as jeanette reyes explains speak up, save a life aims to change that. demic that devastated the county and the entire state. last year alone the number of the deaths as a result of heroin overdoses could fill this entire auditorium. drug overdoses are on the rise and heroin is leading the way. by far. over 900 people died in the state of maryland as a result of the overdoses by heroin. victims are overwhelmingly white between the ages of 18 and 30. the suburbs are now increasingly familiar with the insidious drug. >> it would be like we wiped out your high school. that is level of the epidemic. >> it's important to know who the friends are and where they are going, what they are doing on friday and saturday night. >> seven years ago a 15-year-old tried heroin for the second time with a friend. this after a rough breakup with her boyfriend. she immediately went into cardiac arrest. her brain went without oxygen for eight long minutes. >> they didn't think i was going to survive. they didn't think i'd make it past the vegetative state. jeanette: e did pull

jeanette reyes has the interview. jeanette: the day that tragedy struck is a nightmare that hasn't ended for freddie rodriguez and his family. he remember driving down chillum with a van full of people on their way to church on sunday. suddenly drivers were pulling over. >> my wife tells me, "freddie, look, that pickup truck is coming our way with its tires on fire." jeanette: the driver of the white pickup slammed into a car and was speeding off in their direction. >> it was just yards away when suddenly i heard an explosion hit the driver's side. jeanette: suddenly, it was inferno what more than a dozen people including his own children ages 6 and 9 trapped inside of the van. he is stoic as he describes the horror. >> the inside of the pickup truck was engulfed in flames. it looked over and his skin was melting off. his ear also fell off. chunks of hair and skin would fall. jeanette: wails and screams of agony and pain fill the van. an elderly woman laid lifeness next to him. >> she slammed into the dashboard. her sa

jeanette reyes shows us the products you should look out for. experts want you to be extra cautious now going in the holiday season. trouble in toy land. a loaded and a frightening title that will get any parent's attention. the 30th annual report warns parents about potential choking hazards for popular toy, as simple as balloons. it found additional hazards around excessively noise toys and magnetic ones, too. not in the report they cover hooverboard a hot product -- hoverboard, a hot product to be dangerous. they have r asking for the safety commission to do further testing. >> our message is clear. we need to do what we can to protect the youngest consumers and the parents and the care-givers should watch out for common hazards. >> i understand that the reports can be frightening. this is a pretty lengthy report. if you would like to look at it ourself you can go to wjla.com. reporting in southeast, jeanette reyes, abc7 news. leon: tonight, here we go. the great thanksgiving get-away is underway. this year it comes with a warning. >> this se

jeanette reyes, abc7 news. jummy: from the metro to the roadways, we want to get a check of things out there right now. let's go to jamie sullivan for that. jamie: we are starting with a live look outside cap not too bad. if you are passing the american legion bridge, inner and outer loop in great shape. nice pace, no delays traveling on the beltway through virginia. as we move through the map, let's focus on the construction project. you will see this traveling from college park on the inner loop. if you have to get closer, 26 miles per hour for about a mile stretch, just because of construction. in the district, no issues right now. 295 is moving well. quite ride moving through georgetown. getting into arlington, client. 66, a little bit of hesitation making her way through falls church. no accident right now. especially if you have to get out and get to work on time. -- e: now we want jummy: now we want to get to the race for the white house. donald trump's radio as player in the early primary state, and dr.

jeannette reyes has more. jeanette says an overwhelming outpouring of support at the french embassy. dozens of bouquets and candles, even bottles of wine. say they areudents touched by this show of solidarity. as frenchan high students stopped by the french embassy to pay their respects. theiroup of teens and teachers landed a day before the attacks. thousands of miles away from home, in a foreign land, they say this is the closest they can get to their country, still reeling from its deadliest attack since world war ii. >> it is difficult to be so far away. i want to thank the americans because we get so much from you. we began 2015 badly. year also very badly. jeaneta secret service officer remained vigilant throughout the weekend and today, officials not taking chances of the possibility tragedy might strike again. us for ad join townhall roundtable. war on terror. we will hear from security and military experts. it will be streamed live on wjla.com. we continue to follow more breaking news out of the district. a wo