tonight a huge fire collapses the home of a well-known community activist. and seeing her home in ruins was too much for dorothy brazil to take. >> it was a brick building that was a significant part of the city's architecture. that fire brought out both the mayor and the fire chief to the scene. jackie benson now with more on the story. jackie. >> reporter: dorothy brazil and her family have lived in this house, there is no house left now, nthey have lived there sine long before columbia heights became the fashionable place it is now. the blaze consumed the large brick home in the 1300 block in northwest, feeding on the dry seasoned wood of century old beams. then it gave way. thousands of pounds of brick and flaming wood pancaked, collapsing to the ground. not long afterward, the homeowners who had been in rockville when the blaze broke out arrived at the scene.

>> i'm dorothy. >> the unflappable dorothy brazil was true to form, no hysteria, no tears, just the facts, please, after the may your came to express condolences the stress got the best of her. she was taken to the hospital to be monitored for a rise in blood pressure all. up ait's ha >> that is your life, your history. probably not too many destablizing feelings. >> reporter: a d.c. fire fighter was injured in battling what was a dangerous blaze. a building collapse is one of the most hazardous situation is a fire fighter can face. >> the crews that responded here, did an outstanding job. i want to identify truck six for the job they did in containing the fire, keeping it from extending. traffic in columbia heights was heavily affected for most of the evening rush hour. >> reporter: at this point it looks like the 1300 block of gerard street northwest is likely to remain closed

overnight as fire fighters continue to put out hot spots. reporting live, jackie benson, news 4. >> thank you, jackie. several people injured in waldorf tonight in a terrible head-on collision. chopper 4 flew over the poplar hill road scene, after 8:00, see a mangled car and suv. two people flown out. not clear what callsed the crash. another crash involving a d.c. police cruiser and firetruck, created quite of a scene in southwest. the kru we are told the impact pushed the van into a parked tow truck that was hooked up to a fire engine. police say there may have been kids inside the van. no one injured. in critical condition after being shot inside her church by a homeless man. police say douglas franklin jones shot the reverend marguerite kohn and brenda

brewington yesterday. brewington died. kohn critically injured. police say jones shot himself outside and his body was found near the church. investigators believe he sought revenge against saint peters after the church stopped giving him help. >> over a period of time, he became difficult and challenging for the staff there. belligerent. he was described as argumentative. and they recently asked him not to return. >> church employees say both women worked tirelessly to help others. a nearby church offered support to members. a 21-year-old woman dead after a mysterious case of road rage in fairfax county. found in the middle of the road in the neighborhood after an altercation before noon today. the search is on for the other driver. shomari stone has our report. >> it's nerve-racking and upsetting. >> reporter: stunned after finding a 21-year-old woman was found unconscious.

later died at the hospital. she lives nearby. >> i'm not sure about what happened. >> reporter: neither are fairfax county police as they investigate the mystery. police say around 11:30, the woman was driving on harrison lane, stopped her car, the one covered under the plastic, got out and got in an argument with a driver in a black chevrolet suv. >> sometime in that encounter, she sustained very serious injuries. the exact circumstances of how she received those injuries are still under investigation. >> the black suv sped away leaving the woman bleeding in the middle of the road. police say the driver of this lexus, suv saw what happened and stayed at the scene. >> a sad day. very sad day. there is a lot of road rage that goes on. >> reporter: police are looking for the driver of the black chevy suv it has temporary tags. while they search, this woman wonders about the dead woman. >> i don't know if she has kids. it is very sad. >> investigators are in the process of letting the woman's

relatives know about what happened to her. in fairfax, shomari stone, news 4. >> warm out there right now. doug, are we done with the storms? >> i think for the most part, jim. the only storms affecting us are down towards southern maryland, in through st. mary's county. take a look at the radar. storms to the left, storms to the right. storms above my head. what does that mean? they will all come together. where? will they affect your saturday? >> she is the woman at the center of the scandal. wendy? >> doreen, her name is donia suarez and claims to be the escort, the agent refused to pay. she spoke during a paid interview on colombian radio today. she called the agent dumb, for thinking she wasn't going to charge him money. suarez was also asked whether she could have posed a risk to

