Residents worry about chemical exposure, charred debris as the fire at SPS Technologies in Abington burns for its third straight day

Parts of the fire-ravaged brick SPS Technologies campus that has held down a stretch of Highland Avenue in Abington Township for over a century will be demolished, officials said Wednesday. Once they can get it to stop burning, that is.

A four-alarm fire that overtook the aerospace parts manufacturer around 9:30 p.m. Monday, and picked up in intensity Tuesday, still was not “officially suppressed” as of late Wednesday morning, Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy said at a news conference, but evacuation and shelter-in-place orders were lifted. SEPTA had also resumed normal service on the West Trenton, Lansdale-Doylestown, and Warminster Regional Rail lines.

Yet surveying the damage from the blaze that drew firefighters from 68 companies and closed schools over air quality and water contamination concerns could take weeks, said Abington Fire Marshal Chris Platz, given the sheer enormity of SPS Technologies’ 600,000-square-foot campus and the wear-and-tear on the 104-year-old property.

“Lifting the shelter-in-place [order] does not mean that it could not happen again if a fire was to reinitiate a fire or anything like that,” said Jenkintown Police Chief Thomas Scott. “This is going to be a long-term operation for not only the Abington community but the Jenkintown community and the Cheltenham community.”

The uncertainty has area residents forming their own conclusions about what went on in the massive factory, even if it never crossed their minds before.

“We don’t really understand the ‘Now what?’ of it all,” said Brontë Serensits, a Jenkintown resident who evacuated to Allentown Tuesday night upon returning from a business trip to Pittsburgh. Charred black debris from the explosion covers her front lawn.

“I don’t have a lot of trust if [SPS] rebuilds that something wouldn’t happen again,” Serensits said, “But I also acknowledge that the company has been in business for a really long time … The whole thing is unsettling.”

The facility’s sprinkler system was “out of service” for maintenance at the time of the fire, compounding concerns about the flames reaching the harsh chemicals SPS Technologies uses to make metal bolts and fasteners for companies like Boeing, GE, NASA, and Rolls-Royce.

When the fire picked up again Tuesday morning, a shelter-in-place order was issued for a one-mile-radius of SPS Technologies. A voluntary evacuation order for about 250 homes — predominantly in neighboring Jenkintown — closer to the facility came soon after.

» READ MORE: Fire crews battle massive industrial fire at Montgomery County’s SPS Technologies

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) found “low levels of chemicals of concern” immediately downstream from the fire in Tookany Creek, according to a statement read during Wednesday’s news conference. Samples from the Delaware River contained no evidence of chemicals of concern, the DEP’s statement said, and drinking water supplies are not at risk.

Air quality monitors have also not detected any chemicals of concern, the DEP said. The fire did not expose Philadelphia residents to toxic air or water, the city said Wednesday, though testing would continue for the next 48 hours.

“We regret the significant impact the fire has had on our neighbors, and we will be reaching out to the community in the coming days and weeks ahead,” SPS Technologies shared in a statement posted on social media by Abington Township. “We are working to understand the extent of the damage and its impact on our business, as well as our path forward.”

The company has had a contact on site since the fire first broke out, Platz said at Wednesday’s news conference.

At a public meeting in Jenkintown Wednesday night, Police Chief Thomas Scott said although air testing found no hazards at the Jenkintown site that includes the high school, middle school, and elementary school, it would remain closed Thursday for a thorough cleaning out of “an abundance of caution.”

Abington and Cheltenham schools were expected to be open Thursday.

» READ MORE: Crews thought they had the massive Montco industrial fire under control. Then came the billowing smoke and evacuation notices.

The facility’s impending demolition has brought newfound concerns about SPS Technologies’ future. Little information is available about the chemicals the DEP is testing for, as well as howSPS plans to support its workforce while determining whether or not the company can — or should — rebuild in Abington.

Glenside resident Lisa Jester and her dog escaped to the Holiday Inn in Fort Washington after seeing smoke overtake the sky in her neighborhood, which is adjacent to the factory.

“Any smoke could be dangerous to me,” said Jester, who has a respiratory illness. “I have a million questions about what was going on at SPS, and what kinds of chemicals they were using.”

Most of those questions had not been answered by the time Jester returned home Wednesday morning.

» READ MORE: Abington company that caught fire had toxic ‘ignitable waste’ on site and had past EPA violations

During Wednesday’s news conference, officials said the DEP would be hosting a website with more specifics on what — if any — noxious chemicals burned during the SPS fire, but no time frame was given for when that would be available. A DEP spokesperson could not be reached immediately for comment.

Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and DEP have visited the site but have not issued any statements. It’s unclear what the environmental regulators have tested for, and safety officials who have spoken said they do not know or do not understand the science behind the testing.

“I get nervous when people ask me about specific chemicals. I was challenged with chemistry classes,” said Molloy, Abington’s police chief, during Wednesday’s media briefing.

SPS Technologies disposed of 177 tons of chemicals in 2023 — the most recent year available — according to the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory. It is permitted to handle potentially toxic chemicals such as trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride, and 1-2 dichloroethane, which can increase risks for certain types of cancers.

Handling such materials has come with its own risks to SPS: The company had to pay the EPA $109,000 for storing chemicals without a permit, and had received prior violations from the DEP for chemicals and metals leaking into the groundwater.

“I’m upset,” said Leo Greenberry, 34, who has lived a fifth of a mile away from SPS Technologies since 2017. “There’s a lot of palpable frustration and anger that this ‘live grenade’ was in our backyard.”

» READ MORE: SPS Technologies fire smoke could lower air quality and cause health issues

Owned by Precision Castparts Corp., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Corp., SPS is the sole supplier of some highly specialized U.S. military parts, which could jeopardize the supply chain for several types of aircrafts.

The company is also considered a “principal employer” by Abington Township, yet some area residents had no idea what went on inside the imposing building.

“I didn’t know what SPS actually meant … I didn’t even know the product they produced,” said Greenberry, who currently sends his 4-year-old and 1-year-old sons to a day care across the street from the plant. His eldest liked to marvel at the building’s large smoke stacks during drop-off.

The manufacturer has become all Greenberry can think about since he and his sons evacuated to stay with in-laws in Easton Monday evening.

“I packed up the kids, grabbed my work laptop from the office, and drove up [Route] 611″ after the air inside his home began to smell “like burning plastic,” said Greenberry. “I can’t help but wonder how crazy this scenario would’ve been if it happened in the daytime and I had to retrieve my kids.”

» READ MORE: SPS Technologies, whose plant was partly destroyed by fire, is the sole source of some U.S. military parts

Serensits, who evacuated to Allentown, said she had “pretty much no awareness” of SPS before the fire broke out. It served as little more than a landmark Serensits passed on her way to her dermatologist or the Highlands, her favorite restaurant, she said. Now, Serensits said it’s been “nothing but information overload” inside community Facebook groups as residents try to piece together what went on inside the factory.

SPS employs 574 people, according to Abington’s 2023 financial report. It is the township’s seventh-largest employer, behind a Pennsylvania State University satellite campus, a home care agency, the Willow Grove Mall, two hospitals, and the school district.

Those jobs are worth fighting for, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat whose district includes Montgomery County, said during Wednesday’s news conference. Dean’s father-in-law worked at SPS during World War II, she said.

“I’m going to be part of the voices that say, ‘Let’s make sure we encourage SPS Technologies to rebuild here,’ to make sure we reemploy those who have grievously lost their employment,” Dean said. “We’re going to do everything we can.”

Staff writers Nick Vadala, Joseph N. DiStefano and Robert Moran contributed to this article.