gloucester county. the blaze erupted at 8:30 on lafayette court in washington township. tonight police say 32-year-old lynette mcguire and her cousin set fire to the house with mcguire's children and parents inside. "action news" reporter wendy salts plan is live at the fire scene. wendy, the charges indicate this is one horrific family crisis. >> reporter: and, jim, prosecutors spoke exclusively with "action news" telling us that they believe this fire was a ruse to get the four children out of the home so that the mother could snatch them. they also told us that there were allegations of abuse and that's the reason that those children were removed from their parents' care. this blaze destroyed much of a washington township home last night is now being blamed on the owner's daughter lynette mcguire and cousin denise coyle. prosecutors tell us what they believe was her motive for sparking the fire while her parents and four children were

inside. >> they started a fire as a pretext to run into the house and tell everyone there's a fire and then grab the four children and abduct them. >> reporter: prosecutors tell "action news" protective services had recently placed the kids in their grandparents' custody because both parents were accused of abuse. mcguire describes the scene when he says his daughter stormed into the home. >> i looked out and it was my daughter saying get my kids out of the house. i want my kids out of the house and just started freaking out and then forced her way in. >> reporter: but it was already too late. flames burst through the roof. brian mcguire his wife and three of their grand kids escaped safely but one of the kids was taken. >> denise grabbed the youngest, they kidnapped her and they both jumped in the car and took off. >> thankfully washington township police stopped the vehicle approximately 1 mile from the road down the road and they were able to get the child out and arrest the two

suspects. >> reporter: mcguire and coyle are now charged with kidnapping aggravated arson and burglary. >> our daughter came up from florida and then it was hell on earth. >> reporter: when asked what he would say to his daughter now, mcguire had just a one-word response. >> nothing. nothing at all. >> reporter: the family also had a dog, a cat, a bird and two turtles. now, all of them made it out safe except one turtle. the other one is missing and wandering around the neighborhood somewhere. now the community here has really come together to try to help this family out, to help them to rebuild. coyle and the other -- the daughter are now potentially facing 20 years in prison. live in washington township, i'm wendy saltzman channel6 "action news." >> thank you wendy. juan ruiz espinosa under arrest charged with dealing heroine in and around elsmere delaware.

meals say ruiz espinosa ran off during a traffic stop yesterday. he was captured a short time later. police say he had more than 300 bags of heroin and $1200 cash on his person. investigators say there was also unbagged heroin in his car. ruiz espinosa was released on $57,000 bail. it was some warm weather skating at dillworth park in center city philadelphia today. the cloud cover kept us from setting a record but we did hit 61 degrees. let's check in with meteorologist cecily tynan and accuweather. cecily. >> and jim second day in a row with temperatures in the 60's and they will be climbing as we head through the weekend. take a look, though. the high in philadelphia 61 degrees. that's 15 degrees above average. you can see the areas there got more sunshine and that was south of philadelphia, wilmington and millville, 62, atlantic city airport 65, dover and sea isle city 64 and the lehigh valley and berks county in the upper 50's. every single day this december

temperatures have been above average and we are averaging seven and a half degrees above normal this december and that will be climbing as we head through the weekend. now, satellite6 along with action radar showing the reason why we didn't hit that record high in philadelphia. the cloud cover. at 8 o'clock in the morning we had that bright sunshine and then the clouds rolling in just in time for really the peak heating of the day but now the clouds are thinning out and we will see some peeks of stars through the overnight hours. but there are some more clouds waiting in the wings over the weekend. so, the weekend will see a mixture clouds and sunshine but the big story weather-wise will be the warmth. we'll have a flow out of the southwest right through the weekend so that will siphon in warm air in atlanta it's 66, in memphis it's 73 degrees. i'll talk about just how high the temperatures will climb. record warmth this weekend and then track some rain next week. all the details in the accuweather forecast. jim. >> thank you cecily. we ask you to stay with

