a.j. ross is live on the scene in belmar. a.j., good morning. >> reporter: police remain on scene at this hour and this investigation into what caused this blaze continues. sadly, two men lost their lives over night, who couldn't get out of this home on 14th avenue. i want to show you video sent to us by a viewer, according to investigators, the fire broke out around 9:45 last night and flames quickly spread throughout the home. several fire departments, including belmar, avon, spring lake, wahl, and neptune responded to the blaze. in time. firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading, but what started this deadly fire remains under investigation. belmar mayor called the fire tragic and a tweet posted hours ago, and again, they aren't releasing much information as far as the victims because they want to make sure that family members are notified first. back here on scene, you can see just the charred remains. they really show just how intense this blaze was. again, two men, unfortunately, overnight as we get more i

a.j. ross will be up there. she is the master. the sheep meadow, blue skies. 81 the high temperature. morning lows were the coolest since june 28th. we had 40s to the north and west. five warmer than tonight. 82 the average high. sunset at 7:42. a gorgeous evening. the september preview coming to an end as things heat up and humidity climbs above average the next seven days. spotty storms late in the week. not everyone will see those. we are tracking gaston. probably a hurric that -- hermine form? that will be the one we would be concerned about. whitestone 83. 82 in oakwood. inland numbers are around 80. coastal numbers in the mid-70s. comfortable evening. not as windy as last night. sunshine early, clear skies overnight. mostly sunny skies. we get in the mid- to upper- 80s, especially away from the coast. it's about the high pressure. a lot of clear real estate. great day coming up. as the high moves offshore, a mix on thursday, especially north and west. there could be a late day storm catskills, poconos, north west. not talkin

i'm a.j. ross, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> this extreme heat is putting a real strain on the power grid. tonight, coned reduced power in these queens neighborhoods and urging people to conserve. the power company reduced voltage by 5% in these staten the area. eyewitness news reporter is in west brighten staten island where people are trying to keep cool. they are trying, aren't they? >> they sure are, sade. just over 100 customers in this area remain without power. keep in mind, it was ten times that earlier tonight. making this hot and humid day just miserable for so many. >> several neighborhoods on staten island asked to conserve to repair equipment problems. emma's daughter is one of 1500 customers on staten island, who are without power tonight. >> it is a very big problem because betty is on oxygen. and we've had people here all day. they had to bring a generator and that generator worked and another generator came and the fella came to put more gas in it. it's a big problem. to run on gen

a.j. ross is

we love everyone here. >> a.j. ross, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> you go. >> absolutely. >> th begins right now. >>> new at 5:00 a veterans grave targeted twice. what the thieves have to stop grave robbers in their traction. >> he said he was the victim of a hate crime and victimized again when police ignored his how the officers handled the case. >> the young man suffered a gash to his face after he says he was called a gay slur then punched. eyewitness news reporter darla miles is in midtown with more on the story. darla? >> reporter: diana, sade, the victim posted information, pictures and details about the attack the day after the incident on facebook. he said that is only when an nypd detective saw the post and reached out to him. he said at the attacked on the steps and walk down the street to a group of nypd officers, they didn't take a report or call an ambulance. >> i was in front of six officers. i had to -- i got help through facebook the next day. >> reporter: there he was in front of six nypd officers with

a.j. ross is a.j. >> reporter: on hot summer days like this ocean is just so enticing. there's a silent and dangerous killer that people need to pay attention to. just in the last 10 days lifeguards in belmar beach saved dozens of people from ripped -- rip currents and it's something that families should be aware of at all times. >> the ocean is not your friends. you have to respect it. >> lost among the inviting sand and calming blue waves is a warning heed. >> we've had a number of rescues. >> lifeguards have been busy over the last few weeks with 60 people rescued from rip currents just in the last 10 days. >> we had warm water so of course the weather and the water bring people down. we did have a number of places where we have -- they had rip currents around the jetty area. >> those with little ones said they are especially careful even along the shoreline. >> we keep a close watch on her because of the rip current and she would run in the water if we let her. >> she's nodding like yes. >>

