Water Damage Restoration in Philadelphia, PA

The health department is warning nearby residents to stay inside due to air quality concerns.

Posted Thu, Jun 5, 2025 at 8:22 am ET

PHILADELPHIA — Nearly two dozen SEPTA buses were engulfed in flames Thursday morning at a depot in Northwest Philadelphia, and health officials have detected high levels of particulate matter in the area.

The Philadelphia Fire Department said the blaze started at about 6:30 a.m. at the Midvale Depot at Roberts and Pulaski avenues.

About half an hour later, the fire was raised to two alarms, but crews were able to get the blaze under control by about 8:10 a.m. Action News reports 40 decommissioned buses were caught up in the fire.

According to NBC10, the fire did not impact SEPTA service Thursday. No one was injured, Fox 29 reports.

Due to the smoke produced by the fire, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health is warning residents to avoid the Hunting Park area or try to stay inside.

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Health inspectors found high levels of particulate matter in the air, as well as evidence of benzene, ethylbenzene, and carbon monoxide. The levels of all of those pollutants have been dropping since the fire was extinguished, and officials expect they will continue to drop.

Residents in the area should take precautions to avoid unnecessary exposure to smoke.

The Health Department recommends doing the following to protect yourself and your family from poor air quality:

The air may be potentially hazardous for sensitive groups, including children, elderly people, people who are pregnant, and those with respiratory diseases or heart conditions.

Residents nearby should avoid areas of high congestion and where air pollution may be high, such as main streets or highways, areas with low circulation.

People with underlying illnesses should monitor for symptoms, including trouble breathing, nausea, and dizziness. If these symptoms occur, seek medical attention as soon as possible.

Although the vast majority of attention has been directed towards Washington D.C. for the upcoming weekend, the Philadelphia region will be hosting a three-day celebration to mark the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday.

The Army was founded in Philadelphia.

Erica Liermann, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, is the director of Marketing and Communications for the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) Penn and Franklin Chapters, a non-profit organization.

She said that the weekend is an opportunity to “celebrate our heritage” and focus on the history that the city has to offer.

“This event is not political,” Liermann said during a joint informational meeting of the state House and Senate Veterans Affairs & Emergency Preparedness committees.

The gathering kicks off on Friday afternoon in Valley Forge and includes a guided tour of the Washington Memorial Chapel, a Medal of Honor Grove tour and wreath laying ceremony. Both are free and open to the public. The final event of the evening will be a cocktail reception that is a ticketed event.

The bulk of the celebration will take place on Saturday in Philadelphia. It begins in the morning with an opening ceremony at Independence Mall that includes a flag-raising ceremony, the national anthem, and remarks from elected officials and military leaders.

A brief military and civilian parade will be held in the early afternoon that features service members, veteran groups, re-enactors, marching bands, and SOCOM Para-Commando Parachute Demonstration. An enlistment ceremony will take place later in the afternoon that will feature 250 new soldiers taking their oath, followed by an Army Field Band Concert.

“We are just turning the city into a party hall,” Liermann said. “We want everyone to consider everybody family. Everyone is welcome to join, to bring anybody.”

Liermann emphasized that these events, which are free and open to the public, will be family friendly and include rock walls. She also said there will be military and armored vehicles on display, although they will not be rolling down the street.

On Saturday evening, an invitation-only gathering will take place at the 1st City Troop Armory in Philadelphia.

The events wrap up on Sunday morning in Philadelphia with a church service at Christ Church, which will include remarks from the former Under Secretary of the U.S. Army Patrick Murphy, who represented a Bucks County-based district in the U.S. House from 2007-2011. Following mass, there will be a George Washington Commissioning Reenactment on the north side of Independence Hall, a procession to Washington Square, a wreath laying ceremony, and final words to mark the weekend long celebration. All of these events on Sunday are free and open to the public.

Thomas Long is a retired U.S. Army sergeant and organizer for GoArmy250, the group planning the event. He said the celebration is going to be monumental.

“The birthplace of the Army, the birthplace of the Navy, and the birthplace of the Marines are here, the same birthplace as the nation, but we came first,” he said.

Long, a disabled veteran, noted that Saturday is also Flag Day and Philadelphia will host the Navy and Marines 250th birthday celebrations later this year in the fall.

Earlier in the week, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, chairman of the Senate Veterans and Emergency Preparedness Committee and a retired U.S. Army colonel, held an event in Harrisburg honoring the U.S. Army’s anniversary. The state House also unanimously adopted a resolution sponsored by state Rep. Jim Haddock (D-Luzerne), designating June 14, 2025, as the “250th Birthday of the United States Army” in the state.

In central Pennsylvania, the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle is opening its new exhibit on Saturday “This We’ll Defend: Celebrating 250 years of Army History.” A spokesperson told the Capital-Star that this museum is free of charge and open to the public.

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For this year's "Flavored By Philly" competition, fans will vote on past winners, and the victor will become a permanent Herr's flavor.

Updated Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 2:23 pm ET

PHILADELPHIA — One of Pennsylvania's most beloved snack brands is back in 2025 for another installment of its chip flavoring competition, and this year's competition features a twist

Herr Foods Inc. is once again launching its Flavored by Philly potato chip flavor contest.

But fans of the Philly-focused flavor contest will find it a bit different.

Rather than fans submitting flavors to be made into chips, then fans voting on those options, Herr's is doing a sort of "best of" competition in 2025.

This year's iteration is titled "Flavored by Philly: Crunch Off."

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For the Crunch Off, the public is invited to vote on their favorite flavor from past champions, with the winning chip earning a permanent spot in the Herr’s product lineup.