6abc.com/weather throughout the weekend as record warmth settles in. you'll find the latest information from our team of meteorologists and you can stay ahead of what is coming next. philadelphia's school superintendent will leave the district for an additional five years. that word today. the school reform commission announced the contract extension for dr. william hite. under the new deal, his $300,000 salary will stay the same. hite will only get a raise if district teachers do and at the same percentage. the contract extension runs through august 2022. it's expected to be officially approved next thursday. hite came to the district in 2012. one of the best known corporate flames in the tri-state area, dupont, wants to merge with another chemical giant, dow chemical to form a giant company that would be valued at $130 billion. but there would be some scaling back in this area. "action news" reporter vernon

odom has the story. >> reporter: if the dupont dow merger goes through experts say the michigan based dow would be the dominant company. dupont says they will cut their global workforce by 10 percent with 7,000 employees here in delaware, a company spokesman says there will be an impact here. dow has 500 employees in delaware. >> we live in an economy where there's a lot of turn so we certainly work with them, our department of labor, you know, does a very good job of trying to help connect people with jobs that are available. >> every element of the economy is potentially affected, retail, real estate, schools. >> reporter: dupont and dow have major footprints all across our region. from delaware to new jersey to philadelphia and its suburbs. this $130 billion chemical giant deal would combine two companies that sell agricultural products worldwide and make chemicals for consumer and industrial

products ranging from electronics automobiles household goods, building materials and safety equipment. after the proposed merger dow dupont as it would be called will then split into three independent companies, one specializing in agriculture, one on material sciences, a third for specialty products. >> it will simplify the management strategy. long term it is probably what needs to be done. >> reporter: these mammoth multi nationals hope to complete the merger by the end of next year. there will be apolune field of regulatory obstacles and hurdles favoring them in washington but these two big time outfits will have a army of well connected lobbyists to pave the way. in wilmington, delaware, i'm vernon odom, channel6 "action news. >> a man was badly burned this morning when a car caught fire in wilmington. it happened just before 5 o'clock on the 2500 block of north market street. witnesses told police they saw the car driving down the street before it crashed and

burned into -- and burst into flames. >> then we heard a boom so we just turned our heads. the car it was in flames then. then he jumped out the car and, um, he was on fire. he laid down on the ground and he was rolling on the ground. >> a person in the car did get out and ran half a block with his clothes on fire before he collapsed. he was rushed to christiana hospital in critical condition. police say another person in the car fled the scene a rally took place at philadelphia city hall this afternoon condemning terrorism. local muslim groups joined together to publically denounce violence in the name of their religion. demonstrators held signs which said terrorists are not muslims and love for all, hate for none. officers from philadelphia's 18th district will a bit of fun on the job this morning. >> ♪ jingle bells >> they hosted their annual christmas party in west

philadelphia. students from hamilton elementary school were treated to pizza dancing and some presents but santa wasn't the featured guest at this holiday party. characters from minions were there. the kids obviously excited to see them. can coming up on "action news" tonight a 125 year old tradition plays out this weekend in philadelphia. ahead, we'll take you to some of the festivities surrounding the army-navy game. jeff skversky with a preview of the eagles-bills matchup on sunday. plus the sixers look to the future with coach brett brown. cecily tynan returns with the weekend accuweather forecast. that and much more when "action news" continues tonight. >> ♪

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>> what a scene it was at lincoln financial field less than an hour ago. the game ball for tomorrow's army-navy game arrived courtesy of the west point marathon runners. they do this every year. carrying the ball on foot from west point new york the runners don't stop for the night at least several runners are in motion for the entire 160-mile run. "action news" reporter jeff chirico is live. jeff it could not be a bi bigger night there. >> reporter: that's right jim this is where the army-navy gala will get under way in just under an hour. you can see for yourself the tables are set for this gala. more than 1200 alumni, academy leadership and vips will dance and dine the night away and throughout the day there were events to get fans on both sides revved up.

