A pipe burst overnight forcing an area school to close.

• Get the full list of school closings

Freedom High School students were told to stay home Wednesday from the Bethlehem, Pa. school.

The Bethlehem Area School District announced that the school sprinkler system pipe burst in the building on Chester Avenue.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy told NBC10 that the sprinkler head froze and broke in the ceiling above the gym lobby entrance sending a lot of water down and damaging ceiling tiles.

Roy said luckily the gym wasn't damaged.

Due to fire department regulations they had to close the school since the sprinklers weren't properly working.

The district said students and parents should expect the school to be open as scheduled Thursday.

All schools in the district were already delayed two hours due to cold conditions.

This pipe problem came as the Philadelphia School District continues to deal with a pipe that burst over the weekend at Edison High School causing the North Philly school to be closed all week including Wednesday morning.

It also came on the same morning that a pipe burst at Abington High School that caused flooding and the evacuation of the school.

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A Montgomery County high school was forced to be evacuated after a frozen pipe burst and flooded part of the building.

The pipe, which serves the sprinkler system, burst around 8 a.m. on Wednesday in the cafeteria of Abington Senior High School at 900 Highland Avenue in Abington, Pa., the school district said.

Water from the broken pipe flooded the cafeteria and two nearby art classrooms, officials said.

School officials say they immediately evacuated all 1,725 students from the building, moving the them to Abington Junior High School located nearby.

Once the situation was brought under control, around 9:15a.m., officials say they moved the students back to the high school.

Cleanup is currently underway and school is back on schedule.

Abington High School was the second area school to have classes disrupted by frozen pipes on Wednesday.

Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa. told students to stay home after a sprinkler pipe broke inside their building.

The icy conditions of a New Jersey bay have police concerned.

Barnegat Bay may look like it's frozen solid, but authorities say it's far from it and they're urging people NOT to walk on the seemingly frozen body of water.

“I can certainly tell you that it’s not frozen solid where one could try to walk on it,” said Detective Robert Burnaford of the Harvey Cedars Police Department.

The Department posted messages on Facebook and Twitter warning people to not walk on the ice, which appears to be thicker than it actually is.

“We’re trying to get the message out,” Burnaford said. “We’re also keeping patrols on the bayside areas just making sure no one goes out on the ice.”

They're especially concerned since it's been just under four years since a 12-year-old boy died in the bay's icy waters.

Daniel Licata and his 11-year-old friend were playing when they went through the ice. Licata was unconscious when he was pulled from the water. He died a short time later at a local hospital.

His friend was conscious when he was rescued and survived.

"It hurts. It’s a pain inside that you can’t repair,” said Licata family friend Carolyn Therrien.

Rick Mears told NBC10 his fishing boat got stuck in the ice while he was trying to maneuver it out of the Barnegat Light Marina.

"I was stuck in the end of my lagoon there," Mears said. "Took me two hours to bust the ice to just move the boat out of there. You don't want to try and walk on it and mess around with it because if you fall in this water, you're going to die."

A live electrical wire was knocked down onto an NJ Transit train filled with 1,000 passengers near Newark Penn Station Tuesday evening, halting the train for nearly two hours while authorities worked to remove it, officials say.

The New Brunswick-bound train, which originally left New York's Penn Station at 5:45 p.m., was stopped outside the tunnel near Newark Penn Station, according to officials. NJ Transit crews kept passengers on the train as they disabled the electrical wire and moved it.

Gary Woodruff of Metuchen, one of the passengers on board, said conductors told riders there was "a little bit of a problem. He said it might be 20 minutes, a half-hour. It ended up being an hour and 50 minutes." 

"It was frustrating, everyone was frustrated, sighing the entire time," said another passenger.

The train was then pulled back to the station at around 8 p.m., and passengers were transferred to another train to continue their commute.

The transit agency says the train was heated during the delay, but riders disputed that. Temperatures outside were in the single digits.

