Firefighters responded to a hazmat situation at a city warehouse this morning that left a worker hospitalized.

Nitric acid splashed in the face of a worker at a electroplating production facility along the 5100 block of Comly in Northeast Philadelphia’s Tacony neighborhood around 5:30 a.m. Friday, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department.

According to first responders, about 30 gallons of acid leaked from a 55-gallon drum inside Hillock Anodizing Inc.'s two-story building.

An initial investigation revealed that workers were moving the drum when a hose on top of it came loose, splashing an employee in the face.

The unidentified worker was transported to the hospital in stable condition.

Nitric acid is a highly-corrosive liquid that is commonly found in fertilizers and explosives. In this case it was being used to put chrome on bumpers, according to firefighters.

Crews entered the building and contained the leaking acid.

It took firefighters less than one hour to contain the leak.

The fire marshal remained on the scene to continue the investigation.

The driver of a school van died in a multi-vehicle crash this morning that was possibly caused by fog.

A school van with a student on board collided with a tractor-trailer and black sedan at the intersection of Harding Road (U.S. Route 40) and Newkirk Station Road in Upper Pittsgrove, N.J. around 7:40 a.m. Friday, according to New Jersey State Police.

The driver of the CJ Bus Service van died. She was later identified as Deborah Thomas, 58, of Pittsgrove. 

The student on board was taken to Cooper University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

Police said the van was headed to the Pineland Learning Center. The serves kids with "behavioral, social, emotional or academic challenges," according to its website.

The crash left the red school transport van and the front-end of the big rig visibly damaged. Some diesel fuel spilled onto the ground and hindered cleanup delays.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation but county prosecutors told NBC10.com that dense fog possibly caused the crash.

It wasn't clear where the school van was headed.

Route 40 was closed in both directions at Newkirk Station Road for hours. Monroeville Road could be used as an alternate, according to NBC10’s Jillian Mele.

Crews battled a blaze in a South Philadelphia apartment building that holds a popular restaurant Friday morning.

The fire broke out around 6:45 a.m. in a four-story building on the 700 block of South 11th Street where Hawthorne's Cafe is located, according to reports.

All of the building's eight residents were able to escape the burning building to safety.

"We don't know what's going on," said Ashley McGinnis, a resident in the property.

"We are safe, but it's scary," said Kelly Lazor, who also lives in the building.

It took crews nearly two hours to get the flames under control, according to officials.

"It was a little bit challenging that they had multiple roofs from the property being renovated," said Deputy Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer. "There wasn't just one roof. So that's what made it difficult to get to the fire initially."

The fire was on the upper floors and the roof of the building, according to crews on the scene.

The ground-floor restaurant suffered serious water damage and will remain closed for an unknown period of time.

Hawthorne'sCafe  responded to concerns from their customers on social media: 

Everyone is safe thankfully and THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONCERN! We WILL be back, better than ever! We promise you! #LikeAPhoenix

— Hawthornes Beer Cafe (@HawthorneCafe) February 21, 2014

The American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania is assisting the displaced residents.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

More patients have come forward with allegations that a Bucks County psychiatrist inappropriately touched them during treatment.

Five additional victims informed authorities that 42-year-old Dr. Basem Shlewiet of the 3600 block of Green Ridge Road in Furlong, Pa. fondled them, according to reports.

The new information led police to charge Shlewiet, who was accused of similar contact in January, with an additional 10 counts of indecent assault.

Police arrested the doctor on Jan. 23 after three other victims told them the doctor touched them inappropriately in his Doylestown office.

A fire tore through a four-story building home to a popular Philadelphia restaurant, Hawthorne's Cafe, Friday morning.

The blaze was in the upper floors and roof of the property on 11th and Fitzwater streets in the Bella Vista section of the city.

Eight residents occupied the apartments affected by the fire and the American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania is assisting them.

The cafe sustained significant water damage causing food lovers to react on social media.
 

A 30-year-old Berks County teacher is in big trouble for allegedly having sex with one of her 7th grade students.

