No injuries were reported after a Christmas Eve fire at a rowhouse in Chester spread to neighboring homes, displacing five families, officials said.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, firefighters responded to the 900 block of West Seventh Street and found heavy fire in a rowhouse. A second alarm was struck about seven minutes later.
Mayor Stefan Roots said three homes sustained heavy fire and water damage. He did not provide any information on what caused the fire.
The American Red Cross responded to the scene and assisted a total of 13 people from five families who were displaced, said spokesperson Alana Mauger.
Twenty-four hours after two gas explosions ripped through a Bucks County nursing home, the dead and injured had been identified, survivors were accounted for, and the cleanup was underway. But unanswered questions about the blast’s cause mounted.
On Wednesday morning, Peco provided a drastically different account of when its crews responded to reports of a gas odor on Tuesday, saying technicians had actually arrived hours — not minutes — before the blast at Bristol Health & Rehab Center.
Then, the energy company went silent, declining to answer any additional questions as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) took over a sprawling investigation that will also involve other federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies.
Meanwhile, the new operator of the 174-bed nursing home, Saber Healthcare Group, is also coming under scrutiny amid questions about the poorly maintained facility on Tower Road that it took over from another provider just three weeks ago.
It could take months to get answers about what caused, and who is at fault for, the blast that killed two people and left 19 hospitalized, one in critical condition.
Experts and attorneys told The Inquirer the investigation will likely focus heavily on the actions of Peco and the nursing home’s operators.
“If the facility doesn’t maintain the equipment and the gas in their own facility, then they would be responsible,” said Robert Mongeluzzi, an attorney who has represented victims of gas explosions. “If there were reports of the gas leak, and Peco is notified and the facility isn’t cleared … there’s going to be responsibility on both of them.”
Windows and debris at the site of the Bristol Health & Rehab Center on Wednesday.
In a statement, the NTSB said investigators will not be able to fully evaluate the natural gas service line until “a safe path is cleared.” That effort alone could take several days. The agency provided no timeline for its initial findings.
Saber Healthcare Group took over operations at the nursing home on Dec. 1. Prior to that, the facility had been managed by another privately run for-profit healthcare company, the Ohio-based CommuniCare Health Services.
CommuniCare, which had operated the home since 2021, racked up a long list of code violations for unsafe building conditions and substandard healthcare. Just two months ago, state inspectors cited the facility for lacking a fire safety plan, failing to maintain extinguishers, and allowing conditions that would cause poor smoke ventilation.
Federal inspection records also show numerous citations over previous years for substandard healthcare, poor infection control, and mismanaged medical records, earning the facility a one-star rating. CommuniCare incurred more than $418,000 in fines due to violations in 2024, records show.
“We have worked to improve and fix prior issues, and we will continue that work in the wake of this tragedy,” Saber said in a statement Tuesday.
Attorneys watching the news unfold questioned whether Saber should have evacuated residents sooner on Tuesday. Peco’s own guidelines urge people who smell gas to evacuate the building immediately.
“If you or I smelled gas in our apartment or house, we’d be like, ‘Where is it?’ You have to get everybody out,” said Ian Norris, an attorney at Philadelphia-based McEldrew Purtell who has sued Saber and other nursing home operators accused of negligence. “In a nursing home, you have a higher standard of care. They are dependent residents who are there on the basis that they need help.”
A Saber representative said the company was looking into the evacuation procedures. In its statement Tuesday, the company said “facility personnel reported a gas smell” to Peco. The statement made no mention of an evacuation effort.
The smell was confined to the kitchen area of the nursing home, according to the Saber representative.
A Peco gas technician arrived at the nursing home on Tuesday afternoon. He was working alone in the basement below the kitchen area to address the issue, and as he went to his truck to retrieve more tools, the building erupted, said Larry Anastasi, president of IBEW Local 614, the union that represents Peco workers.
Whether Peco’s gas lines played a role in the blast remains unknown. But the utility company’s aging gas infrastructure will likely come under closer inspection as the probe progresses, according to attorneys with knowledge of investigations following such explosions.
One detail that became clear Wednesday was that Peco’s gas meter was located in the basement of the nursing home — not outside and aboveground as required by a 2011 order from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).
The PUC, like Peco, declined to comment and referred questions to the NTSB.
Workers set up fencing at Bristol Health & Rehab Center on Wednesday.
While the age and condition of the gas line near the nursing home were not clear, Peco has acknowledged it had 742 miles of substandard gas lines across the state — including cast iron, plastic, and uncoated steel piping — that needed replacing. The lines accounted for 5% of Peco’s gas service but 82% of leaks, according to a report from the PUC.
