it. the reason? not enough water and too few hydrants in the area. richard reeve is looking in the problem and he joins us live from where it happened in mclean with new information he received about the hydrant problem. this has to be a concerning problem for the folks who live nearby as well. right, richard? richard: absolutely. look at the devastation behind me. we have just learned that the developers are the deciders what are put in water mains and the new hydrants. the nearest one in this neighborhood is a five-minute walk down the road. it caused major headaches for firefighters. >> the fire has gone through the roof. >> a massive inferno. the $2.7 million mansion engulfed. >> don't want to see another fire like that. richard: the flames ripping through the property saturday morning. firefighters arrived here in eight minutes but it was a big problem. >> there were no hydrants nearby. we had to bring additional water in, tankers. richard: the

five-minute walk. listen to fire crews frustrated over the radio. >> i have no water. >> i have to shut you down until i get water. richard: one engine was dispatched directly to the house, others were forced to set up a relay system to get water from the hydrant. >> it takes time to get hose lines laid out over 2,000 feet. richard: some residents voicing concerns there aren't more hydrants nearby. >> there is always a danger of the fire. having fire hydrant removes the fear people have. richard: it turns out it's up to the developers whether to install fire hydrants. there are no federal regulations requiring this them to be within a certain distance of homes or have them at all. >> you need them. if i didn't have a fire hydrant close to my house i would want one. richard: look at all of that damage. that is all that is left. now just moments ago we got off the phone with fairfax fire chief richard

he tells us, in fact, there were no water sprinklers inside this home at all. he says he is more concerned about that right now than the hydrants. that being said, if people in this neighborhood want the hydrants they can petition to water authority and see if they can resolve the issue. in mclean, richard reeve, abc7 news. horace: that is a no-win situation there. thanks. jonathan: take a look at this. fire seriously damaging five buildingsings in a car at a georgetown apartment complex. someone put fireplace ashes where they should not have. an attached garage destroyed. nearby homes had the siding melted to the tune of $40,000 in damage. fortunately in this no one was hurt. in prince george's county, the fire started at noon in glenn dale offspringfield and severn road. they are working on another brush fire this one is in laurel. michigan in minutes, air force

to washington. his arrival comes as he marks the first month in office. that time has been busy marked with white house meetings, executive orders, protest, court battle over his immigration order and resignation of a top adviser. today the top adviser spot was filled as the president named h.r. mcmaster as the new national security adviser. general mcmaster is currently the director of the army capability integration center. while the president was making that announcement, thousands rallied in cities across the country. stephen tschida was there as hundreds marched from dupont circle to the white house today. stephen: they assembled in dupont circle to denounce the president. then the demonstrators took to the streets to parade through the city. to the white house, carrying a message of resistance. >> there has been a lot of

election of trump. we want to show that people from all walks of life and different communities are united against the extreme agenda. >> en route, the demonstrators passed a pair of trump supporters. intent on disrupting the chants for impeachment. >> they are harassing us when we were sitting there for trump. how about we do a circle and let them hear my pipes roar for trump. stephen: many were driven to make the dissatisfaction for trump known on this president's day. >> i want someone i can respect as the president. not someone who humiliates me and everybody who lives here. stephen: the demonstrators have disbursed for the most part now. but some we spoke with say we can expect more protests, especially since recent statements by the president which they say shows that he is a threat to our very democracy. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. michelle: a protest in portland en

people clashing with president. several protesters were arrested as police closed in on the march. police say the march did not have a permit and many protesters were blocking the roadways some wearing gas masks. jonathan: the protest stretching across the pond. this was the scene outside the parliament in london where inside they voted whether to downgrade president trump's upcoming state visit. conservative leaders calling for compassion. >> do you really think it is more important to berate him, castigate him and encourage him to retreat into some sort of bunker rather than to do what the prime minister did which is to take him by the hand and try and lead him down the path of righteousness? jonathan: others, though, point out that only two presidents have been invited for state visits in the past 60 years to london. today's debate is nonbinding. a date for

u.k. visit has not been finalized. michelle: a shocking death. russia's long time ambassador died today. vialy churkin was a day shy of his 65th birthday. it is believed that he suffered a heart attack. he had been ambassador to the u.n. since 2006 jonathan: it took seconds. that is where we are learning from the video that show someone poisoning the half brother of north korean dictator kim jong un. watch carefully. see the woman in white that runs over to put something over his mouth? it was the half brother she did it to and poison bag. jong nam breaks free -- that is his name -- but he collapsed and he died minutes later on the way to the hospital. four people have been arrested but there are a lot more they are looking for. michelle: a frantic race to save a girl who was trapped after a bomb went off near her home. jonathan: wind strong enough to blow a t

tornadoes that ripped across san antonio. doug: it feels like spring out there. tonight it will turn cooler as we drop to the 50's. we are not finished with the warm weather at all. the ten-day forecast coming up in eight minutes at "abc7 news at 6:00". did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything.

