Firefighters who battled SPS Technologies blaze talk about fighting the inferno
GLENSIDE, Pa. (WPVI) -- It's been more than a week since a fire destroyed the SPS Technologies facility in Montgomery County, and now some of the first emergency crews to arrive on the scene are speaking about the conditions that night.
"It was one of the biggest fires I've ever seen," said Chief Keith Maslin of the Weldon Fire Company.
When the fire started at the Glenside facility last Monday night, emergency crews rushed to the scene. They said their biggest concern was making sure the 60 employees inside the building, where materials for the aviation industry were produced, had evacuated.
"They told us that 60 people were potentially out of the building, however someone may have gone back in," Gerry Gerhard, a safety officer with the Weldon Fire Company, said.
Bill Ernst, a chief engineer with the Weldon Fire Company, added, "Just knowing how big that building is, you just thought, 'Where do we start? How do we get to them?'"
The firefighters who Action News spoke with on Tuesday afternoon said they know the building very well, having done planning around SPS Technologies for years. But, they said they never expected to encounter a fire of that magnitude.
Ryan Merkel, a firefighter with the Roslyn Fire Company, said when the first firefighters got inside they were met with, "Lots of smoke. Various explosions going off."
"You could see there was fire through the roof, and you could see the fire progressing," Michael Jones Jr., an assistant chief with the Abington Fire Company, added.
Because of the dangerous conditions presented inside, crews eventually decided to pull out of the building and fight the fire from the outside. As they doused the flames, they worked to ensure the blaze didn't spread to neighboring homes.
"It was definitely the biggest fire I've ever been to," Jason Brennan, a 17-year-old junior firefighter with the Weldon Fire Company, said.
Brennan, a junior at Lansdale Catholic High School, was one of the junior firefighters on scene that night.
He added, "I got on a truck and we were down at SPS. I've been living in Abington since I don't know when, and I've known SPS for as long as I was alive."
Jonathan Gerhard, a senior at Abington High School, also acted as a junior firefighter on the scene.
"We pulled up and there was just fire and smoke," he explained, "It was a little nerve-wracking, but I just stayed calm and everyone else stayed calm."
Gerhard said upon returning to school last week, Abington High School officials recognized him and the other junior firefighters who assisted on scene.
He said the guidance counselor called them down to her office to say thank you.
"Her house was at risk, and she had embers on her house," Gerhard said. "It was very nice of her what she did and the school did for us."
RELATED: Demolition and debris cleanup begin after massive SPS fire
In total, 65 local fire departments - many of them volunteer - were on the scene that night and throughout the week.
"Their pagers went off and they showed up," Matthew Kruszewski, a lieutenant with the Weldon Fire Company, said. "We're all here for one goal: to save lives and protect property."
"Over several days like that, you do get fatigue over time, so you do have to have a plan in place to rotate those crews in and out," Chris McLoone, a safety officer with the Weldon Fire Company, said.
As crews battled hot spots all week, air quality tests were conducted to see if chemicals from the facility got into the air or groundwater. On Tuesday, the DEP said there is no threat to either. However, members with the DEP and EPA remain on site.
"There's a series of checks and balances there to ensure everything that can be done is being done," Tom McAneney, the emergency management coordinator for Abington Township, said.
SPS Technologies, which has been a staple in the township for over a hundred years, is now destroyed and its employees are without a place to work.
More than a week later, the firefighters who were first on the scene that night said they are grateful no one was hurt.
"I still don't know how anybody wasn't severely injured, killed, hurt, or anything like that because the conditions were so far advanced," Jones Jr. said.
"We were there five days and everything worked out," Billy Ernst, an assistant engineer with the Weldon Fire Company, said.
The fire was officially placed under control on Saturday afternoon. By Sunday, a class action lawsuit was filed. It claims SPS Technologies wasn't well maintained and that hundreds of people were impacted by the blaze.
Action News has reached out to SPS for comment. We have yet to hear back.