the president's security. her answer, if i had wanted to or if i had been part of one of terrorist groups it's obvious i would have been able to get everything. suarez fled to dubai fearing for her safety after the scandal blew up. she says she has not been contacted by u.s. officials. that is a point of concern for the lead congressman, investigating the scandal. >> this woman is essential to the investigation. she is the one who actually created the initial conflict that -- that brought the whole house down. she is the one involved, at the, very center of this whole case. and the secret service has not been able to interview her. >> the u.s. secret service is not commenting on the interview. nine agents are leaving that agency as a result of this scandal. and while the pentagon is investigating, the behavior of 12 u.s. military personnel as well. back to you. >> thank you, wendy. president obama's bid for a second term officially begins tomorrow. with rallies in ohio and in

virginia. the president will arrive at virginia commonwealth university in richmond tomorrow afternoon. besides the president, the basketball coach and former virginia governor, are expected to speak. that event is open to the public and expected to draws thousand of people. the doors will open there at 1. 467 -- 1:45 p.m. julie carey will be in richmond. catch her full report tomorrow night on the news at 11:00. >> the french economist, dominique strauss-kahn faces allegations to night. two belgian prostitutes, accuse him of forcing them to perform sexual acts at the w hotel in downtown d.c. the reported assaults happened in 2010 while strauss-kahn was head of the international monetary fund. strauss-kahn denies any violence against women and faps faces a in new york over a hotel maid suing him for sexual assault. >> crash involving a school bus

and 13 students sent to a hospital this evening. an suv rear-ended the bus near fenway and brown station road in upper marlboro. nobody suffered any obvious injuries. but the kids were taken to a hospital just in kamcase. the suv appears to have sustained most damage. >> cracking down on speeding. county police are warning people to slow down along evanston road, connects riverdale to bladeensburg. shomari stone talked to police. >> today we are coming out doing enforcement. shoot some radar. right, right, warnings, talk to the citizens teach them about what is going on and why they need to reduce their speed as they're traveling. >> the crackdown is part of the county's initiative to work with the community to find out what concerns people who live in prince george's county. >> lots of parties expected this weekend. so there is a dui crackdown getting under way in alexandria

tomorrow night. police will start operation cinco de mayo. 8:00. drivers will be stopped at check points through 6:00 a.m. sunday. a duchlti can come with a maximf 12 months in jail and fine in virginia. the national christmas tree has gone. the colorado blue spruce planted on the elipse last march died. the national park service says the tree suffered transplant shock and it will be removed tomorrow. the previous national christmas tree which was planted in 1978, was knocked down by high winds last february. park service does have a backup plan though, a planted in october in time for christmas. >> droves of fans lined up to meet the author of "50 shades of gray. "e.l. james signed hundreds of books at barnes & noble.

an ep rrotic romance novel, a worldwide sensation. about an unworldly college student who begins a relationship with a young businessman. some are calling it mommy porn. but not everybody is on the bandwagon. >> absolutely not. seriously. i am a guy. this is my girlfriend. lovely girlfriend. she read the book. >> we have been down here for a while. for us to stay down here this morning. she must be something special. >> each book in the 50 shades trilogy, currently holds the top three spots on the "the new york times" best-seller list for print ande-book fiction. >> coming up -- just dapz aftys the recall of dog foods. reports of people getting sick. >> a man running from police finds himself nearly six feet deep in a river. tell you what happened next. >> the news 4 i-team with results that might keep drivers safe.

breaking news -- how natitude won out.

salmonella tainted dog food blamed for making 14 people sick. five admitted to the hospital. centers for disease control says food was made at diamond pet foods in gaston, south carolina. the plant shut down last month and all the need there has been recalled.

