♪ welcome to "news4 this week." hi everyone. i'm doug kammerer. we're going to show you some of the more interesting local stories making news this week. among them the dangers of the deep freeze. we join rescue teams to understand why frozen ponds are so tempting, and so deadly. plus taking college classes for free. where students are testing out a proposal that could go nationwide. and they do more than rumble. while trains traveling through the district could pack more than just a big bang. but we begin with a new time line of what happened last week during the underground emergency at la font plaza metro station that killed one person. it shows the first calls about smoke came in about 3:15 monday. one construction worker saw smoke coming out of the metro

trouble at 9th and water street southwest. at 3:22 heavy smoke was reported at the upper level. at 3:32 the first call for an ambulance. and nearly an hour later, 4:25 the first person taken to the ho. that time line from d.c. leaders seems to closely match a time line assembled by one of the passengers jonathan rogers. he says he took this photo a few minutes after smoke started pouring in. his iphone time stamped the photo at 3:20 p.m. rogers said this photo is when evacuations began, time stamped 4:01. at 4:20 an hour after the first photo, rogers took a picture of what he says is the first firefighter he saw. finally, about two minutes later, rogers is in the tunnel and walking to safe. now just days after the incident and with the investigation still ongoing, the first lawsuits have been filed against metro. one of the passengers trapped inside the smoky train spoke about the tragedy, and his lawyers explaining why the lawsuit is being filed so

quickly. news4's adam tuss has more. >> it was sort of surreal. it was sort of surreal. >> reporter: 53-year-old fredericksburg resident rich was on that train. he came straight from the hospital to this news conference. tald about the text messages he was sending as the rail car he was riding on filled to the brim with smoke. >> i told my mother that i loved being her son, and i told my kids i loved being their dad. >> reporter: attorney kim brooks rodney of firm cohen and cohen is representing rich in this suit. she says she is filing the suit so fast because she wants to know what happened. >> the complaint is going to allege negligence maintenance, negligent inspection and a negligent response to an emergent situation. >> reporter: many people have been wondering if this incident has had an effect on metro rail ridership.

hard to tell so soon but we do know ridership has not declined this week. on monday, the incident day, over 583,000 trips. on tuesday, over 662,000 trips. and on wednesday, over 653,000 trips. as the investigation continues, there are many unanswered questions about emergency response. multiple metro sources with direct knowledge of the metro system tell news4, there are so-called dead spots throughout the system where communication devices do not work. adam tuss news4. and we have the full time line of events from monday on nbcwashington.com. and you can find full coverage on our nbc washington app. a teacher for d.k.c. public schools now holds one of her profession's most prestigeous honors. michelle johnson was surprised with the milken educator award, known as the oscar of teaching. she was recognized for getting kids excited about learning.

she is a second grade teacher at seton elementary school in the shaw neighborhood. the students have shown big improvements. what inspires her the most is the kids themselves. >> they want to be here more than any other kids do. they appreciate the opportunity. they come here every day and work so hard and make me incredibly proud, and i'm here for them. and i love it. >> good for her. michelle johnson is one of 40 teachers in the country to win the award. aside from the honor, the award comes with a check for $25,000, and johnson says she plans to use that to pay off student loan debts. this week's deep freeze has caused many ponds and rivers to freeze over. it has first responders warning it's an accident waiting to happen if you decide to venture out on to the ice. news4's mark segraves joins montgomery county rescue teams at frozen pond in potomac to see just how dangerous it can be. >> stay off the ice. you can't tell looking at it here you can't tell how thick the ice is. looking at it it might look pretty thick when in fact it's

really not. >> reporter: that's the warning from first responders across our region. there is no frozen lake pond or canal in our area that's ever 100% safe. >> very deceiving, yes. it's hard to tell. you look at it it looks great. it's strong in spots, some spots look very thick. usually can't tell the difference in the two. >> reporter: even in their protective wet suits, the cold water can be overwhelming. >> it takes your breath away. it really does. you completely -- your reflexes kick in and you're fighting for air. >> rep and you're gead r it. i mean imagine i guess someone dressed like me in jeans -- >> wouldn't last long. really wouldn't last long. >> reporter: and it's that shock of the cold water that makes it so difficult to save yourself. >> typically we see people get in trouble when they flail around too much and just that initial s that water that is so cold can cause you to have some pretty dramatic responses and can drowned you. so you want to keep your head above water, whichever way you can do to swim or whatever.

