A fast-moving 7-alarm fire, fanned by strong ocean winds, burned million dollar homes to the ground and damaged nearly a dozen others in Sea Isle City, N.J. on Good Friday.

• GALLERY: Sea Isle City Beachfront Homes Burn

As the rubble smoldered Saturday morning, crews returned to the 7800 block of Pleasure Avenue at the beach to put out some hot spots.

Flames began to flicker around 4 p.m. Friday and quickly spread to a total of three structures sharing the same lot, city officials said. In total five homes were consumed.

"It was just amazing how fast the first house went up in flames," said witness Daniel O'Connell, who is staying on the island with his family for the Easter holiday. "I followed the smell [of smoke] and speeding police cars to the house where there was just a small amount of smoke coming out of the basement of one of the houses."

Within minutes, however, O'Connell said the fire simply erupted.

"The police were attempting to put out the fire with fire extinguishers, but at that time it was too late," the 15-year-old Jenkintown, Pa.-native told NBC10.com. "The house started pouring black smoke out of the basement, so I rode around the block [on my bike] to get up wind of the fire and out of the smoke. From here, I could see the flames erupting and traveling up the house."

The structures were side-by-side townhouses, each about 2,000 square feet, according to Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio. According to data on the real estate website Zillow.com, the beachfront homes were listed for more than $2 million.

"The wind was blowing hard from the beach, going towards the bay," said Loretta Giello, who has a summer home on 85th Street. "And I kept hearing sirens and sirens, and I saw so much black smoke that I started to run down there to see what was happening."

NBC10 First Alert Weather Meteorologist Sheena Parveen said onshore winds were gusting near 15 to 20 mph at the time of the fire, which is pretty typical.

Giello said multiple fire engines have responded from different shore towns but that Sea Isle City is not as easy to access because the bridge coming in from Avalon is closed.

"So the fire trucks had to go all the way down Route 9, or the Parkway, until they get into Sea Isle and that's another 15 or 20 minutes," Giello said. Mayor Desiderio said however, he did not think the bridge being out affected response time.

Cape May County fire dispatch radio, posted to YouTube, shows the first call went out at 4:27 p.m. and that the Sea Isle Fire Department requested mutual aid from nearby fire departments about five minutes into the response, before Sea Isle crews were on scene.

A total of 14 fire companies from up and down the Jersey Shore responded to the blaze, fire officials said.

Mayor Desiderio said there were no injuries, but that 11 nearby homes were also damaged due to the intense heat from the fire. He said the homes that burned are vacation homes, not year-round homes.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Sea Isle City is a small Cape May County city of around 2,000 year-round residents that swells in the summers when vacationers flock to its beaches. But like much of the Jersey Shore, it was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

That storm damage cost the city an amusement park just this year, when the owner of Gillian's Funland said the severely damaged park would have to close.

A drunk driver seriously injured a New Jersey police officer in a highway crash early Saturday, officials say, and he fled the scene before being apprehended.

Michael Ettz, 36, allegedly hit Bergen County Officer Daniel Breslin while Breslin was in his patrol car on Route 46 in Lodi at around 2a .m., according to authorities.

Breslin had pulled over to help a colleague who was having trouble with his police radio, officials said, and impact of the crash was so intense that he was trapped inside his car with head injuries and broken bones.

Ettz, who investigators say is a high school math teacher, allegedly fled by foot through a nearby residential area and was later picked up by police, officials said.

Breslin was in critical condition following the crash.

Information on a lawyer for Ettz was not immediately available.

Police in suburban Philadelphia rushed to the scene of a hit-and-run this morning to find a bloodied man and a crashed sports utility vehicle that appeared to have been intentionally used to run down the victim.

The scene played out just before 5:30 a.m. along the 900 block of Bedford Avenue in Collingdale, Delaware County, Pa.

According to Collingdale Police a Range Rover rammed into a parked white Cadillac as the driver got in or out of his vehicle.

The SUV ended up crashed into a nearby Chrysler 300 – no driver in sight.

