Breaking: Explosion at Bucks County nursing home — people feared trapped

🔥The Silver Lake nursing home in Bristol collapsed after an explosion

🔥State Sen. Steve Santarsiero said it was caused by a gas leak

🔥People may have been trapped in the basement by the explosion

UPDATE: 2 confirmed dead; utility company was at nursing home when explosion erupted

BRISTOL, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro said two people are dead and several missing  following an explosion at a Bucks County nursing home on Tuesday afternoon.

An explosion was reported around 2:15 p.m. at the Silver Lake nursing home on Tower Road that sent a column of smoke and flames into the air. The incident was declared a mass casualty event, according to 6 ABC Action News.

21 people were sent to hospitals for treatment of injuries. Bristol Fire Chief Kevin Dippolito said five people were unaccounted for but cautioned they may have left the area with family members.

Audio of communications bewteen responding fire companies said there was flooding in the basement of the building after the explosion. Bensalem Volunteer Fire Department Station 65 reported some people were also trapped on an elevator. Shapiro said that emergency responders braved the flames, a heavy odor of gas and a second explosion to evacuate residents and employees.

A PECO gas repair crew was on site responding to a report of a gas leak at the time of the explosion, according to the governor.

Fire officials said they were in “rescue mode” five hours later, with responders still digging by hand and using search dogs, earth-moving equipment and sonar to locate potential victims.

Levittown Live reported that a fire broke out in the rubble as crews tried to find the residents of the home. Family members of residents were also showing up at the facility.

Bristol Township Fire Police said a family unification center has been set up at Lower Bucks Hospital on Bath Road in Bristol. Families should go there instead of the nursing home.

6 ABC Action News reported that fire companies from New Jersey are also responding to the scene.

Dippolito described a chaotic rescue where firefighters found people stuck in stairwells and elevator shafts, and pulled residents out of the fiery building through windows and doors. Two people were rescued from a collapsed section of building, he said.

Firefighters handed off patients to waiting police officers outside, including one “who literally threw two people over his shoulders,” Dippolito said. “It was nothing short of extraordinary.”

A nurse who works at the facility told 6 ABC Action News that there was a smell of gas in the building during the weekend. She said that she has tried calling colleagues who were working who have not answered their phones.

Another nurse who was late to her shift told NBC Philadelphia that around 50 people were likely inside at the time. She said patients range in age from 50 to 95.

The 174 bed nursing home is also known as the Bristol Health and Rehab Center and is affiliated with Saber Healthcare Group.

An inspection of the facility in late October by the Pennsylvania Department of Health determined that an accurate floor plan, known as a Life Safety Code Floor Plan was not on file which is supposed to include room numbers, the number of nurses at nurses stations and arrows indicating emergency routes.

Stairways were also not maintained, portable fire extinguisher were not available on one of three floors and smoke barrier partitions were not maintained

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