Jessica Saienni, 30, a teacher at Southwest Middle School, turned herself into the Berks County Detectives Friday morning, after an investigation into accusations that she carried on a three-month-long sexual relationship with one of her 14-year-old science students.

In a criminal complaint, the boy told police that his relationship with his teacher began in June, around the time of the his 14th birthday, and continued through August. In that time, he says, the two had sex in her car and multiple times at her former home on 3rd Street in Bethlehem Township. He also alleges that the woman sent him photos of her breasts and vagina while reminding him to keep their relationship to himself.

The accused teacher resigned from her position last month, before criminal charges were filed. A warrant was issued for her arrest Thursday and she was arraigned after surrending to detectives Friday morning. She was released on $50,000 bail.

Saienni is the estranged wife of the son of Bethlehem Police Chief Mark Diluzio. Her husband, police officer Michael DiLuzio filed for divorce less than four hours after a detective served a search warrant at the couple's house.

"We're just as shocked as anyone else," the elder DiLuzio told the Morning Call. "This is between her and the authorities in Berks County."

Saienni is facing mutliple charges including Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse and Corruption of Minors.
 

What happens when stink bugs meet with the extreme cold temperatures of the Polar Vortex?

They die.

According to a recent experiment by a Virginia Tech entomology professor, this winter may prove too harsh for the invasive insects to survive, and that might affect how many of them resurface in the spring.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Entomologist Tracy Leskey said the insects, known as halyomorpha halys or brown marmorated stink bugs typically hibernate or 'overwinterize' in people's homes during winter months.

"When the bugs overwinterize, what they're doing is seeking sheltered locations where they can sit in a state of diapause until spring. They do seek specific places, under the siding of someone's house, or in an attic or shed," Leskey said.

The insects make their presence known through the sporadic release of a pungent odor.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in addition to being a household nuisance, stink bugs pose a major economic threat to producers of all kinds of crops, including grapes, apples, peaches, pears, citrus fruits, cherries, raspberries, green beans, soybeans, and cotton.

In January, when Virginia Tech entomology professor Thomas Kuhar placed hundreds of stink bugs in simulated winter weather conditions, he found that when the bugs were exposed to freezing and subfreezing temperatures for extended periods of time, 95-percent of them died.

The experiment results cause one to wonder if the Polar Vortex, which is scheduled to send another blast of subfreezing air to the east coast next week, will effect how many stink bugs  survive the winter, go on to breed and wreak havoc on Pa. farmers' crops later this year.

Assistant Professor of Entomology at Penn State University, John Tooker, said the results of Kuhar's research could predict a decreased presence of stink bugs.

"It provides some support for other research that says that at an average winter temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit, you should expect to see about a 31-percent mortality rate among overwintering adult stink bugs. If you drop that temperature from 39 degrees to say 20 degrees, you would expect to see that mortality rate increase," Tooker said.

"It is a reasonable hypothesis to make, that if there's a higher mortality in winter, then you would expect to see a smaller population out there in the spring and summer months."

According to Leskey, stink bugs are no strangers to cold weather. They originally hail from countries in Asia where temperatures typically hover around 20 degrees during winter months.

"These insects evolved in a location where they have cold temperatures and they have built-in mechanisms to deal with cold temperatures. So, they're pretty smart in the way that they evolve to survive the cold," Leskey said.

For Leskey, Kuhar's experiment indicates that there may be an exact temperature that proves to be deadly for stink bugs.

"Tom's data shows us that under certain conditions you could see the death of stink bugs. We have to research to find out what is that lethal temperature that causes them to die," she said.

According to Leskey, the Department of Agriculture has conducted similar research of stink bugs in winter weather conditions, and so far, they haven't seen drastic mortality rates like the ones seen in Kuhar's experiment.

Leskey said she's less confident that higher mortality rates during the winter will significantly change the number of stink bugs seen in warmer months.

"We've been going out and sampling locations that the bugs would have actually chosen and we haven’t seen a major impact so far. Were seeing what we would typically see. In the places where you typically find them, were seeing the normal mortality," she said. "Overall I don’t think people are going to see a big difference."

Tooker said he's holding out hope.

