Firefighters battled a raging fire at a Jersey City Islamic center early Friday.
The fire erupted in the Al Tawheed Islamic Center on West Side Avenue.
There was no immediate word about injuries or what started the fire.
A veteran fire captain who was planning his retirement died early Friday when he fell off the roof of a burning restaurant in New Jersey where his two firefighter sons were battling the same blaze, officials said.
Gregory Barnas, 57, was cutting a hole in the roof of the Akasaka restaurant on Paterson Avenue in Wallington when he fell, according to Wallington Fire Commissioner Mark Tomko. It's not clear what caused him to fall.
Barnas was a 29-year veteran with the Jersey City Fire Department, where he rose to the rank of captain. On Friday he was responding with the Wallington Fire Department, where he volunteered.
Barnas' two sons, John and Kevin, were also fighting the fire, authorities said.
"I can’t even think of the words to express our sorrow,” Tomko said. “Our department is deeply hurt.”
Barnas had been a volunteer firefighter with the Wallington Fire Department since 1972, and was the department’s chief in 1997, Tomko said.
"If there was a no-nonsense person that did the job the way a firefighter's supposed to do the job, that was Barney," said Tomko, referring to Barnas by his nickname.
His cousin said he was a devoted father and husband, and an experienced firefighter.
"He was always dedicated ... he says he was going to retire in a couple years," the relative said.
The fire broke out about 1:30 a.m. on Friday and at a point went to two alarms.
Tomko said the blaze is under investigation.
In what Philadelphia neighborhood will a pizza pie cost you the most dough? How about the least?
The answers might surprise you.
A recent study released by NPR’s Planet Money takes a look at the price of pizza in more than 200 neighborhoods in five major cities including nearly 60 Philadelphia neighborhoods from South Philly to the Great Northeast.
Philly’s Graduate Hospital neighborhood where a plain cheese pizza costs nearly $15 came out on top – that’s nearly one dollar more than a pizza pie costs in Cheltenham -- the second most expensive neighborhood. Center City ($13), Chinatown ($13) and Rittenhouse Square ($12.75) round out the Top 5.
Two factors could have played into the cost of pizza in the Graduate Hospital area. First of all, the neighborhood has no chain pizza places, which traditionally offer deep discounts. And then there is the hefty price of Lazaro’s $18 Jumbo 26-inch pie, which drives up the average price in a neighborhood that has fewer than five pizza joints.
NPR’s Quoctrung Bui points out that even though bigger pizza costs more it’s actually a far better value – a 16-inch pizza is equal in size to four 8-inch pizzas. That makes it easier to defend the So just imagine the value of a 26-inch pizza.
On the other end of the pizza price index is Southwest Philly's Elmwood neighborhood where a pizza costs about $7.50. Oak Lane came in second-cheapest with just slightly more expensive pizza.
The study used data supplied by Grubhub Seamless to find the median price of all cheese pizzas. The report doesn’t take into account the size of a pizza but does reveal the general number of pizza places that helped make up the neighborhood’s median pizza price.
Philly’s Roxborough/Manayunk neighborhood joined South Philly and North Philly/Oak Lane as neighborhoods with the most pizza places. Fairmount, Torresdale, Olney, Fishtown, Southwark and Old City is where you will find the fewest choices for pie.
And for anyone outraged at the cost of pizza in Philly, just be glad you don’t live in Midtown Manhattan where a pizza costs $23.
Follow Dan Stamm on Twitter and feel free to e-mail any story ideas.
A South Jersey middle school and high school were put on lockdown this morning for the report of a gun in one of the schools.
School officials put Middle Township Middle School and Middle Township High School in Cape May Court House on lockdown shortly after students arrived Friday.
Middle Township Police responded to the scene where they say a student had a gun in a backpack.
The student was quickly identified and retained. Police didn't immediately release the student's name.
Cape May County prosecutors told NBC10 that the reported gun turned out to be an airsoft gun. An airsoft gun is a replica firearm that normally fires pellets using compressed air or gas.
The lockdown was lifted after about an hour and school continued as normal.
Click here for more news from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.
SkyForce10 was over the scene of a rescue aboard a ship in Bucks County.
