when it comes to damage mike meredith says he is grateful. >> a little bit relieved. i mean, my family' s safe. that' s what' s important you know. as long as my wife' s and my dog' s safe, i' m happy. everything can be replaced. it' s just stuff. reporter: people from 12 apartments were pushed out by fire or smoke damage. the red cross is helping those families. no one was injured. natalie clark wlwt news 5. courtis: -- mike: fire departments from springdale, forest park and west chester helped fight the fire. a series of threatening facebook posts from a dater high school student set off safety concerns he even joked about the panic. saying ' look i' m on the news' . wlwt news 5' s andrew setters has the charges and potential consequences the teenager now faces. reporter: the teen suspect appeared in court this morning, but his parents were a no-show. that means the hearing will be held again tomorrow. threats on social media set off concerns about violence today. facebook posts said things like i' m going to be the new osama. nobody come to school tomorrow. and bei

reporter: mike meredith says he was at work. his wife called to tell him their apartment was on fire. >> i didn' t even believe her. i said what? are you serious? reporter: meredith says a loud boom woke his wife. the apartment manager pounded on of the building. a construction crew outside their back door hit a gas line and quickly spread. five apartments were damaged. >> i had to run up to the building and it just, it does, it just, everything you own. i just got a brand new tv yesterday. it' s everything you own. it' s hard. it' s hard to lose everything. reporter: though, they may have lost a lot, meredith says he knows things could have been worse. >> a little bit relieved. i mean, my family' s safe. that' s what' s important you know. as long as my wife' s and my dog' s safe, i' m happy. everything can be replaced. it' s just stuff. reporter: meredith' s dog with his mother, while other pets inside the buiding were removed by an animal control officer. other' s evacuated say despite the damage they too, are thankful. >> i'

meredith: daytona beach police chief mike chitwood is making it official. he' s running for volusia county sheriff. chief chitwood is known to be tough on crime and is never at loss of words when it comes to talking about the bad guys. he says he has a vision for the county, including some programs the police department is already using.

meredith: a central florida trooper plays a major role in a south florida case. this is video of driver mike marcello' has been identified in amber alert for taraji kemp . stephanie augustin was a suspect and was taken into custody. the baby was found abandoned but orlando. the baby was written reunited with her mother. jim: a boy who was sexually assaulted by his basketball coach calls his mother to date her to rescue him. david white had several children spending the night february 14. the alleged victim refused to get off the phone. the report says he woke up with his pants down and david white sitting next to him. >> that' s shocking to me. he didn' jim: document show david white disappeared. he denies any wrongdoing. a man and his girlfriend returned from kentucky. gary bullock jr. and natasha quigley made their first appearance in court today. he allegedly cut off his ankle monitor on work release. investigators say she helped him and they fled with their three-year-old son. bond was set at $10,000, bond for her was tonight. meredith: early voting is now underway for the primary. most

jim: mike kennedy will be back in front of a judge april 8. a totally separate hearing april 28. meredith: a bill legalizing full-strength marijuana for the state' s terminally ill patients could be heading for governor scott' s desk as early as monday. that' s when the state senate is slated to vote on the bill. the full house approved it yesterday. this bill revamps a 2014 measure that allowed limited types of medical marijuana. no one has ever benefitted from department of health and nurseries. soon people in volusia county may not go to jail if they' re caught with marijuana. council members passed an ordinance which gives law enforcement flexibility to fine people caught with 20 grams of marijuana or less. if you' re caught, police could just give you a citation instead of arresting you. it goes into affect on april 1st, but only applies to un-incorporated volusia county and the beach. jim: altamonte springs is teaming up with uber to help make it cheaper for residents to get around the city. the two organizations confirm today what we first reported last night. the city will use old

meredith: a tampa area man visiting daytona beach for bike week says someone stole his beloved pet parrot while he was on main street saturday night. mike mularz is plastering the city with flyers asking for information about his macaw named spyke who has been by his side for 22 years. spyke goes everywhere with mularz, either perched on his shoulder, or riding on his motorcycle, on a special stand. spyke, who is a female, won' t budge but witnesses told her owner they saw someone described as a transient, snatch her while he was listening to music across the street she is my life, it' s been really hard. she' s like family? she is my family mularz is offering a reward and just wants his bird back no questions asked. meredith: spring break is a time when the spring breakers escape from the stress. see what they are doing to daytona beach. and problems at the polls. why an election supervisor is asking to extend voting hours. just how close this fire got to businesses. tony: we are also watching the heat today. we' jim: ballot shortages led elected supervisor to as governor scott to extend voting by an hour. bob kealing joins us live wer

meredith. >> we've got. we see this all the time in our copy. we've got, i have got. >> we have kevin mccarthey on the line and he is our movie reviewer. >> good morning mike, alex and. >> good morning. >> i was riveted by discussion because your and you're thing is something i'm fascinated by. everyone gets that wrong. they will say kevin, you're stupid but they will use your. i'll respond and correct their grammar with the retweet. no, you're the idiot. >> right. >> hey kevin. >> you're getting it wrong. >> we haddon our show last week the woman that whiskey, tango fox trot it is based on her life. the it is really fascinating. >> her name is kim parker. the interview, she is so fascinating because movie itself, they had not change her name to kim baker because they removed r because writers had to fictional ice a lot what was going on in the movie. it is still based on her story, book, she was a war correspondent, in afghanistan but movie focuses on teen fey playing her in the movie and, the will wolf of wall street and leo nard or dicaprio, alfred molina. i was expecting an oh, yeah from you. i was waiting for the. i was going to pause and wait for it. the she's

mike chitwood announced he' s running for volusia county sheriff. >> we want to increase technology. we want to encourage more community partnerships. we want to talk about change, innovation, change technology and transparency . meredith: today, chitwood laid out his vision for the sheriff' s office. his decision may have come as a surprise to some. earlier this year, chitwood said he would not run. the outspoken crime fighting chief joins an already crowded field of seven, including chief deputy sheriff eric dietrich, who retiring sheriff ben johnson has endorsed, and sheriff' s support from some deputies in the department. summer: we have another i-4 ultimate ramp closure coming this week which could affect your commute out of downtown orlando. there is a temporary ramp being built blocks away to take its place. here' s wesh 2' s bob kealing with more on the when and where. bob: for nearly 200,000 motorists who travel i-4 downtown day in and day out, an upcoming on-ramp closure could affect you. if you are used to dropping on the -- jumping on the 408 will be closed down, and this temporary on ramp will take it' s place four blocks away off division street. that' s the update orlando city council members heard today