The victim managed to stumble onto a nearby lawn where he collapsed. Medics tended to the victim and took him to Crozer-Chester Medical Center for treatment for severe head injuries as well as lower body injuries, according to police.

As the victim underwent surgery Saturday morning, police talked to witnesses at the scene.

Those witnesses, along with the victim himself, told police that it appeared the SUV was lying in wait for the victim. Once the man was out of the car, the driver used the SUV as a battering ram, witnesses said.

That’s when the driver of the Range Rover hopped out and into a waiting SUV driven by another person. Police said that second SUV was a light color blue and carried a man and a woman away from the scene.

Police didn’t release any further details about possible suspects in the case.

The rampage left the front and rear driver side doors of the Cadillac damaged, according to police.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Collingdale Police.

A brush fire burned in South Jersey this afternoon blocking traffic.

The fire burned about five acres of land off S Pemberton Road (Route 38) near U.S. Route 206 in Lumberton, Burlington County.

Fire crews blocked one direction of Route 38 due to smoke, according to county dispatchers.

Dispatchers said that firefighters were on the scene Saturday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. putting out hot spots.

The state Department of Environmental Protection said brush fires like this are common -- there are anywhere from 7,000 to 14,000 a year in the Garden State.

Police are investigating the armed robbery of a Domino’s pizza delivery driver.

The 20-year-old victim reported to police he was delivering two pizzas to 500 Stamford Drive, Apartment D around 1:50 a.m. When he arrived, he discovered Apartment D did not exist, as the apartments were numbered.

The delivery driver then headed back to his vehicle. Once inside, a man approached the driver’s side window and stated “give me what you got,” while displaying a small black handgun, according to police.

The victim surrendered an unknown amount of money and his cell phone. The suspect then fled the area by foot.

Police are describing the suspect as a white male between 5’6” and 5’9” with a thin build. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood over his head, a black bandana covering his face and black gloves.

No surveillance footage is available.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact detectives at 302-366-7110 ext. 133.

The weekly social media sensation known as “Throwback Thursday” has inspired a local man to create a blog that is bound to cause smiles.

The blog and Instagram account “Kids with Beards” has a collection of young children with all different types of facial hair. The photos have received such a positive response, blog owner Mark D’Avella decided to make a Facebook and Twitter account for the photos as well. So far, “Kids with Beards” has 24 photos and over 100 followers.

"People are very excited to see themselves and/or their kids get bearded," said D’Avella. "Parents have thanked us, retweeted, and favorited the photos of their kids."

The idea behind "Kids with Beards" began developing at his job at Philadelphia-based Curalate when the company's designer sent out an email saying they needed updated photos for their website, according to D’Avella. He said the designer's email included a school photo that the Curalate cofounder mistakenly thought was D’Avella in middle school.

"I took the photo, added a beard, and responded that I actually had a beard in middle school," said D’Avella. "Everyone had a good laugh and I thought it would be funny to do that to other coworkers’ ‘Throwback Thursday’ photos, and so, 'Kids with Beards' was born."

D’Avella has now extended his beard-editing to the public. Viewers can submit photos of children to kidswithbeards.tumblr.com/submit or they can use the haghtag #beardmykid on Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr.

The submitted photos are then edited on Adobe’s Photoshop to depict the children having beards and posted to the social media sites. He says he takes new and old photos alike and adds a variety of beards that best match the style of the photo.

D’Avella encourages others with Photoshop skills to edit their own photos and use the hashtag #KidswithBeards for a chance to appear on his blog. He aims to have a new photo every day.

The blog owner says his favorite photo is of famous comedian Aziz Ansari with a beard for #FamousFriday, which can be found on the "Kids with Beards" blog.

"The goal of the blog is to make people laugh and give them a smiling start to their day,” said D’Avella. “I have no objectives other than that."

A man is hospitalized after an argument over a pair of shoes escalated to a physical fight at a local mall Saturday.

Two male customers had a verbal altercation over shoes inside a Kicks USA store in the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, N.J. shortly before 3 p.m., according to witnesses at the scene.

One of the customers became so irate that he started to tear apart the store, throwing merchandise before taking a fixture and hitting the other man, witnesses say.

