PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A massive fire broke out at SEPTA’s Midvale bus depot in Nicetown-Tioga early Thursday morning, sending a huge plume of smoke into the air and damaging dozens of vehicles.
More than 150 fire officials responded to the scene around 6:30 a.m. The buses were parked in a tightly packed lot, located near Roberts and Wissahickon avenues.
SEPTA said these buses were decommissioned, and many of them had been gutted. The transit agency said this lot is considered a "bus graveyard."
Assistant Fire Chief Charles Walker said it was a difficult fire to access.
“We had some initial challenges as far as access points to get into the yard, and we had some water issues in order to get water into the areas that we needed to,” he said. “But once we were able to get water in here and we started to extinguish the buses, conditions got better.”
SEPTA workers helped move unaffected buses out of the way so firefighters could better access the blaze.
Walker said the heat caused some bus tires to explode. Crews also had to work to keep the flames away from propane tanks.
“We had some initial hazards, initially reported as propane tanks in the area,” he said. “But they were situated far enough away and we have enough water to contain the fire, [it] no longer became a major concern for us.”
The Philadelphia Fire Department said up to 40 buses may have been damaged.
Fire crews said the three-alarm blaze was placed under control shortly after 8 a.m. The cause is under investigation.
No injuries were reported.
Air quality still unsafe, and a potential cause
In an afternoon press conference updating the investigation into the bus fire, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Palak Raval-Nelson said that while the air quality has improved from when the fire was put out, there were still high levels of particulate matter. Benzene, ethylbenzene and carbon monoxide were also recorded above allowable levels.
"We know that the air is still not entirely safe," said Raval-Nelson. "That's why my recommendation as health commissioner is for residents to stay away from the area of the fire."
As for causes, officials said the investigation was ongoing, but SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said 16 of the 40 buses that burned were decommissioned electric battery buses produced by the company Proterra. A Proterra bus caught fire several years ago in South Philadelphia.
“We know that was one of those buses. And now we have this. It’s something that – we’ve all agreed that we don’t want them anymore, so we just want to be done with them,” said Sauer.
The SEPTA GM said nine more Proterra buses remain at the depot.