and just find something to hang on to get a piece of ice to grip on to. and then you just need to conserve your energy. >> reporter: in montgomery county mark segraves news4. well they are getting a new lease on life. how these pickupuppi were able to escape a horrible fate and ended here in our area. one of the most popular parks in our area could cost you more to visit. why the park service says it needs to double prices chicken imported to the u.s. has been in the news a lot lately. and many food labels don't even mention where they came from. one way to get chicken that hasn't crossed an ocean is to look for the label with my name on it. perdue is the first company to have the usda go beyond what's required to verify that our chickens are raised on farms, right here in the usa. because we believe that's what it takes to bring your family a fresh-tasting chicken. perdue. we believe in a better chicken.

the faces of these dogs show nothing of the horrible fate that waited them. they are now safe in northern virginia after being rescued from a meat farm in s 23 dogs arrived here this week on flights from dulles or to dulles. humane society international paid $2500 for them. they are being cared for at shelters in loudoun, manassas alexandria arlington and washington. they will soon be ready for new homes. a college education for

free. president obama made the proposal this week to make community college free for students who maintain a 2.5 gpa, and attend school at least part time. but there's already a similar program being tested out in loudoun county. some high schoolers are getting a chance to take college courses in their own classrooms and it doesn't cost them a penny. northern virginia reporter, david culver caught up with emma ashburn. >> net force now comes towards me. >> repor eager eyes watch him rolling through his physics experiment. >> sometimes it goes away. >> reporter: but this rock ridge high school course is an experiment in and of itself. it's called college physics, and it's backed by richard bland college in central virginia. >> this is absolutely huge because you get a class of kids that come from all different kinds of backgrounds, and you're getting them in a college preparatory course which is actually a college course now. >> reporter: mr. hanky essentially doubles as a professor, because his students

get eight college credits for this year-long course. >> and the cost is zero. now, that's the beautiful part of this. >> we are taking a class that would have cost us close to a couple thousand dollars. >> repor this junior wants to be a doctor but worries what will eventually cost her to help others. >> we live in a society where we mostly kind of have to go into debt to get the education that we need. and then once we have that degree we sometimes don't get a job right after college. >> it shouldn't be that way. i don't think i should have to be paying off my student loans by the time i'm 40. i think that's ridiculous. >> rep right now, rock ridge high school offers the physics course for free college credits but next year they hope to expand it to history, english and theater. while colleges are restrictive, head of counseling kevin terry, tells me the credits in this course will transfer to all virginia universities. and some 200 other colleges. >> so that's why these students are very excited knowing they're

getting the credit at the end of the year. >> reporter: eventually kevin hopes his students will graduate high school with a free associate's degree. in ashburn, david culver news4. >> thank you, david. you could pay more to enjoy the canal. the national park service is proposing a price hike. parking fees will go up from 5 to 10 bucks. campground fees from 10 to $20. and if you want to reserve a table, get this the price would go from $125 to $250 a day. on weekends and holidays it would be $350 a day. officials say the park needs to raise fees to stay open. police officers in gaithersburg maryland may soon be wearing body cameras as part of an effort to make sure citizens and officers are safe and secure. the city's police department says it's looking into buying body cameras and would initially be used for training purposes and drills. after about a year the department will decide whether it wants to use those cameras in

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♪ they're such a common sight, you may not notice the large freight trains rumbling through downtown d.c. every day. tisha thompson and the news4 i-team show why neighborhoods and experts say they carry a bigger bang than you realized. and show you for the first time if you live and work in a potential blast zone. >> reporter: when maureen harrington moved into her home on virginia avenue southwest, she says she never thought about trains. >> eight steps. eight steps until we get to where the construction will be. >> reporter: but when she realized csx wants to temporarily reroute trains through her front yard so it can double the size of the nearby she started paying attention to what the tracks carried past her house each day. >> i didn't know how dangerous it was. very few people do. >> reporter: these diamond-shaped placards are the only hint these trains are carrying hazardous materials,

which can catch fire explode, or poison us if a train derails. that's what happened in 2013 when a bakken crude oil derailment in quebec quilled killed 42 people and destroyed buildings a half mile away. >> since 2004, csx has not transported hazardous materials through the district, including chlorine ammonia, explosives. >> rep rob doolittle says the federal government askee company to stop transporting some of the most toxic chemicals through the district after this photo of a chlorine cart near the capital went viral. but he says other less known hazardous materials travel h the city because federal rules mandate csx use a 27-point formula when routing its trains. >> the tracks that are involved other types of traffic that are on those tracks proximity to emergency response capabilities population density. all of those things are factored into determining what the safest