in 2005, diamond paid $3 million to settle a lawsuit after toxic mold in their food killed dozens of dogs. guy down in stafford, virginia, went to extraordinary means to escape the cops today. somebody snapped the picture of him. his name is michael sager, wading through chest-high water in the river. this happened after a traffic stop. deputies found out later the guy had a backpack full of marijuana on the river bank. >> the news 4 iteam found highway signs not inspected in decades. after a sign came crashing down on a driver in virginia recently. some say more needs to be done to keep us safe on the roads. tisha thompson joins us with what changes are under way in our area. >> reporter: you are going to see road crews on the highways after the news 4 i-team started asking questions when highway signs were last inspected.

just today inspectors checked out this sign near 395 and 4th street. how often a sign gets inspected depends on where you live. during the daily commute, the last thing you expect. >> all of a sudden it ex-mroplo. >> reporter: a light pole came crashing down. >> there was a pole in front of my face. and the windshield popped in. >> in february, this massive sign on 66 in virginia, fell on a truck. inspectors there are still trying to find a cause. >> they're a risk if they're decomposed and rusted. or the bolts are loose. >> henry with advocates for highway and highway safety says like bridges these heavy signs should be inspected every two years. >> they need to be part of a normal inspection, program. >> the news 4 iteam found that is not happing in our area. there is no federal requirement

for how often states inspect highway structures. >> what's prompting you guys to look at these unsatisfactory signs? >> i don't know. it may be timing. >> reporter: it took d.c. department of transportation weeks to tell us when it last inspected its 190 signs. >> we believe our signs are safe. >> city finally gave us reports for 13% of its signs, all dating from 5 to 6 years ago. for instance, 5 1/2 years ago, inspectors found an anchor nut missing from this sign heading on to 395 from south capital. at the time the city labeled it an emergency situation. because the anchor bolts are critical to keeping the sign up. but the news 4 iteam found that nut is still missing almost six years later. over at the 14th street bridge. this sign couldn't be completely inspected because of -- heavy vegetation growth. five years later, that growth, is still there. >> we are going to be take ak

digs -- taking additional steps. >> reporter: after the news 4 iteam started asking questions, ddot started sign inspections. >> we're moving towards a system where we inspect every two years. >> dave buck with highway, says inspecting isn't that realistic. >> you can't fit everything into a nice package there. say you need how to do everything every two years. >> the iteam found most signs in our area were last inspected seven to eight years ago. but we discovered, amount least 40 signs haven't been inspected in 20 years. >> they were last inspected in the 1990s. most important thing, ultrasonic testing has been done on the signs. >> reporter: buck says ultrasonic testing, catches problems inspectors can't see. and when they do find a problem the sign comes down. >> they've wouldn't be standing if they weren't safe. >> maryland, d.c., and virginia, are all now using ultrasonic

testing. d.c. says the inspections that started today, will take about a month. maryland says those overdue signs will be inspected by end of june. tisha thompson, news 4, iteam. >> doug is here with a look at our weekend weather forecast. going to be clearing up for us? >> big weekend. yeah, it will be clearing up. saturday looking pretty good. sunday is looking fan tast uk out theuk -- fantastic. out there right now. across the area. temperatures on the mild side. 70 degrees at the airport. high temperature of 84 degrees. low this morning. 65. about the, .1 inch of ran today from the airport. from showers we saw earlier. and just about, over 4 1/2 inches below average for the year. again we need to see some rain. don't think we will see too much of it over the next 24 hours. 70 degrees now with winds out of the south at p miles 3 miles an. pleasant friday evening.