Peco plans call for all of those lines to be replaced by 2035 and to invest roughly $6 billion to inspect, modernize, and perform maintenance on all of its systems over the next five years.
Richard Kuprewicz, an expert on gas pipeline safety and investigations, said it is too early to tell if Peco or the nursing home acted improperly. He warned against jumping to conclusions the day after the explosions.
“We just don’t have the facts on this,” Kuprewicz said. “The tragedy is they had an explosion from a gas release that they knew was occurring. People will raise questions about this for months.”
In the immediate aftermath Tuesday evening, Peco spokesperson Greg Smore said in a statement that the company’s crews had responded to the nursing home “shortly after 2 p.m.” Tuesday and that while they were on site, the explosion occurred. The blast was reported just before 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito.
But in a revised statement Wednesday morning, the company backtracked, saying its crews actually arrived “a few hours” before the explosion. It would not provide a specific time.
Peco said it shut off natural gas and electric service “to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents.” But, again, it would not say when.
Depending on where the gas leak was, Kuprewicz said, significant amounts of gas could continue to seep out after a shutoff.
“There isn’t one standard answer for all this,” he said. “Even when you shut it off, it doesn’t [always] stop flowing.”
Inquirer staff writers Samantha Melamed and Barbara Laker contributed to this article.
The Chicago Bears game was a breaking point for Jalen Carter.
His shoulders had bothered him since training camp, and on the day the Eagles’ defense was gashed for 281 rushing yards in a Black Friday blackout, Carter’s deficiencies showed on the film, he said. The Eagles even took him off the field on early downs.
There’s a lot of hand-to-hand combat that happens at the line of scrimmage, and Carter couldn’t strike and use his hands the way he usually does. He didn’t have the strength in part because the shoulder pain and mobility limitations made it so that he couldn’t lift weights. Even pushups were painful.
Carter said Wednesday that he got multiple shots in both shoulders. He feels a lot better now, but the procedures may have been temporary fixes. Carter said he probably won’t feel 100% during the upcoming playoff run and will likely have to revisit the injuries in the offseason.
Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter shown against the Detroit Lions on Nov. 20.
“I can’t get too excited because I’m still working on it every day, still getting the strength back,” he said.
Carter is in line to make his return Sunday vs. the Buffalo Bills after missing the previous three games. Carter said he wanted to play every snap, but the Eagles will likely work him back slowly. While conditioning was an issue earlier in the season, Carter said he was able to run and lift and feels like his conditioning won’t slow him down.
Carter practiced Tuesday in some capacity, though the Eagles weren’t required to give an injury report. Carter was listed as a full participant Wednesday. He said he can feel the difference in practice during practice periods against offensive linemen.
The Eagles’ defensive front has played well in Carter’s absence. Carter loved watching Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, and even Brandon Graham — who moved to the interior with Carter out — help the Eagles go 2-1 over the last three games. But he wanted to be out there.
“You want to get out there but you can’t rush the process and hurt it even more,” he said.
The Eagles barely missed Carter vs. Las Vegas and Washington, but the team waiting for him Sunday in western New York is a different challenge with one of the better quarterback-running back combinations in the NFL.
Carter and Bills running back James Cook overlapped at Georgia. And Josh Allen is a “dog,” Carter said.
“I remember when we played them two years ago and I missed a sack on him,” he said. “We got to get that back.”
Injury report
Lane Johnson (foot) remained out during practice Wednesday, as did Nakobe Dean (hamstring).
Landon Dickerson (illness) also missed Wednesday’s workout, as did A.J. Brown, who had a dental procedure.
Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez scooted his wheelchair on a Mount Airy playground, pressing the ground with his sneakers to approach the man credited with saving his life.
Now the 10-year-old Philadelphia boy smiled through his scars, reaching his arm out to greet Wongus, who bent down and hugged him.
Wongus, 26, was nervous to see Ramesses, unsure what to expect. On the night of the Jan. 31 crash, Wongus used his jean jacket to smother flames on Ramesses’ back. He then comforted Ramesses in the back seat of a police cruiser as they raced to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children. The child’s clothes had burned away; his sneakers had melted to his feet from the heat.
In the 10 months afterward, Ramesses fought for his life at a Boston hospital. He had 42 surgeries for burn wounds that affected 90% of his body, and had fingers and ears amputated. He was moved to a rehabilitation hospital in South Jersey before being released earlier this month.
He reunited with his rescuer on Tuesday night at an event to mark what would have been the 38th birthday of Ramesses’ father, Steven Dreuitt Jr., who died when the car he was driving caught on fire.
Family and friends gathered on the park’s basketball court to release balloons.