"I was feeling the heating system, it was probably 40 degrees," said Woodruff. "It felt like you were touching a piece of ice."

The stranded train led to 45-minute delays along the Northeast Corridor, North Jersey Coast and Raritan Valley lines Tuesday evening.

"This happens all the time. Jersey Transit, they should be embarrassed," said Woodruff.

"People are just tired, on the coldest day of the year this had to happen," said Tom Putko of Matawan.

It's not clear what caused the wire to go down, but officials are looking into whether wind and freezing temperatures played a role.

With temperatures still in the teens across our region, freezing pipes are a major concern. The first sign of a frozen pipe is reduced or no flow out of a plumbing fixture like your faucet or shower. A frozen pipe will not always crack or burst, so thawing it out slowly is your best bet.

J.H. Peterson Plumbing gave us these tips if one of your pipes is running slowly or not at all.

DO: turn off the “Main” water valve” to the house and leave the faucets “open”.
DON'T: Use any open flame to attempt to thaw the pipe.
DON'T: Use any electric heater or hair dryer directly to the pipe as any leaking water can cause an electrocution hazard.
DO: Let the heat of the house get to the pipe by opening cabinets or crawl space doors.
DON'T:  Call a plumber out to thaw out piping as it's very expensive and time consuming.
DO: Have plenty of patience. Heat and patience are the best two ways to get the pipes to thaw.

To test whether the pipe has thawed, DO use two people. One person should turn on the water main valve slowly and the other should be walking around the house to see if all the faucets are running and to make sure no water is leaking from any cracked pipes.

If you do spot a burst pipe, turn off the main water valve immediately. Shut all faucets and then open only the lowest hot and cold faucets in your home. That will drain the water from your home and the burst pipe wont spray water all over. Then, call a plumber.

If you do have a pipe that has burst, there's some good news when it comes to insurance. You should be covered. Standard homeowners and renters policies do provide coverage for burst pipes. That means your policy should cover the repair of the pipe, the repair to any damaged walls and also some coverage for damaged furniture and rugs.
 

Police say a Philadelphia man admitted to striking and killing a Delaware County man walking his dog over the weekend.

"That's not an an accident," said an irate Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood. "An accident is when you stop and you try to help... when you just leave someone, how cruel could you be?"

Chitwood announced the arrest Ernest Marks, 58, Wednesday morning in the crash that killed Richard Patterson as crossed E. Providence Road and Arbor Lea Road in Aldan, Upper Darby Township just after 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

Both the man and his dog died instantly.

"This is a heinous, cowardly act committed by a criminal...and we see it over and over and over again," said Chitwood earlier in the week.

Chitwood said that Marks, who hails from N Felton Street in the Carroll Park neighborhood of Philly, admitted to police that he was behind the wheel when he hit something. Marks told investigators he wasn't sure what he struck.

"To say that he didn't know what he hit but that he knew he hit something is absolutely ludicrous in my mind."

Marks -- who works as a mechanic -- has 11 past motor vehicle violations and eight prior drug arrests, according to Chitwood.

"Here's an individual that should not be behind the wheel of a car," said Chitwood.

Marks told police that he didn't stop because his license was suspended and he was wanted for a probation violation.

Chitwood said that Marks' attorney Debra Rainey called Upper Darby Police Tuesday afternoon and told police that Marks was in her office and ready to turn himself in. Police then arrested him at her Center City law office.

Chitwood said that Marks turned himself in after feeling guilty from the media reports he saw about the deadly crash.

Patterson, 69, was outside looking for the family's 5-year-old dog, Baby, who escaped from their yard. Police say he found the dog and was on his way back to his home a block away when he and Baby were struck and killed.

A witness said they heard the crash and saw a light-colored vehicle drive away.

Chitwood said police recovered Marks' white 2000 Acura sedan dumped along the 800 block of N 47th Street in Philadelphia -- it had extensive damage to the front end.

