SPS Technologies reached an agreement to settle a class-action lawsuit over a massive 2025 factory fire in Montgomery County
Under the proposed settlement, SPS Technologies and its owner, Precision Castparts Corp., would create a $5 million fund for payouts to property owners, businesses, and the businesses' employees.
SPS Technologies and its parent company reached a multimillion-dollar agreement last week to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from the massive 2025 factory fire in Montgomery County that shuttered schools, halted SEPTA trains, and forced scores of nearby residents to evacuate.
The proposed agreement was announced on Friday by Kroll Settlement Administration, the firm handling the legal deal, which is pending before the county’s Court of Common Pleas.
If approved by the court, SPS Technologies and its owner, Precision Castparts Corp., would create a $5 million fund to provide cash payments to those impacted by the four-alarm blaze that erupted on Feb. 17, 2025, prompting officials to declare a disaster emergency.
“The plaintiffs allege that individuals and businesses were impacted, injured, or damaged by the fire,” Kroll Settlement Administration wrote in a news release. “SPS and PCC deny any wrongdoing.”
Under the proposed settlement, business owners, employees of impacted businesses, and homeowners within a 1-mile radius of the former factory in Abington Township could be eligible for payouts. The amounts would cover unreimbursed business losses of up to $5,000, unreimbursed property damage losses of up to $300, and unreimbursed hourly wage losses of up to $200, according to Kroll. Claim forms must be filed by Dec. 3.
Pending court approval, the proposed $5 million fund would also provide a maximum $1.75 million in “reasonable attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses” and an extra payment of $2,500, known as a ”service award," to lead plaintiffs in the class-action suit.
Last year, a judge agreed to consolidate three lawsuits into a single class-action suit. The lawsuits were brought against the aerospace parts manufacturer by: a school bus driver for Abington School District; co-owners of an auto service business that is less than a mile from the SPS facility; and a resident in neighboring Jenkintown whose apartment was engulfed in smoke and has experienced coughing and chest pain.
“The fire and explosion was caused by the defendant’s failures to inspect, properly maintain, and/or operate its facility, including the location of the origin of the fire,” according to the lawsuit. It also states that SPS “failed to uphold industry standards” in facility operations and as a result “hundreds if not thousands of persons have been damaged.”
The bus driver declined to comment on Sunday evening. The other class members did not return phone calls from a reporter, and their lawyers did not immediately respond to an email.
After a series of explosions at the Highland Avenue factory, fire engulfed the complex, drawing emergency responders from nearly 80 fire companies. Local officials ordered residents within a mile of the facility to shelter in place. A voluntary evacuation order for about 250 homes, mostly in neighboring Jenkintown, came soon after.
It took firefighters five days to extinguish the conflagration, while plumes of smoke drifted over the neighborhood, and residents worried about air quality because of the types of chemicals stored at the factory.