Wongus asked Ramesses how he felt about getting swag from the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies while in the hospital. “I’m really not much of a baseball fan; I’m more of an Eagles fan,” replied Ramesses, wearing a knit Eagles hat.
The boy’s light and casual tone made Wongus smile.
“I’m glad to see him with his family and to see how well he’s doing — seeing him just trying to function as a kid again and scooting around in the wheelchair on the basketball court,“ Wongus said.
The balloon release was organized by Alberta “Amira” Brown, 60, Dreuitt’s mother and Ramesses’ grandmother. During the balloon release, she andRamesses’ mother thanked Wongus for saving him.
“If it wasn’t for this person here, Ramesses would not be here today,” Brown said, as family and friends applauded.
Brown also asked those in attendance to supporther son’s other child, Dominick Goods, an 11th grader at Imhotep Institute Charter High School in East Germantown.
Both grandsons, she said, need the community’s love and support: “I have one that is completely, completely mentally distraught and one is physically distraught.”
Dominick, who is Ramesses’ half brother, lost his father and his 34-year-old mother in the plane crash. Dominique Goods Burke, who was engaged to Dreuitt, was in the car’s passenger’s seat. The Mount Airy couple had picked up Ramesses from his mother’s home in Germantown and then headed to the Roosevelt Mall to run an errand. Goods Burke escaped from the car with severe burns and internal injuries.
Dominick turned 16 two weeks before his mother died in Aprilat Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
“I want each and every one of you to imagine what a 15-year-old kid went through that night, being left home alone and waiting for his parents and his brother to come home, and no one ever did,” Brown said.
“Don’t forget my grandson Dominick. I beg of you,” she said.
Dominick Goods, 16, lost both of his parents in the jet crash in Northeast Philadelphia on Jan. 31. The teen and his family gathered at a Mount Airy playground to celebrate what would have been his father’s 38th birthday. The teen’s grandmother, Alberta “Amira” Brown (right), asked those gathered to support him.
After watching balloons float skyward amid shouts of “Happy birthday, Steven,” Dominick drifted away from the crowd of about 40 people for a few moments alone.
Ramesses, bundled under a fuzzy white blanket, playfully chased after his mother, Jamie Vazquez Viana, in his wheelchair, teasing about rolling over her feet.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” she said.
She declined to talk to a reporter but has shared some details of her son’s recovery on a GoFundMe page.
“Ramesses is my little warrior who fought death and won, but he now faces a lifetime of reconstruction surgeries, intense therapy, and long-term burn care,” Vazquez Viana wrote.
Wongus smiled through tears as he watched Ramesses chat with his 12-year-old cousin, Anthony “AJ” Jenkins, about video games. His cousin, who gave him an Xbox game for his birthday in October, asked if he had been playing it.
Ramesses explained why he had not.“I have to sign in and put in my dad’s email and his number and all that, and I don’t have that,” Ramesses told his cousin.
Jenkins, a seventh graderwho is one of Brown’s seven grandchildren, said he cried during the balloon release, envisioning his uncle watching them.
Family, friends and community members came out for the balloon release to celebrate the life and birthday of Steven Dreuitt Jr., who would’ve turned 38 on Dec. 23. He died in the Jan. 31 plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia.
“I imagined in my mind that my uncle asked God, `Can I just look down there for a minute?,’ and he sat on the clouds and he watched as his balloons came up to him,” Jenkins said.
Later in the evening, at his grandmother’s house, Dominick lit a candle for his father, while Ramesses looked on.
Jenkins said he again pictured his uncle’s spirit. This time, clasping both his sons’ hands to help them light it.
Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez, 10, watches his older brother, Dominick Goods, 16, light a candle to remember their father, Steven Dreuitt Jr., who died in the Jan. 31 plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia. The brothers celebrated what would have been their father’s 38th birthday on Dec. 23.
Jenkins said he is awed by his cousins’ physical and emotional strength. Ramesses “keeps pushing hard” to get stronger, even though his father is gone. Dominick had clung to hope that his mother would survive and was devastated, the cousin said.
“It’s been really hard for him. I couldn’t be in that place. I’d be stuck. I couldn’t be strong enough,” Jenkins said. “They inspire me to be a better person. I want to show my uncle and his two sons that I am working hard for them.”
Before heading over to the playground on Tuesday evening, Dominick gave Ramesses an early Christmas gift.
Ramesses’ eyes grew wide as his mother helped him unfurl tissue paper to reveal a coveted pair of 2025 Air Jordan 8 “Bugs Bunny” Nike sneakers.
“You like them. I can see it on your face,” his mother said.
“I’m gonna hide them,” Ramesses replied. He didn’t want anyone to take them from him.
Shards of wood, glass, and paneling littered the lawn. The smell of gas hung thick in the air — and flames were spreading.
