Police call explosion at nursing home near Philadelphia ‘mass casualty incident’ | Pennsylvania
An explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia collapsed part of the building, injuring and trapping people inside, authorities said.
Black smoke billowed from the Silver Lake medical center in Bristol County as area emergency responders gathered there.
Upper Makefield Township police announced on social media that it was a “mass casualty incident” and warned people to stay away from the Bristol area, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia.
Bucks County emergency management officials reported injuries but have not yet said if there were any deaths.
District officials said that they received an explosion report at around 14.17 and that part of the building had collapsed. Ruth Miller, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania emergency management agency, said her agency was notified that people were trapped inside.
“I saw smoke and I saw car after car that was fire truck or ambulance from all over the city,” said state Rep. Tina Davis, who was in the area where the facility is located and drove to the scene.
The cause of the explosion could not be determined.
Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Public Service Commission, said investigators from the security division went to the scene.
Hagen-Frederiksen said first responders and emergency management officials described the incident as a gas explosion, but that would not be confirmed until his agency closely examined the scene.
Davis said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation area.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said: social media post He said he was informed about the incident. “The incident remains active and people in the area should follow the instructions of local authorities. Please join Lori and me in praying for the Bristol community,” Shapiro said.
Jim Morgan, president of the Bristol County school board, said district buses will take people from the nursing home to the reunion center at Truman High School. He said authorities were working to prepare beds and provide residents with water and other needs. Morgan said no one was at the school as of 4 p.m.
“It’s very sad, it’s a hopeful time of year. It’s a sad thing for everybody, the families and the workers that are there. I hope positive things come out of this. We don’t know that right now,” Davis said.
The 174-bed facility underwent a standard fire safety inspection in September 2024, and no citations were issued during that inspection, according to Medicare.gov. But Medicare’s overall rating for the facility is listed as “well below average,” with particularly poor ratings for health inspections.
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