that's 10 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. say hello to internet speeds up to 150 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business.

michelle: sparks lit up the night as powerful storms ripped across san a

winds were so powerful, a train was blown off e tracks outside of town. hundreds of homes were also damaged. in fact, three collapsed. amazingly, though, only a few minor injuries were reported. so far weather officials confirmed four separate tornadoes overnight. jonathan: some amazing video from syria. moments after airstrike damaged an apartment building. all you can see is clouds. there is debris everywhere. workers known as white hats run toward the cries for help and then the miracle. watch. those rescuers heard the cry from a little girl buried in the rubble. just using their hands they dig her out. look at her. right there. she is crying. they kept saying to her don't be afraid. we're coming for you. we are almost there. half a minute of digging with their hands she is free and they are racing her to an ambulance in the street. amazingly she was okay. michelle: wow! power to feel watch. defense secretary james mattis was in baghdad today

plans of leaving iraq anytime soon. he says u.s. forces will remain in the country to fight the islamic state. his visit comes after the president's travel ban that included iraq. vice president mike pence is trying to reassure the nato partners that the u.s. is committed to the alliance. pence echoed his boss, allies need to contribute more on defense and quoting now, "patience of the american people will not endure forever." and at an earlier event in brussels, look closely here. look at the shot of the american flag. zoom in there and get a better look as you zero in. it has 51 stars instead of 50. jonathan: hmm. michelle: something's awry. coming up for us at 6:00, a major announcement about the price to ride d.c. streetcar. jonathan: check this out. what is being blamed for waking up folks in the middle of the night. the building shaking and blue flames shooting from the street. we have the vi

jonathan: this is an eerie

blue flames. we don't normally see that. people living nearby said they heard a loud blast and the building shook. then the power was out. con edison, the power company there, blamed a defective cable for this. nobody was hurt. michelle: unforgettable image, a college student beaten and bloodied on the ground after an arrest. charges against martese johnson was eventually dropped and he is suing the liquor agents who arrested him. now the agents want a court order against him. the u.v.a. graduate saying he has not turned over e-mails and texts about the incident that could be evidence. jonathan: one of virginia's most powerful politicians is calling at it career. state house speaker bill howell will not seek re-election this fall. the republican from stafford served as speaker since 2003. michelle: one year after it finally started to carrying passengers we are learning that the d.c. streetcar could be free for years to come. kevin lewis joins us live from the northeast washington area with the reason for t

kevin? kevin: hi, michelle. yeah. they made the news today with no fares for the streetcars for the indefinite future. many are asking why? the d.c. leaders don't want to do anything that would hurt the restaurant, bars, shopping and apartments that continued to sprout up along the h street corridor. the district department of transportation making the announcement today. this marks one year since the streetcar opened to riders. ddot saying ridership is growing along the line which is 2.2 miles long running from union station to oklahoma avenue. the service now running seven days a week as well. the plans call for a second phase. that would extend the line east to the benning road metro station. ddot says once that is complete in five years they will revisit the topic of charging faring. most people we talk with today don't mind a free ride one bit. >> i prefer that.

the metrobus that we pay $1.85 for. might as well keep the streetcar free. >> i think it's great. from what i have been told it's really helped bring more business to the area. from where it takes you what would you charge? if i charge you $1.75, what would you charge if you are going less than what the bus goes? >> one person did point out who is footing the bill? especially for a project was hundreds of millions of dollars to construct and did run over budget. jonathan: while the district continues to get free rides, alexandria has a nice free show today. how much fun is this? the sight and the sounds of the presidents' day parade in old town. the weather was perfect. the crowd bigger than usual. probably because of the weather. alexandria boxing club out t

the mayor was there, among others who took part in the parade including a fun day for all. michelle: beautiful. 1 million people have visited the national museum of african american history and culture. it's only been open for four months now. the visitors aren't in a hurry. the average weekend visitor spends six hours there. to compare people spend less than two hours on average at other smithsonian museums. jonathan: thousands lined up at the national zoo for a last chance to say goodbye for bao bao. the panda cub flies to china tomorrow as part of breeding partnership with the country. the zoo will be closed tomorrow from 8:00 until 12:00 noon. but they will facebook live the final hours at the zoo and her departure from dulles. that should be cool. michelle: people really are attached to this animal. they are crying. jonathan: we have a member of our staff today in a panda, a full-fledgedded panda outfit. michelle: a onesie. hey, carmen.