“Send everybody,” an officer immediately radioed, according to the Bristol Township police chief.
Police, firefighters, and even neighbors and a utility worker rushed into the blaze and began pulling people to safety — hoisting them through busted windows and missing doors, from stairwells and the basement flooding with water.
Then a second explosion erupted, sparking another fire and raising uncertainty about how many people were stuck beneath the rubble.
Muthoni Nduthu 52, a nurse at Bristol Health and Rehab Center died in the explosion while working Tuesday, Dec. 23.
By Wednesday, the scale of the damage and its toll on the Lower Bucks County town had come into focus. Two women had died: Muthoni Nduthu, 52, of Bristol, who worked at the facility as a nurse for over a decade, and a resident whose name had not been released.
Nduthu had emigrated from Mombasa, Kenya, to the Philadelphia area about two decades ago, and earned her nursing degree from Jersey College, said Rose Muema, a friend who spoke on behalf of Nduthu’s family Wednesday.
“She came here to work,” Muema said. “She came here to make a difference.”
Muthoni Nduthu’s eldest son, Clinton, tears up while a family friend spoke of his mother, who was killed in an explosion while at work Tuesday.
Nduthu, a devout Catholic, had three sons — Clinton, 30; Joseph, 24; and K.K., 18 — and a 4-year-old granddaughter. She was bubbly, hardworking, and committed to the people she loved, her friend said. On the night before she died, she cooked her famous spiced chicken for her family to enjoy.
As Nduthu’s family grieved on the eve of Christmas, others poured through the doors of area hospitals, visiting with the 19 people who remained hospitalized from their injuries from the blast. One person was in critical condition, police said.
All other residents and employees of the facility have been accounted for.
The cause of the explosion remained under investigation, Bristol Township Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said Wednesday, though bystanders speculated that it could be connected to a gas leak that utility officials had responded to earlier Tuesday.
First responders work the scene of an explosion and fire at Bristol Health & Rehab Center, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which helps investigate explosions, said it could take days to clear the wreckage to allow investigators to safely reach and evaluate the natural gas service line.
The tragedy has also brought new scrutiny to the facility’s long history of safety and care violations.
The nursing home, a collection of brick buildings on a two-acre campus in Lower Bucks County, was previously known as Silver Lake and was acquired by Saber Healthcare Group earlier this month. Previously, it was owned by CommuniCare Health Services, a privately run for-profit nursing home operator based in Cincinnati.
Just two months ago, state inspectors cited the facility for lacking a fire safety plan, failing to maintain extinguishers, and having hallways and doors that could not contain smoke. Corrections were ordered to be made by the end of November.
Federal inspections also flagged substandard healthcare, poor infection control, and mismanaged medical records, earning the facility a one-star rating. Operators were fined more than $418,000 in 2024, records show, due to ongoing violations.
It remains unclear whether the fire safety deficiencies were addressed.
Bristol Township Fire Chief Kevin T. Dippolito said the cause of the nursing home explosion remains under investigation.
Peco crews had responded to the nursing home earlier Tuesday on reports of a gas odor, a spokesperson for the utility said, adding that “it is not known at this time if Peco’s equipment, or natural gas, was involved in this incident.”
One Peco employee who was on site working to stop the gas leak was seriously injured, said Larry Anastasi, president of IBEW Local 614, the union that represents Peco workers.
The technician was working alone in the basement of the nursing home, then left to get more tools from his truck. As the worker was walking back into the building, Anastasi said, it erupted.
The worker then rushed into the building to help others escape, Anastasi said.
“He was trying to go in and get more people,” the union chief said. “[First responders] had to grab him and said, ‘Brother, you need to stop and go in the ambulance.’”
The technician, whom Anastasi declined to name to protect his privacy, suffered burns to his face and hands, as well as injuries caused by shrapnel, he said. He remained hospitalized at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Burn Center but was expected to be released later Wednesday.
Also among the wounded was a 35-year-old certified nursing assistant who was nearly finished with her shift when the building she had worked at for five years suddenly exploded.
Andrea Taylor said her daughter Natalie remained hospitalized Wednesday and had suffered a punctured lung and severe bruising throughout her body. She asked that her daughter be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy.
Taylor said her daughter initially did not remember anything about the explosion, but as Wednesday wore on, her memory started to return.
Natalie, she said, had gone into the cafeteria to heat up some soup when she said she smelled something strange.
“What’s that smell?” Taylor said her daughter asked a colleague just before the floor fell out from under them.
The explosion appeared to come from the basement, she said, collapsing the floor of the kitchen and cafeteria. Natalie and a colleague fell into the basement, she said, and hoisted themselves out over debris with the help of first responders. She said Natalie helped pull out her coworker, who suffered a fractured leg.
