Daily London
“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 3pm Tuesday (7am Wednesday AEDT) at the Silver Lake nursing home in Bristol Township, about 32km north-east of Philadelphia.
State Representative Tina Davis, whose district includes the centre, said she got near the scene in her car but did not want to interfere.
“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,” Davis said.
She said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation area.
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 centre at Truman High School.
He said officials were working on setting up beds and providing water and other needs to residents. As of 4pm no one had showed up at the school, Morgan said.
“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,” Davis said.
“I hope there’s positive results from this. We don’t know at this point.”
