More than 100 senior citizens were evacuated from a Maryland nursing home early Tuesday morning and relocated to other facilities across the state after a kitchen fire damaged part of the building and forced utilities to be shut off.

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       Emergency responders from the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department were called to the Larkin Chase Center in Bowie at 3:42 a.m. for a report of an explosion that had trapped one person, fire officials said. The D.C., Anne Arundel County and Montgomery County fire departments assisted in evacuation efforts, officials said.

       An exterior wall of the single-story senior living facility had collapsed, Prince George’s fire department spokesman Michael Yourishin said in a statement. Firefighters found smoke and a fire in the kitchen area.

       The trapped person was rescued, officials said, and no other injuries were reported. By daybreak, the roof at the back of the building had caved in, and debris from brick and a white fence were scattered across the lot.

       Approx. 3:42 AM #PGFD units were dispatched to a single-story senior living facility the 15000-block of Health Center Dr. in Bowie for a reported structure fire. On scene crews found smoke and a small fire in the kitchen area. Searches were negative.

       — Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department (@PGFDNews) June 14, 2022

       As officials launched an investigation into the cause of the fire, ambulances from around the region arrived to help transport the nursing home’s 112 displaced residents to other nursing facilities around the state. Una Cooper, communications director for the city of Bowie, said in a statement that 83 residents were temporarily relocated to the Bowie Gymnasium, down the street from the senior center. Others were taken directly from the nursing center to other facilities.

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       Residents at the gym were fed and given medications as needed, Cooper said. County Executive Angela D. Alsobrooks (D) stopped by to check on those who had been displaced. Around 4 p.m., the last patient was transported from the gym, Cooper said.

       The phone number is 301-809-2300. Please have family members contact the senior center for additional information.

       — County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (@CEXAlsobrooks) June 14, 2022

       Some families said trying to locate their loved ones was stressful.

       Around 12:30 p.m., Courtney DuBose, 30, pulled into the gymnasium parking lot in tears, searching for her 70-year-old father, who has been a resident of Larkin Chase for about three years, she said.

       DuBose said her father suffered a stroke in 2017 and has been unable to walk. Her aunt called her around noon, asking, “Where is your dad?” DuBose said. Confused, DuBose asked her aunt what she meant and was told that there had been an “explosion” at the center.

       “It caught me off guard,” DuBose said. “I literally just threw something on and just flew here.”

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       She said she drove from Forestville, about 25 minutes away. DuBose said she hadn’t received a call from the center about the fire or the displacement of residents and didn’t know where her father was. She first drove to Larkin Chase and saw the damage, then down the street to the gym where the ambulances were.

       “It scared me,” DuBose said. “I wanted to make sure he was safe, and also everybody else.”

       DuBose said she regularly visits the center to see her father, whose room is in the wing where the fire occurred. Nearly 40 minutes after arriving at the gym, DuBose found out he had been transported to a facility near Baltimore, she said.

       “I have to make sure that my dad is okay,” DuBose said, “I want to see him and talk to him and make sure that he has his essentials.”

       Maurice Rouse, 61, similarly arrived around 1:30 p.m. from Upper Marlboro to try to find his sister-in-law. He parked his car and headed inside, only to learn that she had been taken to another facility, he said.

       No one returned a phone message left at a number for the Larkin Chase Center.

       “It was a very long day for the residents,” said Cooper, the Bowie spokeswoman, “but we’re happy and grateful they are all safe and being well cared for.”