She said her daughter is in pain, with bruising across her face and back, but lucky to be alive.
“We’re lucky to have her,” she said. “We’re not asking for anything, just for prayers.”
Throughout Wednesday, cranes continued to lift debris from the wreckage as local, state, and federal investigators worked to make sense of the disaster.
Wheelchairs and other debris are scattered outside Bristol Health and Rehab Center after an explosion on Dec. 23.
Donna Straiton, 67, watched from behind a line of yellow caution tape, staring at what remained of the nursing home where she had worked for 20 years.
Straiton worked in the dementia unit, she said, before retiring in February 2024. In her final years working there, fire alarms routinely went off, she said. She estimated the facility locked down no less than twice a month as the smell of gas wafted in the air.
Most often, she said, the alarm system indicated the issue was in the basement, but she never saw a fire.
“The fire department would come and we’d get an all clear, and then it would be back to business as usual,” she said.
In a statement, Saber Health called the explosion devastating and said the company was determining the extent of the damage. Staff at the nursing facility had reported a gas smell to Peco, and the utility company had been investigating prior to the explosion, Saber said.
“Just 24 days ago, Saber Healthcare Group became affiliated with Bristol Health and Rehab Center,” the company said. “We have worked to improve and fix prior issues, and we will continue that work in the wake of this event.”
Bristol Township Police Chief Charles “CJ” Winik lauded the first responders who he said sprinted toward danger, through collapsing walls and ongoing explosions. Initial officers were overwhelmed, he said, and it was a team effort to pull injured residents, including those who could not walk or used wheelchairs, from the wreckage.
They came to the Wanamaker Building on Christmas Eve because it’s what they have done all the years they have been alive. They came bundled against the chill because they never had come before — and did not want to miss it now. They came out of love for the ghosts of Christmas past — and to share in the merriment of a cherished tradition with children who had yet to see the lights dance or hear the great organ play. They came because it is all going away, and no one knows for sure when it will be back.
On Wednesday, thousands crowded into the gilded Grand Court of the Wanamaker Building for a last chance to meet at the eagle and behold the Wanamaker Light Show this holiday season. And to witness the end of what has been a truly blessed Christmas for the endangered Philadelphia holiday tradition.
People watching the light show from the second floor at the Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
Both the Light Show and Dickens Village were saved by fundraising efforts announced after the sale of Macy’s earlier this year. In November, organizers said that with 700 individual donors and gifts from philanthropic foundations, they had raised enough of their $350,000 goal to bring back both attractions for at least one more holiday season — and to begin planning for their future care. While a permanent home for the Light Show, which began in 1956, remained an unsettled question, organizers had raised just enough to produce the holiday attractions in the shuttered department store this year.
With the attraction’s future in doubt, the crowds kept flocking to the Wanamaker Light Show. Over 100,000 visitors have come through since both holiday attractions opened on Black Friday — a number that far exceeded planners’ expectations, said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center, who also led the fundraising effort. While the show remained free, guests donated more than $40,000 during its seasonal run.
“It’s been totally overwhelming,” said Lovell, working the door before Wednesday’s afternoon final shows. “But also joyful and exciting and heartwarming. We didn’t anticipate these crowds.”
Due to the planned construction within the Wanamaker Building, the Light Show and Dickens Village will take a pause in 2026 and 2027, Lovell said. But advocates for the show remain in conversation with new building owner TF Cornerstone about continuing the holiday traditions at the Wanamaker in years to come.
“Everybody wants this show saved,” Lovell said.
Marissa Miller, of Fairmount, is holding her child Ivy Jordan, 2, watching the light show with her family at the Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
Indeed, almost since the first show in November, lines had stretched out the door onto Market Street, often wrapping all the way down Chestnut Street, with organizers merrily hiring more staff and security and welcoming scores of volunteers.
“There was a sense of ‘we have to get here because it might not be here again,’” Lovell said, adding that she is more optimistic than ever that the show will have a future.
That’s exactly why Dori Pico, 68, of Center City, was first in line at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, a full hour and a half before shows began running every 30 minutes.
“It’s the last time we might be seeing this,” said Pico, who had attended the shows after moving to Philadelphia in recent years, and wished that she had gotten to experience one with her father, Juan Vincente Lugo, before he passed away.
Dori Pico, of South Philadelphia, is watching the light show for a third time and as a tradition for her dad who passed away last year at the Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
Down a few spaces, Paulette Steffa, 72, originally of Cheltenham, clutched a photo of her and siblings at Santa’s knee during the first Light Show in 1956. Attending Wednesday’s show with her brother Peter, she said she had been to the Light Show every year since, and had even attended the first performance of this year’s season.
