2nd Lawsuit Filed In Fatal Lower Bucks Co. Nursing Home Fire

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Another lawsuit has been filed in the wake of the fatal gas explosion at a Bristol Township nursing home that killed three people last month.

The Philadelphia-based Fritz & Bianculli Law Firm, LLC, is representing two residents of the Bristol Health and Rehab Center, the former Silver Lake Nursing Home, who suffered "serious, life-changing injuries" during the Dec. 23 blast.

The lawsuit was filed last week in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on behalf of Joseph Juhas, Sr., and Maryann Schnepp.

They are suing PECO Energy Company and its parent company, Exelon Energy, and Bristol Health and Rehab Center LLC., and its parent company, Saber Healthcare Group.

Former Bristol Health and Rehab Center operator Silver Lake is also listed as a defendant because of "long-lasting sub-standard conditions that allegedly resulted in the improper conditions and lack of an emergency response and evacuation plans," the law firm states.

“Joe and Maryann suffered serious life-changing injuries because of the negligence of the Defendants,” said Brian Fritz, who is serving as the lead attorney. "We plan on holding all of them responsible for their lack of action in dealing with the well-documented gas leak and conditions that led to this tragic event.”

The suit claims that Juhas and Schnepp both suffered intracranial bleeding, a traumatic brain injury, and bone fractures among other injuries.

"While the exact cause is still under investigation, it is known that the substandard conditions and the defendants’ collective lack of an appropriate response to the life-endangering threat of the gas leak allowed activity to go on as normal at the nursing home," the lawsuit claims. "This is believed to have included the afternoon smoking sessions, where the residents would be supplied with lighters and cigarettes."

The first lawsuit in the case was filed earlier this month on behalf of two nurses who were working in the Tower Road facility that day, a contractor, and a resident at the 174-bed nursing home when the gas explosion occurred.

A nurse and two residents were killed in the blaze. A GoFundMe page has been launched to support the nurse's family.