NTSB report reveals new details about nursing home explosion in Bucks County

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

The NTSB has released its preliminary report into last month’s nursing home explosion in Bristol Township, Bucks County, that left three people dead.

The blast occurred on the afternoon of Dec. 23 at the Bristol Health and Rehab Center.

According to the report, the facility’s maintenance director contacted PECO around 11 a.m. to report a natural gas odor in the basement boiler room and a first-floor hallway.

The NTSB notes that Exelon, PECO’s parent company, provided natural gas to the facility through a distribution system that includes an underground 1.25-inch-diameter, coated steel service line and an indoor rotary meter set located in the basement.

An Exelon energy technician arrived at 11:50 a.m. and identified a leak on a meter set valve in the boiler room, according to the NTSB.

The energy technician contacted dispatch for repair assistance, the report shows, and an Exelon foreman dispatched a meter services technician to make the repair, who arrived around 1:20 p.m.

The NTSB report noted that “both the foreman and the meter services technician had less than one year of experience in their current roles with Exelon.”

Nursing home personnel told the NTSB that, shortly before the explosion, the smell could be detected not only in the basement and first floor, but also on the second floor as well.

The building exploded around 2:15 p.m.

Exelon emergency responders arrived at about 2:42 p.m. and isolated natural gas flow to the facility about 3:50 p.m., the report shows.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission directed Exelon to conduct bar hole tests, according to the NTSB, which identified subsurface gas outside of the building at about 5 p.m.

The NTSB said it was able to recover the indoor meter set and excavated portions of the service line that did not hold pressure during testing.

An investigation into the explosion is ongoing.

“Future investigative activity will focus on evaluating physical evidence collected at the site and on reviewing Exelon’s pipeline safety management system as well as its practices related to personnel training and operator qualifications, task-specific procedures, odor complaint response, documentation, and emergency response,” the NTSB report reads.

About 180 people were inside the building when the explosion happened. Two people were killed in the blast, while a third person passed away in early January. Another 20 people were injured.

The people who died were identified as residents Patricia Mero, 66, and Ann Reddy, as well as 52-year-old nurse Muthoni Nduthu.

“It is damning for PECO,” said Andrew Duffy, one of the attorneys representing some of the victims of the explosion.

He says the timeline will be a key piece of evidence in the case.

“There is no acceptable answer for why PECO showed up at 11:50, immediately detected a leak, essentially did nothing except for call a leak tech to come out and fix. And we know what time that leak tech showed up, an
hour and a half later. Where is the urgency?” he said.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable,” Duffy said, “and PECO knows that guidelines they have were violated by their own personnel.

PECO released the following statement following the report’s release:

Today, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its preliminary report on the tragic incident that occurred on December 23, 2025, at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center.

We want to express our most heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends of those who lost their lives, to those who were injured, to the residents who have been displaced, and to the entire Bristol community affected by this tragic event.

Independent of any external investigation, PECO remains committed to the integrity of our system and ensuring our processes and procedures are designed to address a range of situations. Nevertheless, we recognize the importance of continuous improvement and vigilance with respect to the safe and reliable delivery of electric and natural gas service.

Following any significant incident, PECO promptly identifies and implements opportunities to enhance our service for customers and the communities we serve. Our response to this incident underscores our dedication to ongoing improvement and the importance of maintaining the highest standards of safety and reliability.

We have recently taken steps to enhance the safety and reliability of our system, and the safety and performance of our dedicated and highly skilled employees and contractors. Some of these efforts include:

-Assessed existing population of meters currently located indoors and reprioritized relocation of indoor meters to outdoor locations.

-Strengthened procedures and training with our employees and enhanced processes to help ensure employees responding to issues are equipped to further maintain the safety of our systems.

-Updated our public outreach process.

PECO is committed to reinforcing and enhancing our safety-first culture for our customers, employees, contractors, and entire service area.

As we continue to be an active participant in the NTSB investigation around this event, please direct all questions about the preliminary report and overall investigation to the NTSB.