“We were here the day it opened,” Steffa said. “We needed to be here on the last day.”
Soon, the lights in the Grand Court dimmed, and an expectant hush fell over families huddled around the 2,500-pound bronze eagle sculpture.
Darlene Harley of Overbrook had ridden the train to Center City so her great-great-granddaughter, Aryah, 7, could see the show before it goes away for a few years, or maybe longer. Her parents and grandparents had always brought her as a child, Harley said.
“And now I wanted her to see,” she said as the show began and 100,000 individual bulbs twinkled to life in the grand space.
Soon, everyone was looking up, as Frosty and Rudolph and the Sugar Plum Fairies danced in light. Families waiting in line for Dickens Village peered over the ledge of an upper floor for a closer look. Peter Richard Conte, who has played the pipes of the world’s biggest organ since 1989, had only just played the familiar opening chords of “O Tannenbaum” when Steffa began to cry.
Watching in the dark, she thought of all those childhood shows when her parents, Andi and Peter, made sure they were at the front of the line. She remembered all those holiday wishes on Santa’s knee and scrumptious holiday breakfasts in the old Crystal Tea Room. All those years, all those memories at the Wanamaker Light Show.
“It’s part of Philadelphia,” she said.
Many families and friends gather at the Wanamaker for the last light show in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
CHICAGO — Travis Konecny walked into the visitors’ locker room long after the Flyers’ 3-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks.
The alternate captain had just wrapped up doing TNT’s postgame show. He sat down at his stall, wearing everything but his helmet and gloves, ready to chat with the assembled reporters.
Konecny unwrapped the tape holding his shin guards in place and answered his last question. In a video recorded by the Flyers’ content staffers, you can see a big grin on his face as he paused while talking about notching his 300th NHL assist. Teammate Trevor Zegras is standing behind the media, peering in before saying, “Take your gear off,” with a chuckle.
It was just one example of many seen around this team since the start of training camp — the Flyers are light and loose this season.
“I think in here we know we can have as much fun as we want, but when we go on the ice, we have a job to do,” forward Owen Tippett recently told The Inquirer.
“I think that’s what makes it more special, is that we know we can kind of joke around and mess around with each other off the ice, but as soon as the puck drops, we’re all ready to go to battle for each other.”
There are several factors contributing to the Flyers’ good vibrations.
One could be that they wrapped up a perfect back-to-back for the second time this season, after beating the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 on Monday.
Flyers Bobby Brink watches his goal on the replay as he celebrates with Trevor Zegras (right) and other teammates during a Dec. 3 game.
The wins halted the Flyers’ fifth losing streak this season at two games. The longest? A measly three-game swing Dec. 11-14, with each loss coming after regulation. There’s still a lot of runway left in the season but the last time the Flyers didn’t have more than a three-game slide was 2011-12.
That season, current general manager Danny Brière was pulling on a hockey sweater every night instead of a suit, and captain Sean Couturier was a rookie.
“Enjoy the game. Enjoy everything that goes around you,” Couturier said before playing his 900th game on Dec. 7. “I feel when I was 18, I was just so serious, so focused, which is not a bad thing, but I think throughout the years, I figured to kind of balance it out and take the game on a little lighter side at times, and don’t want to be so serious and focused.
“That’s probably the thing I’d recommend to myself [back then]. Just loosen up a little bit and enjoy it.”
The Flyers are loose and enjoying it. And playing well. Yes, the 12 regulation wins — second fewest in the Eastern Conference — are an issue, given that regulation wins are the first tiebreaker for a playoff spot.
But a team many outsiders expected to be at the bottom of the standings is not just in second place of the Metropolitan Division and two points back of the Carolina Hurricanes at the NHL’s holiday break, but has the sixth-best points percentage in the entire league.
“I don’t think we care about what they think,” Dvorak said after Monday’s game when asked about the Flyers starting to make the rest of the division believers.
“We just care about how we believe in ourselves and how we’re playing. And there’s a lot of belief in our room here, and we’re confident in ourselves, and that’s all that really matters.”
Flyers (from left to right) right wing Owen Tippett, defenseman Travis Sanheim, center Trevor Zegras and center Christian Dvorak on the ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 1.
Some would point to the maturation of players who have bonded and built a strong culture over the past few seasons. Others would say it’s the injection of veterans and youngsters. Zegras, center Christian Dvorak, forward Carl Grundström, and goalie Dan Vladař (recently compared by coach Rick Tocchet to the vocal goalie in the movie Slap Shot, Denis Lemieux) specifically have injected balance to the lineup.