64, manassas. 71, fredericksburg. 72 down towards pax river. that's our average high. just about that number at 11:00 at night. few showers in through southern maryland. down through southern calvert county. and southern, st. mary's county. that is a bout it. then you wide in out. notice along the frontal boundary. we have big time, showers, thunderstorms, to our west. thifs fro this front is going to sag, early tomorrow morning. that's when we'll have the best chances for some shower activity. this front will settle down. continue to the south. most of the showers, tomorrow afternoon, will stay to our south, and out to the west. i dupe no not think tomorrow wi a washout. if you have a game planned or kids have games planned don't think you will have too much to worry about. may want to take the umbrella in case. on sunday. aboutful weather. plenty of sunshine. a nice day to rest your voice. it is really going to be nice out there. s you make your way through the day sunday.

monday. tomorrow morning. partly cloudy, showers, possible. continued mild. temperature, 60-67 degrees. then as you make your way through the day tomorrow afternoon. partly cloudy. jim, take over from here. you did sports last week. take over. partly cloudy. there will be showers. best chance coming up from the south. temperatures, some where between 77 and 82 degrees. there is your seven day, folks. sunday looking spectacular. if you got a scooter, take it out. monday and tuesday, in the 70s. that's some where about normal sit in, doug? >> yes. >> 73 degrees. you see through the rest of the week. one thing you can depend on no matter what the temperature is at night it will be dark. okay >> you better take a couple days off. >> i could have taken today off. >> get well quick. come on back. >> sports coming up next. dan can talk, i think. talk

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i think i heard davey say, the way to take back the park, beat up them dudes every time they come to town. >> just win. >> do we have a mime over here. just mime things. not saying anything. >> ha-ha. >> sports time. phillies in town. starting a three-game, with the nationals. neither team wanted to give up. this one goes to extra innings. in the end, natitude would prevail. the nationals open their series with a one-run win. you want natitude, you got it. 34,000 on stand to see straussberg pitch. straussberg allowed three hits

in six innings. two were home runs. a two-run job. hunter pence in the fourth. phillies, 2-0 lead. bottom of the fourth now. chad tracy filling in at first base for adam laroche. hit like him tonight. a good thing. and goes down, gets the pitch. five fingt. bottom of the eighth now. a 3-2 game. nats down by a run. and john mayberry diving for it. can't get it. that its good news. tracy chugging around third. coming home. it is a tie game. it would stay that way until the bottom of the 11th. pinch hitter, wilson ramos. bases loaded. base run wins it. that's what he gets. nats doing it again. yeah, flying high, isn't he? and scores the game winning run. colombian native. three hits on the night.

ramos, nationals win 4-3. fifth walkoff win of the year. 17-9 on the season. likes the way his catcher has been playing it. >> swing the bat really good lately. and down on the last man. we have been playing a man short for half the year. but i mean we had -- we had opportunities, the whole ball game. and just -- but the offense, you know shows life. that's, that was a good thing. that's what we have been waiting on. >> same two tomorrows. 1:00. baltimore, mark reynolds, had 37 home runs last year. none so far this year. until this one. how about -- not just over the green monster. out of the park. crushed it. ties the game at one. john lester not pleased at all. to the top of the fourth. os trailing, 33-2. come on down. tie the game at three. we are headed to extra innings. tied at four. that's where we stand. the game still going on.

in the 13th inning. game four, between the caps and rangers. tomorrow afternoon. 12:30 when the puck drops at verizon. can't make it to the game? watch it right here on nbc 4. now to the nba playoffs where the hawks, celtics went to evertime tonight. go done to boston or up to boston. kevin garnet and the celtics trying to get the upper hand on the hawks. it's the hawk whose have it here. rondo. hawks. tracy mcgrady. remember him. feeds jeff tooeg for the lay-up. teague. posting up. gets the bucket on the baby hook. rondo. 17 points. 14 rebounds. 12 assists. watch this move by rondo here. fake-a d roo. kevin garnet celtics win it. doc rivers, a happy camper at this

cinco demayo may be tomorrow. there is another celebration sunday. doug cammerer will celebrate his birthday sunday. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪

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