millions of dollars. everybody can just give a little bit and you can do a lot with little bit. >> reporter: a crisis that needs worldwide support. >> stay with us, everyone, "news4 today" continues at 5:00 a.m. our time is 5:00. these are live pictures of a tanker truck fire on the bridge, montrose road bridge going over i-270 this morning. we'll have more on this coming up in just a moment. >> nothing. >> destruction giving way to despair in haiti. tens of thousands feared killed. now the daunting task of helping survivors is well under way. good morning everyone. welcome to "news4 today", i'm eun yang. >> good morning. i'm joe krebs on this thursday, january 14, 2010. take a live look outside right now. 28 degrees still cold but it's going to get a little bit warmer here in the nation's capital. >> we're waiting, every minute. >> and right now still cold under this clear sky. winter constellations twinkling in a black sky. under that starry sky down in the low 20s to mid-to-upper 20s in the district of columbia and prince george's county. elsewhere, very cold out in the mountains just little above zero in many locations there. mid-20s on the eastern shore. off to a clear start, high pressure moving in, coming in from the southwest. we'll bring in a southwesterly breeze and that will warm us up to a high today in the upper 40s and then near 50 tomorrow, upper 40s again on saturday. still looking like a cold rain for sun. big traffic story this morning. how is it looking? >> not looking too good. it was itially an overturned tractor-trailer now it's a fully engulfed president. this is right over -- on montrose road shutting it down in both directions over the top of 270. why this is particularly dangerous aside from the obvious reasons of a giant fire on the road, this is going to cause a big distraction for drivers on 270 coming down from the spur making your way past montrose. at this point in time no lane closures on 270 itself but only time will tell if that remains the case because we're hearing that things are dripping down on to the roadway. obviously not a big factor right now as drivers can get by and they are doing so at a healthy rate of speed. but, again, volume is not a factor. we'll watch this one, see how it goes as the rush hour continues to develop. back to you. you said initially it came in as an overturned tractor-trailer. i think it's a tanker tractor-trailer or a tanker truck carrying some sot of fuel that is burning. do we know what caused it to overturn? >> no. no. there's no initial indication of what it was. obviously, speed could definitely have been a factor on that road. you got wide-open spaces. not a whole bunch of cars when this accident initially occurred. it's unclear what caused it. >> can you tell from looking at this picture whether we're looking east or west on the bridge? >> it affects drivers in both directions on montrose so it will be shut down in both directions. the accident initially occurred i believe on the eastbound trip of montrose. >> got you. >> there were a lot of emergency vehicles, i imagine, blocking the roadway as well. >> you can't see it from this shot because the light from the fire is so brilliant. just beyond the fire you can see the twinkling lights. there's a very heavy response to this accident. >> has there been any talk about doing anything with traffic. you can see the cars passing understand the bridge on i-270 but that could be dangerous if that fuel and flames maye leaking down to the vehicles down below. any talk of shutting down 270? >> we're hearing rumblings of that right now but they haven't actually enacted anything of that nature. right now everything is still open. i think they are treating this with a great deal of caution as they should. >> absolutely. okay. thanks very much. we'll be back with you in just a little bit. in other news our big story this morning relief is on the ground in that catastrophe torn haiti this morning. overnight planes landed and relief workers arrived with some supplies. >> but it was another night survivors spent on the streets. news 4 elaine reyes joins us now. >> reporter: there's little food and water and with those 90 degree temperatures some looting has started. the police there is pleading for help and survivors are starting to set up some camps. relief workers from all over the world started landing at the port-au-prince airport with food, water and medical supplies. a u.s. military assessment team is already on the ground there. the survivors and walking wounded struggled for another day to find medical attention. they are also trying to fine other loved ones as the bodies continue to pile up in the streets. many carried their few belongings every where they went. a few after shocks were felt as late as last night. some makeshift camps have started to pop up but there's still no real shelter. the aircraft carrier uss carl vincent is expected off the coast this afternoon and more u.s. navy ships are under way. among them is one carrying 2,000 marines who may help provide the security the country desperately needs. joe? >> thanks. even before the disaster haiti was a nation with crushing poverty. that makes the relief efforts all the more vital. tracee wilkins joins us from the red cross headquarters, the american red cross headquarters in northwest washington where a team of volunteers is expected to leave this morning. good morning. >> reporter: yes, joe. they will be leaving in seconds. that's the truck behind me carrying 1,000 pound of equipment because this team has to be self-sustaining. who will be leading this team is bridgett from atlanta coming here to washington to head down to haiti. this is not your first time? >> no. i've been going back and forth sie 2004. >> with this mission, you all will be going down there to do an assessment. >> we're going to do an assessment and relief operations. first part when you go into a disaster you scope the area, see what's going on and come up with a plan to be able to respond as soon as possible. >> it's also important for you all to get down there as soon as possible because the arin red cross is reporting they are running out of medical equipment and also supplies down there. >> yeah. the local red cross, the whole city has been, you know, wiped out. so access to basic goods have disappeared. we need to be able to get there and bring what we need as soon as possible. >> thank you. i know you need to get there right now. thank you. they are leaving right now. they will take her on the truck to head on down to dulles airport. they will head down to haiti to begin to take a look at the area and find out exactly what the folks down there need. they will be carrying this equipment with them, 1,000 pound of equipment in the back of this truck to make sure that they can sustain themselves while they are down there. they are preparing for the worse when they get there. what red cross spokesmen have been saying is what they really need is volunteerism and money. they hope folks will take advantage of this opportunity to give. call 1-800-red-cross or text to haiti to 90999, that will be $10 donation made and billed to your phone bill. they are coordinating with the wireless companies. they raised $1 million yesterday through this effort. you can also logon to www .redcross.org if you want to give that way. back to you. >> tracee wilkins reporting live. thanks very much. and they aren't the only voluntee from our area who are answering the call. fairfax county search and rescue are on the ground. >> 70 members took off from dulles. they know the region since they went to haiti in 2008 after a cool collapsed. you can help people in haiti. can you visit our website to find a long list of credible national and international agencies taking donations and just head to nbcwashington.com and search the word help. there's also a link in the upper left-hand side of the page. we'll, of course, have continuing live team coverage of the quake all morning long. the today will also be live on the ground in port-au-prince. 5:08 is your time. 28 degrees. still ahead new developments in the gilbert arenas gun investigation. reports that the troubled star is in negotiations with prosecutors now. what that could mean for his future. >> fans mourning the death of a legendary soul singer that inspired them both with his music and his will to make it. >> we're following that breaking news, tanker truck engulfed in flames on montrose road on a bridge over . we have breaking news right now the report. there is a tanker on fire on the overpass, montrose road overpass. this is going over 270 in rockville, maryland. there are emergency crews on the scene responding to this fire. both directions of this overpass shut down right now. let's get the latest on traffic out there with ashley. >> all right. how this is going to affect drivers on 270 at this point is they are going to shut down the local lanes between falls road and montrose road. the main lanes will be opened. now montrose, that's a different story. that's going to be shut down for the foreseeable future. the ramps on to montrose will be affected. you can't make that exit. at this point in time it's unclear how long this will take. it's been burning all morning. it will be there for a while. the other major roadways around the area are behaving. no problems on the capital beltway, 66, 395 or 95. tom, let's get a check of the weather. >> this morning we have clear skies and all around the region we have some cold temperatures. right now it's in the upper 20s in the district of columbia but prince george's county in the low 20s, low 20s in montgomery and fairfax counties. arlington county mid-20s. elsewhere in the upper teens to low 20s. a cold start under this clear sky. winds shifting to the southwest. that will warm us up into the upper 40s this afternoon with lots of sunshine. partly cloudy tonight, mid-20s tomorrow morning and partly cloudy friday with highs near 50. a bit cooler on saturday. highs in the 40s. some cold rain is likely on sunday. a look into next week. that will be in ten minutes. eun and joe? >> 28 degrees. coming up a group of parentss holding their collective breath this morning. >> ten local students on a mission trip right now in haiti, we'll find out how they are doing this morning. plus, gilbert arenas ready to make a deal. new developments in the wizards gun investigation. outside they seem innocent but what d.c. police say was