BRISTOL, Pa.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0An explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia collapsed part of the building and left people injured and trapped inside, authorities said.<\/p>\n
A plume of black smoke rose from Silver Lake Healthcare Center in Bristol Township, as emergency responders across the region gathered there.<\/p>\n
Bucks County emergency management officials reported that there were injuries, but had yet to say whether there were any fatalities. <\/p>\n
County officials said they received the report of an explosion at approximately 2:17 p.m. and said a portion of the building was reported to have collapsed. Ruth Miller, a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency spokesperson, said her agency had been informed that people were trapped inside.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw smoke and I saw car after car after car was a fire truck or ambulance from all over the city, from all over,\u201d said state Rep. Tina Davis, whose district includes the facility and approached the scene in her car.<\/p>\n
The cause of the explosion was unclear.<\/p>\n
Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, press secretary at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said investigators from the safety division were headed to the scene.<\/p>\n
Hagen-Frederiksen said first responders and emergency management officials were describing it as a gas explosion, but that won\u2019t be confirmed until his agency can examine the scene up close.<\/p>\n
Davis said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation area. The nursing home is about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
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 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just so sad \u2014 it\u2019s 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\u2019s positive results from this. We don\u2019t know at this point,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n