"Mr. Patterson was walking across Providence Road and he never say it coming," said Chitwood. "He was struck in the back of leg area, flew in the area and landed on the hood of the car and the driver kept going."

Chitwood said if the law allowed that he would charge Marks with homicide by vehicle if it was allowed.

"This is homicide," said Chitwood. "You've got a 4,000-pound vehicle traveling at a high-rate of speed, killing somebody and then leaving him laying on the highway without any stop.

"The laws, they stink -- they suck to be quite frank with you -- and they gotta do something to enhance those laws so that these individuals that are going to kill people and maim people on our roadways are punished the way they should be appropriately punished."

Marks was charged instead with leaving the scene of a crash that caused injury, failure to render aid and driving with a suspended license, according to court records.

Those charges could be upgraded.

Authorities say the driver was going 50 to 60 mph at the time of the accident. The speed limit on that portion of the road is 35 mph.

Patterson left behind his wife of 48 years as well as three grown children.

In Philadelphia, call 311

In Pennsylvania, call PennDOT at 1-800-FIX-ROAD.

In New Jersey, log on to NJ.gov.

In Delaware, call DelDOT Transportation Management Center at 302-659-4600, dial #77 on your cell phone or email deldottmn@state.de.us.

It’s an eye-popping image for anyone who walks or drives on North Broad Street…a home completely covered in ice.

The icy home is located on the 4600 block of Broad Street in North Philadelphia.
Licenses and Inspection told NBC10 the home is vacant and was cleaned and sealed last summer in order to prevent trespassing.

Now that the home is frozen over, officials with the Water Department say they will send an emergency crew to check on the home. For now however, it remains a striking image in the North Philly neighborhood that’s sure to make anyone passing by do a double take.

Also on NBC10.com:

Trash Piling Up in Philly After Weather Delays

Mile-Long Ice Jam on Del. River Prompts Flash Flooding Concerns


 

Between icy conditions and pot holes, it’s been a headache for drivers in our areas to get around over the last few days. But for Philly residents who choose to walk, another obstacle has been piling up on the sidewalks…trash.

Bags and bags of post-Holiday garbage are piling up on curbs throughout the city after the snow and dangerous cold delayed trash pickup.

In what the city’s streets department are calling the “perfect storm,” post-Holiday excess trash combined with last week’s snow storm prevented crews from completing their normal trash pickups. Tuesday’s record-breaking cold delayed the pickup even further.

“The cold weather is not kind to a lot of our equipment,” said Donald Carlton, Deputy Commissioner of the Philadelphia Streets Department.

According to officials, the cold weather froze some of the equipment they used for trash pickup, putting them almost a full day behind schedule.

The streets department sent an alert on Tuesday asking people to be patient. Some residents say however that cold weather is no excuse.

“It’s littering the entire sidewalk,” said Sharon Lewis of Mt. Airy. “It looks terrible and it’s disgusting.”

“That’s what’s wrong with the city,” said Jeannette Why of Center City. “They’re slow!”

“I mean, I’m out here working,” said Adrienne Wright of Center City. “So I feel like they could pick it up a little bit.”

Officials with the Streets Department are telling residents to still put their trash and recycling goods out on the normal pickup day. Officials tell NBC10 they will get everything picked up by this weekend, even if it means working on Saturday.

“Please be a little patient,” said Carlton. “Understand that this extreme weather is something we did not want and did not look forward to.”

 

A mile-long ice jam on the Delaware River is now causing flooding in some areas.

Large pieces of ice bunched up in the water around Trenton, N.J. as temperatures continued to bounce between the teens and single digits on Wednesday.

"It's not one solid sheet of ice across the top, you can see that it's many large chunks and it just goes...as far as the eye can see to the north," SkyForce10 photojournalist Jeremy Haas said.

The ice stretches for at least one mile and covers nearly every inch of the river from bank to bank -- which is an average distance of about 900 feet wide at that point.

In some areas, the ice pieces were pushing out of the river and onto the riverbank.