going on inside these walls was anything but. >> breaking news that could have an enormous impact on your morning commute this morning. a tanker truck fire on montrose road on theridge over i-270. details coming up. . our top story continues to be the devastation in haiti. an entire city in ruins. this morning cargo planes from around the world are headed to haiti with food, water and medical splies to help the tens of thousands of people who are hurt and without a home. there's no indication how many people were kill after tuesday's magnitude 7 quake. there are fears it could be in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. many of those who are injured are not treated because the red cross has run out of supplies and hospitals are destroyed. u.s. sent its first planeful of rescue workers and supplies in yesterday. and a navy aircraft carrier is expected to arrive later today. the state department has set up a hotline for americans who need information about family members in haiti. that number is 1-888-407-4747. >> some howard university students from haiti are holding out hope their friends and families are okay. dozens of families and faculty staff held a prayer vigil. many took comfort knowing they were going through this tragedy together. even now they are having trouble coming to grips to what has happened to their homeland. >> i haven't heard anything from my daddy. i lost two friends this morning. and i just thought this was a whole nightmare but i got up and this is real. >> several campus groups have started worki on ways to help in relief efforts. ten students from george mason university were on a mission trip to haiti when the earthquake struck. this morning we received word that they are safe. the student group is affiliated with mclean bible church. relatives said the group has food an water and is sleeping outdoors at a mission. the students are expected to return to tuesday as soon as they can get out. students at catholic university will also gather today to hold a mass for those thousands of victims of the quake. today's mass will begin at 12:10 this afternoon at the school's chapel. afterwards students will be organizing committees to help increase awareness of the tragedy and raise funds. all money collected will be sent to catholic relief services. you can visit our website to find out how you can help the people at hai. head to nbcwashington.com and search the word help. you'll find a link on the top left side of the page. you'll find a long list of credible national and international agencies taking donations. we're following a number of local stories. several businesses in the district are closed this morning. investigators accuse them of operating as brothels. the businesses claim to be health spas, massage parlors and social clubs but were fronts for prostitution and human trafficking. five businesses he now been shut down. the city says it will take legal action against property owners who rent the space to these businesses. gilbert arenas could be luck in court today on gun charges. he's working on a plea deal. "the washington post" reported arenas attorneys are negotiating a possible deal with prosecutors. the deal would ensure arenas doesn't serve any jail time. the grand jury has been hearing testimony in the case for more than a week. if the employee deal falls through and the grand jury charge him he could be charged with a felony that might land him behind bars. >> two days left in office, virginia governor tim kaine delivered his final state of the commonwealth address. he talked about recruiting five fortune 500 companies during the recent economic downturn. in order for growth to continue, however, he said the gridlock problem needs to be addressed. >> we still have too much congestion in northern virginia and hampton roads. too many substandard bridges. and too many rural communities with insufficient transportation to attract and generate new jobs. >> governor kaine has cut $7 billion from the state's budget since 2008. lawmakers will need to fill a gap through 2012. the 127th session of the maryland general assembly is also under way. lawmakers are trying to make up for a $2 billion budget gap. they will have to cut some programs. governor o'malley said he's putting high priority on paying for ed caution. for the first time in two years tuition at state run colleges will go up. not everyone is happy with the way governor o'malley is handling the state's budget. dozens of people gathered outside of the state house to rally against his administration's fiscal policy. an organization says too many taxpayers say they are angry about the despite the tax hikes and influx of stimulus dollars. >> we're following breaking news out of rockville. a tanker truck on fire on an overpass going over 270. let's get the latest on the situation. good morning. >> eun, some bad news for drivers who utilize 270 this morning. we have the northbound lanes of 270 completely shut down. that does affect drivers main and local. if you're traveling270 in the local lanes, they are shut down in the southbound direction between falls road and montrose road. now they blocked the exit to montrose road but unfortunately they did it at the top of the ramp so southbound drivers were starting to commit to it then realizing they couldn't and doing that sort of dance. keep that in mind. avoid 270 in this stretch if you can do that. 355 not a bad alternative at least right now and seven locks is a good choice for drivers. the capital beltway inner loop at branch avenue a car facing the wrong way. on the left shoulder. volume not a big factor for drivers on the 95 trip as you make your way northbound coming out of woodbridge. back to you. let's reiterate again, southbound 270 is -- explain that situation for southbound commuters. >> southbound 270 the local lanes will be shut down. the main line is open in this stretch. the accident or the fire itself is closer, more directly over the top of the northbound lanes of 270. as can you see it's over on that far side, the side closest to us underneath of that will be 270 south. they still can have a couple of lanes open for drivers to continue to utilize that. that's a main thorough fare. we normally have volume delays already with just regular volume but now with this we're going to have some big problems. >> absolutely. thanks very much. >> let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein to get an update on the forecast. tom, good morning. >> good morning. starting off another cold morning under a clear sky, 29 degrees in the district of columbia. in prince george's county the low 20s. low 20s in montgomery and fairfax kroings as well. arlington counties in the mid-20s. weather watchers reporting temperatures under a clear sky in the upper teens and low to mid-20s and lot was sun today with highs reaching finally above average into the mid-to-upper 40s and then tomorrow partly cloudy and a bit warmer. upper 40s again on saturday. sunday looks like a cold rain is likely with highs near 40. might have some of that rain lingering sunday night into monday morning. sun returns for tuesday and wednesday. eun and joe. >> 5:23 is your time. 29 degrees. all morning long we're staying on top of the earthquake in haiti. this morning the newest pictures of the devastation and information on how you can help. >> a famous doctor is making a house call. why d.c. leaders are hoping dr. ruth can bring more tourists to town. >> sad news from the world of music. teddy pendergrass who inspired fans with his music and his life have died. good morning. welcome back. d.c. has a new love doctor this morning. tourism firms enlisted the help of dr. ruth to help boost the local hospitality business. today she's going to be sworn in as the city's honorary secretary of the department of love and relationships. this morning we're remembering a man whose music was a sounds track ever countless romances. ♪ >> famed r and b singer teddy pendergrass died yesterday in pennsylvania after a battle with colon cancer. he was paralyzed from the waste down after a car accident in 1982 but he soon returned to the stage. he was 59. we're continuing to following breaking news here in the nations capital. a tanker truck fire on the bridge. montrose road bridge over i-270. some lanes of i-270 are shut down. everywhere you look it's happening a return to saving choosing less over more solid is making a comeback for solid savings, come to suntrust. live solid. bank solid. welcome back to "news4 today." we're looking at live pictures of a tanker truck, an overturned tanker truck burning on the bridge, montrose road bridge over i-270. let's go right to ashley in the news 4 traffic network for details. some road closures there, right? >> yes. the road closures have expanded at this point in time. 270 both northbound and southbound, main and local shut down between 28 and the beltway. that's a hefty stretch of roadway to be shut down. 270 itself is alrea jammed up just south of 370 into shady grove because a lot of people got tied up and committed to 270 before they did these closures. they are at a standstill right now. the major arteries as far as alternatives are starting to stack up very quickly now. 355, it is a good alternative to 270, but you're going to have a lot of extra company this morning. also if you're planning a trip maybe taking falls road or working your way around to get out of this mess and avoid 270 because you can't utilize it at this point in time, seven locks definitely has a lot of extra volume continuing down towards the beltway area. now elsewhere around town things are behaving nicely. no big problems to report around the capital beltway. we had an accident on branch avenue. that was moved to the shoulder. out of springfield no big problems. northbound you're rolling. 