Emergency officials tell NBC10 that a man fell 25-feet down the hatch of a ship on the Delaware River on Bordentown Road in Falls Township.
Rescue crews were able to safely lift the man from the hatch. He was promptly put in an ambulance and rushed to an area hospital.
No word on his condition.
Check back with NBC10.com for updates.
March will begin with a lot of white as a major snowstorm makes its way to the region this weekend. By the time it moves out Monday evening, the storm could drop up to a foot of snow in some parts of the area.
NBC10 First Alert Chief Meteorologist Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz says the large storm system, which is currently over California, will race across the country over the weekend. The storm’s outer edge will be arriving in the northern and western suburbs by Sunday afternoon, he says.
“It’s going to start off kind of tame. Sunday afternoon temperatures will be well above freezing. It might start as a little rain, if there’s a little sleet, that would be melting too, but as the night goes on, conditions go downhill and we start to see the transition from sleet then snow,” Hurricane says.
Temperatures will fall from the upper 40 degrees into the 20s as the storm moves in helping to keep the precipitation either snow or ice for most.
MISERABLE MONDAY
As the temperatures drop with the storm’s arrival, the precipitation will transition from rain to sleet and then to snow. That snow is expected to come down heavily at times and last for many hours.
“Anything that falls during the day Monday is all snow,” Hurricane says. “I think the weather will be bad enough Monday morning that people won’t be doing a lot of traveling.”
Hurricane expects Monday to be a snow day for most and urges anyone who have unbreakable plans that morning to make arrangements because traveling will be tough.
“If you have to go somewhere Monday morning, it may not be safe to do it,” he said. “So people need to think now about what kind of alternate plans they can make.”
EXPECTED ACCUMULATIONS
Here’s how the accumulations are expected to shake out from this March snowstorm:
The Lehigh Valley, Poconos and Northern and Western Pa. Suburbs
8-12 inches of snow
Philadelphia, South Jersey and Northern Delaware
6-10 inches of snow
The Jersey Shore and Central and Southern Delaware
4-8 inches of snow
THE STORM TIMELINE
SUNDAY
Afternoon -- Snow and ice to the far north and west; some rain further east
Evening – Snow and ice spreads to the south and east
MONDAY
Midnight to 6 a.m. – Snow increasing across the area
6 a.m. to 8 p.m. – Snowstorm in full effect; Icy mix to the south and east
The snow will taper off in stages across the region Monday evening as the storm moves out of the region, according to Hurricane. Behind the storm will be very cold air for the next few days. Hurricane says that will prevent melting.
NBC10.com and the NBC10 First Alert Weather Team will continue to update you with the latest information as it becomes available. Continue to check back here and NBC10 News on TV.
Dawa Aden has navigated the cobblestone-covered streets of Philadelphia in a Yellow Cab for the past 15 years. Despite working 12 hour shifts up to six days a week, the 59-year-old father of five did not have health insurance.
"I couldn’t qualify," said Aden, who didn’t have paystubs for the applications since taxi drivers collect an all cash income. "If I’m sick, where will I go?”
But the days of hoping illnesses go away on their own are over for Aden. He enrolled in the Affordable Care Act in January during a session held at the offices of the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania (TWA).
"My mind is free now,” he said. "My big happiness is to get insurance.”
About 80 percent of the nearly 5,000 taxi drivers in the city did not have insurance prior to the Affordable Care Act going into effect, said Ronald Blount, president of the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance of Pennsylvania.
"They were pretty much on their own," he said. "If a driver was hit by a drunk driver, the taxi auto insurance doesn’t cover the driver.”
"They’d be stuck with big medical bills,” added Blount, who said many drivers are plagued by “silent killers” like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol since many eat while on the go and are sitting for most of the day.
In an effort to enroll as many cabbies as possible, the TWA teamed up with two nonprofits focused on health care, Healthy Philadelphia and Get Covered America, to hold regular enrollment and information sessions.
"Our strategy is trying to be where people are,” said Bill England, the Pennsylvania state director for Get Covered America, which provides education and outreach to those without insurance or people who are unhappy with their current coverage. “We are trying to reach out to low-income, working individuals who have no benefits.”
