nbc 10's katie zachary is live on the scene working on this story. katie. >> reporter: hi vai. take a look behind me. this is the water main. it's pretty impressive but it is posing a major problem for crews. the water department tells me they had to take a break from trying to repair it because of the freezing conditions making it too dangerous. i'll have more information after the break. >>> i'm jesse gary in burlington county where investigators from the county prosecutor's office did more searching in the case of the missing mother of two children. i'll tell you what they found overnight coming up. >>> how about this. the hardest rock to climb in the world is conquered. but making it to the top was only half the story of this history-making event. >>> this is nbc 10 news. >> and at 6:30 this morning, 11 1/2 hours later and this geyser is still going. we're live in northeast philadelphia where there seems to be no end in sight to this water main break. >>> new developments in the search for a missing mount laurel mother erica crosby. we are digging to find out why police sea

nbc 10's katie zachary live on scene. it's been a wild morning. you were on the scene of a crash that has led to a murder investigation when we told you about this fire breaking there in south philadelphia. what can you tell us now just getting on scene? >> reporter: chris, yeah just moments ago, we got to the scene. here it is behind me a very sad and somber scene out here on the 400 block of daly street in south philadelphia. you can see firefighters are outside the home. they're also inside the home and you can see just how badly charred the home is. so we understand that this fire broke out on the first floor earlier this morning. we heard from fire commissioner derek sawyer who said there were no working smoke detectors in this home. a police officer was the first one to arrive to this fire call. we understand he went inside and tried to save two people who were inside. but he was unable to rescue them. and that police officer was actually injured as well. and he was taken to the hospital this morning with minor injuries. when firefighters go

katy zachary is live in southwest philly where the philadelphia streets department tries to stay ahead of this system. katy, tell us more. >> i'm told things will start getting moving and picking up in about an hour. but well ahead of today's storm, crews were out brining the roadways. brine is a salt water mixture that helps prevent bonding to the roads and this year the streets department plans to brine more often. it's something new they're doing after last winter's back-to-back storms. brine is more environmentally friendly than salt. this year the city is also doubling its capacity to make and store brine. also new this year they're working on technology that would give them live pictures of the city so they can monitor weather conditions from their storm headquarters. right now a group of spotters that go out during local winter weather. >> we have city employees and driving around the city and certain areas. and they evaluate the conditions of the roadways and report the information back to the snow headquarters into management. >> coming up at 6:30 working on a story why saltin

nbc 10's katie zachary is live on the scene. and katie, just in the past 15 minutes, i know you spoke with the fire commissioner what did he have to say? >> reporter: yeah the commissioner was here on scene as he always is when there is a deadly fire. so firefighters are right now removing a bunch of charred debris from inside this home. the fire broke out in the 400 block of daly street specifically 435 daly street. and a police officer was the first on scene. we understand he went in and tried to remove two people who were trapped inside. he was unable to do so and actually received minor injuries trying to do that. firefighters arrived i'm told three minutes after getting the call. and when they got here the front door was open as a result of that police officer going in and trying to remove the two people inside. they put the fire out, i'm told in a pretty timely manner. unfortunately, they were not able to save the two people who were inside when this fire broke out. now, the commissioner earlier did speak to us just about h

katy zachary is live in southwest philadelphia with more on the city's preparation. katy? >> we're outside a salt yard in southwest philadelphia where in just a few hours crews will aand get ready to attack the storm. but ahead of the storm, some things that they did differently this year. one of them is brining. they tell me they are more actively brining the roadways ahead of storms this winter. brine is a saltwater mixture that helps prevent bonding to the roads and it is something new that they're doing after last year's back-to-back storm cycle. brine is more environmentally friendly than salt and this year the city is also doubling its capacity to make and store brine. also new this year they're working on technology that will give them live pictures of parts of the city so they can monitor conditions right now a group of spotters who go out and watt the weather conditions as they affect parts of the city. >> we are seeing employees and driving around the city and certain areas and they evaluate the conditions of the roadways and then report that information back to

katy zachary is live outside matua telling us, katy have we seen any of the money come into the community yet and has it made a difference sph. >> tens of millions of dollars that have come into mantua over the past months. and everyone i spoke to said they're seeing the improvement and a sense of pride in the community that did not exist before. you remember it was one year ago when president obama named the west philadelphia neighborhood as a promise zone. there are only a handful of them around the country. it means the federal government provides tax incentives and grants to help the community tackle poverty and that is especially important because the poverty rate in mantua is double that the rest of the city. in the last year, as i said $30 million has pump under toed into matua. >> i see a lot of improvement. it's like a renewal around here. >> i love the area. i've been here for about two years. i love it now more than when i first got here. >> coming up in the next hour, we look at how the crime rate in matua has been affected. the city tells us that crime over the last two years