395 all of your traffic lanes are open and at speeds. eun and joe, back to you. . >> do you know if there were any other vehicles involved and do you know if anyone was injured in this accident? >> initial reports was that nobody was injured. but that's unclear at this point if that's going to remain the case. from what i heard it s a one vehicle accident. just involved this tractor-trailer. it was initially dispatched, overturned and became engulfed. it occurred in the eastbound las. but, again, as can you see it does affect drivers in both directions of montrose. >> thank god it stayed on the bridge. it looks like it could easily have gone over the railing and down to 270 below. that could have been disastrous. >> as traffic starts picking up that will be a big disasterut there for the commute. let's move on to some better news because we're expecting warmer weather and we like to hear that. >> end of the cold wave will be here with us today. we'll finally get our temperatures near 50 degrees for the first time in three weeks. reich now it's cold, 29 in washington. prince george's county in the low 20s. low 20s in montgomery and fairfax counties. mid-20s in arlington county. look at that out in the mountains only five above zero in else wince, west virginia. eastern shore low 20s. under clear sky and a southwesterly breeze we should warm into the upper 40s today. partly cloudy friday high near 50. then on saturday mostly sunny, highs again in the mid-to-upper 40s. still looking like a cold rain on sunday with highs near 40 degrees. in haiti this morning bodies continue to pile up on the streets with another day of 90 degree temperatures. overnight relief crews did start arriving at port-au-prince's airport with supplies. news 4 elaine reyes joins us live with the very latest. >> reporter: still no exact death toll. it will be a tremendous task to simply remove all the bodies and some survivors started burning debris last night because there's no electricity. survivors are also still trying to fine their loved ones as the bodies continue to pile up in the streets. they are digging through the rubble by hand. many carried their few belongings every where they went. the walking wounded also struggled for another day to fine medical attention. a few after shocks were felt last night. some makeshift camps have started to pop up but there's still no real shelter. relief workers from all over the world started arriving at port-au-prince's airport with food, water and medical supplies. a united states military assessment team is already on the ground there. now these camps are popping up in front of the presidential palace and in parking lots across the city. police use their pickup trucks to carry the injured, other survivors carried injured in whe wheelbarrows. >> this morning more money and manpower are on their way to haiti. here in dulles south red cross is deploying another team of volunteers. tracee wilkins joins us now live from the american red cross headquarters in northwest with more on the aid under way there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. more money is heading there because of all of the donations that have been made by the americans. we can give you more information on how to do that. disaster response is important. the red cross is sending a team to haiti. in fact they just left a few minutes agoere from the american red cross headquarters in washington, d.c. american red cross volunteer responded from atlanta will head up a team assisting an initial damage assessment. their assessments will then red cross determine how best to serve the people in haiti, moving forward. the small amount of medical equipment and supplies that were available in haiti have been distributed. >> it's going to be quite difficult right now because it's difficult to get in, to move stuff. i mean, equipment and items in for the people. it will be a difficult situation. >> i understand that the red cross is running out of supplies down there, medical supplies, et cetera. >> locally, yeah. we had already equipment there, but because of the enormous devastation, it's quite difficult to help everybody rig. >> reporter: now, if you're inned in making a donation call 1-800-red-cross or text to give, text haiti to 90999. that will mean a $10 donation and it will be billed to your phone bill. that's through coordination with mgive foundation. they are working through the wireless services to provide that seice. logon to w wmww.red cross. they are looking for volunteers and cash. president obama has promised an aggressive coordinated effort to help the people in haiti. that includes 2,000 marines along with helicopter, planes and ships. officials are trying to send the navy hospital ship comfort. it's currently in port in baltimore. our website has more information on how to help people in haiti. head to nbcwashington.com and search the word help. you'll find a list of credible of national and international agencies. and be sure to stay tuned to "the today show" at 7:00 this morning. live team coverage of the horror in haiti from the ravaged capital city of port-au-prince. 5:37 is our time. 29 degrees out there. we're continuing to following breaking news here in the nation's capital. a tanker truck overturned and burning out of control at this moment on the bridge over i-270. the montrose road bridge over i-270 all lanes of i-270 are closed at this hour. could be some enormous traffic problems throughout the morning rush ur. stay with us, we'll be right back. you something about osteoporosis you don't already know. it runs in families - my mother has it, and now i have it. so even though i tried to keep my bones strong, it wasn't enough. now, once-monthly boniva is helping me do more. it didn't just stop my bone loss. boniva worked with my body to stop and reverse my bone loss. and studies show, after one year on boniva, nine out of ten women stopped and reversed theirs, too. 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(announcer) for a free trial offer call 1-800-4-boniva or visit boniva.com . we've been following some breaking news out of rockville where a tanker fire on the overpass of 270 is affecting traffic. let's get the latest. captain, good morning. >> good morning. >> we've been told, captain garcia that i-270 both northbound and southbound have been closed. it looks like the southbound lanes might be open. can you confirm that from the scene? >> well, we're in the process of isolating traffic in northbound and southbound 270. we do believe more than likely northbound lanes should be opened here shortly. this morning we got report of a tanker truck that was overturned and contents pretty much on fire. our hazardous material team as well as firefighters arrived on the scene confirming that. we define this as a running fuel fire. the contents of the tanker started to run down i-270 and montrose. we shut down distributor lanes of i-270, traffic coming on to montrose road. we'll continue to monitor whether we can open up the northbound 270 lanes. looks like we'll be able to. i do not have a status of the driver of the tanker truck at this point and it appears to be a single vehicle accident. >> can you tell us exactly what happened this morning and the extent of the fire and in terms of how many rescue people are there responding to it and how soon you think it might be contained? >> well at this point, about 4:45 this morning, we had firefighters on the scene and requested resurss from dulles airport. they carry a substantial amount of suppression foam to assist in flammable fuel fires. at this point we'll start to extinguish the fire. we couldn't earlier because if we kept it burning we had it isolated to montrose road, kept it going into any storm drains or neighborhoods. >> captain, can you tell us the precise location of this accident? it's difficult to tell whether it's over the northbound lanes or over the southbound lanes. >> the location is on the overpass off 270 on montrose road concentrating more on the southbound lanes. >> over the southbound side of i-270. >> yes. closer to seven locks road. >> so, the southbound lanes are closed right now, the northbound lanes are open, do you say? >> well, at least our collector distributor lanes where the ramps are, we closed off the ramps. we don't want anybody exiting on to mtrose road. we closed off that distributor lane. we're expecting to open up the northbound lanes as soon as we make a determination as far as construction integrity of part of this road because it is the overpass. >> that was going to be my next question. what is your concern about the structural integrity of that bridge with all that fuel burning there now for quite some time. >> we definitely have to make an assessment. we do believe it's basically a running fuel fire so basically the contents of this tanker has been burning on the surface so, obviously, damaging a lot of asphalt and concrete but we don't believe it's gone down to the structural components of it yet. that's something we'll have to assess. >> captain oscar garcia with the montgomery county fire and rescue department. thank you so much for joining us. let's go back to the traffic network to find out the traffic impact. we're seeing some traffic moving on i-270 and according to what captain garcia said that's the northbound lanes getting through. is that correct? >> no. actually the southbound main and local lanes is what is now open. that's why we're starting to see things start to decompress. the lineup that we had at west montgomery as you continue up -- it didn't get back up to middlebrook not at least as far as the delays were concern. they were creeping back that way. things are easing up 270 south. don't commit to it. 270 south both the main and local lanes are now open. 270 south entirely reopened. traffic can exit at falls road. i'm sorry? >> the question i have is captain garcia said the fire was over the southbound lanes but it looks, according to this camera and what you're saying the fire seems to me to be located palestine over the northbound lanes, right? >> yes. from what i understand. yes. >> okay. >> is this still affecting traffic on the other routes right? you were saying falls road is getting clogged. . 355 still getting clogged up. >> that's probably going to be a big deal around the area because a lot of people will have to avoid 270 as a result and the only roadway -- you only got so many alternative routes you can exercise before things start to slow down. now keep in mind if you're traveling southbound 270 you can make the exit at falls but can you not make the exit, obviously, at montrose road. >> okay. thanks very much. >> let's go to tom kierein now in storm center 4 to find out what the forecast calls for. pleasant temperatures moving in? >> right. i don't think that accident was caused by any weather. we had no ice around. it's been dry for the last number of days. we are one a clear sky. it is a cold morning once again but this is the end of the cold wave. right now 29 in washington, prince george's county the low 20s. montgomery and fairfax, arlington county in the low to mid 20s. under a clear sky all aund the region as high pressure moves in from the southwest, winds shifting to the southwest, warmings up to the upper 40s today with sunshine near 50 on friday, upper 40s on saturday, colrain on sunday. and now back to you. . >> thanks very much. >> we'll continue to follow that breaking news out of rockville, a tanker truck on fire on the montrose road overpass. 