“We’re a really, really tight group,” Konecny told The Inquirer in mid-December. “And that’s the thing. I’m sure every team says it, but for some of the guys who have been elsewhere that are here, the staff that’s here, we hear how tight this group is from those guys. … Like, for me, I don’t know any other team, but from what I hear, when guys come in here, this is a great group.
There is one obvious answer that everyone would probably cite when it comes to the change: the new bench boss.
There’s no denying the different coaching style Tocchet has when compared to predecessor John Tortorella. When things go bad, you look to the bench and, while he will have his moments, Tocchet often remains cool as a cucumber.
During practices, he is constantly spotted feeding pucks to players as they work on a specific skill. Notably, Tocchet was seen sending passes recently to Zegras in Voorhees for one-timers like the one he scored on Monday night. Other times, he’s at the whiteboard drawing out a system or structure he wants, or, at 61 years young, the Flyers Hall of Famer is showing players how to shift or move on the ice when trying to evade defenders.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet.
“Regardless of the winning and losing, I think that when players respect each other, and they have fun with each other, and they care about each other, it goes a long way. If somebody has a bad game or something bad happens, you have people to rally around,” said Tocchet, who played 621 of his 1,144 NHL games in orange and black.
“Even as a coach, like, I might give a couple of guys [stuff], and you know when I leave, there’s three or four guys picking those guys up. And that’s so valuable for me as a coach. … It’s a huge thing to have that closeness.”
That closeness can be felt in the room or on the ice. The players go to bat for each other during games and chirp and pick on each other in the room. But they also sit around and discuss what just happened in practice or during a game, and what they did well or need to work on.
Maybe that’s why they are 19-10-7 through 36 games and playing not just well, but putting the NHL’s top teams on the ropes while beating bad teams.
Last season, it took the Flyers 44 games to reach 19 wins. Two seasons ago, when they looked like a playoff team before a late-season collapse, it took them 34. (By the way, win No. 19 that season was against Tocchet and the Canucks).
The Flyers rank 19th in goals per game (2.94) — roughly one-tenth better than last season — but have skyrocketed from the fifth-worst team in goals allowed (3.45) to the ninth-best (2.75). The penalty kill has stabilized lately after a drop and is the ninth-best in the NHL (82.5%), and the power play is not the worst in the league. It’s tied for 23rd with the Hurricanes (16.8%) and has connected three times in the last three games.
Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim, right wing Travis Konecny, and center Sean Couturier on the ice against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 13.
Why are things working? There’s a buy-in.
“I think you’ve got to be committed to getting to the right areas,” Konecny said Tuesday when asked about the Flyers scoring two more goals by getting to the net.
“And I think, I forget, might have been Jay [Varady] our assistant coach, he said, ‘You do the right thing 20 times, and nothing happens. But that 21st time is when it goes in, and if you have that mentality of just like doing the right thing every shift, and your opportunities will come, then I think everyone’s going to be in a good spot.’”
And right now, the Flyers are in a pretty darn good spot.
Rosalyn Collins, the widow of pilot Monroe Smith, and Elaine Dougherty, the widow of photographer Christopher Dougherty, filed the lawsuit in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia last week, just days before the two-year anniversary of the crash.
The TV station’s Chopper 6 crashed in December 2023 in Wharton State Forest in Burlington County on its way back to Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
The reason for the crash, the suit says, was a known defect in the design of the 2013 American Eurocopter AS-350A-STAR helicopter, which was manufactured by Airbus. The French aviation company has been warned for decades that the aircraft’s hydraulic system, which assists the pilot in controlling the helicopter’s rotor blades, was “defective and dangerous” and could leave pilots with few options, according to the complaint.
“If the system fails, the pilot must manually operate the helicopter and counteract enormously strong aerodynamic forces by brute strength,” the complaint says. “Manual control of the AS350B2, however, is exceedingly difficult, and often impossible.”
Map showing crash site of the 6abc-operated helicopter.
Chopper 6’s hydraulic system previously failed in 2019, and part of it was replaced by Sterling Helicopters, a Bucks County-based company that is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Sterling also inspected the hydraulic system in 2021, the suit said.
But the system failed again on the evening of the 2023 crash, which the suit says was “evidence” that the system’s parts were not designed to ”withstand such continuous use.”
Airbus declined to comment. Sterling did not respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also names as defendants companies that produced parts of the helicopter’s hydraulic system.
Smith, 67, from Glenside, and Dougherty, 45, from Oreland, worked for U.S. Helicopters, a North Carolina company that owned the aircraft 6abc was leasing.
The duo had been part of the Action News team for years, the station said following the crash.
“Two really genuine people who have your best interest at heart and you can feel it,” Nicholas Thomas, a former colleague, said of Smith and Doughertyafter their deaths.