"It is a very complex law,” England said. "We try to explain it in very straightforward terms, provide information about how everything works and what information they need to meet with the enrollment assistor.”
In December, the nonprofit began targeting cab drivers in Philadelphia, a strategy that has spread throughout the country.
“They actually announce it over the radio so the guys driving know they can come back to the office for the session,” England said.
Despite the efforts, there are still challenges when enrolling the drivers. About 95 percent of the cabbies, who are all American citizens, are first-generation immigrants so there can be a language barrier, Blount said.
“Some of these folks may have grown up in a culture that is not as engrained in technology [as the U.S.],” England added.
An email address is required so the 60 to 90 minute enrollment process often starts with creating one, Blount said.
In the three months since the organizations began working together, more than 400 TWA members and 300 non-members submitted health insurance applications during the meetings, he said.
"One of the first things that I hear once we sign them up and pick a plan," he said, "they hug me and say ‘Ron, this is the first time in my life I’ve had health insurance’ and that’s a beautiful thing.”
Blount encourages anyone interested in obtaining health insurance through the Affordable Care Act to attend the sessions, which will continue to take place at the TWA office at 4233 Chestnut St. every Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m. until open enrollment ends March 31.
The next open enrollment period begins Nov. 15 for coverage beginning in 2015.
“Anything can happen to you between March and 2015,” Blount warns. “So please take advantage of this.”
You can find additional events hosted by Get Enrolled America throughout the area on its website.
More than 150,000 people under the age of 64 in Philadelphia are still uninsured, according to the latest data from Get Covered America.
England says, "The footrace is on to try to get people to understand the law and enrolled."
Contact Alison Burdo at 610.668.5635, alison.burdo@nbcuni.com or follow @NewsBurd on Twitter.
Philadelphia is dealing with a multimillion dollar tax revenue shortfall.
In his monthly economic report, Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz revealed the city is down $16.5 million below projections for the current fiscal year. Contributing to the shortfall were a lower number of city wage tax revenue, sales tax and real estate taxes, Butkovitz said.
The report also found the drop in real estate could be attributed to a decline in home sales over the month of January.
During the month, 719 homes were sold across the city – a 8.5 percent drop, according to the controller.
The highest number of homes were sold in South Philadelphia followed by Fishtown and parts of the Lower Northeast.
A devastating fire in a Delaware County town has claimed the lives of nearly a dozen dogs.
Two adult dogs and eight puppies couldn't escape the flames burning through three rowhomes along the 1100 block of Thomas Street in Chester, Pa. on Friday evening, Chester fire officials tell NBC10.
The Chester Fire Department said the fire, which began around 5 p.m., quickly spread from one of the homes into two others and grew to two alarms. The entire block was evacuated as a precaution.
Crews were finally able to get the fire under control around 6:30 p.m.
No people were hurt, but a family of three have been displaced.
The American Red Cross said they are assisting that family with food, water, clothing and shoes.
The breed of the dogs was not immediately known.
The Chester Fire Department has not yet determined a cause for the fire. The investigation continues.
Students are on alert at West Chester University after an undergraduate was held up at gunpoint inside the school's student union.
The robber, believed to be in his 30s, was captured on surveillance video entering the Sykes Student Union around 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, West Chester Public Safety confirmed to NBC10. The student union is located off of Rosedale Avenue in West Chester, Chester County, Pa.
The man approached the student, who had just used an ATM inside the building, revealed a handgun tucked into his pants and demanded cash, officials said.
The student gave up an undetermined amount of money and the man fled. The student was not hurt.
On campus Friday night, other students called the crime unusual for the area and said they'd be keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious.
"It's crazy that something like that would happen," Derek Dean said. "You've just got to be more careful, watch your back and I hope they catch who ever it was that mugged him."
Ayonna Johnson, who was visiting a friend, said there was extra care taken when she arrived at the bus stop.
"When I came to visit my friend, she made sure she was at the bus stop so I wouldn't be alone because I got here pretty late, it was dark, so she didn't want anything happening to me," she said.
The suspect is described as about 6-feet tall and was wearing a black leather coat and black scarf.
Anyone with information is asked to call West Chester University's Department of Public Safety at 610.436.3311