270, parts of 270 have been shut down. emergency crews are working on the scene right now to get the the scene right now to get the lanes open in time for the which is fantastic. we'll have them over for a friday night pizza. it's just our way of entertaining without going out. this is where all the magic happens. this is where i knead the dough, make the pizza. by using my card, i get the specials, the real deals, and it saves me money. the win-win is that we get to visit with our friends, the kids get to visit with their friends, and it's great food. more savings, more rewards. every time you shop. only with your giant card. we save money, anthat works for me. welcome back to "news4 today." president obama is offering his condolences to u.n. secretary general moon and other leaders about the death of u.n. peacekeepers in tuesday's earthquake. he's promising swift and all out reseffort from the united states. brooke hart joins us now with more on tuesday response. >> reporter: u.s. military assessment team was the first to arrive in haiti. speed is critical as lack of basic needsthere, food, water and medical care threatens compound this crisis. the pictures are hard to watc devastation almost incomprehensible. whole blocks of port-au-prince are destroyed. >> we lose it. my mother was there. now we have somebody, somebody here. we don't have a loader to get them out. >> reporter: victims were piled up on this street. survivors carried around the injured with nowhere to go. hospitals were crushed. desperation. the united states is taking the lead in getting the help to haiti. >> haitians are neighbors here in the americas and here at home so we have to be there for them. >> reporter: the uss car vincent was deployed, aircraft and marines. haiti's president, rene garcia preval spoke to nbc's brian williams. >> i know that the people of the united states and i thank them for this gesture. >> reporter: haitian americans gathered in washington and new york holding vigil for millions caught in a cruel disaster. and there is still a lot of uncertainty about the welfare of some 45,000 americans in haiti, only a fraction have contacted the u.s. embassy. >> and as we've been telling you all morning long you can find the list of credible national and international agencies where you can send donations by going to our website. nbcwashington.com and search the word help. there's also a link on the left-hand side of the page. we're following breaking news out of rockville right now. a tanker truck fire on the montrose road overpass. over the northbound lanes of 270. this is causing a big traffic mess right now. emergency responders are on the scene but there were a few lanes of 270 shut down and captain oscar garcia from montgomery county fire and rescue said they are working on getting some of the lanes re-opened before the brunt of the rh hour begins. >> as captain garcia said, one of their initial concerns was to contain that fuel. that fuel was leaking from this tanker truck and it was running down in both directions on montrose road. the first step was to try to contain the burning fuel to keep it from dripping down, pouring down on to the roadway on i-270. they have been able to do that, apparently, and now he said the next step is try to extinguish the fire itself and it looks like the fire has gone down considerably from the first time we saw the fire burning that overturned tanker truck. now they will start to put that fire out. of course that will be a huge battle because they got how many thousands of gallons of fuel that is still burning. of course, this is affecting traffic throughout that area as people try to make their way around that area. leep let's see how traffic is moving? >> southbound some significant delays. southbound trip of 270 is open, albeit slow. hit delays south of 370 out of shady grove as you continu in that southbound direction. now northbound, you are going to find that all of your lanes are blocked. now, the problem is that you see right there over at tuckerman is that a lot of people are not realizing that after you commit from the beltway on to northbound 270 old georgetown road and democracy boulevard are your last opportunities to bail out. if you commit to 270 northbound anything beyond that you're going to be sitting just like those people on 270 north that have no place to go at this point in time. plan ahead. should be in pretty good shape. 270 will be a mess for a while. montrose road will be shut down in both directions for quite some time. >> this is really going affect traffic on the inner loop of the beltway going north on i-270 and outer loop of the beltway going on the i-270, trying to get on i-270 northbound as well. and one of the big issues that they are going to have to deal with too is after this fire does get out they want to inspect that bridge to make sure that the structural integrity of the bridge is okay. i conscience in the past when tanker trucks have crashed and burned on a roadway, the roadway gets eaten up by that fire. so montrose road could have some significant problems for quite some time. >> for the commuters out there, they are about to head to work. what are some of the alternatives? i know all these roads will get clogged. is there a better way? what's the best way to get down 270 or down south. >> it depends on where you're coming from. 355 is the most obvious alternative. it's not too bad at this point in time. that's the most obvious route for drivers because it does parallel with 270 out of gaithersburg, continuing through rockville and down towards the beltway. other terms for you, depending on where you're coming on from the beltway taking 28 towards great seneca highway, you can also just ride 28 the whole time. continue down towards the capital beltway. it is going to take some planning on people's parts before you commit to the roadways this early morning but you'll definitel be thank you yourself later so you don't get stuck in these delays. >> think about georgia avenue getting over to georgia avenue coming south towards the beltway where you can pick up the beltway. 29 coming down towards the beltway. take connecticut avenue and come down towards the beltway and pick up the beltway there. >> of course these roads are already busy roads. you'll see significant traffic, i can imagine not just in this area but in the outer lying areas as well. >> yeah. one accident and far reaching consequences, that's for sure. >> captain oscar garcia said he was not able to account for the driver of this tractor-trair. have you heard anything about the condition of the driver of this truck? apparently a one vehicle accident. >> initial reports were that no one was injured, but i can't confirm that any longer at this point in time. that's just what we were hearing initially. i account account for that. >> one more time, the road closures, the lane closures on 270 montrose road just so everyone knows before they head out this morning. >> okay. traveling northbound you will find both the main and local lanes are shut down. essentially between the beltway and accident at montrose itself. all the way up towards 28. southbound the main and local lanes are open and you can make the exit on to falls road but can you not commit to montrose road. again, if you're traveling northbound on 270 coming off from the beltway continuing northbound your last chance is to bail out is oldgeorgetown road and democracy boulevard. after that you're committed to 270 north and you're going to be sitting there for, until they re-open the northbound trip of 270. >> heading northbound that's good advice. get off at either old georgetown or democracy because you don't want to sit on i-270. thank you very much. right now let's check our forecast. meteorologist tom kierein joins us in the studio. >> we're going to see the end of the cold wave beginning today. yesterday we got briefly into the mid-40s. we should exceed that today. ronald reagan washington national airport, the temperature is at 29 degrees. in the upper 20s in the district of columbia. prince george's county now into the low 20s tomid-20s. so it's cold there. also cold in montgomery county and fairfax county, just in the mid-20s and just in the mid-20s as well in arlington county. elsewhere weather watchers in rural areas reporting in the 20s. single digits in many locations in the mountains of eastern virginia, eastern shore and west virginia. we're off to a clear start. within shifting to the southwest with bright sun getting us up to the 40s. near 50 again on friday. upper 40s saturday with some increase in the cloud cover saturday night. looks like rain moving in on sunday that may linger into part of martin luther king jr. day on monday. drying out in the afternoon. chilly. dry on tuesday and wednesday. eun and joe. >> thanks very much. we're continuing to follow this morning this breaking news on montrose road over i-270. this is the bridge over i-270. a tanker truck on fire been burning for quite some time now but it's affecting traffic on i-270 severely. all northbound lanes are shut down. southbound lanes are getting by but slowing considerably as you can see in the picture going underneath that overpass. >> we'll have the latest on this breaki story and the latest on the devastation in haiti as well. stay with us. "news4 today" continues at 6:00 a.m. host: could switching to geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance? host: does elmer fudd have trouble with the letter r? elmer: shhhh, be very quiet; i'm hunting wabbits. director (o/c): ok cut!!!! uh...it's i'm hunting "rabbits," elmer. let's try that again. elmer: shhhh, i'm hunting wabbits. director (o/c): cuuuuut! rabbits. elmer: wabbits director (o/c): rabbits. elmer: wabbits. director (o/c): rabbits with an "r." elmer: aw...this diwector's starting to wub me the wong way. vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. breaking news. take a look at this. this huge tanker truck fire on montrose road, right over i-270, on the bridge