The attacker threatened to return with a gun before fleeing the scene.

Blood splatter was visible near the entrances of the Kicks USA store and Macy's department store.

A section of the mall was cordoned off and the shoe store remained closed until about 5 p.m. while police investigated.

Investigators say the victim is being treated for non-life threatening injuries at a local hospital.

Anyone who may have witnessed the event or has any information about the suspect is asked to call the Township of Hamilton Police at 609-625-2700.

A local university has issued safety warnings to students in the wake of three sexual assaults that occurred over a three-week span on its campus.

The most recent assault occurred at 2:28 a.m. Saturday at an on-campus residence at West Chester University, according to a timely warning posted to the school’s Department of Public Safety website.

The victim, who attends the college, did not know the assailant. Officials describe the suspect as a white male standing approximately 5-feet 4-inches tall with a thin build. He was wearing a black hoodie.

Two other attacks were reported earlier in the month.

Officials learned of a separate assault from a third party report on April 10. The incident occurred April 4 around 4 a.m. in an on-campus residential facility, according to the school website. The victim knew her assailant, who investigators describe as a 19-year-old white male West Chester University student.

Another WCU student knew the suspect who assaulted her on March 30 around 8 p.m. Officials describe the attacker as a 24-year-old white male.

Authorities ask anyone with information about any of the three crimes to call the University’s Department of Public Safety at 610-436-3311.
 

A elderly man died after he was struck by a vehicle in Philadelphia Saturday.

The accident occurred on the 8100 block of Bustleton Avenue in the Rhawnhurst section of the city around 9 p.m., according to police.

Officials say the driver remained at the scene and an investigation is underway.

Stay with NBC10 for more on this developing story.

More on NBC10.Com:

• 3 Sexual Assaults in 3 Weeks at Local University: Officials
  
  
• Argument Over Shoes Leads to Stabbing at Mall: Witness
  
  
• Man Steals Woman's Dog, TV on Their First Date

A colorful run turned sparkly when a Delaware County man proposed to his long-time girlfriend as she crossed the finish line.

Mike Lombardi of Swarthmore, Pa. waited for his girlfriend of seven years, Dina DiCampli, to complete the Run or Dye 5K race Saturday while wearing a top hat, tuxedo shirt and bow tie and holding a bouquet of gerbera daisies.

"Seven years ago I met the love of my life and I can't wait to marry her," Lombardi said.

As DiCampli approached the finish line, Lombardi got down on one knee and popped the question.

"It's time to run the marathon together babe," he said.

The proposal shocked DiClampi, who appeared to have blue hair after being splattered with safe, eco-friendly powdered dye along the course.

A mutual friend introduced the couple when Lombardi was a senior at Monsignor Bonner High School and DiClampi was a senior at Ridley High School.

"I said yes," she exclaimed as a broad smile crossed her face.

• Easter Sunday Events
• 10 Great Easter Movies

From Easter Sunday services to shows to karaoke, several exciting events are taking place in our area today.

Easter Sunday Services

Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, 2800 W. Cheltenham Avenue, Philadelphia, 6 a.m. service, 10 a.m. service

Christ Church, 2nd and Market Streets, Philadelphia, 9 a.m. service, 11 a.m. service

Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul, 18 Street & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, 8 a.m. service, 9:30 a.m. service, 11 a.m. service, 12:30 p.m. service

Get the full weekend events guide, including times, locations and tickets, here.

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• OPEN HOUSE: YOUR REAL ESTATE, RENOVATION AND DESIGN DESTINATION
  
• 1ST LOOK: THE COUNTRY'S HOTTEST DESTINATIONS

Two men are in custody after they allegedly broke into a Chester City home, tied up an elderly couple and then stole their vehicles.

According to police, the suspects broke into a home on the 1700 block of Modesto Circle in Chester City, about two blocks away from Widener University Wednesday night.

Nearby residents say they heard banging on the walls of the home and called police. When police arrived at the home, they found an elderly couple in their 80’s tied up and duct-taped inside of a pantry.