and most secure route is for any particular shipment of hazardous materials. >> reporter: to find out what hazmats move through the district the i-team went train-setting along the virginia avenue corridor for several days. molten sulfur nitrate, clarified oil and molten phenyl. what do they have in common? a mile-wide evacuation zone similar to chemicals that caught fire and exploded when this train derailed in 2013 near baltimore. when we mapped it out, we discovered the zone stretches from the washington monument to the air and space museum anacostia to the navy yard and includes 395, 295, ten metro stations and all of the federal buildings on the south side of the mall including the u.s. capitol. >> we have to inform the public. they have to be prepared. >> repor d.c. deputy fire chief aaron hawkins, says they

have a robust training program based on an evacuation zone at least this size if not even larger. >> based on a scenario the amount of product, we will look at our response guides and make a determination. this could play out very well the distance here you have on the map. >> reporter: experts say it's one thing to plan but it's when a hazmat train derails in your own backyard. that's what happened four hours southwest of washington, d.c. in lynchburg, virginia when tanker cars came tumbling down the hillside. >> what do i have on here? and that was the big thing that concerned me. >> reporter: battalion chief robert lipscum said this was more than a mile long when it derailed last april, meaning they couldn't get to the engine or the critical documents inside. >> we're trained in the classes we take that you will be able to know what's going to be there. you're going to have the documents right in front of you. you're going to know what's on this train and we didn't have that. >> repor instead, he says they started evacuating every

building you see here. using plaque cards, he says they finally realized they were dealing with very explosive bakken crude. >> so these placards are important. >> oh yeah. >> one of the big concerns they're going to have trains running at increased speeds through an active construction site. >> r maureen is suing csx to prevent its project from moving forward. she says even if you don't know what the numbers mean the mere factors there means what's inside could hurt you. >> csx says it quote, is committed to doing this project the right way, safely respecting our neighbors and working closely with residents and businesses to minimize impacts. it also now is providing real-time updates about what is in each car moving through lynchburg, d.c. has access to the same system. if you want to see if you live or work in the evacuation zone go to our website, nbcwashington.com, and click on investigations. yo also leave a tip or question there for the i-team.

he has been battling a devastating injury for two years. now a major breakthrough. the incredible video and progress a local teen is making when "news4 this week" returns. thank

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♪ we told you last summer about a teenager from our area who was swimming with his brother and mother and wound up with a serious injury at the beach. back in july of 2012, parker dove head-first into the water and fractured two vertebrae in his neck. he became a quadriplegic and initially doctors said he had very little chance of any movement below his shoulders. we have an update and exciting news. in video from parker's father scott. you can see parker at physical therapy in woodbridge last week. this is the first time he's walked completely on his own in nearly two-and-a-hal at therapy, he normally uses a cane or walker. or has his therapist helping him stay balanced on his feet. parker started his senior year

at hilton high school this past fall and uses a motorized wheelchair walker or cane to get around. great stuff. well $20 million. that's all you need. that's the price of the area's most expensive home sold in 2014. accordin listing group mris. check it out. this is 15 dupont circle also known as the patterson mansion. you may have seen it if you have driven through embassy row. it was once home to president coolidge. the property boasts more than 36,000 square feet including, we all need this a ballroom. and according to zillow has 16 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms. wow. this is even more amazing. the first-ever fleet of 3-d printed cars will go on sale this year right here in the d.c. area. a company called local motors is building a lab assembly floor and showroom at national harbor. it's known as the a micro

factory. the cars will be built, designed and sold right there. check this out. the printing process takes about two days. visitors will be able to take part in a 3-d printing. the factory is set to open this fall and is expected to bring about 100 jobs to prince george's c well that's all for news4 this week. i'm doug kammerer. thanks for joining us. we'll see you next time.

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it's 6:00 on news 4 today. this is the weekend to get out and get things done. temperatures low this morning. tracking big changes. >> today the clock is ticking on the second probe into what caused metro's under ground emergency. good morning. i'm angie goth. >> welcome to news 4 today. we will get the latest on the forecast in a minute but first let's get to our news new this mog. a violent crash involving a police cruiser. let's show you the scene. officers shine a flashlight into this squad