PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Four survivors – a critically injured resident, two healthcare aides, and an IT contractor – of the December 23rd fatal gas explosion and fire at Bucks County’s Bristol Health and Rehab Center (the former Silver Lake Nursing Home), today filed what is believed to be the first lawsuit alleging the catastrophe was caused by overwhelming negligence of several defendants including the present and former facility owner-operators, and PECO, its natural-gas supplier. The multi-count complaint was filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Pennsylvania State Court, by the law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky.Photos: Associated Press (left), Penndel Volunteer Fire CompanyThe Firm represents survivors-plaintiffs Barbara Sall, the former resident, who is a paraplegic and whose indispensable motorized wheelchair was incinerated in the explosion, facility aides Stacy Ballard and Davidetta Blay, and independent telecom contractor James Broderick; they were all onsite when the explosion occurred and have asked the legal team to hold all those responsible accountable for the horrific incident that resulted in two deaths – a staff nurse and a resident – and scores of other life-altering injuries. Each continues to receive medical treatment for their physical and emotional injuries. Robert J. Mongeluzzi, the Firm’s President and lead trial attorney in the litigation, said after the filing, “Our pre-suit investigation left no doubt that the defendants were responsible for this foreseeable and preventable tragedy just before Christmas.
We will prove that there were failures in staffing, training and supervision, that basic facility life-safety training protocols were blatantly ignored or compromised, that the site was not immediately …Full story available on Benzinga.com