of montrose road, over 270. montrose road, of course, is completely shut down. i-270 is partially shut down. it is a mess. the situation is getting worse and making for a nightmare commute for a lot of folks. >> let's get the latest information from the news 4 traffic center. >> starting off wita bang, that's for sure. if you're traveling along 270 here's what you need to know. the southbound trip of 270, the more heavily traveled trip, you are going to fine your main and local lanes are open. however, word of caution. if you're going to commit to 270, you'll have a lot of company and something to look at at montrose road. a lot of drivers are taking alternatives through the area. that's definitely a good choice for you. 355 still not a bad trip. 28 taking georgia. i mean pretty much any trip is better than committing to 270 at this point in time. northbound 270 does remain blocked both main and local and the problem now is that people from the beltway are committing to northbound 270 and then getting stuck because they don't realize that your last opportunity to exit on northbound 270 are going to be old georgetown road and also democracy boulevard. anything after democracy boulevard you will be committed to 270 northbound and unfortunately those drivers have no place to go at this point in time so they are literally just sitting there this early morning. >> any idea what the effect has been so far on the beltway itself? >> as far as the beltway is concern, we're starting to see a routine delay creep up. but there's no huge impact as of yet. we're not seeing delays on the inner loop going back towards river ad or anything like that. this is just matter of time. once the ball starts rolling, it's going to keep rolling but not go very fast. >> okay. thanks very much. >> thank you. >> let's go to megan mcgrath. she's on the scene right now. from your vantage point kwhat you see and what can you tell about the impact? >> we can tell you this tanker truck is still on fire. i'll slip out of the way to let you see. off in the distance there, that's the overpass on montrose road, the overpass that goes over 270. you can see about an hour later this tanker truck is still burning. in fact, they will just let it burn at this point. the tanker over on its si, we're told was carrying some sort of flammable liquid. we're not sure if it was gasoline or something else. being described as a flammable liquid. that tanker truck is on fire. they are considering this despite what you're seeing, they say it is contain. what they are doing is letting it burn so it will burn up all of this flammable liquid and then eventually they will go in and start extinguishing the flam at that point. they consider this contain at this point. they are letting it burn. but obviously quite a da mattic fire we got going on here on the overpass of montrose road. montrose road closed in both directions. we're seeing an impact on 270. northbound is closed. southbound is open but certainly going to be a big distraction for folks as they drive southbound on 270 because this can clearly be seen from the main lanes of 270. it is up there on the overpass on montrose road. so, we don't have any information about the driver of tanker or exactly what happened, what cause this tanker truck to go over its side and burst into flames. we do know, however, only the tanker truck was involved. no other vehicles involved in this accident. something that will be with us throughout the morning. montrose closed in both directions. obviously will remain closed for quite some time. then after they exin theish the flames they will have to take a close look at this road. this has been burning for some time. no doubt we'll have problems with damage to t asphalt and they will have to look at the structural inat the get of the overpass. ongoing situation that will have a big impact o traffic this morning. back to you. >> megan mcgrath live on the scene. thanks so much for that report. >> let's get the latest forecast now from tom kierein who joins us here in the studio. >> clear sky this morning. no within that would really make that situation with that fire even worse. calm wind now. it's 28 degrees in the district of columbia. right now only near 20 in montgomery county where the fire is located. only near 20 in fairfax and prince george's county as well. so it's a cold morning. teens to near 20 degrees on the eastern shore. only in the single digits out in the mountains of west virginia. we're under a clear sky. high presse is moving in from the southwest. that's bringing in some milder air that will be with us here for today, tomorrow and saturday. highs today upper 40s with bright sunshine. partly cloudy friday. highs near 50. on saturday should be mostly sunny to upper 40s. clouding up saturday night. during the day on sun rain moving up from the south. looks like a cold rain on sun with highs only near 40 degrees. that rain may ling near to the first part of martin luther king jr. day on monday morning. eun and joe? >> to haiti now where a mass jennifer rescue effort is under way for the tens ever thousands of people still trapped after that devastating earthquake. cargo planes from around the world are headed to that country with food, water and medical supplies. still no indication of how many people might be dead. there are fears it could be tens of thousands or perhaps worse, hundreds of thousands. many of those who are injured are not treated because the red cross have run out of supplies and nrks deed, hospitals have collapsed. >> the hope that more planes full of supplies will arrive throughout the day. >> for many of the victims it was another night spent out on the streets. elaine reyes joins with us the latest. >> there's little food and water and with 90 degree temperatures it's an increasingly desperate situation. police pleading for help and survivors are starting to set up camps. relief workers from all over the world started arriving at the port-au-prince airport with food, water and medical supplies. representativeses from tuesday, canada, rue sharks china and latin america are starting to arrive on the scene. stivers and walking wounded struggled for another day, though, to fine medical attention. they are also trying to fine other loved ones as the bodies don't pile up in the streets. many carried their belongings every where they went and a few after shocks were felt last night. makeshift camps have started to pop up. still no real shelter. now the uss carl vincent is expected off the coast of haiti this afternoon. more u.s. navy ships are also on the way. one is carrying 2,000 marines who may able to provide the security the country desperately needs. eun? >> it certainly does. elaine reyes. thank you. "nbc nightly news" anchor brian williams is in haiti. he spoke with president preval who thanked president obama and the american people. >> i want to thank the people of the united states because president obama is ready to help. he delivered a message. sending people here to help us. i know that the money of the people of the united states and i thank them for this gesture. >> it is an unmanageable tragedy for a nation of crushing poverty. haiti is struggling to launch a massive relief effort. even the national palace is in ruins. international aid is pouring in. u.s. is sending ships, helicopter, planes, 2,000 marines and civilian emergency tes from across the nation. >> can you visit our website to find out how you can help the people in haiti. head to nbcwashington.com and search the word help. there's also a lynch at the top of the left side of the page. you'll find a long list of credibleational and international agencies that are taking donations and offers of help. we'll have much more on the earthquake in haiti throughout our newscast. find out how ten local students who were on a mission trip are doing this morning. >> another big story we're watching this morning, reports of a plea deal for wizards star gilbert arenas. >> we have that breaking news above i-270 on montrose road. a large tanker truck fire has shut down montrose road and parts of the interstate. st 6:11 the our time. welcome back to "news4 today." we're following breaking news at this hour. these are live pictures on the left-hand side of your screen. both sides now of a tanker truck fire burning on montrose road. the bridge going over i-270. all northbound lanes of i-270 are blocked, stopped. you cannot travel beyond a certain point on i-270. southbound lanes are open. traffic very slow, though. >> we're seeing some pictures of chopper 4 traffic backed up on both sides. let's get the latest on the situation down there. >> it seems like every five seconds there's a new closure that is stemming from this initial accident. now it's unclear whether it will be brief or what they are doing but southbound 270 they did have blocked there for a moment at falls road. again, it's unclear if they will keep that blocked because southbound was the only thing open at this point in time. northbound does remain blocked, both main and local. the problem on the main line in the northbound direction is that people don't realize you can't get anything beyond democracy boulevard. that's your last opportunity to bailout. at this point in time with the delays that have stacked up through that area your better option is old georgetown road or even leaving from the beltway to just avoid 270. if you are traveling 270 it is going to be very slow and heavy as you come out making your way past montrose when they do have those lanes open. chopper 4, you can see where they are holding up all of those lanes. it's just a massive jam. if you have to get somewhere this morning, 355 is a good alternative but just keep in mind that's the most obvious alternative to 270. a lot of people are going to commit to that. also 28. georgia avenue is good alternative. just keep that in mind. we also have some other beltway problems. inner loop a new accident overturn just before old georgetown road. joe and eun, back to you. >> if you're heading to work from northern montgomery county expect to have a longer commute this morning. have a lot of patience. >> let's go to tom kierein this morning in storm center 4 about changes headed our way. >> another cold morning. clear skies. temperature have plummeted overnight. 