. >>> our team coverage continues now in southwest philadelphia with nbc 10 katy zachary. this time this year city crews are using lessons learned from last winter. explain the change in their game plan here. >> chris just a few minutes ago you were talking about the counties pretreating roads. they're brining the roads. this year they tell me they're more actively brining the road. brine is a salt water mixture that is spread on the roadways to help prevent snow and ice from sticking. i'm told that you can brine 72 hours ahead of the storm and it is still eeffective. the streets department here in philadelphia tell me their plan this year is to be more active with broinining and that's especially helpful when weather comes during rush hour. >> it's difficult to salt during rush hour with all the traffic out there. they're spending more time sitting out there in traffic with everybody else versus salting. we thought that we'd go out and brine ahead of time. this would give us a jump start. >> that jump start is something that steve lorenzo tells me he needs. he tells me hi

katy zachary is tracking the progress of a presidential promise this morning. katy? >> chris, that's right. you know one year ago today president obama named the west philadelphia neighborhood as a promise zone. vowing to improve things for the people who live there. we go and ask people have things changed. i'll tell you what they said, coming up. >>> a plan to save students thousands of dollars. there is a big education announcement expected today that could mean free college tuition. parents are all about that. >>> new this morning, bill cosby making light of the rape allegations against him. the warning to women he gave an audience last night. >>> we're following this breaking situation in france. a journalist camera as they follow what is now a hostage situation in the search for the two suspects wanted for wednesday's massacre at the magazine offices. we understand hostages have been taken and shots fired. we're following it all for you live, we're back in a moment. we thought our cable internet was fast. but, our uploads are half the speed of our downloads so

nbc 10's katie zachary is live on scene for us this morning. katie, here we are about nine hours into this water main break. and it's still going. what's going on? >> reporter: yeah and even i think closer to ten hours, chris, that this water has been just shooting into the air. take a look behind me. we are off of grant avenue. and you can see really this geyserlike water shooting just from the ground as you said at the height of it shooting up to 200 feet in the air. the break is on private property. and there are philadelphia police here preventing us from getting any closer. here's what we know according to the philadelphia water department. the line is a fire service connection. it is not a water main supplying customers. it ruptured around 7:00 last night appear i spokespersonfor the water department says they're having trouble shutting off the valve. because of the temperatures, the trees and branches around that water main break are frozen. and those freezing conditions have made it treacherous for water crews to remain out here. so they

nbc 10 katy zachary is live in southwest philadelphia with more. katy? >> in just a few hours crews will arrive in this salt yard and load up their trucks with salt and hit the roads ready to attack this morning's storm. but one of the things they did ahead of today's storm is spray brine on the roadways. brine is a salt water mixture that prevents bonding to the roads and crews started spreading it throughout philadelphia sunday night. i'm told this year they will be spraying brine more often ahead of the storms. now, last year we had already experienced a handful of storms so they learned a lot. new this, the city tells me they're working on technology that would give them live pictures throughout philadelphia so that they can monitor weather conditions and then send out additional plows or salt trucks if needed. now, one thing the streets department did last year is prioritize where they salt and plow. roads around hospitals will get priority like market street and broad street would be plowed first. today because it is a school day and this is expect

nbc 10's katie zachary is live along grant avenue. katie, what's up with this water main break? it's still gushing, huh? >> reporter: yeah, well chris, that's what we asked the water department. take a look behind me. it's really hard to take your eyes off of this water just shooting into the air. i'm told by people standing close to it it's about 200 feet in the air. this break happened on private property. and there are philadelphia police preventing us from getting any closer. but this is what we know. according to the philadelphia water department the line is a fire service connection not a water main that's supplying customers. that's the good news. it has been shooting high into the sky because of the freezing temperatures out here, trees and branches around it are frozen. a spokesperson for the water department says they're having trouble finding the right valve to turn off the broken water main. we have no reports that it's affecting people's water pressure in the area. we are checking back with the philadelphia water department to get an update. i can tell you in the la

reporting from mantua katie zachary, nbc 10 news. >>> protesters target whole foods. they're expected to rally inside of the store in philadelphia today. what they're accusing the popular supermarket chain of doing. that's next. oh i'm on the cookie air diet. you just... and that's it. i prefer real food fruit, nuts, and whole grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. let's get real. we thought our cable internet was fast. but, our uploads are half the speed of our downloads so our internet is really half-fast. so half-fast. someone did a half-fast job posting our vacation pics. stop living with half-fast internet. only verizon fios comes with speedmatch - uploads as fast as downloads. get a fios triple play for just $79.99 a month online for two years and get a $400 bonus with a two year agreement! hurry! it's your last chance. this offer ends january 17th. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v >>> this is "nbc 10 news." >> at 6:23 this morning, here is a l

katie zachary is live following the impact of this morning's snow and preparation for what's ahead, it's going to be a dicey next 36 hours or so. >> it will be. when you walk out the door chris, you will be struck by how cold it is. the temperatures are below freezing here in montgomery county. there's a light coating on the sidewalks and roadways. this road was treated, but you can see there's a light coating of snow. i was walking in it. it's a crunchy snow on the pavement, keep that in mind. it's not that light snow. there is moisture in it. over here in this parking lot, i want to show you the difference between areas that have been traveled over well. this parking lot is under an overhang, under lights and there have been many cars and trucks fueling up. you can see the pavement difference. there's no significant coating of snow like on this road. we are seeing a number of salt trucks, a lot of plows. basically a lot of trucks that added plows to their front end so they can be makeshift plows during the next 36 hours. we are going to stand by and show you the conditions throughout t

