UPDATED (4:27 p.m. ET):
By Mark Scolforo and Marc Levy
Associated Press
BRISTOL, Pa. — A gas explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia triggered a plume of black smoke and trapped people inside the building, authorities said.
“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,” said State Rep. Tina Davis, whose district includes the center. 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. As of 4 p.m. no one had showed up at the school, Morgan said.
“We understand that there are people trapped inside,” said Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesperson.
Bucks County officials notified the agency of an explosion before 3 p.m. at Silver Lake Healthcare Center in Bristol Township, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia.
“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.
EARLIER:
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. — An explosion and fire were reported at the Silver Lake Nursing Home in Bristol Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The incident was reported around 2:15 p.m. at the facility in the 900 block of Tower Road, and officials said there were multiple reports of people trapped.
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Upper Makefield Township police said the incident is being treated as a mass casualty event, WPVI reported.
Times Now News reported fire officials said at least 15 patients were located outside the building and were being evaluated as rescue operations continued.
A large mutual aid response was underway as fire companies and ambulance crews from across the county arrived at the scene, Levittown Now reported. Officials said multiple injuries and an unknown number of patients and staff are possibly trapped inside. The explosion caused significant structural damage to the facility.
