tonight at 6:00, you heard it, you felt it, it might have knocked you over. a day filled with gale-force winds. and that wind fueled a fireball that barreled through a house in maryland burning seven firefighters. good evening, everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. three firefighters still in the hospital tonight after that fire in riverdale at a vacant house in the 6400 block of 57th avenue

last night. firefighters from across the region are pulling for the recovery of their colleagues. news4 derrick ward has more. >> reporter: the charred remains of this house in riverdale evidence of the wind whipped inferno that raged here friday evening and the determination of those that rushed in. >> they made a quick entry believing that it was occupied because there was a car in the driveway. >> conditions got worse and it was clear there was no one inside and they pulled back from their interior attack. >> attention all units, evacuate the building. >> it was the same time the evacuation order was given that the blowtorch effect happened. >> reporter: likely driven by winds that whipped up the hill behind it. the plume of flame destroyed a staircase between the basement and first floor. there was an urgent but orderly accounting of all personnel. >> burns to the face. one possible broken rib. >> in all seven firefighters

were burned. those seriously injured remain hospitalized. 22-year-old blakensburg volunteer kevin o'toole suffering burns over 40% of his body and fellow volunteer ethan sorrell with burns to his roadway and 19-year-old michael mclary suffered burns and bruised ribs. there are positive signs from the hospital. >> they are alert. they are -- one is speaking with us. the other is communicating through writing. i'm cautiously optimistic. >> reporter: other firefighters joined their injured comrades as did families of the injured. a circle of support focused on a long road to recovery for the most seriously injured shared among that circle the knowledge that if healing allows, the injured would not hesitate to volunteer again and rush into the dangerous uncertainty of a burning building. >> it's something that you just have in your heart that you want to go out and do. >> reporter: derrick ward, news4. >> sources say the house was vacant but that the electricity

remained connected. the cause of that fire is under investigation. and we turn now to the weather. you probably heard that wind out there today. you definitely felt it. meteorologist chuck bell joins us in storm center 4 live now with the latest on that. >> yeah. what a very windy day outside today. winds gusting between 40 and 50 miles per hour. pretty much areawide for all of the daylight hours today. temperatures never really climbed all that high. we're in the upper 30s to around 40 degrees right now. with the wind still a bit of a factor out there, windchills are down into the low and mid 20s across most of the western and northern suburbs to around the freezing mark from washington southbound into southern maryland. had a couple passing snowflakes early this morning. still can't rule out one or two more passing snow showers but not affecting any kind of snow accumulations of any kind. so evening windchills in low 20s and teens and talk of more weather on the seven day. i'll give you that in a few minutes.

>> see you in a bit. thank you, chuck. wicked winds caused a building in newark, new jersey, to fall over this morning. unclear if anyone was inside. no injuries reported though. some areas across that state experienced 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts. here at home, high winds didn't stop some footwear frenzy from drawing out the masses. around 100 people outside the store in northwest washington today were hoping to get a pair of the new nike galaxy foamposite sneakers. the sneakers were gone in 30 minutes. shoppers started camping out on thursday to be the first in line. that shoe retails for $220. they are selling for ten times that price on ebay and some of the other auction sites. police in fairfax county trying to figure out how a baby boy just one day old died. he was found on the 14,700 block

of stream pond drive in centreville this morning. this is a death situation saying there's no evidence of foul play and medical examiner will have to figure out the cause of death. we now know the identity of a person hit and killed by a car in rockville today. 24-year-old alonso rodriguez of bethesda was found around 3:30 this morning. a man driving by saw rodriguez in the road and stopped and stayed with him until help arrived. police discovered rodriguez had been dropped off by two friends in that same spot an hour earlier. investigators want any potential witnesses to come forward. in decision 2012 tonight, mitt romney and rick santorum revving up the attacks in a final push for votes in michigan today. there are primaries there and in arizona on tuesday. nbc's brian mohr reports. >> reporter: three days before the next presidential primaries and all eyes are on michigan. >> wow.

>> reporter: it's mitt romney's home state but if the polls are right, it's within rick santorum's grasp. >> it is absolutely laughable to have a liberal government of massachusetts suggest that i am not the conservative in this race. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: romney reminded voters that santorum supported him back in 2008. >> he said he is the clear conservative candidate. he's right. i am the conservative candidate and what we need in the white house is principled conservative leadership and i'll bring it. >> reporter: romney is under fire in michigan. he's turned up the heat on himself holding an event in a near empty stadium and trying to woo detroit with this ad lib. >> i drive a mustang and a chevy pickup truck and a couple cadillacs. >> reporter: ron paul is continuing with the slow and steady tragedy. >> if you would like to have national energy and american energy policy, never again bow h to a saudi king and pay $2.50 a

gallon, newt gingrich will be your candidate. >> reporter: he's hoping anger over high gas prices will be enough to get his campaign back on track. brian mohr, nbc news, washington. >> former south africa president nelson mandela is in the hospital with a stomach ailment. doctors tested mandela today and they say his condition is nothing serious. they called the problem something that is consistent with his age. mend mandela is 93 years old and expected to be released from hospital tomorrow or monday. spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist rule. when news4 at 6:00 continues, fifth graders accused of putting rat poison in their teacher's coffee. we'll tell you where they apparently got the idea. ben and jerry accused racism in flavor created

