The Abington, Cheltenham and Jenkintown school districts and all private and parochial schools were closed today and will remain closed on Wednesday, February 19 in the aftermath of last night’s industrial explosion.
Abington superintendent Dr. Jeffrey S. Fecher said the district will provide an update tomorrow with more information from Abington Township Emergency Management.
“If you are a member of our school community who has been displaced as a result of evacuating your home, please know that you are in our thoughts and we are available to help you navigate information and find assistance,” Dr. Fecher wrote.
Abington Township Chief of Police Patrick Molloy told CBS News that 60 employees were able to evacuate, and that volunteers from 68 fire companies from the area came to help.
“We thought we had this fire under control, but we continued suppression efforts until about 10:30 this morning. At 10:30, there was a change in conditions and there was a flare-up,” he said. “When you look at the size of this building, some 500,000 square feet and multi-layers, the difficulty to access … our firefighters out in that weather and with equipment, it’s very difficult for them to completely extinguish this fire.”
Regarding the voluntary evacuation issued earlier today, Molloy said he was told that evacuations were almost finished, and that many residents chose to self-evacuate or go to Cheltenham High School for shelter.
“Most of the evacuation zone is in the Jenkintown borough. But at this point, that’s been a successful operation,” he said. “The hazmat team and the DEP will continue to do air quality tests. So far, all of those have been coming back positive.”
Molloy told residents to continue to avoid the affected area.
“Please stay away. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. The message is to stay out of the area. Allow our firefighters and our emergency workers to continue to fight this fire until we can completely extinguish it. We cannot force people out of their homes. We can only encourage, facilitate and try to educate our community,” he said.
SPS Technologies manufactures metal equipment for the aerospace industry and the military, among other sectors. Abington Fire Marshal Chris Platz said a chemical process is involved in that manufacturing.
The Abington Township Police Department’s 4:00pm press conference is below:
The following agencies are or were assisting on-site today:
- Abington, Cheltenham, and Jenkintown police and emergency management agencies
- Bucks County Department of Public Safety
- Montgomery County Department of Public Safety
- Chester County Department of Public Safety
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP)
- Aqua
- Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)
Updates regarding the shelter-in-place recommendation and the status of the fire will be provided at least every two hours at www.abingtonpa.gov, on Abington Township social media on Facebook and Instagram @AbingtonTownship and on X.com @AbingtonPA.
HazMat teams, along with personnel from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), are actively monitoring the air quality and runoff water both at the site and in the surrounding area. Thus far, no threats to public health or safety have been detected.
Drinking water is not impacted, officials said. From Aqua Service Alerts:
Aqua Pennsylvania is monitoring the situation in Abington Township, Montgomery County as first responders work to control a fire at SPS Technologies. Aqua responded to the scene late Monday night and concluded that there is currently no risk to drinking water in the surrounding area. We will continue to monitor the situation and will alert customers of any drinking water quality concerns. Due to the firefighting effort, some customers in the area may experience lower than normal water pressure.
SEPTA’s alert page says all service on the Lansdale–Doylestown, Warminster, and West Trenton Regional Rail lines, and Wyncote and Glenside stations, remain suspended. SEPTA suggests using their Trip Planner to try to figure out an alternate public transportation route that does not include Regional Rail.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, officials said.
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Photos: PA-Fire&Police