reporting live in southwest philadelphia, katy zachary, nbc 10 news. >>> you'll hear us use this term. we issue those nbc 10 first alerts to help you prepare for what's ahead. you can see the weather symbol at the abottom of your screen. >> give you advance warning sews you're not caught off guard when weather hits. you can get important weather and information delivered to your tablet. it is a free download that you can get right now on our website. np np nbc10.com. >>> new information right now on a fire that we told you about in our 4:00 a.m. half hour. we told you about this fire and the last 15 minutes we learned that a next door neighbor was actually taken to the hospital because she breathes in too much smoke. the fire started around 3:00 this morning on south lambert street. a family of four lives inside this home. everyone got out safely. a woman who lived next door was taken to the hospital for breathing and smoke. no word on how that fire started. >>> opening statements begin later this morning in the trial of don tollefson. he is accused of stealing more than $300,000 by s

nbc 10's katie zachary has been on scene for us in south philadelphia for more than an hour now. so katie, we saw commissioner derek sawyer talking earlier. what update can you give us now? >> reporter: well, i can tell you that commissioner sawyer really drove home the fact that people need to have working smoke detectors. he said his firefighters have been throughout this house after the fact. and they have found no working smoke detectors. right now you have firefighters who are investigating the cause and origin of this fire removing a bunch of charred debris. we are on the 400 block of daly street as we go to our video. we had a photographer here not long after the fire call came out. a police officer was the first to respond to this burning home. he went inside and he was actually injured in the process of trying to remove the two people who were in this burning home. he wasn't able to do so and that police officer was taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. i'm told within three minutes, firefighters -- within three minutes of getting the call for this fire, firefig

nbc 10's katie zachary has been finding out how much water has been lost in the ten-plus hours this geyser has been gushing. >>> 5:44 and 29 degrees outside. we're following that story and others across the country and around the world today. nbc 10's vie sikai sikahema is monitoring the news. we have new pictures from inside that paris supermarket where a gunman killed four hostages last week. tell us more. >> yeah the pictures we're about to show you were taken by surveillance cameras as the situation played out. you can see the hostage taker, coulibaly, and several hostages in the pictures. you'll remember he was demanding two brothers responsible for the "charlie hebdo" attack be allowed to walk away from another hostage situation. in turkey there were several small protests against the turkish newspaper that printed cartoons from the latest issue of "charlie hebdo." no, they did not include the cover. meanwhile today, the obama administration will make a move to improve cybersecurity across the country. vice president biden is expected to announce new funding to help train americans i

katy zachary is live in university city and they are seeing changes, but are those changes making a real difference? >> well, vai, that's what i'm being told from the people who live and work there. we spent some time there yesterday. saw the changes first hand and i can tell you one of the most impressive things right now is that you have over 100 groups and organizations all working together to improve things in mantua. step inside reid's coffee and tea house and you'll see how the west philadelphia neighborhood is changing. >> this place in another five years, it's going to be amazing. >> four out of every ten kids live below the poverty level. >> reporter: on its way thanks to a distinction from president obama last year. an area where the federal government proceeds tax incentives and grants to help tackle poverty. >> called the bottom back in the days. so, yeah you know we never really came around this area. >> reporter: but owner george reid and his wife saw potential so they bought in. a year later, he got a federal grant to help run his business thanks to the promise zone. it's

nj.com posted overnight and katy zk zachary is live in our digital operations center where she's following this with reaction. tell us more. >> reporter: we have been showing this video throughout the morning and it is dramatic. this deadly shooting happened very quickly. it took less than two minutes for officers to pull over the car in question and then to fire the deadly shots. here is some of that video. >> show me your hands! don't you [ bleep ] move! >> that is one of the bridgeton new jersey police officers screaming at 36-year-old jerame reid to show his hands and get out of the car. in the audio, you hear police saying there's a gun in the car, the officers tell the two men not to shoot and say, quote, if you reach for something, you will be dead. now, reid was told to get out of thor can, he does and seems to take a step toward the officer. then shots are fired. 36-year-old j,erame reid that you're looking at right now is killed. the local rights activists say it's time for local lawmakers to put into place a bill to hold police better accountable for their actions. the officers

. >>> before you hop in the car, let's check in with katie zachary. >> hi, throughout the area queerl emergency vehicles out there tying things up in the left lane but it's not delaying anything on the turnpike southbound. in gloucester town pike, black horse pike you might be delayed between central and cleveland because there was an accident. >>> we're expecting to hear from health officials in mercer county after two more people tested positive for hepatitis a. the two both ate at rosa's catering. a food handler last week came down with the disease. you can read more about hepatitis on our web site and the cases in mercer county. >>> another update in 25 minutes. i'm christine maddela. now back to "today." >>> 8:30 now on this friday morning, the 2nd day of january, 2015. the year is off to a great start. great crowd on our plaza. holiday week still in a celebrating mood i would say. >> i have to show one sign because of the message. if you can see this then i'm famous. you're famous. >> rachel. >> rachel you are famous. a lot of you preparing to head back to work after having tim