Federal agents join probe of 2 incidents at Peco station in Northeast

Federal agents have joined the investigation of two suspicious incidents at a Peco Energy Co. substation in Northeast Philadelphia that officials say could be related.

A fire was set late Monday at the Holmesburg site, officials said. Last week, a suspicious package had been left there.

"The fact that it was two unauthorized visits to the same facility in two weeks, it's suspicious to us," said Peco spokeswoman Cathy Engel Menendez.

The probe involves the police, the Fire Department, and the Joint Terrorism Task Force as well as Peco security.

There is no indication terrorism is involved, said Steve Bartholomew, special agent and spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The task force was brought in because substations are considered critical infrastructure.

Investigators determined that the substation fire was arson. "We consider arson to be a violent crime," Bartholomew said, "and we are taking this very seriously."

Police said the blaze was reported about 11:45 p.m. Monday at the substation in the 4600 block of Rhawn Street and was quickly extinguished without disruption to electrical service. The fire had been set in a transformer panel and was discovered by a Peco employee responding to an alarm, police said.

Engel Menendez said the two incidents were not related to an Aug. 25 circuit-breaker fire at the substation that left 20,000 Peco customers without power.

High-voltage electricity makes entering a substation risky for untrained people, Engel Menendez said. "If you don't know what you're doing," she said, "you're really putting your life on the line being in there."