A devastating gas explosion rocked a nursing home in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday afternoon, causing part of the building to collapse and leaving several individuals trapped under the debris.
The incident took place at approximately 2:15 p.m. at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center, also referred to as Silver Lake Nursing Home, situated on the 900 block of Tower Road in Bristol Township, a suburb of Philadelphia.
PECO, the local utility company, reported that their teams were dispatched to the location at around 2 p.m. in response to reports of a gas smell in the vicinity.
Tragically, the explosion occurred while the crews were on-site, attempting to address the situation.
Footage from the scene captured intense flames shooting from the building, with debris scattered across the surrounding area.
The nursing facility is managed by Saber Healthcare Group, a company headquartered in Ohio.
We did reach out to them for a comment but so far have not yet heard back.
One woman who works at the facility said she has been trying to contact co-workers, but no one is answering their phones. That woman also told Action News that she flagged a gas smell over the weekend.
A man who showed up at the scene said his wife works at the nursing home and he hasn’t yet heard from her.
The public is being asked to avoid the area due to the large emergency response, with police calling this a ‘mass casualty incident.’
Rescuers have been called in from neighboring Montgomery County, the city of Philadelphia and New Jersey.
“I saw smoke and I saw car after car after car was a fire truck or ambulance from all over the city, from all over,” State Rep. Tina Davis, whose district includes the center, told the Associated Press. She approached the scene in her car but did not want to interfere with response efforts.
Davis said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation area. The nursing home has 174 beds, according to a state report.
Jim Morgan, president of the Bristol Township School Board, said district buses will be taking people from the emergency scene at the nursing home to a reunification center at Truman High School.
He said officials were working on setting up beds and providing water and other needs to residents.
“We understand that there are people trapped inside,” said Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesperson.
“It’s just so sad – it’s that hopeful time of year. This is just something that is sad for everybody and the families and the workers that are there. I hope there’s positive results from this. We don’t know at this point,” Davis said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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