20 degrees in prince george's county in the district of columbia upper 20s. mid-20s in arlington county. but in fairfax and montgomery county, only near 20 degrees. weather watchers elsewhere reporting upper teens to 20 degrees across the rural areas of maryland and virginia high pressure has moved in from the south and west that will continue to shift our wind into the southwest today. with the bright sunshine we shou warm up quickly this morning and peak in the upper 40s by early afternoon. plummet below freezinging tonight. mid-20s tomorrow morning. afternoon highs friday near 50. upper 40s on saturday. cold rain on sunday. eun and joe? >> thanks very much. >> stay with us. we're following this breaking news out of rockville. they have just now put out -- they are putting out fire right now. the firefighters had contain it earlier and was lefting the fuel burn. as you can see, this is looking pretty dramatic. big explosions of flames coming from the fact that they are now trying, apparently to extinguish the fire. you can see the water going on to the fire right now. we have captain garcia, oscar garcia with montgomery county fire and rescue. maybe can you tell us what's happening right now >> currently as of about 30 seconds ago we began to extinguish the fire from the east and westbound lanes using the tanker truck from dulles. we did made sure we shut down northbound 270. the lanes are completely shut down. >> what your using to put the fire out. that's not water? >> that's correct. it's a mixture of water and foam. pretty much going to suppress the vapors off the liquid that's burning. you'll see a black foam over this fire as we extinguish it. >> captain garcia, explain why you had to wait until now to put out the fire. >> initially we wanted to make sure the fire was contain, we wanted to make sure the fire and running fuel was notoing into any storm drains, of not affecting any potential neighborhoods, any streams, that sort of thing. we did have to establish a continuous water supply which we did over thousands of feet on montrose road to the nearest hydrant to make sure when we put this in our truck it would have the right amount of supplies to mix with our foam and be able to put this out. >> captain garcia the structural integrity of that bridge is in qution as well. can you tell us about that? >> we're going to have to make an assessment with regard to structural indegrit. it is an overpass. the over pass, the fire is mostly contained over about 50 feet to the left side and it's not currently right on top of 270. so the traffic on montrose road will be mostly affected by this and we'll have to check the structural integrity, but as far as not completely over 270, more towards seven locks. >> sometimes firefighters let this kind of a fire, fuel fire burn completely out so that the fuel is used up completely. if you put this fire put out before all that fire has been burned up in the fire what do you do with the remaining fuel? >> at this point, as part of the construction of the tanker itself has compartments inside them. obviously we do know some of the tanker components and individual tanks inside the tanker truck were damaged and were burning. however some of them might still be in tact. at that point we'll have to offload them. work with the maryland department of environmental protection to make sure we offload this properly if there's any fuel left. >> after this clean up what happens next? how soon before we get traffic moving on montrose road and any overpass? >> montrose road is going to be more than likely an all day situation, first assessment of this overpass but at the same time northbound 270 and southbound 270 are going to be less affected. >> once again, as you said at the beginning, you have shut down certain parts of i-270 while you were actually extinguishing the fire. explain to us that again if you will what lanes of i-270 have been closed in order for you to do this work. >> northbound and southbound lanes of 270 completely were shut down a couple of minutes ago. >> do they have to remain shut down until you extinguish the fire. >> we have to make an assessment of the overpass but the lanes on 270 will be opened shortly. >> so you're close to extinguishing this fire, captain? >> that's correct. we're going to basically put a blanket of foam on top of it and what that does it prevents the vapor from the fuel from continuing to burn. >> all right. captain oscar gar say from the montgomery county fire and rescue department. thank you so much for joining us. >> let's go back to megan mcgrath. she's live on the scene. what do you see from your vantage point. is the fire definely going down? >> yeah. it's definitely going down. the flames are not shooting up in the air as high as they were. you can take a look here. you can see it's still on fire, can you sort of see the tanker there on its side but there's still a fire there going. still working on it. a little while ago we had a very dramatic burst of flames as they initially began to attack the fire. they are using a combination of foam and water. they have let it burn for quite some time hoping to burn off some of the fuel that's inside the tanker. then they made the decision to go in and try to start putting this fire out. they have a special truck that was brought in from dulles airport that was carrying foam. they put that truck into place and then also they have montgomery county vehicles on the scene as well and they began to attack the fire using this foam and water mixture. now there was that initial burst of flames pap lot of smoke. can you see it has had some impact. the flames certainly are not as high as they had been but we still have a fire. they have not yet put the flames out here. so this is still a burning tanker truck on interests side on the montrose road overpass. they have closed all lanes of 270 in both directions until they can get this fire t, get a handle on things, they don't want people driving underneath the overpass when there's such a volatile situation going on just above them. they will shut down traffic, keep it in check until they can get a better handle on the situation. this is a very, very hot fire. this tanker truck was carrying a flammable liquid. we don't know what, whether gasoline or something else. a flammable liquid. it has been burning for some time. there's no doubt at the very least asphalt damage on the overpass here, of the montrose road overpass. it is possible that there could be other structural damage as well. that's certainly something they have to take a look at once they get this fire out and they will have to headache the assessment then. certainly montrose road will be closed for a very long time. the hope here and you can see here, it looks like they have another assault going on with that foam and water. as soon as they get it out and assess the situation they will try to re-open 270. but they are not there yet. >> let's get more on the traffic impact we've been seeing through these pictures how enormous the backups are becoming. let's go the traffic network to get more details. >> getting very bad. unfortunately a lot of drivers, the last report they heard when they committed to the roadway was 270 was open. so they commit toitd and now they are stuck. this is the view at falls road. we do have again all lanes both northbound and southbound on 270 blocked. southbound you can get any further than falls road. definitely bailout well before that point. northbound trip of 270, your last chance to bailout is democracy boulevard. we also have some problems bubbling up on the beltway itself. the beltway was starting to slow, inner loop drivers continuing on to northbound 270. now we have a couple of accident around the 270 spur. both of those are along the left side of the roadway. overall a messy commute. montrose road is shut down between seven locks and tower oaks road. that's the stretch over the beltway. utilize montrose just not over top of 270. you can't commit to that stretch. eun and joe, back to you. thanks so much for that update. >> let's get a look at our forecast. tom kierein is in storm center 4. what will the weather be like? >> cold start but a nice warm up under a clear sky. temperatures around the region are near 20 degrees. a bit milder in the district of columbia and right near the bay and we have a clear sky here thanks to high pressure moving in from the southwest. should make it to the upper 40s today, near 50 tomorrow. partly cloudy and upp 40s on saturday. cold rain likely on sunday. may linger into early dr. king day. back to you. thanks very much, tom. we'll continue to follow this breaking news. this fire on montrose road on the bridge over i-270 this morning. >> all lanes of 270 are shut down right now as emergency crs put out this fire. all lanes of 270 shut down, but the officials say that the southbound lanes should be opened very so . we're following breakin news right now out of rockville where a tanker truck fire has shut down all lanes of 270. this is on the montrose overpass. fire crews are working right now to pout this fire but there are a lot of problems in terms of traffic, the structural damage ofhe overpass is in question. this situation will be ongoing throughout the day. >> we'll continue to follow it. >> in other news, could gilbert arenas be close the reaching a plea deal on gun charges. >> "the washington post" reports arenas attorneys are working on a possible deal. the wizards star could be luck in court as early today. the deal assures arenas doesn't serve any jail time. a grand jury has been hearing testimony in the case for more than a week. if the employee deal falls through, he could be charged with a felony and land him behind bars. next, we're following two big stories. the other devastation in haiti and relief slowly making its way to the island country. >> breaking news out of montgomery county. this tanker truck fire on montrose road over i-270. it's causing some huge traffic problems this morning. we breaking news now. take a look at this picture. a large tanker truck fire on montrose road. right over i-270. montrose road is shut down. 270 is a parking lot and making a nightmare commute this morning. >> let's get the latest information on that from the news 4 traffic network. >> things are still a mess out there. we still have north and southbound 270 at a standstill. southbound can go no further than falls road but you won't get to that point before you think it big delays. everybody is just sitting there past 28 and shady grove. not yet back to 370 so that's a good opportunity for