eyewitness news reporter, a.j. ross spoke to the family of one of the victims. >> they thought they would find refuge, but a small group nearly lost their lives. if you take a look, there's not the damage this lightning strike left behind is still being felt with five people still in the hospital. >> multiple patients struck by lightning. mansion square park, 60 north clinton street. >> a fast moving and powerful thunderstorm left a small group inman son square park with little time to react. when lightning struck this tree and sent dangerous volts of electricity through these nearby benches and the ground. >> we heard the lightning shook. it was crazy. and we seen people running at the park over here. >> i saw three gentleman on the bench. two leaning against each other. a third leaning against them. young lady was still smoking and smoldering. >> patricia white says her friend was one of the people shocked while sitting on this bench. >> he got blown off the bench. and his heart stopped. they did cpr for 30 minutes. h

a.j . ross at the scene with for us. a.j .? >> reporter: talk about a close call for a man traveling on the parkway when suddenly one of the trees in the median that is now roped off suddenly came crashing downright on top of him. i want to show you some of the pics. you can see the force of the collapse smashed in his windshield and barely missed under branches. the sizable tree stretched across most of the roadway causing a bottleneck and delays. the victim was taken to the hospital for evaluation. meanwhile, it took crews the better part of an hour to clear the roadway. crews will have to come back here and continue to remove this tree. we're trying to get more information on the condition of that victim taken to st. >>> most people know it's illegal to drive while using a hand held cell phone. people post selfies where driving. two of the top 10 states happen to be new york and new jersey. >> reporter: and bill, the study found that drivers who take selfies take their eyes off the road 2 seconds. they can travel 175 feet. d

i'm a.j. ross, channel 7 "eyewitness news." >>> a new jersey judge a woman convicted of killing her 5- year-old son decades ago should get a new trial. in may, a michelle of khelir son in 1991. she was originally scheduled to be sentenced today. her attorney is expected to argue that prosecutors didn't present enough evidence and question why the jury foreman was dismissed during deliberations. >>> we get a look at a man year-old woman. he followed her into her building. that's where police say he kicked her in the back and stole her necklace before taking off. this happened sunday afternoon in broad daylight. if you recognize the man in that picture there, police want to hear from you. >>> to politics now. focus on minorities. maggie? >> reporter: good afternoon, joe. donald trump is on the offensive attacking hillary clinton and making yet another passionate plea to minority voters while hillary clinton is left once again rallying an enthusiastic crowd. >> i just get the feeling we're going to wi

a.j. ross, channel 7 eyewitness news. >> thank you so much, aj. the man charged with killing a muslim cleric and his associate heads to court in queens today, although a motive for the chilling double murder remains led out of the police precinct in handcuffs. diana rocco has the latest. >> michelle, good morning. the background of oscar morell. he will be on two counts. morell is charged with killing a queens imam and his e assistant. sunday night. the murder weapon and clothes matching the description of the man seen leaving the scene. emanuel and his assistant were they killed on sand. what is believed to be mohr rail running up behind them. a sheffly trailblazer was driven by morell, was seen leaving the scene. many in the community in queens a lot of fear in the community. very rare thing to see a cleric killed, and members of the muslim community have been on edge. >> there's a big show of support within the muslim community at yesterday's funeral as hundreds showed up to memorialize the cleric. morell is charged with criminal possession o a

a.j. ross with more on the program and what students are learning in order to stay safe. a.j. >> reporter: diana, this training is all about empowerment versus being helpless and equipping students with the skills to save their lives and others. for several hours they were here at the public safety training academy going through extreme scenarios. that many say will last a lifetime. when the unthinkable happens, being prepared could mean life or death, which is why kids in morris county are not just learning first aid basics in the classroom, they're being exposed to real-life scenarios. >> it is so realistic. this is great preparation for if it ever happens. >> if there was a scenario in a school or something like that, fact, this is just a small portion of a week- long training where teens from over 30 different schools learn first responder skills through staged scenes like a club shooting, fire and an officer shot during a traffic stop. >> this is a real thing that a kid might have to do in today's society. >> reporter: while some believe the exposure is too much for k