MTA Bus Evacuated in Bronx After Suspicious Liquid Found, FDNY Says Substance Was Harmless

MTA Bus Evacuated after ‘Suspicious Liquid’ Left Unattended, Later Deemed Harmless

(Above) Firefighters investigate two bags filled with four one-gallon jugs of an unknown brownish liquid that caused the evacuation of a Bx-4A bus. (Below) The four one-gallon jugs inside Poland Spring bottles were later determined to be non-hazardous after the jugs were left unattended on a city bus along Westchester Avenue. -Photos by David Greene

By David Greene

Bronx Voice 

July 20, 2026

BRONX, NY - With the city on heightened alert due to the ongoing military operation in Iran, foreign travelers coming to America for the World Cup and the upcoming 25^th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks—a suspicious liquid discovered in four one-gallon containers aboard an MTA bus, prompted the stoppage and evacuation of the bus, and prompted an investigation by the FDNY.

The Bx-4A was traveling southbound on Westchester Avenue in Parkchester, when its driver stopped and evacuated the bus outside of Virginia Park, at the corner of White Plains Road.

Monitoring an FDNY radio transmission, the Bronx Voice overheard one fire department unit that was headed to the scene, ask his dispatcher, “Can you ask (the) battalion if this container is actively leaking or anything like that?” 

A firefighter at the scene responded, “We’re just investigating right now, will get back to you with the condition.” The firefighter at the scene came back moments later and stated that there were four one-gallon containers and they were checking for any leaks.

Two fire trucks blocked Westchester Avenue at the busy Hugh J. Grant Circle, as firefighters removed the two bags holding the four jugs that contained a brownish liquid, when they were placed on the sidewalk outside of the back entrance of the bus. After more than 30 minutes the firefighters determined that the liquid was harmless and two firemen carried the two bags to a nearby trash receptacle, where they dropped the jugs in.

An FDNY official confirmed the incident, only saying that the incident was sparked by, “Reported containers with unknown liquid” and added that “HazMat (was) requested (and) no injuries” were reported. Firefighters determined that the incident was under control at 1:42 p.m.

The official was asked how the liquid was deemed harmless and if the NYPD was notified of the incident, the official replied, “HazMat has their procedures to follow to deem the scene safe. NYPD is notified about a majority of FDNY incidents.” The official added that, “no further information” was available.

One older man sitting on a bench inside of Virginia Park watched as the events unfolded, he recalled, “I just watched them remove the bags with the containers.” Asked if he felt concerned for his safety, the man replied, “No, I didn’t even know what was happening.” 

The man watched as firefighters dropped the bags with the liquid containers that were jugs of Poland Spring Water that contained the brownish liquid, into a trash can.

A woman watching the firefighters as they slowly began to exit the area after the incident was deemed over, was asked if she saw the bus being evacuated, she replied, “No, no. I just walked up now and saw, so I’m not sure what happened.” 

When asked what she thought when she saw the bags on the ground outside of the bus, she said, “I didn’t know what it was. I was just walking past and wondering what was going on. I was just saying to my friend on the telephone that there were a lot of firemen here.”

After being questioned by firefighters, the unidentified bus driver told the Bronx Voice, “One of the customers came to me and said a guy left a suspicious bag with an unknown liquid in it. Yeah, he left it on the back of my bus.” Asked about the liquid, the driver said, “It wasn’t like water, it had a color like tea, like oil or tea or something like that.”

The driver concluded, "I didn’t want to bring it all around the Bronx, you know…” Now laughing, the driver added, “I had nowhere to put it.”

The Bronx Voice reached out to the NYPD to see if the incident prompted an investigation, but an NYPD official responded, “Please be referred to the FDNY.”

The Bronx Voice also reached out to the MTA’s media relations department for additional information, but they had not responded to the inquiry.