroyed more than 300 buildings. the so-called blue cut fire destroyed 96 homes and 200 outbuildings according to a first assessment. the fire consumedded more than 35,000 acres. it's about 25% contained. and authorities have lifted evacuation orders in some places. wow! really tough out there. what we would we like for the weekend? blue skies. low humidity. no rain. doug: can i suggest portland, oregon for the weekend? we are getting five a nace start. a lot of sunshine. high clouds around the capital. the almanac page is 92. tenth consecutive day 90 or higher. 74 was the morning low. 86 around 70 are the averag

degrees in washington. 90 in manassas. 88 in frederick. baltimore at 87. 86 on the midshore in easton and 86 in patuxent river naval air station in st. mary's county. we have showers and storms to the south and a few to the west. they are wildly scattered. no rain. very little in the way of a significant cloudiness in the metro. you get farther west along 81. this is the area we have seen showers in the day. i noticed over my shoulder a shower here. over the bay. but this is very limited. most of you not in the areas will not deal with the rain. partly cloudy. at fedex field we don't see rain issues there. we see the temperatures probably in the order of 88, 89 degrees when the game starts. it will fall through the game. forecast overnight is partly cloudy. mild. temperatures 68 to 76.

downtown is 76. outlying areas and closer to the upper 60's for a while. but it will be on the muggy side. future cast keeps the skies clear. but through the afternoon the clouds increase and there will be isolated shower or two in the an or the evening hours. the better chance are out west in the mountains. good forecast i think. as we get into the day on sunday, increasing cloudiness ahead of a cold front. the timing suggests it will move in late afternoon to 6:00. and the moisture comes in from the ocean and the bay some of the showers or the thunderstorms could be heavy. behind that it clears out and it's gorgeous for next week. so for tomorrow, the partly cloudy, warm and humid. spotty thunderstorms. west of the metro area in the an. we get to the day on sunday we are up to the probabilities of the precipitation of 60% in the mid-afternoon. and may go higher later in the day. cold front comes in. we will hit 90 again. then becomes mostly sunny, less humid, cooler. 85

tuesday and wednesday look terrific. mostly sunny. comfortable. low humidity. highs in the 80's. we warm up on thursday. back to 90 degrees. more humidity in theiary -- in the air. then we will take a break from the 90-degree heat. maureen: that is good news. thank you. the redskins are about an hour away from kicking off the first home game of the preseason. erin hawksworth is at fedex field. is the team ready to take on the new york jets? erin: yes, maureen. you can feel the energy at feld exfield. look here on the field. you can see garcon. vernon davis is still out here. we will hear from joe

erin: we are just about an hour away from kickoff here at fedex field as the redskins prepare to host the jets in the second preseason game. take a look behind me. you can see some of the players are still on the field. most of them, the starters at least have headed back into the locker room as they are about to take the field at 7:30. the redskins fell to atlanta last week. and will try to improve in the problem areas. tight end jordan reed and receiver crowder are expected to make the preseason debuts tonight after missing the previous game. i caught up with former redskins quarterba

theismann to get his take on tonight's game against the jets. redskins second preseason game. what do you look for in a game like this tonight? joe based on what i saw in atlanta you want to see an improvement that you don't commit as many penalties. that is number one. secondly, i'd like to see more from the running game. the third thing is i'd like to see better communication in des backfield. those are the three things i look for the game. ends how big of a concern -- erin: how big of a concern is the running game? matt jones, three carries. joe: it's a ple season game. it's not a concern. the running game is something that goes through the course of the game you build momentum to it. it's impossible to build momentum in a series or two. the starters will probably go 15, 20 plays tonight. we will get a better indication against a good jets defense. erin: reed is expected to play. he is fun to watch. joe: the best tight end in football. i will argue with anybody about that. i hope he

get used to getting hit. they don't hit anymore. erin: this is a chance for the fans to see the new additions. how is exciting is that? >> it's exciting for the fans and for the guys. now they get to play in fedex field. they get to be in front of our fans. from my perspective, it's not just the fans that are excited. i understand the players are as excited as they are. erin: jay gruden just walked by. he told me i had nice tennis shoes on. i have that going for me tonight. i'll have post game coverage tonight at 11:00. so stick around for that. back to you. maureen: thank you, erin. thank you for that great forecast that you gave us. doug: take a look at it. for the weekend. quick update. tomorrow is 91 and nuen. -- nine. steve rudin has more at 11:00. maureen: thank you, doug. "world news tonight" with david muir coming up next.

tonight, several breaking stories as we come on. gold medalist ryan lochte breaks his silence. tonight, the apology -- 24 hours after this surveillance was revealed. and for the first time, michael phelps is asked about his teammate and the scandal. also breaking tonight, donald trump moments ago taking aim at president obama. asking why he's golfing instead of visiting the disaster in the south. just hours after trump toured the flood zone himself. the friday rush hour nightmare. the deadly collision. two buses crashing into each other. for the first time, we take you inside the fire zone tonight. moving at stunning speed, east of los angeles on the way to vegas. nearly 100 homes burned to the ground. and the new headline tonight