What we know about the fire at SPS Technologies in Abington

Montgomery County residents near aerospace parts supplier SPS Technologies remained under a shelter-in-place order following a massive fire that tore through the company’s Abington industrial complex late Monday.

The blaze has prompted concerns over air quality and water runoff, as the company is known to use heat-treating chemicals for its manufacturing processes. As of Wednesday morning, the fire had not yet been “officially suppressed,” and crews were still on site battling the blaze, Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy said.

Here is what we know.

Police received multiple 911 calls of an explosion at SPS Technologies starting shortly after 9:30 p.m. Monday. First responders arrived to multiple explosions at the complex, and ultimately, firefighters from 68 fire companies responded to the four-alarm blaze.

No injuries were reported. Officials have not yet said what may have started the fire, or where in the complex it originated.

Tom McAneney, Abington’s director of fire and emergency management services, said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference that the sprinkler system at SPS Technologies was out of service “due to maintenance issues,” but the company had a fire watch in place and a fire brigade on site. He said the company had notified the township about the sprinkler system.

A current employee at the company with knowledge of the facility, who declined to be identified out of fear of reprisal from SPS Technologies, told The Inquirer that the sprinkler system had not been functioning for about two months before the fire.

“Was I surprised to hear that [the place] was on fire? Yes,” the employee said. “Was I surprised to hear how bad it got? No.”

McAneney later added that the investigation into the fire would look at what happened to the sprinkler system and whether the company’s backup efforts were sufficient.

In the wake of the blaze, officials issued a shelter-in-place order for residents within a one-mile radius of SPS Technologies’ property due to concerns over air quality and water contamination. The shelter-in-place zone is home to about 17,300 residents, according to an Inquirer analysis of Census Bureau population data.

Additionally, residents and businesses in the immediate area of the fire were asked to evacuate due to concerns over air quality. Officials asked individuals in several blocks near the company’s complex to evacuate around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday. Nearly 700 people live in the evacuation zone, according to Census data. Officials said that about 247 homes are located inside the area, and that the evacuation notice was issued out an abundance of caution as fire crews continued to work to extinguish the blaze.

Both the shelter-in-place order and evacuation notice were lifted at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

An evacuation shelter was set up in the auditorium of Cheltenham High School, and was utilized by only a handful of people, Red Cross spokesperson Alana Mauger said Tuesday. The Abington, Jenkintown, and Cheltenham school districts remained closed Wednesday, but officials said that they hoped to open schools soon once the area shelter is closed.

In the wake of the fire, SEPTA suspended service on the Glenside Combined regional rail lines. Normal service resumed Wednesday morning.

Drinking water supplies are not at risk, and air quality was not negatively impacted by the fire, officials said Wednesday. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, however, said it found “low levels of chemicals of concern” immediately downstream of the fire in Tookany Creek, but did not say what those chemicals were.

SPS Technologies’ history dates back to 1903, when founder Howard “H.T.” Hallowell Sr. established the company in Philadelphia as the Standard Pressed Steel Co. It has been operating in Montgomery County since 1920, and manufactures precision metal fasteners and special machined parts for the aviation and aerospace industries.

The company took on its current moniker in 1978, and was purchased by the Warren Buffett-run conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway in 2015 for $32 billion. Some of its well-known customers have included high-profile aerospace industry manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus, as well as NASA, GE, and Rolls-Royce.

SPS Technologies’ 32-acre complex is surrounded by rail lines and the Tacony and Tookany creeks to the south and east. The property is classified as a chemical treatment, storage, and disposal facility, and it regularly handles large volumes of potentially toxic chemicals including trichloroethene, vinyl chloride, and 1-2 dichloroethane as part of its manufacturing processes.

In a 2018 federal contract application, the company listed itself in the 600-employee range.

What remains of its facility following the fire is likely to be demolished, and the process could take weeks, officials said Wednesday. Congresswoman Madeline Dean (D-04) said she would be among those encouraging the company to rebuild in Montgomery County.

“We’re going to do everything we can,” she said.

SPS Technologies is well known to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Environmental regulators have discovered issues at the company’s Abington complex dating back to the 1980s, when officials began investigating underground storage tanks that had leaked a chlorinated solvent known as trichloroethene into groundwater beneath the facility. Low levels of the solvent showed up in groundwater samples until 2010, and small amounts of cadmium, a heavy metal, were detected through 2012.

Since then, the company has taken several corrective actions for other violations. Most recently, in 2023, it reached an agreement with the EPA to pay $109,805 for failing to properly store and mark hazardous waste on site.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also issued a number of fines to the company over dangerous industrial mishaps in recent years. In 2023, for example, investigators found that SPS Technologies had failed to install proper safety guards around a piece of factory equipment, and issued the company a $10,000 fine after a worker’s hand and arm were crushed in the machine.

Additionally, at least one neighbor told The Inquirer that she had witnessed previous fires at the company’s facility, saying that SPS Technologies is a “great company” with an unfortunate track record.

t An evacuation shelter was s in the auditorium of Cheltenham High School. The Abington, Jenkintown, and Cheltenham school districts remailosed Wednesday, but officials said that they hoped to open schools soon once the area shelter is closed.e.e