Wednesday morning saw one of the worst fire tragedies in Philadelphia's history. "It's a sad, sad day for the Philadelphia Fire Department and citizens of the City of Philadelphia," says Deputy Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy. 13 people, seven children and six adults, died in the fast-moving fire. Murphy says there were plenty of smoke detectors inside the duplex. "There was an inspection done by the Philadelphia Housing Authority in 2019. When they went out in 2019, they installed four smoke detectors. There was another inspection in 2020 and when they went out they installed two smoke detectors," Murphy says. However, Murphy says none of them were in working order. A total of 26 people lived there. Eight managed to escape. Two others were taken to the hospital.
Quakertown residents bonded together Wednesday night to remember the father and two of his sons who died in a Christmas morning fire. "We live in a community that really supports each other," one man said. Eric King and two of his sons, Patrick and Liam, all died in the Christmas morning fire, believed to have been sparked when the family's Christmas tree went up in flames. Kristin King and the family's third son, Brady, managed to escape. Today, a fundraiser will be held at Hickory Stick in Perkasie to benefit the King family.
Several people were displaced after a house fire in Warren County, New Jersey late Tuesday night. Police and firefighters were called around 11:30 p.m. to the fire in the 300 block of Sharp Street in Hackettstown. Investigators determined a man had fallen asleep while smoking a cigarette and his mattress caught fire.
Accu-Weather's Joe Lundberg says snow arrives late tonight. "I think it arrives sometime between ten and midnight in valley from southwest to northeast," Lundberg says. It should end around eight tomorrow morning. By the time it does, Lundberg figures we'll have two-to-four inches of snow left behind.
Some 28,000 additional COVID cases have been reported in Pennsylvania. State health officials say that's broken another record as childhood hospitalizations have tripled within a months' time. The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 28,018 18 additional coronavirus cases Wednesday. The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases was just under 22,000 cases per day, almost double the rate from a week ago, and almost triple the average daily cases recorded a month ago.
Easton Mayor Sal Panto says Centre Square hasn't been spruced up in 60 years, so renovations will begin in March. They're scheduled to wrap up by July. Panto says the circumference will be 10 feet wider, allowing for more recreational opportunities and concerts there.
Yet another store has closed its doors at the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley. New Balance has departed the shopping center, making it the 21st vacancy. While there are many vacant stores, there remain more than 50 tenants there for shoppers.
State voters have gotten their first look at the 13 Republican gubernatorial candidates who are competing to replace Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. A live debate was streamed Wednesday night from Dickinson College in Carlisle in which the candidates got one minute each to answer questions on the economy, jobs, energy, education and governing. The first topic of discussion was how to stop Pennsylvanians from leaving the commonwealth and improve the economy. Each candidate also got a one-minute closing statement. Attorney General Josh Shapiro is so far running unopposed on the Democratic side.
Dominion Voting Systems wants to restrict any inspection of its voting machines as part of what Republican lawmakers call a "forensic investigation" of Pennsylvania's 2020 election to a laboratory that has specific credentials. The Denver-based voting-system manufacturer filed paperwork in court Monday. Republican lawmakers say they are planning to inspect Dominion's machines and software in southern Pennsylvania's sparsely populated Fulton County. The company's equipment has been at the center of conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.