"There is a possibility that we could see less stink bugs," Tooker said. "I think it's okay to hope that that will be the case."

The temperature warm-up and snow meltdown may have contributed to a string of water main breaks across the City of Philadelphia on Friday.

The largest of 10 active water main breaks in the city occurred on the 1300 block of N. Wanamaker St. in West Philadelphia, where a sinkhole opened up on a flooded street, nearly swallowing a city garbage truck.

"I could feel the pipes rumbling beneath my feet and the ground shaking," resident Zahir Yancey said as he described the moments before the hole opened up.

"It looks like a cave. I've never seen anything like that in my life, it's absurd," he said.

Gladys Holliday, who also lives on the block, says she saw the entire incident unfold.

"This morning around six you could hear the water running down the street and then it's like, with little creases, you could see the water coming up," she said.

"He (the garbage truck driver) got right here and then boom, he went down, water came gooshing out and the man jumped out. It seems like the truck was sinking down more and more."

NBC10 was on the scene as tow vehicles came to pull the garbage truck from the street, leaving a gaping hole of crumbled asphalt, mud and water.

Several residents have been left without water or gas while the break is being repaired.

"The gas company came and shut off our gas to make sure everything wouldn't blow up. Our gas is off, water off, it's cold. We don't really have too many places to go," Yancey said.

The man says he and neighbors tried to warn the city something bad was going to happen. He says they called 911 and 311 several times since yesterday. The city did respond to turn off  the water, but that came after the road caved.

A city spokesperson said they didn't get the first complaint until 8 a.m. on Friday.

According to residents, this is the second water main break that they've seen on their street this winter.

A Philadelphia Water Department spokesperson says crews have responded to 300 water main breaks across the city since January 1, 2014. Officials say crews are working overtime and that the extreme cold has caused the numbers to jump.

An elderly Camden County woman, who had her face duct taped over during a home invasion, was able to signal for help using a flashlight.

An intruder broke into the 93-year-old woman's home along the unit block of Fairmount Avenue in Lindenwold, N.J. between 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Friday morning, according to the Camden County Prosecutors Office.

Once inside, the man duct taped her eyes shut and also taped over her mouth. Prosecutors say he then cut the home's phone line and barricaded the hallway so she couldn't escape. The man then pillaged the home, stealing cash and a bank book.

After the man fled, prosecutors say the woman was able to pull the tape off of her eyes and find a flashlight. She placed the light in the window and turned on its strobe setting.

A neighbor saw the light several hours later, around 7:30 a.m., and called police.

The woman was taken to Virtua Hospital in Berlin, N.J. with minor injuries.

Officials are asking anyone with information to call prosecutors at 856.225.8585 or Lindenwold Police at 856.784.7566.

Like most places, there’s a mountain of snow piled up outside Montgomery County restaurant Gimaro Seafood and Steaks.

Only Mother Nature knows exactly when the mound will melt away. But if you have an inside line on the date, it could earn you free beer for the rest of the year.

Chris Gimaro, owner of the Montgomeryville, Pa. restaurant, is offering anyone who correctly guesses the day the snow disappears from his parking lot, a beer a day for the rest of the year.

“I have gigantic snow pile like everyone else does. So I figure why not try and have some fun with it,” he said.

There’s a few things you need to do to be eligible: Like the restaurant’s Facebook page, share the Facebook status update about the contest, tag yourself in the photo on that status, be 21 or older and, of course, guess the correct date. If multiple people guess the correct date, one winner will be chosen, Gimaro says.

“Let’s just day it’s March 19 that the snow is gone, and then two people guessed that day, I’ll put both names in a hat and whoever I pick will win,” he said.

Gimaro says he has more than 20 beers on tap, including several locally-brewed Pennsylvania craft brews, and that none will be off the table for the winner. But they will be limited to one free beer a day.

“At the end of the day, A it’s going to be fun and B it’s going to drive business,” he said adding that with the number of chain restaurants in the suburbs, contests like this are few and far between.

“Life blows anymore. Nobody wants to have fun," he said.

All guesses must be entered by March 3.

Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.

Road crews in Pennsylvania will be out in force this weekend working to rid the roadways of potholes.

PennDOT says they will have as many has 35 road crews filling in the flat-tire producing ditches on Saturday and Sunday.

"We're going to take advantage of temperatures being in the 50 degree range," said PennDOT spokesman Gene Blaum.

The warmer temperatures and lack or rain are important, Blaum says, because it allows crews to do so-called 'hot patches' -- filling potholes with hot asphalt.

"The use of hot asphalt helps make a permanent repair. We use the hot asphalt, we roll it, we seal that particular damaged area of pavement," he said.

Since temperatures have been hovering around freezing or colder for the past few weeks, road crews have been forced to use cold asphalt to temporarily fill the gaping holes.

Despite the crew's hard work, these 'cold patches' quickly revert back to potholes say residents who witness the evolution.

"They come out early in the morning, and then you have all kinds of traffic coming through all day, driving on them, and they're only sinking right back in," said Manayunk resident Diane Berry.

Blaum says crews working this weekend will be focusing on trying to even out the deepest ditches and potholes on the most heavily traveled roads.

As for paying for the repairs, the agency has money set aside in it's budget. PennDOT has a $2.5 million fund dedicated to pothole eradication.

Have a pothole in your neighborhood or along your commute, click here to find out how to report it.

Questions still remain as to what killed a young mother who was found dead in the passenger seat of her car along a Philadelphia street nearly two weeks after she went missing.

An autopsy was performed on 22-year-old Nadia Malik on Friday, but the Philadelphia Medical Examiner said her cause of death is still pending as they await further testing. Officials say there were no obvious signs of trauma and are waiting for the results of additional tests, including toxicology that could take another six to eight weeks to obtain.

The Delaware County woman's body was found inside her black Nissan along S. 30th Street on Thursday. She was reported missing by her family 12 days before on Feb. 9.

Parking enforcement officers had posted several parking tickets on the car and it was even towed from another location at one point because of a snow emergency. Questioned why Malik's body went unnoticed for so long, police say the car has tinted windows and was covered in snow.

Sources tell NBC10 several pill bottles were found inside the car, some of which contained antibiotics prescribed to Malik's ex-boyfriend Bhupinder Singh.

The 25-year-old was the last one to see the woman alive and was found in Ohio, which is where his parent's live, after authorities pinged Malik's cell phone, police said. Singh had the phone on him when he was found, according to authorities.

Singh, who has not been identified as a suspect in case, was arrested for violating his probation by leaving Pennsylvania. At the time of his arrest, the man had a black eye and scratches on his face, police said. He allegedly told investigators Malik inflicted those wounds on him, but said he had no idea where she could be.

The man also allegedly showed detectives two Greyhound bus tickets -- one to New York City and another to Washington, D.C. -- showing he traveled to those cities during the time Malik was missing.

Authorities are working to bring the ex-boyfriend back to the area. He will arrive at Delaware County Prison on Feb. 27, according to officials.

Malik and Singh had three children together, one of which died as a baby under suspicious circumstances, according to Delaware County authorities.

Delaware County detectives plan to re-examine the baby's death, officials say, over concerns about the child's care. The other two children are in the custody of Malik's family.

A fire tore through a South Philadelphia Warehouse Saturday morning.

Crews from three different fire departments were at the auto parts warehouse on the 1400-block of Darien Street working to put out the one-alarm fire.

The blaze broke out just before 5 a.m. and was under control about two hours later, although flames could be scene shooting out of the building shortly before the fire was out.

"Originally it started out that you could only see smoke -- and there was a lot of smoke," a nearby resident told NBC10. "But afterwards, you could see the flames coming out."

No one was injured in the fire.

Two bodies were found inside a burning car in the city's Frankford section early Saturday morning.

Fightfighters were called to the 4600-block of Trenton Avenue around 4 a.m. for reports of a car on fire. Upon further investigation, they discovered two bodies burning inside.

Police and homicide when then called to the scene.

The bodies, police say, were burned beyond recognition.

We'll update you as details become available.