following a gas explosion that leveled a home and business this morning. it happened on north broadway in pennsville knowledge, not far from route 49 and delaware avenue, a local lawyer's office and neighboring apartment were both destroyed. but there are no injuries, plenty of neighbors remain on edge and walter perez is live from pennsville with more on what happened and why. >> reporter: rick, we'll give you a live look at the scene as you can see demolition crews leveled what remained behind and investigators believe that utility contractors working to replace lines clipped the main and that sent gas to the basement and that came in contact with the pilot light and heater setting off a names that came close to his

house. cracks the whole side and it melted. lynn's home was damaged and the building was destroyed it took firefighters nearly two hours to get control of the fire. the apartment was occupied by frank survey, he is a local volunteer firefighter and an aspiring mous aspiri aspiring musician. >> i lost everything, i am glad nobody else got hurt. >> the law office was occupied by municipal judge, better known for representing the new jersey resident known for killing a tsa agent in los angeles. pennsville police chief allen

cummings says the silver lining is that nobody was hurt. >> everybody scattered at the time and we are really luck i think, it could have been a lot worse. >> reporter: heart back out live, we received a statement from south jersey gas saying they have launched an internal investigation and cannot confirm how this happened. walter perez, channel 6 "action news." >> thank you. viewer steven pango from pennsville sent us these pictures from the aftermath of the explosion, remember when news happens you can join the action, send us your photos to jointheaction@6abc.com or use hasht#6abcactio #6abcaction. >> firefighters were called to the scene at chancellor at 4:30 and the flames parked a

restaurant under construction and video shows how intense the fire was and the firefighters had the blaze under control by 5:45 and the cause has not yet been determined. >> wilmington police say that a man lost his life saving a baby from an attacker. the man was stabbed repeatedly in rodney square and sara bloomquist is live with the story tonight. >> reporter: rick, that good samaritan, 27-year-old rodney cunningham, tonight his friends are mourning his death and calling him a hero for his brave actions. >> this afternoon alicia waterers put up balloons for her friend, thomas cottingham in downtown wilmington this morning she learned he died trying to

help a young mother and her infant daughter trying to get away from a knife-wielding man. >> he has helped me in my past so it's not hard to believe that he wouldn't do something like this. >> last night at 9:30, police say that 25-year-old calvin hooker iii confronted a woman pushing her daughter in a stroller and pulled out a large knife, she ran around the bus shelter trying to inveen, he stabbed him repeatedly and he later died. police caught up with hooker in an alley and took him into custody. police say that cottingham, called cannibal, was turning his life around. >> he was a good person, i'm sorry, sometimes he would get in trouble and i would be in trouble with him but for the most part he was turning his

life around. >> people that saw him were saddened it hear he lost his life protecting the woman and her child. >> as far as i'm concerned he is a hero. >> it's admirable, lately there say lot of crime downtown and there are not people stepping up. >> wilmington's mayor issued a statement this afternoon offering condolences to cottingham's family and calling him a hero for bravely risking his life for helping a fellow citizen. according to police hooker did not know the woman he went after. he is held on charges without bill for first degree murder. >> sara thank you. the westchester man accused of abusing a kitten and injecting it with heroin is

sentenced today. james myers was sentenced to time served 60 days and home confinement and 200 hours of community service. his attorney says he was high on drugs and hallucinating when he harmed the cat. he has been sober for more than a year. the veterinarian is living with the kitten. the investigation continues tonight into a dangerous campus prank, someone flashed a laser pointer at a philadelphia police helicopter last evening. police believe it came from a temple university residence hall. they postd this picture, attention to student on top floor, pointing lasers at attack air is illegal. and pointing incidents on the rise and anybody caught doing it will face criminal charges. now to security preparations

for the papal visit, we learned that the teenger arrested for an alleged plot against pope francis is from new jersey david henry is live with the full story. >> reporter: sources are telling us that that teenager is from camden county across the river from philadelphia, he was living in a tent in his parent's backyard and was on an isis website talking about an attack on the pope and that is when the fbi moved in on him. meanwhile, people attending the event here at independence mall and on the parkway say they are aware of the threat but not afraid. >> you can't live in fear and i'm not afraid, i'm looking forward to seeing the pope, sources confirm that the boy was