>> ♪ >> reporter: as the band blared and the navy goat grooved excitement built at a pep rally inside liberty place at 16th and chestnut. >> i haven't seen a navy game in about 15, 20 years and i am so happy to be here. >> this is so much fun. we go to the navy game every year. my husband graduated in 73 and we just love it. this is a blast. >> reporter: a day before the storied army-navy gridiron matchup fans from across the can country cleared as cadets and midshipmen competed in one of the first challenges of the weekend. >> my parents came from tennessee. we came from kentucky. >> i'm army. go army. we're down from connecticut. we are just thrilled to be here. this is a great pep rally. >> reporter: throughout the day the patriot games took place across the city like this tug-of-war faceoff on the u.s.s. new jersey. >> the core of these games is these two service academies being able to showcase to the nation exactly what the investment that they put in

when we sent our sons and daughters off to these places and it's the best of us. >> reporter: army swept at tug-of-war a predict for tomorrow's game with a 13 year winning streak navy says no way. >> leading into tomorrow all i want is to go 14 and oh. that's all we want. that's what navy wants. >> they have a great quarterback but i think that we are easily underestimated and our strength and our resolve is under estimated. >> reporter: but whoever is ahead when the buzzer sounds it's clear we're all winners to have these brave men and women serving our nation. >> it's incredible because we serve together 364 days a year and then that one day we're divided but we're still brothers and sisters. >> reporter: and besides this gala there will be a becoming competition tonight. tomorrow espn brings its college game day to south philadelphia then there will be a huge tailgating before the game is surely another exciting army-navy weekend here in philadelphia.

we are live at the pennsylvania convention center jefcenter. jeff chirico. >> along with a presentation on kwanzaa's history the students created educational symbols of the holiday. kwanzaa begins december 26th and ends january 1st.

>> they say good things happen to good people and that's exactly what happened in philadelphia. >> absolutely despite all of the losing and all of the losing streaks the sixers have not lost faith in head coach brett brown. sixers coach brett brown has won only 38 games in three seasons. most coaches would be fired for that. this is not most situations. brett brown gets a pat on the back and a contract extension today. brown and the sixers agree on a two year deal which has been in the works for weeks.

the sixers rebuilding project under brown look it's taken a toll on everyone but brown has been backbone of strength for the youngest team in the nba and he wants to stick around when he believe this team will contend within the next few years. >> why wouldn't i want to see this through? we -- we have started something extremely difficult but it's going to end up extremely special. i feel personally connected to the city. i love the city of philadelphia. it's real. it's blue collar. it wears its heart on its sleeve. >> sixers and pistons later tonight at 7:00. chip kelly and the eagles have to worry about more than just lesean mccoy running his mouth on sunday. the buffalo bills back is red hot. he has over a hundred yards if scrimmage in six straight games. espn's ron jaworski has the eagles key to victory.

>> ♪ >> my three keys to an eagles victory over the bills. key number one, stop leshawn mccoy. the former eagles all time leading rusher comes back home to philadelphia for the first time. and he is hot right now. the eagles must stop him. >> at the 15, couples to the 20, the 25, to the 30, to the 40, to the mid field. >> key number two, for an eagles victory over the bills continue to get explosive plays on special teams. if you look at the blueprint of the eagles the last couple years they've been able to score points on special teams. they will need them against the buffalo bills. >> bradford is back. he pumps, he fires diving reception. it is a touchdown in the back of the end zone. >> key number three, sam bradford must continue to play consistent solid football. his last three starts he has

not turned the football over. rex ryan the buffalo bills head coach he loves the scheme defense, he loves get after the quarterback, he loves to confuse the quarterback. sam cannot get confused. >> ♪ >> all right. jaws. the flyers some of these guys they were ice cold now they appear to be ice hot. heating up the flyers going for their fifth straight road win tonight something they haven't done in four years but this is a tough one. flyers in dallas against the best team in hockey. flyers captain claude giroux the best player in hockey over the last two plus weeks. five goals and 14 points in their last nine games including this highlight last night for the ages. flyers won in saint louis for the first time in 10 years. flyers against the stars in about an hour and a half and of course army-navy tomorrow a big one at the linc. >> thank you jeff. >> okay. >> coming up on "action news" in just a minute or two, cecily tynan with the accuweather forecast when we continue in just a few.

