DC house fire displaces resident, 6 dogs

Good morning to you at six o'clock. Thank you for starting your day with us here on Fox 5 and streaming on Fox Local. Yeah, glad to have you here with us. Before we get to our weather and traffic this morning with Tucker and Taylor, we do have a special announcement. You might get blinded at home because we've got some new bling here in studio. Big congrats to Meredith for getting engaged. Thank you. Tell us everything, Meredith. We have not stopped crying. This all happened in Alexandria, right along the waterfront out there, Shipyard Park. A Monday night, my family was here. His family, that's Dean Johnson. My man, my man, my man. Oh, I love it. And I was completely surprised, shocked, and awed. And I just thank you all for your support and everyone who has reached out online. Did the little heart behind you, will you marry me, throw you off at all? Well, I didn't see it until I got right up on it. It took me a windy way, and my mom came from behind a tree. I didn't know she was there. Did you know your mom was in town? She's been here since Wednesday last week. I had no clue. You had no clue. Oh, my goodness. Wow, everyone really kept this under wraps. Congratulations to you both. We can't wait to meet your soon-to-be husband. I'll take all the advice from the parents. Look, we've been asking people at home to send us congratulations to Marissa as well. This one from Sharonda Johnson-Wilks in Waldorf. Congrats to Marissa and Dean Johnson on your engagement. May your love story be filled with endless joy, adventure, and a lifetime of happiness. Everyone's just so happy for you, Marissa. It's been a long time coming. I know. We were just talking about how you've been here for everybody else, and now here it is, your time, your moment. I love this for you. I'm so excited. And, you know, one of the biggest advice, best advice, is that you're not engaged for that long. Like, you're married for hopefully a long time, and you date for a while, but you're never engaged. So enjoy that period. I will. That's a good point. I like that. I was engaged for, like, four years during COVID. so it can't linger it can't linger i'll just say that maybe Tucker put in some good word to the weather gods when it came to Monday uh weather-wise because we've had some fantastic weather look at these beautiful shots I think my bride had second thoughts but no listen to the forecast uh how about let's do it let's hop in here and uh we promise we're gonna be celebrating all morning here so we can't wait but uh it looks great out the door you go and we've got temperatures which are going to be uh eventually in the mid to upper 60s with uh are you ready for this some clouds today, so we've got a few changes, but we should not get any rain. We will get some clouds this afternoon, upper 60s. Taylor? All right, thanks, Tucker. Let's get a check on the roads right now, 6:02 AM, and we do have some red spots coming in this morning. Let's take you to the Southeast Southwest Freeway outbound through Potomac Park. We do have a crash reported near Ohio Drive. It's under police direction. Delays from 6th Street to go around 2 miles should take you upwards of 15 to 20 minutes. Marissa? All right, thank you so much. I want to get to our top story, a Fox 5 News alert. A school in Prince George's County is forced to close because of an illness outbreak. Officials there say dozens of students and staff have become sick in the past week. Our Melanie Olwick is live in Camp Springs, Maryland this morning with the latest details. Mel, what happened here? Good morning, Gail. Hey, listen, this story is going to have you wanting to wash your hands and sanitize your workspaces. Princeton Elementary School here in Camp Springs is going to be closed for the rest of the week for deep cleaning. So far, 48 students and 16 staff members have come down with what's described as influenza-like and gastroenteritis-like symptoms such as fever and vomiting. Prince George's County Public Schools consulted with the health department and made the decision to close not only to do a comprehensive deep cleaning and sanitation of the school building, but to also allow the potentially infectious period to pass. The Department of Health, we should mention, has not yet specifically identified the virus, though many people suspect it is the flu. Flu activity generally low right now in Maryland and across the United States, but it is on the rise. Maryland's flu test positivity has more than doubled from this time last year. Virginia also reporting more flu-related emergency room visits, though overall activity, again, low in both states. Health officials are raising concerns about a new mutation of the flu virus and urging people to get their flu shots early. And back here in Prince George's County, the health department is advising families to keep anyone who is sick at home and out of contact with folks while they are still sick. And also to practice those preventive measures, such as hand washing and covering our coughs and sneezes. Jacqueline Marissa. Mel, thank you for that update this morning. In the district, one man has been displaced along with six dogs after a fire in southeast overnight. D.C. fire crew responding to Atlantic Street for that blaze. The fire started in the basement, spread to the first floor and the attic before being contained. Fortunately, there were no reports of any injuries. Red Cross now assisting that displaced resident.