The couple told police the suspects stole their vehicles and fled the scene after tying them up.

On Saturday, police told NBC10 that two men were arrested and taken into custody in connection to the home invasion and theft.

Police have not yet released the identities of the suspects or the specific charges against them.

Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.

Click here for more news from the Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware area.

 

When Philadelphia's historic St. Peter's Church, where George Washington once worshiped, was built in 1761, it was the tallest structure in the city. It kept that distinction for 140 years until the statue of William Penn was erected atop City Hall in 1901.

The bell tower was added to the church at at Third and Pine streets in the mid-19th century to accommodate a set of bells gifted to the church by Benjamin Chew Wilcocks, a grandson of Benjamin Chew, the Pennsylvania lawyer who advised the Founding Fathers as they drafted the U.S. Constitution.

Prominent architect William Strickland, who also designed the nearby Merchants' Exchange Building, built the tower.

The church tower did not fare as well.

"Apparently his architecture and artistic skills were better than his engineering," said Peter Hopkins, music director of St. Peter's. "He didn't build this tower strong enough to ring these bells the way they were designed."

The eight bells, which together weigh several tons, were designed to be rung by pulling ropes that swing the sturdy bells upside down in a circle.

"The first time they did that the tower started shaking," said Hopkins. "They realized immediately, 'We're in deep trouble.'"

To remedy the situation, the tower was shored up with metal beams. And, instead of swinging the bells, a rope pulls the clapper against the bell.

For almost two years, the bells have not sounded at all. The problem was not the bell tower but the church next to it.

A structural inspection in 2012 determined that the roof over the church sanctuary was in imminent danger of collapse, and the church was immediately closed. Both the sanctuary and bell tower were strictly off limits. After about six months of repair work, the Episcopal congregation was able to use the sanctuary again. But by then, no one knew how to ring the bells anymore.

"We had lost the habit, and also several of our most faithful bell ringers moved," said Hopkins. "We're just getting restarted with a new group of volunteers again this week."

It took the congregation about a year to find three people with the dedication to learn how to ring the bells and build the upper body strength to do it properly. They debuted on Sunday for Easter services.

You can hear a sample of the St. Peter's bells here.

This story is reported through a newsgathering partnership between NBC10.com and NewsWorks.org.
 

Monday is the last day to register to vote in the May 20 Pennsylvania primary election. Any applications received after the deadline will be processed in time for the next election cycle.

Voters must register with a party in Pennsylvania to cast a vote in a primary.

Democrats will choose among four candidates for a nominee to go up against GOP Gov. Tom Corbett in what is is expected to be one of the most competitive races in the country for an incumbent governor.

You can't register online, but you can find out more about registering at VotesPA.com.

Also on NBC10.com and NewsWorks.org:

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This story is reported through a newsgathering partnership between NBC10.com and NewsWorks.org.

Police are investigating the shooting death of a man who was found inside a minivan in the Tioga section of the city.

Police received a call around 8 a.m. on Sunday for a shooting on the 3300 block of North 18th Street.

When they arrived, they found the body of a 30-year-old man inside a van parked on the street. Investigators say the unidentified man had been shot once in the head and at least six bullet holes were found in the van’s windshield. 

No arrests have been made. Police have not yet released a description of any suspects or recovered a weapon.

Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.

Also on NBC10.com:

• Man Shot, Stabbed to Death Inside Apartment
• Argument Over Shoes Leads to Stabbing at Mall: Witness

Police are investigating the death of a man who was shot and stabbed inside a Gloucester Township apartment.

Gloucester Township Police were called to the Millbridge Garden Apartment Complex on 1341 Blackwood Clementon Road on Sunday around 2:15 a.m. for a report of a shooting and stabbing.

When police arrived, they found a man who was suffering from stab wounds and gunshot wounds.

The man was flown by medevac to the Stratford Campus of Kennedy University Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

No arrests have been made. Police have not yet released information on any suspects.

Stay with NBC10.com for more details on this developing story.

Also on NBC10.com:

• Elderly Man Killed in Hit & Run
• Argument Over Shoes Leads to Stabbing at Mall: Witness