Free-flowing water was spotted in a few small sections of the river -- including an area around the iconic Lower Trenton Bridge.

Wednesday night, flooding from the backed up river pushed up the Route 29 exit ramp and froze in a matter of minutes.

Around 6 p.m., in Lower Makefield Township, an overflow of water rushed out onto Route 32 (River Road). The road is now closed between Black Rock Road and Trenton Avenue. Officials say the closure will be in effect until floodwaters from the Delaware River have receded from the highway.

River Road is currently being detoured over Black Rock Road, Pine Grove Road and Trenton Avenue.

The National Weather Service said several miles of the Delaware, to the north of the jam, is nearly at the top of its banks.

The conditions prompted the weather service to issue a Flash Flood Watch for towns downstream of the jam -- on both sides of the Delaware. They include Philadelphia and parts of lower Bucks County in Pennsylvania and Burlington and Mercer Counties in N.J.

"When this ice jam breaks, there may be enough water behind the jam to cause flash flooding downstream," the NWS alert read.

With temperatures remaining below freezing through Thursday morning, the NWS is warning that the jam may not break until then.

About 30 miles downstream in Philadelphia, the Delaware was still dotted with large sheets and chunks of ice. However, the ice was not packed together like in the Trenton area.

An ice jam was also reported along the Lehigh River just downstream from the Old Glendon Bridge in Easton, Pa. The jam caused water and ice to cover parts of Lehigh Drive. Officials say the jam should remain in place at least until Thursday morning. They warn all residents and businesses along the Lehigh River from the Old Glendon Bridge downstream to its confluence with the Delaware River to remain alert for "rapidly changing conditions" until the jam clears the area over the next few days.

The ice along the river is unstable and dangerous. Do not drive your vehicle into areas where the water covers the roadway. Also avoid touching, standing or going near the ice.

Get the latest weather alerts where ever you go with the NBC10 Weather App. Download it here for FREE.

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

Police are investigating a double shooting in Atlantic City that killed a young boy and injured another.

Police say the two boys were on Pennsylvania Avenue and Rt. 30 Wednesday shortly before 3 p.m. when an unknown gunman opened fire.

A 13-year-old boy was shot in the stomach and the second boy was shot in the leg.

The 13-year-old was pronounced dead while the second boy was taken to the hospital. He is expected to survive, according to police.

Investigators have not yet released the victim’s identity but say he was a 7th grade student at Pennsylvania Avenue School.

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

Atlantic City Police are also investigating an unrelated homicide on the 3500 block of Pacific Avenue. An unidentified man was stabbed to death at the Sea Breeze Condominiums. Police have not yet revealed the man's identity or information on any suspects.

The two incidents mark the first two homicides of the year for Atlantic City.

Stay with NBC10.com for more details on these developing stories.

Also on NBC10.com:

• Man Shot, Possibly Paralyzed, Answering Door
• Man Shot Dead in Philly
• Man Shot Dead While Sitting on Porch

Two sheriff’s department employees filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the rail company ignored red light signals when the company’s freight train derailed, spilling a hazardous chemical in the southern New Jersey town of Paulsboro.

At the time of the November 2012 accident, Philip DePietro III and Alexander Molnar were employed by the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Department and responded to the scene of the derailment and bridge collapse, according to the federal complaint filed in Camden County. 

The pair claim Conrail and parent companies CSX and Norfolk Southern acted negligently by allowing the train to proceed across the bridge, even though a green light had yet to indicate the bridge was properly locked and ready for rail cars to pass.

The lawsuit also says the transportation company was aware of unsafe conditions on the bridge when the freight train carrying vinyl chloride monomer, a potent human carcinogen, crossed.

“By operating long freight trains containing loads of hazardous and toxic substances over a bridge known to be faulty and defective, [the defendants] caused great peril to first responders,” according to the complaint.

