Two people are dead and others are missing after a fire and explosion tore into a nursing home on the outskirts of Philadelphia, spurring local responders, bystanders and staff to rush the elderly population to safety,

An explosion left Silver Lake Nursing Home partially collapsed and on fire Dec. 23, killing two in the mid-day blast that rocked a Lower Bucks County neighborhood.

When firefighters arrived, there was a "major structural collapse with parts of the first floor into the basement with persons trapped," Bristol Township Fire Department Chief Kevin Dippolito said.