The lawsuit asks for an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages.
A segment of the Schuylkill River Trail that has beenclosed since October because of a sinkhole has been repaired, and reopened just in time for Christmas Eve.
Joe Syrnick, executive director of the nonprofit Schuylkill River Development Corp. (SRDC), said Wednesday afternoon that repairs finished earlier in the day.
But, he said Wednesday, the weather cooperated enough this week that a crew was able to complete the work over a few days, “as a holiday present for our trail users.”
This week, the hole was filled and paved. It reopened about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after the paving had cooled.
“It’s open and people are already using it,” Syrnick said. “People are happy.”
Some cleanup is still needed around that area, he noted, and fencing needs to be removed. That should be finished by Friday or Monday, Syrnick said.
The Schuylkill River Trail is now open between JFK Boulevard and Race Street in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025.
The sinkhole occurred between Race Street and JFK Boulevard, just north of the SEPTA Bridge, after it formed beneath the asphalt. The trail runs along Schuylkill Banks, a portion of the Schuylkill River Trail.
The SRDC works with the city to revitalize the Schuylkill corridor from the Fairmount Dam to the Delaware River, the eight-mile stretch known as Schuylkill Banks.
The sinkhole repair presented a problem that stemmed from a steel bulkhead that was built for the trail in 1995. The bulkhead helped extend land farther into the river and create more parkland.
But gaps developed in a seal between the bulkhead and concrete sewer infrastructure. Those gaps allowed soil to seep away with the tide, eventually washing away enough to create a sizable hole.
Syrnick said the SRDC and the Philadelphia Streets, Parks and Rec, and Water Departments worked together to come up with a solution.
So workers had to seal the gaps.
The weather was clear enough this week that crews were able to pour concrete to fill part of the hole and backfill it before paving it Wednesday.
It was a festive episode of Hard Knocks on Tuesday, as the HBO documentary series released its latest episode, which offered a behind-the-scenes look at the Eagles clinching the NFC East ahead of the holiday season.
The episode looked into offensive tackle Jordan Mailata’s journey from playing rugby in Australia to getting drafted to the Eagles in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft, the Birds clinching the division, and more.
Here’s everything you missed from the latest episode of Hard Knocks:
Mailata’s journey from rugby to NFL
Last Wednesday, before their Week 16 matchup against the Commanders, the Eagles held practice at Lincoln Financial Field. Without Lane Johnson because of a foot injury, Mailata continued to mentor younger players.
Eight years ago, he never would have pictured himself in this position.
“I was 20 years old when I joined the International Player Pathway program,” Mailata said. “The program aimed to bring a connection between the NFL to the rest of the world and grow the sport in that respective spot that the athlete was from. So I thought, ‘Why not give it a go?’
“[When I was] drafted by the Eagles with a seventh-round pick, I was kind of, like, flabbergasted. I didn’t understand what was happening, but I knew that a team was taking a chance on me, a kid that never played football before. … I can’t believe I’m still here playing this game eight years later. In my eighth season, still trying to figure this thing out.”
Eagles offensive tackle Jordan Mailata laughs with coach Nick Sirianni against the Raiders on Dec. 14.
Now, Mailata has become a crucial part of the Tush Push, earned second-team All-Pro honors, is a Super Bowl champ, and a proud member of the Philly Specials — a Christmas music group consisting of himself, Johnson, and former Eagles center Jason Kelce.
‘Been there, won that’
With a 29-18 win over the Commanders, the Eagles became the first back-to-back NFC East champs since 2004. After the game, the team unboxed some early Christmas presents and expanded their wardrobe with new NFC East championship hats and T-shirts that read, “Been there, won that.”
Of course, the win didn’t come without drama. With the Eagles leading, 29-10, late in the game, Nick Sirianni made the decision to go for a two-point conversion. At the end of the play, a fight broke out between Washington and Philadelphia players — resulting in three ejections.
Adding more fuel to the fire, Eagles veteran Brandon Graham made sure to trash talk some of the Washington fans on the sideline.
“Aye, we got some new gear for y’all after the game,” Graham said. “We got some more gear for you. We got some Eagles gear for you after the game. Don’t worry, we got you.
The Commanders will get a second chance at the Eagles to end the regular season. But first, the Birds will travel to Highmark Stadium to face the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
“Guys, we talk about doing special [expletive],” Sirianni said. “Winning the division is doing special [expletive]. Nobody has repeated in the division in [21] years, right. Y’all should be proud of that. You don’t do special [expletive] unless you’ve got the men in this room, the talent that we have, and that we play with great [expletive] detail, and we do that [expletive] together.
“We got a long way to go. Enjoy it now, and we’re back to work. We got a lot to be thankful for.”