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alexandria's waterfront inching close to redevelop. today they voted to incorporating a previously approved plan into the city's master plan calling for new parks, hotels and shops along the historic waterfront. one more vote is needed before ground can be broken. alexandria's board of zoning appeals needs to hear an appeal by critics who say growth will cause traffic problems and take

away from the city's unique character. ben and jerry's dropping an ingredient for taste of linsanity flavor called for vanilla, frozen yogurt, honey swirls and bits of fortune cookies. they raised eyebrows and people call it racist. they will not include the cookies because they get soggy. they replaced them with waffle cone pieces. no word on when that new flavor will be available. chuck is back to tell us how long this wind will last. plus, more about a cold start tomorrow. and tonight at 11:00, could you be denied a job or a loan just because of your name? a look at how background checks could be giving potential employers the wrong picture about you. plus -- >> awkward. >> i'm awkward. >> you're both awkward. a viral web series that celebrates uncomfortable situations. there have been more than 860,000 hits on the first video

alone and fans are actually paying to see more episodes. we'll catch up with the creator of the misadventures of awkward bl

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>> three fifth graders were expelled from a school in fresno, california, after they admitted they tried to poison their teacher. they put rat poisoning in the teacher's coffee but before she took similar one of the students

knocked the mug out of her hand. >> one child had been approached by a second student to "bring some of that. we have rodents too." >> another student admitted to trying to give a poison laced cupcake. rat poison can cause a bloody nose to death. the fifth graders have been moved to a school for troubled students. if you have ever been to a job fair, you know it may not lead to getting a job offer. today veterans and spouses were inviteded to a unique fair called a hiring event all about uniting companies and veterans in one mission, to get a job. darcy spencer has more. >> lisa, an air force veteran, was among a number of people offered positions at a hiring event at the bethesda naval base. >> i just got offereded a job with jpmorgan.

and it's a prelevel position in newark, delaware, and i'm excited about it. >> reporter: it's part of the initiative to reduce military and spouse unemployment. the challenge to the private sector is to employ 100,000 of them by the end of next year. >> it's a big transition to go from military back to civilian life and seeing dedication and commitment to helping people make that is great to see. >> reporter: this was a hiring event and not a job fair because veterans could preregister and learn about employers to be there so they would be better prepared. >> they have come with resumes ready to go. they have done research on the internet seeing what's available. they knew which companies were going to be here. who offers what. everybody was well prepared to meet each other today. it was a great day. >> reporter: the event was part of the 100,000 jobs mission now made up of 29 companies who have hired 6,600 veterans in the last year. >> when we pre-prospect our soldiers, sailors and marines, if they are not a good fit for our company, we exchange that talent with another company.

>> we appreciate the sacrifice, the training, and experience that they bring. we know they are very motivated. >> reporter: veterans say the transition back to civilian jobs can be tough and this event helps them get closer to getting back to work. >> great deal of prospects actually. everybody i talked to is committed to this and not just filling numbers but making sure the right people end up in the right slots. it's been great to see. >> reporter: darcy spencer, news4. >> meteorologist chuck bell is here with us now to talk about this -- we had a lot of sunshine out there today, which was really nice. >> true. >> and then the wind. >> yeah. not so nice. >> doing this with your eyes. you can't see the sun. >> no doubt. a lot of people outside even on the sunny side of the street you needed to bundle up today because the wind was ferocious all afternoon long. gusting between 40 and 50 miles an hour kept mid afternoon windchills in the mid and upper 20s. and that's not going to be all that much improved as you make your plans for your saturday evening. definitely a big bundle up factor out there right now.

outside we go. partly cloudy sky over washington. these clouds have been a little thicker through much of the mid and late afternoon hours now that the sun has gone down these clouds are going to do get out of here. mostly clear by midnight tonight and clear and cold start coming up for your sunday morning. current temperature at national airport now, 40 degrees. the winds remain a factor. out of the west-northwest at 18 gusting to 26 miles per hour. that's considerably lower than the wind gusts even just an hour ago. now that the sun is down, the winds will start to lay down a bit. current temperatures mid to up ar upper 30s. current wind gusts in 30 to 50 range most of the day are now mostly in the 25 to 35-mile-per-hour range. that's some improvement. by 9:00, 10:00 tonight, they'll be even lower than that windchills are already in the low and mid 20s now across most of northern maryland and northern virginia so windchills will be in the upper teens and low 20s for your saturday evening. air temperatures in the 30s.

