The Philadelphia Department of Public Health lifted its recommendation to stay inside on Friday after air quality concerns arose following a three-alarm fire that engulfed multiple SEPTA buses at a yard in the Nicetown section of Philadelphia on Thursday.

On Friday, SEPTA officials also said an electrical fire caused by a battery in one of the electric buses started the blaze.

The buses caught fire at the agency's Midvale depot located off Roberts Avenue, around 6:15 a.m. Thursday. SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer said all of the buses had been decommissioned and were in the process of being sold or scrapped.

Sauer said among the 40 damaged buses, 15 of them were electric.

"When the buses are fully decommissioned, all the fuel and lubricants are removed," Sauer said. "Batteries are re

See Full Page