Massive fire at Pennsylvania aerospace plant prompts shelter-in-place order, evacuations

JENKINTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Schools were closed and residents were ordered to shelter-in-place Tuesday after a large fire broke out at an aerospace manufacturer’s facility in a town north of Philadelphia, officials said.

The fire broke out at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown around 9:30 p.m. Monday. Witnesses said there was an explosion and flames could be seen inside the warehouse, the Abington Township Police Department said in a statement on social media. The building was evacuated, all employees were accounted for and no injuries were reported.

SPS Technologies describes itself as a developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a line of aerospace fasteners and precision components.

The Abington and Jenkintown school districts and all private and parochial schools were closed Tuesday and will remain shuttered on Wednesday.

The shelter-in-place order initially was in effect until the incident was under control because smoke and particulates from the fire were filtering across the area, officials said. But residents and businesses in the immediate area near the plant — roughly 700 people — were asked to voluntarily evacuate late Tuesday afternoon “while conditions permit” because of concerns over air quality.

Hazmat crews were monitoring air quality and advised all businesses within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius to remain closed until further notice.

Service on three Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority regional rail lines remained suspended late Tuesday afternoon because of the fire.

Firefighters battle a blaze at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pa., Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

An American flag waves as flames engulf at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pa., Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Firefighters battle a blaze at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pa., Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A firefighter looks on as a fire engulfs SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pa., Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Firefighters battle a blaze at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pa., Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

A fire engulfs SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pa., Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Firefighters battle a blaze at SPS Technologies in Jenkintown, Pa., Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

New Jersey Transit train engineers went on strike Friday, leaving an estimated 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City to seek other means to reach their destinations or consider staying home.

Groups of picketers gathered in front of transit headquarters in Newark and at the Hoboken Terminal, carrying signs that said “Locomotive Engineers on Strike” and “NJ Transit: Millions for Penthouse Views Nothing for Train Crews.” Passing drivers honked their horns.

The walkout comes after the latest round of negotiations on Thursday didn’t produce an agreement. It is the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years and comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management.

“We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock," said Tom Haas, general chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

NJ Transit CEO Kris Kolluri described the situation as a “pause in the conversations.”

“I certainly expect to pick back up these conversations as soon as possible,” he said late Thursday during a joint news conference with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. “If they’re willing to meet tonight, I’ll meet them again tonight. If they want to meet tomorrow morning, I’ll do it again. Because I think this is an imminently workable problem. The question is, do they have the willingness to come to a solution.”

Murphy said it was important to “reach a final deal that is both fair to employees and at the same time affordable to New Jersey’s commuters and taxpayers.”

"Again, we cannot ignore the agency’s fiscal realities,” Murphy said.

The announcement came after 15 hours of nonstop contract talks, according to the union.

NJ Transit — the nation’s third-largest transit system — operates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. The walkout halts all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York City’s Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently.

The agency had announced contingency plans in recent days, saying it planned to increase bus service, but warned riders that the buses would only add “very limited” capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and would not start running until Monday. The agency also will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods.

However, the agency noted that the buses would not be able to handle close to the same number of passengers — only about 20% of current rail customers — so it urged people who could work from home to do so.

Even the threat of it had already caused travel disruptions. Amid the uncertainty, the transit agency canceled train and bus service for Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington to discuss the matter, and a mediator was present during Thursday’s talks. Kolluri said Thursday night that the mediation board has suggested a Sunday morning meeting to resume talks.

Wages have been the main sticking point of the negotiations between the agency and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen that wants to see its members earn wages comparable to other passenger railroads in the area. The union says its members earn an average salary of $113,000 a year and says an agreement could be reached if agency CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average yearly salary of $170,000.

NJ Transit leadership, though, disputes the union’s data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000.

Kolluri and Murphy said Thursday night that the problem isn’t so much whether both sides can agree to a wage increase, but whether they can do so under terms that wouldn’t then trigger other unions to demand similar increases and create a financially unfeasible situation for NJ Transit.

Congress has the power to intervene and block the strike and force the union to accept a deal, but lawmakers have not shown a willingness to do that this time like they did in 2022 to prevent a national freight railroad strike.

The union has seen steady attrition in its ranks at NJ Transit as more of its members leave to take better-paying jobs at other railroads. The number of NJ Transit engineers has shrunk from 500 several months ago to about 450 today.

Associated Press reporters Hallie Golden in Seattle and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

An NJ Transit train pulls into the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

An electronic display advises commuters of potential NJ Transit service disruptions at the Secaucus Junction station in Secaucus, N.J., Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Union members from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen form a picket line outside the NJ Transit Headquarters on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Union members from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen form a picket line outside the NJ Transit Headquarters on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)