Class-action lawsuit filed against SPS Technologies following massive fire in Abington Township
A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of those impacted by the massive fire at SPS Technologies in Abington Township, Pennsylvania, which closed schools, forced evacuations and disrupted SEPTA service in the area.
The industrial building on Highland Avenue in Montgomery County was on fire for nearly a week. After starting on Monday night, the blaze was put out on Saturday.
The class-action lawsuit was filed on Feb. 20 in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas by the law firms Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky and Stranch, Jennings & Garvey. Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky has represented clients in high-profile cases in Pennsylvania including the deadly 2023 West Reading chocolate factory explosion and the explosion in Philly's Port Richmond neighborhood also in 2023 that injured multiple people and caused widespread damage.
An update released on March 2 announced that two more firms had joined the suit, Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC and Levin Sedran & Berman.
The lawsuit alleges that the fire was caused by SPS not properly maintaining the building, which manufactures metal equipment for the aerospace industry and other sectors, including the military.
Last week's fire also apparently wasn't the first fire at SPS. According to the lawsuit, a smaller fire happened at the industrial building two years ago.
"On information and belief, the fire and explosion was caused by Defendant's failures to inspect, maintain, and/or operate its facility, including the location of the origin of the fire, and other manufacturing and production equipment and, upon information and belief, failed to uphold industry standards," the lawsuit says.
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit lives in the area of the fire and works as a school bus driver for one of the nearby districts that was forced to close. School districts like Abington, Cheltenham and Jenkintown closing amid the fire resulted in a loss of wages for the school bus driver. The plaintiff is seeking compensation for the damages and emotional distress, including potentially inhaling harmful chemicals from the fire.
The lawsuit alleges that SPS failed to protect the surrounding areas from the hazardous chemicals used to build aerospace products at the factory during the fire.
"Defendant knew or should have known that SPS's operations include forging with high-temperature furnaces, milling fine metal powders, and electroplating with hazardous chemicals — processes essential to aerospace fastener production and prone to fire and explosion risks, and that fine metal powders can ignite under certain conditions, and electroplating generates flammable hydrogen gas," the lawsuit says.
Abington Township officials said on Saturday the Environmental Protection Agency is still monitoring air quality, and so far, they haven't detected any levels that should concern the public. Drinking water for residents in the area also shouldn't be a concern, according to officials.
A small amount of "chemicals of concern" were found last week in nearby Tookany Creek, but that body of water isn't used for drinking water. The DEP is still sampling water from the creek and the results will be posted once they're available.
Last Thursday, officials said the flames from the fire didn't reach the largest stores of volatile chemicals on the site.
Gov. Josh Shapiro thanked law enforcement and first responders during a visit to the site on Saturday morning.
"As neighbors were understandably running away, it was our fire and police that ran toward this danger here at SPS," he said, "making sure that all the employees got out safely and making sure that this fire was contained and then extinguished."
Residents near SPS said they heard a loud explosion that shook their homes right before the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Abington fire marshal and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