planning an attack with a lot of attackers and bombs and that he shared his plans on social media along with instructions for making bombs. they say his plan appeared to be more aspirational rather than operational. he is the kind of lone wolf that officials worry about as they scour social media for potential threats. people are uneasy in large crowds since 9/11 and the boston marathon bombing. but the potential for this threat won't keep people away from the pope. >> god will take away all the evil and wrongdoing and any of that. i'm not fearful of that, security is tight as fences go up around the pope's venue on the parkway, when he speaks in front of independence hall snipers will be on the rooftops and plain clothes police are be

behind the scenes, people have to pass through metal detectors and other screenings it's reassuring but some will be on edge if just a bit. >> i remember as a child with pope john paul and i want my daughter to experience it as well. >> no fears. >> a tiny bit but no. >> not enough to keep her away. >> you will be able to bring in food and water and small backpacks and soft sided coolers but no weapons of course and no selfie sticks. we'll have a complete list of all the prohibited items out here on 6abc.com. david henry, channel 6 "action news." >> all right david thank you. as you can see the stage is already being set for the papal fest visits on the parkway. chopper 6 hd captured the progress on today and we know what the finished product looks

like. pope francis will have a front row seat for the festival of families performances on saturday, september 26th and then the stage will be reconfigured for the papal mass and the papal chair will be center stage under a large cross and the philadelphia museum of art will serve as a grand backdrop, can you see the rendering on 6abc.com/pope, that is where we post information about the visit, and that includes a list of highway closures and items prohibited from the grounds and more on how to see the pope during his two scheduled parades. >> you can also get updates by following 6 abc pope on twirt, we post the latest news, tips and pictures. breaking news now, from the oxford circle section of philadelphia, chopper 6 hd is over this accidents, the aftermath of an accident involving a small suv and a motorcycle and it looks look a

stretcher has now just arrived at this accidents scene, it happened just after 5:35 tonight at caster avenue and robin street, one person is transferred to einstein hospital and a stretcher has arrived to perhaps take someone out of the small suv and police and emergency vehicles are on the scene to investigate what happened. again, this is a serious collision involving a small suv and motorcycle, the wreckage which we are looking at on your screen, it indicates perhaps a crime scene as well. we'll follow the story and bring you more information as it becomes available to us. and still to come on "action news" tonight, the numbers are in and the prescription drug take back program across the delaware val yea was a true success. and the eagles the day after, hear from chip kelly and the players on last night's heart breaking loss. >> hopefully today's weather can

brighten your mood, two gorgeous days in a row, today 83 and the warming trend continues tomorrow. i'll have the details. >> all right that and much more when "action news" comes right back. the centers for medicare and medicaid services

recently asked patients to rate the quality of over 3,500 hospitals. fewer than 10% received 5 stars. among them was cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia.

cancercenter.com/eastern. the dea has tallied the numbers and says its prescription drug take back efforts were a big success, people could dispose of their prescription drugs at various locates in delaware over the weekend, nearly 16,000 pounds of prescriptions were collected in pennsylvania and more than 7,000 pounds in delaware, it's important to get the unused

prescriptions out of medicine cabinets because they become gateway drugs for young people. the housing authority cut a ribbon for a brand new development in strawberry mansion, it's 23 efficient units build on vacant lan. they are trying to revitalize the area and create job opportunity. mayor michael nutter spoke at a housing facility in center city, the next phase of the you city square building it calls for a farmers market and an outdoorent tamt area.

ducis here with sports, last night's game did not go the way we hoped. >> we had a lot of questions for chip kelly today and he had answers. the run game was not effected by atlanta and chip made a decision

that has divided our newsroom. >> ryan matthews and not demarco murray is in there and he goes nowhere. it's fourth and less than a yard, they decide to kick a 44 yard field goal to take the lead, he misses it and the eagles lose 26-24, parky is making no excuses. >> great snap and great hold, it's my fault, got to do better. >> he is a pro bowl kicker and he is an outstanding kicker and has the confidence of everybody in this organization. >> the eagles face the cowboys on sunday and they are focusing on that contest. >> one thing you take away from a loss is you are more critical on film, you don't learn as much from winning, to take this this

early, i think it will give us a bit of humble pie that every team needs. >> one other eagles note, david mull can is placed on injured reserve. and baseball now phils and nats tonight and ryan howard is not in the lineup, he took a throw off the knee yesterday and he had to have the knee drained and he was on crutched today. >> jonathan papelbon blew the save last night, much to the doe light of phillies fans. >> and henry blanco came home with and the ball that goes right through the catcher's legs, phillies lost 8-7. and gagne has retired from the nfl, 11 seasons with the orange and black, he appeared in 90 playoff games for the flyers and a hanful of games with the bruins last season.