Matthew Weng, an attorney with Bridgeton, N.J.-based Chance & McCann representing DePietro and Molnar, did not name the dollar amount sought by his clients. 

“Our concern is if anything serious happens to any of these first responders in the future,” Weng said.

The suit is the latest in the mounting litigation Conrail faces following the Paulsboro bridge collapse.

In August 2013, 15 first responders filed a separate lawsuit alleging Conrail failed to disclose the dangers of the chemical released.  Businesses and residents of Paulsboro are also suing the rail companies.

Four tank cars plunged into Mantua Creek and one ruptured on Nov. 30, 2012, when the bridge they were crossing collapsed. More than a dozen people were hospitalized with respiratory problems at the time.  The vinyl chloride released from the car is a known carcinogen and has been linked to a variety of health problems ranging from difficulty breathing to liver cancer.

Conrail spokesman Michael Hotra said the company will respond in court.

First Niagara Financial Group, the Buffalo, N.Y.-based bank which entered the Philadelphia region in 2010 when it acquired Harleysville National Corp., said it will close three branches in eastern Pennsylvania and layoff 28 local employees as part of a companywide plan to conform its retail strategy to meet the growing interest in mobile and online banking.

The local branches closing are in Wyomissing, Bethlehem and Allentown.

First Niagara (NASDAQ:FNFG) said late Tuesday that it would cut 170 branch positions and 10 of its 420 branches bankwide. In the post-recession world, in-branch traffic at all banks has declined with the advent of mobile banking and companies have also looked to trim overhead. Read more about the story on PBJ.com

More NBC10.com stories:

• Start 2014 With More Money
• Electrical Usage Soard in Dangerous Cold
• Your Cab Driver is Looking for a Job

For more breaking business news go to PBJ.com

Pittsburgh-based bank TriState Capital Holdings said it will acquire Berwyn, Pa.-based investment management firm Chartwell Investment Partners LP for about $60 million. The deal is expected to close some time in the first quarter.

TriState Capital (Nasdaq: TSC) said the agreement includes $45 million in cash plus a $15 million earnout depending on Chartwell’s profitability in 2014.

“The acquisition of Chartwell will enhance TriState Capital’s recurring fee income, provide new product offerings for our national network of financial intermediaries and leverage our financial services distribution capabilities,” said CEO James F. Getz in a prepared statement. Read more about this story on PBJ.com

More NBC10.com stories:

• Your Cab Driver is Looking for a Job
• Suburban Land Grab Fight
• Ice Jam Stretches 1 Mile

For more breaking business news go to PBJ.com

A man is recovering after police say he was shot during an attempted carjacking in Northeast Philadelphia.

The 44-year-old man was driving on the 7200 block of Horrocks Street at 4:22 p.m. when he was approached by two men, according to investigators.

Police say at least one of the suspects opened fire. The victim was struck twice in the torso. He was taken to Aria-Torresdale Hospital where he is currently in critical but stable condition.

Police say the two suspects fled the scene northbound on Horrocks Street. Police have not yet released a description but say they were dressed in black clothing.

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

Also on NBC10.com:

• Boy Killed, Another Hurt in Double Shooting
• Deadly Mall Carjacking Suspects Plead Not Guilty
• Man Shot Dead in Philly

Police are searching for three men who they say stole from an Upper Merion Township home while posing as workers for a water company.

Police say the homeowners were shoveling outside a home on the 300 block of Jefferson Street last Friday when they were approached by an unidentified man.

The homeowners told police the man had an ID badge around his neck and that he claimed he worked for a water company. Investigators say the man then told the homeowners he wanted to check the meter inside their home. The man then entered the home with one of the homeowners.

Police say a second man, also claiming to be a worker with a water company, came to the door of the home and also claimed he had to check inside the house. The second resident took him to a different part of the home while the first resident was still speaking with the first suspect, according to police.

As both homeowners were preoccupied, police say a third suspect entered the home and removed valuables. All three men then left the scene. The homeowners told police they never saw a getaway vehicle.