windchills teens and 20s. bundle up if you go out to enjoy your saturday evening. not much going on on storm 4 doppler. we did have snow squall go through early this morning. one or two lonesome snowflakes cannot be ruled out but the snow showers will stay north of the mason -- dixon line for the rest of the evening. windchill and cold for the saturday evening. cold start tomorrow morning but without anywhere near as much wind around. that's good news as high pressure settles on in as that moves off the east coast, more sun and less wind for tomorrow. temperatures back up near 50 degrees. it will feel 15 or 20 degrees warmer tomorrow than it did today just because of the improvement in the wind situation. weather front coming our way ahead of that looks like a nice mild day coming up on monday with temperatures near 60 degrees again. so for this evening, partly cloudy. breezy and cold out there for your saturday evening. scarfs and mittens required. overnight tonight into early tomorrow morning, clear skies, cold but not quite as windy. winds tomorrow morning northwest 5 to 15. wake-up temperatures in the 20s. that will be a cold start.

and then for tomorrow afternoon, mostly sunny. noticeably less wind to contend with for tomorrow and high temperatures upper 40s to around 50 degrees. here's the important seven-day forecast. 50 tomorrow. near 60 on monday. partly sunny and 56. temperatures in the 50s now on wednesday. thought we might have a thunderstorm chance on wednesday. we'll keep you posted. it may be a cooler rain opposed to a milder thunderstorm chance. >> thank you. still ahead on news4 at 6:00, georgetown gets knocked down.

>> watching a little bit of the jorng georgetown game earlier. looked good. >> you can't afford slipups at this time of the year. >> march madness is looming. >> here's a history lesson for the youngsters. 27 years ago, villanova upset georgetown to win the ncaa tournament. villanova is the lowest seed to win a championship. today a meeting for the 70th time and lately georgetown has owned the rivalry winning seven of the last eight meetings. opening minute. villanova's sutton in the circle. we could have put him in the penalty box for elbowing. the flagrant elbow on porter. freshman making his second start of the year. would lose blood but comes back

strong. porter stepback jumper. he's feeling just fine. georgetown up 19-8. final minute of the half. porter creates space for three. and gets the friendly bounce. 15 points for porter. second half, strong defense. clark pokes it away. thompson scoop shot and one. clark had 15 points. ninth ranked georgetown defeats villanova 67-46. up next for georgetown, big monday. hosting number 18 notre dame. in acc, maryland off a huge win against miami and with the goal to improve their tournament resume, the terps could not afford a loss against last place georgia tech. maryland 1-6 on the road this season. terps looking good here. end the first half on a 12-2 run including this three from moseley. he scored 14 of 16 points in the first half. terps up six at the break.

two minutes to play in the game now. terps down one. drives and gives maryland the lead. a game high 18 points but yellow jackets strike right back. drives and one. georgia tech up two after the free throw. then reed seals it. hits the three. the coach said "i thought we were growing up. today showed we haven't grown up all the way." maryland loses 63-61. terps fall to 6-8 in the conference. virginia tech visiting number four duke. dell curry on hand. his son plays for the blue devils. curry comes up with the steal. straight to the bucket for two points. duke up by six. back come of huskies. off the screen for three. bank shot good. 16 points. less than ten seconds to play. tied at 58. virginia tech with a chance to

win it. green shot. no good. neither is the put back. the coach can't believe it. we're going to overtime. in o.t., duke up three. curry drives open lane to the hoop. he had 19 and his papa was proud. dad is loving it. under 20 second to play. hokies down three. green goes for the quick two. man, he misses the lay-up. duke hangs on to win 70-65. hokies dropped to 4-10 in the acc. big game in charlottesville. virginia hosting seventh ranked north carolina. seconds remaining in the first half. sammy lets it fly from deep. got it! cavaliers up 30-26 at the half. now under 20 seconds to play in the game. tar heels up one. zeller drives and dunks. game high 20 points. north carolina edges virginia

54-51 is the final. let's go to bender arena. american hosting lafayette on senior day. nice day for those kids. first half, troy brewer, a senior with the steal and finish. american up 31-13 having their way with the leopards. later, another senior, charles hinkle. flips it behind his head. eagles win it in regular season finale. patriot league tournament starts wednesday. american is the three seed. danica patrick is the first woman to win a nascar pole in 18 years. lap 29 a problem for danica. sliding all over the track. hits the wall. she would finish 38th. final lap another crash involving bush. dodging the huge 11-car accident, the 30 car.

in 11th place as he rounded the final turn. are you kidding me? weaves his way through to win the checkered flag. his first career nascar victory. wow. that's pretty cool. from 11th place to win it. >> any way you can get it, right? >> any way you can get it. real quick. a couple college basketball scores. what do we have over here? bcu up 12 over george mason. >> as it should be. >> you have your colors on. all right. >> thank you. >> that is the news for now. "nightly news" is coming your way next.