get both seats in first class when she flies back? jonathan: the whole plane and a lot of bamboo. doug: a different presidents' day this year than last year. we had a snow and a high of 31 last time. a big change. let's talk about today. 68 was the high. saturday we hit 68 in washington. 71 yesterday. 68 today. the average high is 48. as it stands at the moment we are right here in the middle of the third warmest february on record in washington. and if our forecast high temperatures the next eight days for the rest of the month wind up being accurate, we'll wind up being the second warmest february on record. is this weather unusual? you think? it sure is. as far as something else that goes with the warm weather we have had an absence of range. the drought monitor updated today has the metro area southwest in a moderate drought. we saw the wildfires and brush fires today. we had winds and t

the winds, the dry air and everything else making it feel like spring around the area. here are the numbers. deficit wise two inches below average since the first of the year and precipitation. a little bit of snow and the rain. we are look for changes. no dramatic rainfall in the forecast. maybe showers by thursday. tonight partly cloudy and cool. 35 to 42. northeasterly winds cooling us down tonight. but in the evening the winds turn back to the south. that have will begin a warm-up. we will be at 55 tomorrow. we get through wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday we will be somewhere close to 70 for high temperatures. way above average. the warm front coming in thursday itself may give us a brief shower. saturday showers and maybe rumble of thunder with a cold front coming through. we will turn chillier behind the front on sunday and then the temperatures will warm right back up. check out the numbers. every high here is above average. 55 tomorrow. wednesday, thursday, friday, way above averag

69, close to 70 on saturday with showers and storms. oscar day is 53 degrees and sunshine. warming up on monday. so here we are looking toward the end of the line here toward the end of february/early march. what do we see? temperatures continuing to rise. upper 50's on monday. 60 on tuesday. in the stretch of tuesday, wednesday, thursday, this is way out, there will be a significant warm front in the area. we just have a chance of showers tuesday, wednesday, thursday but continuing very, very warm. back to you. michelle: very nice. thank you. jonathan: this is the weather that you start to think about baseball. robert: natural. didn't have to go to west palm beach either. could have been here. spring training underway and erin hawksworth joining the florida weather and she sits down with the new faces in west palm beach. sports is next.

know you have a dedicated advisor and team who understand where you come from

know you can craft an investment plan as strong as your values ♪ know that together, you can establish a meaningful legacy with the guidance and support of your dedicated pnc wealth management® team.

robert: well, full squad reported for spring training yesterday. in sunny west palm beach, florida. erin hawksworth is on the assignment enjoying the sun. today she spent time with one of the new faces. erin: if you are one of the players players in the movie "major league," who would you be? >> oh,

erin: if i wasn't a professional athlete i would be -- >> occupational therapist. e. who -- erin: who is the one guy on the team you wouldn't want to face? >> max scherzer. erin: look at that. >> max scherzer. no. erin: there he goes! right on cue! now we all know baseball players are known for being superstitous. do you have superstitions? >> i don't know if i have superstitions but i get in a rhythm of the season and definitely do the same things. erin: have you done anything crazy to get out of a slump? >> done anything crazy? that is a word i don't say so i can't say the word. if i don't hit at the time -- it may sound weird but sometimes a few adult beverages will help. i don't know if i can say that on air. sometimes it loosens you up for the next day. robert: well, you said it. block buster in the nba. demarcus cousi

the big easy. he was traded to the new orleans pelicans for buddy hield, tyreke evans. he will join the fellow superstar big man anthony davis with the pelicans. final note maryland women looking for the 27th win on the season at ohio state tonight. ohio state is ranked 12th in the country. that will not be a cakewalk. jonathan: we wish them luck. thank you. >> cooler tomorrow? doug: a little bit. then it will bounce back up. tomorrow on the day planner, cool in the morning and we will warm to 53 to 55 request request -- with sunshine. we turn noticeably warmer the rest of the week. steve talks about how long we stay in the zone and the next best chance of rain. that is at 11:00. michelle: all right. "world news tonight" with david muir up next. jonathan: thank you for watching. see you back here at 11:00. have a good night.

♪ ♪

tonight, several breaking stories. president trump's new pick after firing general flynn. tonight, his new choice for national security adviser. general h.r. mcmaster. what we know about him already. our team standing by. also breaking, several tornadoes. four confirmed. more than 100 homes hit. a train blown right off the tracks. we're there tonight. two officers suddenly facing fire. responding to an accident, when a man pulls out a gun. one officer dead tonight. the major new headline at this hour after two girls are discovered dead in the woods. their final snapchats, and tonight, the new development involving this man. and the airport security breach. tonight, the new surveillance right here. 11 people passing through the security checkpoint in new york city. why was there no tsa officer right there watching them walk