At least two people dead in Philadelphia nursing home explosion | Pennsylvania

An explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia collapsed part of the building and left at least two people dead and five others missing. The exact number of people injured and trapped inside has not yet been announced, authorities said.

Power company Peco said in a statement that crews responded to reports of the smell of gas at the site around 2 p.m. “While crews were on scene, an explosion occurred at the facility,” the statement said. “PECO crews have shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents.”

A plume of black smoke rose from the Silver Lake Health Center in Bristol Township as area emergency responders gathered there.

Upper Makefield Township police posted on social media that it was a “mass casualty incident” and warned people to avoid the Bristol area, about 25 miles northeast of Philadelphia.

County officials said they received the report of an explosion around 2:17 p.m. and said part of the building may have collapsed. Ruth Miller, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said her agency was informed that people were trapped inside.

“I saw smoke and I saw car after car, a fire truck or an ambulance coming from all over town, from everywhere,” said state Rep. Tina Davis, whose district includes the facility and who approached the scene in her car.

The cause of the explosion was unclear.

Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was sitting at home watching a basketball game on television when he heard a “big kaboom.”

“I thought a plane or something had come and fallen on my house,” Tye said.

He got up to look and saw “fire everywhere” and people running from the building. The explosion appeared to have happened in the kitchen of the nursing home, he said. Tye said some of the people who live or work there didn’t make it.

“I just have to keep praying for them,” Tye said.

Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary for the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said first responders and emergency management officials were describing it as a gas explosion, but that won’t be confirmed until his agency examines the scene closely.

Musuline Watson, who said she was a certified nursing assistant at the facility, told WPVI-TV/ABC 6 that over the weekend she and others smelled gas, but “there was no heat in the room, so we didn’t take it as anything.”

Davis said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation zone.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said in a social media post that he had been informed of the incident. “The scene is still active and people nearby 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 Township school board, said district buses would take people from the nursing home to a reunification center at Truman High School. He said authorities were working to install beds and provide water and other needs to residents. As of 4 p.m., no one had shown up at the school, Morgan said.

“It’s so sad – it’s that hopeful time of year. It’s just a sad thing for everyone, for the families and the workers that are out there. I hope there are positive outcomes. We don’t know at this point,” Davis said.

According to Medicare.gov, the 174-bed facility underwent a standard fire safety inspection in September 2024, during which no citations were issued. But the facility’s overall Medicare rating is deemed “well below average,” with mediocre ratings for health inspections in particular.