you to bail out, make your way over to 28 and take 355 down towards the beltway. pretty much the word of caution to drivers, avoid 270 like your life depended on it. as far as these delays are concern, they are nasty. it's very compact. people are just sitting there for the most part. northbound 270, your last chance to bailout is old georgetown road, democracy boulevard. if you go anything further than that you'll get stuck because, again, the northbound lanes of 270 are blocked. now montrose is affected, obviously so. it will be shut down in the stretch from seven locks to tower road. in that stretch, that's the stretch that goes directly over the top of 270. you can still utilize montrose in other stretches just not over the top of 270. let's check in with megan mcgrath who is live on the scene. >> reporter: good morning. they are still continuing to put that foam and water mix on this fire here and you can see we've got so much smoke going on that we can't even see the flames, we can't see the tanker at the moment and that's the ongoing situation here. they have an assault on the flames and then the smoke kicks up. then it kind of calms down for a little while and they go right back at it again. they are trying to put out this fire at this point. this happened a little before 5:00 a.m. this morning and when this tanker first went over on its side and erupted into flames it was a site to see. we had a massive tower of flames shooting up here on the montrose road overpass and they let it burn for quite some time, letting this flammable liquid on board this tanker burn away. a little while ago they decided they had done enough of that and it was time to actually put the fire out. they have a special truck that was brought in from dulles airport. a truck that is designed to respond to air accidents there at the airport. it has a lot of foam and other special chemicals on board to retook this fire involving fuel. they brought that truck up from dulles airport. it's on the other side of the incident. you can see it. it's on the other side and they are attacking the flames from that side of the road and then, of course, we got montgomery county fire trucks than side. they are using a mixture of foam and water to try to put out these flames. unfortunately for the folks down on 270 while they continue to do this you will just be sitting there. they don't feel it's safe to allow traffic to go underneath the overpass while this is an active fire, a volatile situation. they will hold you in pla there until they can get this fire out. we're not sure just how long that will be. back to you. >> megan, earlier you were saying the other issue is structural integrity of the overpass. >> reporter: when you have a fire that's been burning this long and is this intense and i want is indeed a truly, truly hot, intense fire, it can actually burn the asphalt down below it. now how much of that has happened, we're not going to know until they actually put out the flames and it's safe for investigators to get up there and take a closer look. i would think at the absolute minimum we would be sing a lot of damage to the asphalt and, of course, depending upon the heat and exactly where on the overpass it is, it is possible there could be some structural impact to the overpass as well. all of that they will have to take a look at. they will have to assess before they can even think about re-opening montrose road. montrose road closed in both directions and that's the case for a long time. this has been burning for quite some time this they have been shooting water and foam at it. >> thanks very much. some of those wider shots from chopper 4 looked as if some of the lanes of i-270 are open now. let's go back to ashley and see if she can give us any information. >> that's the word we're hearing is north and southbound is starting to get by. at least southbound i can say. things are rolling at this point in time. now, it's unclear if northbound has definitively been opened. yes. it is definitely wide-open north and southbound. hopefully these delays will start to decompress. but unfortunately this will take some time. these dels had a lot of time to sit there and marinate. southbound pretty much anything south of 370, that's your last chance to bailout delay free. anything south of that point is a slow go. coming on south of montrose, obviously you are rolling on 270. northbound 270 is a mess. from the beltway up until montrose, obviously. but then beyond that the pace does improve tremendously. joe and eun, back to you. >> what do the feeder roads look like right now >> the major arteries that are alternative, 355 has, obviously, got a lot of bailout traffic. that seems to be the mode of choice for drivers. we did have a lot of people who were committing to seven locks. that has som unusual delays. pretty much any planned alternative you will find a lot of extra drivers at this point in time. nothing too major. >> thanks very much. good news that both the north and southbound lanes of i-270 open now. let's get a look at our forecast. here's tom. >> a calm wind this morning, thankfully. that would have made that fire situation worse. calm wind and cold. the district of columbia in the mid-to-upper 20s. montgomery county near 20 degrees. so is arlington and fairfax counties. much of the kroij upper teens to near 20 weather watchers are reporting. eastern shore only near 20. out in the mountains sijs. clear sky with high pressure moving in from the southwest with a southwesterly breeze with bright sun should warm us into the upper 40s. milder tomorrow and partly cloudy. upper 40s again on saturday with increasing clouds. right now it does look like we'll get a cold rain developing on sunday moving from the south. eun and joe? >> to haiti now where survivors of that devastating earthquake are working to save their relatives, friend and neighbors. cargo planes from around the world are headed to that country carrying food, water and much needed medical supplies. at this point there's still no indication of how many people were actually killed by this earthquake but there are fears it could be luck in the tens or perhaps even in the hundreds of thousands. many of those who were injured are not being treated because the red cross has simply run out of supplies. this morning the red cross launched volunteers an supplies from d.c. the american red cross. >> news 4 tracee wilkins joins us now live from the red cross headquarters in northwest with more on the aid being sent out from there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. a lot of working done here in washington, d.c. to help out with the effort to provide some disaer relief for folks who are suffering through what's happened down there in haiti and we just had a disaster response team leave from this place and they are now down at dulles airport, and american red cross responder from atlanta will head up a team assisting initial damage assessment. their assessment will help the red cross determine how best to help the people of haitioving forward. small amount of medical equipment and supplies that were available in haiti have been distributed. >> going to be quite difficult right now, because it's difficult to get in, to move stuff. i mean equipment and items for the people and see how the situation is on the ground. >> i under that the red cross is running tf supplies down there, medical supplies. >> locally. yeah, we already had equipment there. but because of the enormous devastation, it's quite difficult to help everybody quickly. >> the red cross is looking for volunteers. they are looking for money. you can call 1-800-red cross to help donate. you can text haiti to 90999 and make a $10 donation that will be billed to your phone bill. that's going through the mgive foundation. we raised more than $1 million yesterday with folks who were taking part and doing that texting. logon to www r wmpb wmpwww.redc find out how to give. >> visit our website to do your part. head to nbcwashington.com and search the word help. there's also a link on the left-hand side of the page. you will find a list of credible of national and international agencies taking donations. >> let's give the latest on the tanker fire. the fire is out and all lanes of 270 are re-open. we'll bring the latest on this developing situation. >> stay with us. welcome back to "news4 today." we're continuing to following breaking news on montrose road. the over pass over i-270 this is what it looked like for the last 20 to 30 minutes. firefighters have been working to put out this tanker truck fire on the montrose road overpass over i-270 using water and foam mixture and now the fire is out. and now both sides, both directions of i-270 are moving once again. let's get the latest now from ashley in the news 4 traffic network. >> well, the northbound and southbound 270 has been re-opened. you can pass under montrose. this obviously will be a lot to look at for the foreseeable future. i still wouldn't suggest committing to 270. both northbound and southbound drivers have delays. southbound you'll hit the brakes after 370. that's your last opportunity to bailout. 