At least 40 city buses catch fire at Philadelphia SEPTA facility

USA Today

05-06-2025

At least 40 city buses catch fire at Philadelphia SEPTA facility
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Blaze burns through SEPTA buses at depot
A huge fire erupted at a SEPTA bus depot in Philadelphia's Nicetown neighborhood Thursday morning.
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More than 150 firefighters in Eastern Pennsylvania battled a massive blaze at a major Philadelphia transportation depot yard after dozens of buses went up in flames at the yard in the early hours of June 5.
The fire broke out sometime around 6 a.m. ET at Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's (SEPTA) facility in the 2400 block of Roberts Avenue near Pulaski Avenue, the Philadelphia Fire Department reported.
The facility is in the city's Nicetown-Tioga neighborhood, about seven miles north of downtown.
Shortly before 6:30 a.m. ET, firefighters responded to the depot for a report of multiple buses on fire, SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer told CBS News.
At the scene, SEPTA worked to pull out unaffected buses to facilitate better access for firefighters, PFD said.
Initially reported as a two-alarm fire at 6:30 a.m., the number of vehicles on fire, coupled with large plumes of black smoke, quickly escalated the situation to a three-alarm fire. Firefighters confirmed that they had the scene under control by 8:10 a.m.
What caused the Philadelphia bus fire?
The cause and origin of the fire are under investigation by the Fire Marshal's Office.
The fire destroyed approximately 40 buses, including 15 decommissioned electric buses, which Sauer suggested could explain how the fire started. A similar electric bus caught fire in 2022 at a separate SEPTA depot, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The buses that caught fire were "getting ready to go to the scrap heap," said Andrew Busch, SEPTA's director of communication.
What is SEPTA?
SEPTA is a public transportation authority servicing five counties in and around Philadelphia.
It was created by the state's legislature in 1963 and is one of two transit authorities in the United States that operates all five major types of terrestrial transit vehicles: regional rail, buses, trolleys, subways and a high-speed line.
According to its website, the authority connects to transit systems in New Jersey and Delaware.
This story has been updated to include new information.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [e-mail] and follow her on X @nataliealund.