February 18, 2025
Provided Image/Kristy Davis
A four-alarm fire broke out Monday night at the SPS Technologies manufacturing facility, located at 301 Highland Avenue in the Jenkintown borough of Abington Township. The fire continued Tuesday as the township advised immediate neighbors in the area to stay elsewhere until further notice. The image above is a screen capture from a video taken Monday night by Kristy Davis, who lives a few doors down from the site.
The industrial fire that started Monday night at the SPS Technologies factory in Abington Township prompted voluntary evacuations for about 700 people who live near the site, officials said late Tuesday afternoon as firefighters battled the remnants of the four-alarm blaze.
The fire began around 9:45 p.m. with an explosion at the manufacturing facility on Highland Avenue, which is in the Jenkintown borough just outside the township.
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"We thought it was a transformer, but it was way too loud and my power was still on, so I went outside," Kristy Davis, who lives in a twin home a few doors down from the building, said Tuesday afternoon.
Davis' home is on Stewart Avenue, a small street that crosses with Kenmore Avenue near the back wall of SPS Technologies. She said she immediately saw thick plumes of smoke in the air, followed by a wall of orange flames bursting from the sprawling complex as neighbors stepped out to see what what was happening.
"We stood out there just kind of terrified and confused at the same time," Davis said. "We just saw it getting bigger and bigger. I think the wind was probably the worst part of it because it was blowing everything over. ... All of the embers were flying into our backyards. It was just raining fire."
Davis said a police officer banged on her door and told her she needed to leave because of potential air quality concerns and the risk of the fire spreading. She and her husband, Jamie, packed a few things and stayed overnight at Davis' parents' home further away in Abington.
Nearly 70 fire companies from the region responded to the blaze at the 500,000-square-foot facility, which makes fasteners and other components for the aerospace industry. Within minutes, all of the roughly 60 employees at the factory were evacuated from the building. There were no injuries reported, authorities said Tuesday morning, and air quality regulators were brought in to monitor the area for traces of hazardous chemicals.
A second explosion happened around 10:30 a.m. in a different section of the building, causing a new "flare up" that led to Tuesday's voluntary evacuation notice, Abington Police Chief Patrick Molloy said.
"We do know that they use very harsh chemicals in the aeronautical engineering process of making bolts and fasteners, so out of an abundance of caution, we made that decision to self-evacuate," Molloy said.
The sprinkler system at SPS Technologies was out of service at the time of the fire, township officials said, but the company was permitted to continue operating because it had complied with required fire safety protocols.
There were no immediate chemical threats detected in the air or water around the facility, officials said. Schools in Abington, Jenkintown and Cheltenham were closed Tuesday. All three districts also have canceled classes for Wednesday, and a shelter-in-place order remains in effect for all households within a 1 mile radius of the factory.
"Just having that amount of smoke right near your house is really scary," said Jill Kee, an Abington resident who lives within a 5-minute walk of SPS Technologies. "My son's day care is pretty much right near the site. ... I thought, is this fire going to spread? And my mind went to what people experienced in California."
The cause of the fire remains unknown and a full investigation won't start until after the fire is extinguished. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is working with local, state and federal partners to assist with the investigation.
"We're not looking at really any criminal thing, but (the ATF is) working to see if they can provide some information on how this started," Molloy said.
Most of the homes in the voluntary evacuation zone are in Jenkintown, where the wind carried much of the smoke from the fire. Davis and her husband stopped back at the home on Tuesday before returning to Davis' parents' place to stay with them until further notice from the township. Davis didn't see any signs of damage to her property, but she was overpowered by the smell of chemicals.
"It smells in the house, so I guess I'm going to have to address that with insurance once everything settles and get the air quality tested," Davis said. "Even if they weren't concerned with the air, I wouldn't be able to stay here because of the smell."
