A large fire broke out at a manufacturing site for aviation products in Pennsylvania on Monday night, engulfing the building in flames and closing nearby schools over fears of hazardous air pollution, according to officials.
The blaze started just after 9:30 p.m. Eastern at a 560,000-square-foot complex housing SPS Technologies, a manufacturing company, in Jenkintown, Pa., about 10 miles north of Philadelphia. The company produces nuts, bolts and other items for industries including aviation.
The cause of the fire was still unknown, the Abington Township Police Department said.
Witnesses told the police that an explosion took place in the building. All employees inside were accounted for after an evacuation, the police said. Officials have urged people to avoid the area.
Because of heavy smoke and the possibility of toxic materials burning at the site, officials closed all schools in the Abington and Jenkintown school districts, including private and parochial schools, on Tuesday. A shelter-in-place order was also in effect until “this incident is under control,” the Abington Police Department announced.
The police warned that any business within a one-mile radius of the site, at 301 Highland Ave in Jenkintown, should remain closed until further notice.
The police and the Abington Township Fire Marshal’s office are investigating the cause of the blaze.
SPS Technologies — which was known as the Standard Pressed Steel Company until 1978 — has occupied the Jenkintown facility since 1920, according to a 2015 report by the Environmental Protection Agency. Since then, the site has been used for the production of metal fasteners and other parts for the aerospace and aviation industries, among others.
In 2023, the E.P.A. fined SPS Technologies nearly $110,000 for violating rules regarding the storage and marking of hazardous waste at the Jenkintown site.