A gas explosion at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia triggered a plume of black smoke and trapped people inside the building, authorities said.
"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," said State Rep. Tina Davis, whose district includes the center. She approached the scene in her car but did not want to interfere with response efforts.
Davis said there was talk of using a nearby school as a temporary evacuation area. The nursing home has 174 beds, according to a state report.
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 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.
"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 3 p.m. at Silver Lake Healthcare Center in Bristol Township, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia.
"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. I hope there's positive results from this. We don't know at this point," Davis said.
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