SPS Technologies in Jenkintown lays off 250 employees following four-alarm blaze

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Montgomery County officials said SPS Technologies is laying off half of its entire workforce as the aerospace manufacturing company attempts to revive itself following February’s four-alarm inferno in Jenkintown.

SPS Technologies could not be reached for comment.

The massive blaze sparked evacuations and shelter-in-place orders, upending life for days in Abington, Cheltenham and Jenkintown and emitting toxins into the Tookany Creek.

Hundreds of families relied on SPS Technologies as a source of income for decades. Now, the subsidiary of Precision Castparts is cutting loose approximately 250 employees. Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company of Precision Castparts.

Montgomery County Commissioner Neil Makhija wrote a letter to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffet urging the billionaire to dig into the company’s cash reserve to pay expanded severance packages in the aftermath of “one of the worst fires in our county’s history.”

“While you consider rebuilding the facility here in Montgomery County, where hundreds of loyal workers are ready to continue their dedicated service, I hope you will also provide longer-term, temporary pay and benefits for these employees who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own,” Makhija wrote.

Precision Castparts did not respond to a request for comment. Berkshire Hathaway could not be reached.

According to Makhija, the average SPS Technologies employee has worked at the company for 25 years. He said they were offered four weeks of compensation.

“Berkshire Hathaway has received considerable attention for its historic cash pile of approximately $334 billion,” Makhija wrote. “As you look for meaningful ways to invest Berkshire’s substantial cash reserves, I would suggest you could do so right here: in your own company, in the workers of SPS Technologies, and in Montgomery County, PA.”