temple looks to go 3-0 next week when they travel to umass next week, the coach runs a competitive program, we caught a defense he receiver and back taking care of business. >> there is no one here walking around real happy now, none of us, so i think if we are competitive, if we are winners we'll be excited to play every week, umass has scored a lot of points on a lot of people. >> finally my father used to always say, see where your eyes and not with your hands. adrian gonzales he is fines himself in a fight with a fan for the baseball. a home fan, maybe not. here is the kicker, take a close look at the fan, he shoots the

player a look like the player is wrong. cecily has the forecast when we come right back. let's clear the air. there are no limits on the amount of carbon pollution power plants can... release.

and our senator, pat toomey, led the fight to keep it that way. carbon pollution, a major cause of climate change, leads to more asthma attacks in children. over a million pennsylvanians now suffer from asthma. and senator toomey took over a million dollars from polluters. tell senator toomey: it's time to clear the air. vote for the clean power plan.

meteorologist, cecily tynan is here now and people are saying this is perhaps the nicest week of the year maybe. >> so far yes, we have the cool nights and theable afternoons, and great for running. >> running out of the studio.

>> if are you running around this evening, we have dry conditions and not a cloud in the sky and the action cam is looking at ocean city, new jersey, and this shows the story, blue skies and sunshine and you can actually hear the wind, but the summer vacation season is over, so the sailboats looking a little bit lonely today, it will be nice to be out on the beach and be out on the water sailing today, our morning low 58 degrees, 53 degrees below normal. afternoon highs shot up to 83 degrees though, that is 5 degrees above normal. record high is 95 set in 1927 and the record low is 45 degrees set back in the 1800s. 81 in philadelphia right now and the same in millville and trenton and cape may 75 degrees and part of the reason is feels so nice dew points are low, the dew point in philadelphia, 47

degrees and that say high degree, and except for cape may we have the on shore flow, had is the reason why, strong dominant high pressure squeezing out all the dry air this is mot moving much sliding to the east tomorrow than will provide the winds from the southwest and that warms things up a little bit, a great night for sleeping and clear and cool and can have a little bit of patchy fog and 61 in center city. tomorrow the high pressure is over us and that means loads of sunshine and we warm things up to 87 degrees and low humidity and thursday we are looking at temperatures 10 durings above normal and 87 degrees, summer like warmth however we have fall like dew points, over the next five days and dew points remain on the low side and 58 on

saturday and that is below 60 degrees as the cold front moves closer, that means the dry, comfortable weather moves closer, the ocean temperature 74 degrees and 84 for the air temperature and the sea breeze kicking up in the afternoon don't forget the sunscreen, the accuweather forecast, it's a nice one, tomorrow wall-to-wall sunshine, the high is 4 degrees warmer than today, again with low humidity and a carbon copy on thursday and a few clouds drifting in and high, fair weather clouds and temperature as above average and heading into the weekend, saturday sunshine with a few clouds, 86 degrees and sunday a weak cold front will struggle to move through, and that will bring us more in the form of clouds and squeeze out a sprinkle or two, and for the most part it will come through dry and not as warm and nice weather for the eagles home opener and the union game and monday and tuesday drops to

more seasonable levels with a high of 78 degrees, and the gorgeous weather continues. >> hundreds of volunteers spend the day giving back to the community, the volunteers from 15 companies worked on various projects across the region and the action cam caught one a group doing fall yard cleaning in the park side section of philadelphia, part of north penn's united day of caring. world news tonight is next on channel 6 and "action news" continues on channel 17 with brian taff, and ducis rogers, and join us for "action news" at 11:00 here on 6 abc. and for the entire "action news" team i'm rick williams, have a nice evening. we'll see you here at 11:00.

tonight, we're on the scene, the deadly floods. mothers and their children swept away, trying to get out of their cars. it happened in just moments. also, the rescues tonight. families and their pets pulled from rushing water. the deadly plunge. the school bus sent over an overpass. now we learn what the bus driver was trying to avoid. the air scare. the flight to chicago. the unruly passenger and the takedown. new details. the alleged plot against the pope. the arrest here in america. pierre thomas standing by. and the high speed scare for an american neighborhood. the license plate. police says he claims he has diplomatic immunity. tonight, the confrontation. >> get out. good evening. and it's great t