28 is definitely a good place to hop off of 270 in order to not get stuck in these delays. now if you're coming up northbound, you're going pick up some volume past old georgetown road and democracy boulevard, but, again, your lanes are open. that's the really good news because it was just a mess. now 355 is an alternative. it's very slow. i don't necessarily suggest that. also a lot of extra volume on seven locks, but the good news is that there's no accident as a result. we have a new accident on connecticut avenue southbound just after veers mill. if you're traveling elsewhere around town no major problems. everybody else seems to be behaving nicely. picking up volume out of dale city. 395 as you continue out of springfield and to and across the 14th your lanes are open and at speeds. joe and eun, back to you. let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein now to get the latest on our forecast. tom, good morning. >> good morning. we have a calm within and one this clear sky the temperatures have plummeted this morning to near 20 degre in prince george's county as well as in montgomery and fairfax counties. arlington county now in the mid-20s. upper 20s in the district of columbia. elsewhere we dipped into the upper teens to just near 20 degrees and it's in the single digits out in the untains. clear sky. lots of sun today with a gentle southwesterly breeze warming up to the 40s. tomorrow partly cloudy. highs mid-50s. cold rain likely developing south to north on sunday. and i'll be back in ten minutes with another look at the weather and we'll look into next week as well. thank you. >> we have been following breaking news all morning long on this tanker truck fire out of rockville. this fire shut down i-270 in both directions for a time now. the emergency responders got on the scene and just about a half hour ago started putting out that fire. the fire is now out and all lanes of 270 are re-open. don't mean the problems are over just yet. let's check in with megan mcgrath who is live on the scene. good morning. >> reporter: this is an active scene for quite some time. we have a l of emergency crews here on montrose road, on the overpass. they are still attending to the fire here in the tanker. pretty much looks like it's out. they are still monitoring the situation and, obviously, they are not going to be able to re-open montrose road for quite some time. when this tanker went over on its side and burst into flames there was quite a explosion. i'm joined by a gentleman who lives nearby. describe what happened this morning? >> i was asleep and all of a sudden there was a huge bang that woke me up and the entire house shook. the bed shook, the house shook, it was huge. then there were a bunch of smaller explosions after that. the main one really was huge. >> what did you think was going on? >> i thought it was a thunderstorm. i couldn't figure out how there could be luck a thunderstorm this time the year but that's what it sounded like initially except it was too sharp. it sounded like an explosion of some kind. >> did you all the explosions happen in a short period of time or was it ongoing? >> no. probably 20, 30 seconds, like one big one and then some smaller ones after that. >> thanks so much for joining us this morning. a rude awakening for folks who live in the area. this was a tremendous explosion that occurred here. the flames just shot up into the air and burning for quite some time. this is a tanker that was carrying some sort of flammable liquid. we're not sure whether it was gasoline or some other kind of liquid. they let it burn for quite some time. the firefighters were here on the scene. they wanted as much of that product to burn up as possible before they went in to attack the flames. that's what they've done here over the last 45 minutes or so. they've come in with some specialized trucks that are carrying foam and a water mixture and they have been attacking the flames using that mixture. can you see right now we're seeing smoke but not seeing that column of flames that we had seen before. joe, back to you. thanks very much, megan. right now i'm here with d.c. mayor adrian fenty. he joins us every thursday morning at 6:45 for chebtionnec with the mayor. >> glad everybody is okay. the big story we've been focused on is that horse bell devastating quake in haiti. a lot of governments are sending in help trying to do something to help. is the district doing anything specifically to help those folks? >> what we've done over the first 24 to 36 hours is to put the links on our d.c. government website for all of the places that you can donate your own money, or find out information about the tragedy. what we'll do in the coming weeks is kind ofaybe partner with other jurisdictions in the region, look to see what other big city mayors are doing and come up with whatever relief plan is appropriate. certainly the residents of washington, d.c. care about what's happened in haiti as much as anyone in the world and we're going to do our part. >> anything that the d.c. national guard can do to help? >> there's a number of things. it's so early that we don't want to jump out without having a good plan, one that's coordinated with what president obama is dog, which is major. so, we'll have everything rolled out probably within the next week. certainly something we can do and we should. >> now let's move on to another topic. march 2nd is slated to be the day that gay couples in the district can actually get married in the district. if congress doesn't step in and do something. one congressman is suggesting a plan which or rather suggesting a limit put on a ballot to be voted on by the people. what are your expectations with regard to whether congress will step in and try to limit something with regard to the gay marriage bill? >> i think our expectations are the same, that congress while not unanimous in support of eat the issue or the district's right to decide the sue, in the majority it does support our ability to make local decisions, council and mayor. so there may be one or two congress people to propose things. hopefully on march 2nd we can do what other states did, everyone regardless of sexual preference will be able to get married in the city. >> let me ask you about a question from ow viewer, a public safety concern. please add crossing guards to the intersection of 14th and u streets. this was ranked as one of the most dangerous crossings in the neighborhood. your office quickly responded to that. you add ad crossing guard last night. >> our people do a fantastic job. but that's why we come on these shows and get good feedback from the community because sometimes we don't get everything. so thank you for the e-mail. >> how many of authors there around the district? >> there's a lot more. we're into hundreds now. maybe between 100 and 200. we professionalize them -- they used them -- we put a lot into ddot, crossing guards and the ones that patrol intersections and give them some power to write smaller tickets as well if people are not yielding for pedestrians. >> okay. thanks very much. if you have a question or comment you would like to get to the mayor, scene us an e-mail to fenty at nbcwashington.com and we'll forward the e-mail on to the mayor. thanks very much, mr. mayor. >> thanks, joe. >> good to have you. let's get the forecast from tom kierein. >> good morning. the cold wave is ending. there's the clear sky over the potomac river. another cold morning now. later on today our warmest day in three weeks. 28 degrees at ronald reagan washington national airport. prince george's county near 20. near 20 in montgomery, fairfax counties. arlington county in the mid-20s now. elsewhere weather watchers reporting temperatures in the teens to low to mid-20s. eastern shore near 20. out in the mountains, frigid morning there, only single digits. clear sky as high pressure is moving in from the southwest. winds shiftinin to the southwest throughout the day should warm us up. our highs reaching the upper 40s this afternoon with bright sun and partly cloudy tomorrow with a high near 50. as we get into saturday, sunny in the morning but clouding up late in the day. sunday looks cloudy with rain developing south to north through the day, a cold rain and it may linger into early dr. king day on monday and drink out monday afternoon, tuesday and wednesday sunny, highs near 40. eun and joe? >> let's get the latest onf situation out there in rockville, the tanker truck that was on fire. ashley has the latest now. >> well we still have montrose road shut down in both directions over the top of 270 but 270 itself is open. northbound and southbound drivers will find their lanes open. this is not at speed. this is the view at capital beltway. no problems on the beltway. southbound 270 very slow. you'll hit the brakes well before 370 at this point in time so plan ahead. bailout early. 355 as an alternative is getting congested. keep that in mine. i would suggest georgia of a now down to the beltway. just at all costs avoid 270 this morning. we're looking at congestion on the american legion bridge. it's having a direct effect on outer loop drivers. eun and joe, back to you. >> that's tough. thanks very much. let's go to megan mcgrath now. she's live on the scene of that tanker truck fire on montrose fire over i-270. megan? >> reporter: first of all -- do you have me now, joe? joe, do you have me? here's important information to get out there. first of all is that the fire is out at this point. secondly, the driver of the tanker truck of not harmed. that individual, the driver is talking to police right now. they are okay. also, something that's important to mention here is that the fire itself, where this tanker went over on its side and erupted into flames, it was actually east of the bridge itself. so it's actually not on the bridge. it's on the berm. that's good in terms of structural integrity of this bridge. they were concerned about what this fire and the fact it was burning so hot for so long what it will do the bridge. what we're learning it wasn't on the bridge but that earthen berm. montrose road, rather, still closed and that will be the case for some time. back to you. >> thanks very much. >> the other big story this morning, of course, is in haiti where a massive rescue effort is under way for tens ever thousands of people trapped after that devastating earthquake. this morning cargo planes from around the world are headed to the country with food, water and medical supplies. no indication of how many people may be dead. cod be in the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands. many not being treated because the red cross have ran out of supplies and hospitals have been destroyed. can you visit our website to find out how can you help the people in haiti. head to nbcwashington.com and search the word help. there's also a link on the top left-hand side of the page. you'll find a long list of credible national and international agencies taking donations. >> let's get another last update now with ashley on that breaking news situation. >> montrose road will remain shut down on top of 270. but 270, your lanes are open northbound and southbound. northbound you're picking a great deal of volcoming from the capital beltway past montrose. southbound lineup begins well before 370. that's your last opportunity to bailout delay free. you won find a great alternative to 270 at this point in time but 355 is a good one. do expect delays. eun and joe, back to you. . >> that is "news4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> we house of representatives have a great day and join us tomorrow starting at 4:55. special edition of "the today show" is next live from haiti. have a great day. >> bye.