One of the homeowners, an elderly woman, told NBC10 the men stole a safe with $25,000 inside. This was not confirmed by police however.

The first suspect is described as a 50-year-old, dark-skinned Hispanic male standing 5-foot-6 and weighing 180 pounds with facial stubble. Investigators also say he was wearing a brimmed hat with side flaps and a dark, dirty jacket.

The second suspect is described as a dark-skinned, 26-year-old Hispanic man standing 5-foot-8 and weighing 140 pounds with a pierced left eyebrow. He was last seen wearing dark khaki pants and a jacket.

Finally, the third suspect is described as a dark skinned man with dark hair and a stubble.

If you have any information on this incident, please call Detective Elbert Lee at 610-205-8558 or send an email to elee@umtownship.org. 

Even with calls to conserve, officials say power usage on Tuesday shattered the record set in 2007.

PJM Interconnect, a Valley Forge, Pa. based company that manages the energy grid for all or part of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, broke the record for peak winter electricity twice on Tuesday. By Tuesday morning, electricity use peaked at 138,000 megawatts. By Tuesday night, it peaked at 141,312 MW. The previous peak was 136,675 MW set in 2007.

Just to give you an idea of how much power that is, one megawatt is enough to power 1,000 homes.

PJM issued a warning that the system could be overtaxed if energy demand was too high during sub-freezing temperatures on Tuesday. They issued a follow up statement Tuesday night, asking their customers to conserve electricity into Wednesday.

The grid supplier originally asked customers in its service area to conserve energy from 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday and advised power companies to be prepared to supply emergency electricity. Tuesday night, PJM sent out another appeal, asking consumers to conserve electricity into Wednesday morning.

After breaking the record for power use, Mike Bryson, Executive Director of PJM System Operations, says their bulk electricity price went up from a year ago.

“Prices are [[normally]] in the $250 to $300 mega-watt range,” Bryson said. “The last couple days, particularly yesterday, we were seeing prices that were closer to $1800 a megawatt.”

That likely means your household electricity bill will go up immediately because you used more power and may even go higher later on because the cost of electricity went up as well.

When that electricity cost shows up on your bill depends on when your local utility negotiates their contract with the wholesale power sellers.

PECO officials also say a new record was set in electrical and natural gas demand.

“Our customers depend on us to provide reliable power when they need it the most, especially during harsh temperatures, and our system continues to perform well,” said Craig Adams, PECO president and CEO. 

Customer demand for electricity reached 7,148 megawatts, shattering PECO’s previous record winter energy use peak of 6,852 MW set on February 5, 2007.  Customer demand for natural gas totaled 759,550 thousand cubic feet (mcf), surpassing the previous all-time winter daily total of 718,362 mcf set on January 17, 2000.
 

Frozen pipes are causing major problems for homes, businesses and schools throughout the area.

One person affected was Jenny Lopez of the Frankford section of the city.

“I was sitting here watching TV and all of a sudden the whole ceiling came down,” she said.

Lopez says a torrent of water rushed into her home after, causing thousands of dollars-worth of damage.

“I thought the ceiling was all going to come caving in,” Lopez said.

The sudden rush was caused by frozen pipes that burst inside her home. She called plumber Miguel Martinez who says he’s received 34 calls in the past two days.

“The flooded basements, the burst pipes, the radiators, it’s crazy,” Martinez said. “The temperatures are just too much.”

Martinez says pipes first freeze in the basement and then move upward.

“A couple dollars, 15 to 20 bucks in insulation, maybe plug in a little space heater in the coldest room in the house, will save you thousands and thousands of dollars in damages,” he said.

A frozen pipe also burst at Abington Senior High School on Wednesday, forcing more than 1700 students to evacuate.

Several apartment complexes, including the Avenel Apartment Complex in North Wales, Pennsylvania, also had to be evacuated due to water main breaks caused by the bitter cold.