To celebrate the start of this year’s showdown, Herr’s is teaming up with none other than Philadelphia Phillies slugger and fan-favorite Kyle Schwarber.

"As a big fan of Herr’s and all their flavorful chips, I’m excited to partner with the official chip of the Phillies for this year’s Flavored by Philly: Crunch Off," Schwarber said. "This competition is going to be fierce with such bold flavors, and I can’t wait to see which one earns a permanent spot. Plus, I’m thankful for Herr’s continued support of my foundation, Neighborhood Heroes."

The three competing flavors include:

Long Hots & Sharp Provolone (2022 Winner)Inspired by a local Philadelphian, this chip brings the heat with bold roasted pepper flavor, sharp provolone undertones, and a gradually building mild spice.

Tomato Pie (2023 Winner)Paying homage to Corropolese Bakery’s signature dish, this chip features the familiar flavors of sweet tomato sauce and Romano cheese paired with Herr’s signature hearty crunch.

Special Hot Stromboli (2024 Winner)Modeled after Romano’s Special Hot Stromboli, this flavor delivers a savory blend of cheese and spices with just the right amount of heat—capturing the essence of a Philly classic.

"This competition is a celebration of Philadelphia’s culinary identity that we are proud to be a part of," Ed Herr, Chairman and CEO of Herr’s, said. "We’re honored to let our fans decide which of these incredible flavors becomes a permanent addition to our snack family."

Voting is open now online here through Aug. 4. The winning flavor will be revealed by Aug. 31.

In addition to determining the flavor that earns a permanent spot in Herr's product lineup, participants will also be entered to win one of eight sweepstakes prizes, including a Herr’s gift basket filled with snacks and merchandise, plus a $100 gift card.

Amazon said Monday that it will spend $20 billion on two data center complexes in Pennsylvania, including one it is building alongside a nuclear power plant that has drawn federal scrutiny over an arrangement to essentially plug right into the power plant.

Kevin Miller, vice president of global data centers at Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, told The Associated Press that the company will build another data center complex just north of Philadelphia.

One data center is being built next to northeastern Pennsylvania's Susquehanna nuclear power plant. The other will be in Fairless Hills at a logistics campus, the Keystone Trade Center, on what was once a U.S. Steel mill.

In a statement, Gov. Josh Shapiro called it the largest capital investment in Pennsylvania's history.

The announcements add to the billions of dollars in Big Tech's data center cash already flowing into the state.

Since 2024 started, Amazon has committed to about $10 billion apiece to data center projects in Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina as it ramps up its investment in infrastructure to compete with other tech giants to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence products.

The rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence has fueled demand for data centers that need power to run servers, storage systems, networking equipment and cooling systems.

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The majority owner of the Susquehanna nuclear power plant, Talen Energy, announced last year that it had sold its data center to Amazon for $650 million in a deal to eventually provide 960 megawatts. That's 40% of the output of one of the nation's largest nuclear power plants, or enough to power more than a half-million homes.

However, the arrangement between Talen and Amazon — called a “behind the meter” connection — has been held up by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the first such case to come before the agency.

It has raised questions over whether diverting power to higher-paying customers will leave enough for others and whether it’s fair to excuse big power users from paying for the grid.

For Big Tech, plugging energy-hungry data centers directly into a power plant can take years off their development timelines and is a much faster route to procuring power than having to connect to the congested electricity grid.

It’s not clear when FERC, which blocked the deal on a procedural grounds, will decide the matter, leaving in limbo regulatory treatment of the deal and others that likely would follow.

Already in Pennsylvania, Microsoft announced a deal with the owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement to supply its data centers in four states with energy.

Meanwhile, the owners of what was once Pennsylvania’s biggest coal-fired power plant say they will turn it into a $10 billion natural gas-powered data center campus.

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There's nowhere quite like Siesta Beach.

There are in every corner of the world, that’s true. But only 50 get the honor of landing on the annual list.

Each year, the list is put together with the expertise of thousands of travel experts. Then, the selections are further whittled according to a unique set of parameters, including categories like "Easy to Enter," "," "Not Too Crowded," and "Frequently Idyllic." After evaluating all the data, just one beach in the U.S. made it on the list, and it also ranked as the 12th .

Perhaps, as no surprise to those in the know, the best beach in the U.S. is in Siesta Key, Florida.

This Florida Keys destination is known for its soft sand, which consists mainly of pure quartz that originated from the Appalachian Mountains. Because of its quartz composition, the sand never gets too hot. "What makes Siesta Beach truly special is its sand,” said Suze Renner, from Luxury Columnist, . “The beach is famous for its 99 percent pure quartz sand, which is powdery white and incredibly fine."

The water is also clear, shallow, calm, and easy to enter, making it easy to swim and wade in. There’s also not a ton of development in the area, keeping the environment nearly pristine. This is somewhat unique to Siesta Beach compared to other beaches in the same region, as are constantly undergoing construction and urbanization.

World’s 50 Best Beaches’ also gave Siesta Beach the "frequently Idyllic" designation, meaning “your odds of perfect beach days are much higher than average.” For most of the year, there are fewer than 10 rainy days per month in Siesta Beach, with year-round average highs between 70 and 90 degrees.

This isn’t the first time that Siesta Beach has been named one of the best beaches in the U.S. Back in February, named it the No. 1 U.S. beach, and the fourth best beach in the world. Its report also cited the beach's soft sand, calm waters, and quietness as well as frequent dolphin sightings and excellent sunsets.

“Siesta Key has the ultimate laid-back beach vibe,” Kelly Defebo, vice president of marketing and communications at Visit Sarasota County, in June 2024. “Sunsets anywhere are gorgeous, but they are not to be missed here."

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