The Philadelphia Inquirer
(TNS)
Jun. 5—A large fire engulfing multiple SEPTA buses at a lot in Philadelphia Thursday morning has been contained.
The fire, which sent a thick plume of black smoke into the sky visible across the city, began sometime before 6:15 a.m. Thursday morning, according to SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch.
As many as 10 to 15 buses in the lot at the Roberts Yard SEPTA Railroad Facility in Nicetown were engulfed in flames, with smoke hovering over the Roosevelt Expressway.
Firefighters initially had trouble gaining access to water to put out the blaze, according to Assistant Chief Charles Walker. But once SEPTA buses were moved out of the way, firefighters quickly placed it under control.
The Philadelphia Health Department warned nearby residents to stay inside and avoid the area as it inspected air samples. No specific hazardous substances have been identified and the warning was out of "an abundance of caution," the city said.
Walker said nearby schools turned off their HVAC systems due to the large cloud of smoke created by the fire.
While the SEPTA Midvale Depot itself feeds the largest number of SEPTA routes of any bus depot, the lot were the fire broke out is filled with nearly a hundred decommissioned buses.
"So this is like a boneyard where these are at," Busch said. "It's just for vehicles that are pretty close to going to the scrap heap."
It is unclear how the fire began.
Walker said a small number of buses in the yard were electric vehicles, but were "de-energized and not charged" and didn't present any issues. In 2022, a fire at SEPTA's Southern Bus Depot was caused when a battery power pack in a bus ignited.
The blaze didn't have a major impact on SEPTA's bus schedule Thursday. Busch said a majority of active buses were already out of the depot when the fire broke out.
Photos of SEPTA bus fire in Nicetown
© 2025 The Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit www.inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
