A fast-moving fire erupted early Thursday at a transit bus lot in P
hiladelphia and burned dozens of decommissioned vehicle
s, sending a thick plume of black smoke into the sky but causing no injuri
es. The fire did not impact the morning commute.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
Citing an abundance of caution, the city’s Public Health Department warned nearby residents to stay indoors if
possible and urged others to avoid the area. Agency inspectors coll
ected samples to asse
ss air quality and the potential for any threat, but said later Thursday t
hat conditions had quickly improved after the blaze was contained.
The fire at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation
Authority facility started sometime before 6:15 a.m., said Andre
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w Busch, SEPTA ‘s
director of communications. Several buses were soon engulfed in fla
mes, and the fire burned for nearly two hours before it was declared under control.
The lot where the fire broke out was filled with decommissione
d buses scheduled for disposal, Busch said. Forty buses were damaged overall.
Firefighters initially had trouble gaining access to water to extinguis
h the blaze, but soon got it under control after other SEPTA buses
were towed out of the way and fences were taken down. Busch noted tha
t no in-service buses were in the area where the blaze occurred.
Photo: Several SEPTA Buses are on fire at a transit bus lot in P
hiladelphia filled with dozens of decommissioned vehicles on Thursday, Ju
ne 5, 2025. (WPVI-TV/6ABC via AP)