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>> what is the high supposed o to be on today's date. >> 46 degrees. >> 46. >> yeah. >> and what was it. >> 61. >> unbelievable. >> and it's getting warmer. by monday, 70. >> extraordinary. >> temperatures are climbing definitely. storm tracker6 live double scan showing that it's not raining out there despite some cloud cover so what do you do on a warm december 11th? you go fishing. jenny tweeted this to me from cape may new jersey and this is not something you typically see in december but it was warm enough. he had a light jacket on.

you can definitely do some fishing and today was the third day of temperatures in the 60's in a row so just how warm will it get over the weekend? well. temperatures climbing into the upper 60's. tomorrow 66 degrees the forecast high for philadelphia. our record is 65 degrees so likely a new record. likely record warmth in wilmington as well with a high of 65 degrees. allentown not quite there warm but 62 degrees. millville 66 and cape play if you want to do some fishing tomorrow it will make it up to about 63 degreesly so put this into perspective. today's high 15 degrees above normal. sunday, though, forecasting a high 23 degrees above normal with a high of 68 degrees. if we had temperatures that high above normal on the fourth of july when the average high is 87 degrees, that would be 110 degrees. the warmest temperature ever recorded in philadelphia 106. so, this shows just how unusual this warmth is. right now philadelphia

56 degrees. the same in trenton. wilmington 55. millville 50. allentown 47 and sea isle city currently 54 degrees. satellite6 along with action radar showing the clouds rolled in the afternoon just right time to keep us from hitting that record high. now they are clearing but if you look to the west, there are more clouds streaming in. so, the weekend will be warm but it won't be completely bright and sunny. we will have some clouds to deal with. tonight mixture of stars and clouds, again some patchy fog. the overnight low 39 trees in philadelphia. the low 49 degrees. that is higher than our average high for this time of the year. so, the weekend with this high pressure moving off the eastern seaboard, we get that return flow with winds out of the southwest so records are likely, temperatures running 15 to 30 degrees above average. that front moves through on monday night bringing us some showers but behind it, actually we will continue to be on the mild side through much of next week. so, future tracker showing 2 o'clock tomorrow afternoon

some clouds generally north and west of philadelphia, 64 degrees. as we head into sunday, again, we'll see a good amount of cloud cover but some peeks of sunshine in the afternoon with temperatures climbing up into the upper 60's. so, if you're heading to the eagles game, you really don't have to bundle up. 65 degrees at kickoff and the fourth quarter 67 degrees. so, the exclusive accuweather 7-day forecast, 66 degrees tomorrow, sunday bum it up to 68. on monday, another record high of 70 before some rain rolls in and behind that front look at this, on tuesday and wednesday, temperatures still in the 60's. we drop down to 58 degrees on thursday with some rain and friday it gets cooler, 49 degrees. some people asking me is this because of climate change. the short answer is maybe. it's because of el nino but climate change is causing a stronger el nino. i went into a full discussion on my facebook page so check it out. >> we're going pay for this obviously. >> yeah, we will by the end of

the winter. >> thank you cecily. finally tonight a bucks county school has once again taken a page from its neighbor in the central part of the state all for a good cause. villa joseph high school in holland held its mini on that. much like thon that takes place at penn state. they raised more than $70,000 to fight pediatric cancer. the event lasts for 10 hours. it includes featured speakers games contests and a lot of dancing. abc's "world news tonight" with david muir is next on channel six. "action news" continues at 10:00 on phl17 with brian taff sharrie williams adam joseph and ducis rodgers then please join us for "action news at 11:00 here on channel six for cecily tynan jeff skversky ducis rodgers the entire "action news" team, i'm jim gardner. we'll see you at 11:00.

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breaking news tonight. donald trump about to speak. and the eye-opening new numbers tonight. what americans now think of his proposed ban on muslims in america. and the fire at a mosque, was it arson? and the hunt for one clue after the california terror? could it be at the bottom of the lake? and the former cop, facing 263 years in prison after being convicted. and one of the hottest gifts of the year, and the home that caught fire. what authorities say they forgot to do. and the reason behind the major slowdown in