Local News
“It’s horrifying to think about what happened in the middle of the night, in the dark,” Gov. Maura Healey said following the deadly blaze.
As a deadly blaze tore through a Fall River assisted living facility Sunday night, firefighters arrived to find flames erupting from the front door and some of the trapped residents hanging out of the windows, screaming and begging for help.
“That is something that none of us want to ever pull up to,” Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon told reporters Monday morning, describing the chaotic scene. “And unfortunately, … that happened here last night.”
Nine people died and several more were injured in the five-alarm blaze at Gabriel House, one of them critically wounded. Five firefighters were also taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, though Bacon said all five had been released by Monday morning.
“We just pour our prayers out to the families of those who were hurt and killed,” Bacon told reporters.
What happened?
Firefighters responded to Gabriel House on Oliver Street at about 9:50 p.m. Sunday and found several residents trapped inside amid heavy smoke and flames, according to a news release from the state Fire Marshal’s Office. The blaze drew about 50 firefighters to the scene, including 30 who were off-duty at the time, according to the release.
Bacon said more than 30 people were transported from the scene, and “at least a dozen people [were] rescued over ladders.”
“The police department, fire department, and EMS were able to enact dozens of rescues to save multiple lives in this case,” he explained during Monday’s press conference. “So I applaud the efforts of them, but my heart goes out to the families of those who were injured, and especially the nine who lost their lives.”
Bacon said the casualties were transported to several local hospitals, including Saint Anne’s Hospital and Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, and Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. Some of the people who were killed died inside the facility, while others were pronounced dead after they were rushed from the scene, he said.
“We’re here to save lives, and any time that any life is lost, a single life that’s lost is a tragedy in our minds. It’s a failure of our job,” Bacon said. “But we know that there are forces beyond our control, and that things like this unfortunately happen. It still makes it difficult to talk about and to think about and to fathom, really, for anybody.”
Appearing with Fall River officials at a later press conference, Gov. Maura Healey noted the impact on the facility’s vulnerable residents.
“It’s horrifying to think about what happened in the middle of the night, in the dark,” she told reporters. “You had people just scrambling as best they could to get out through windows, the firefighters coming up ladders, you know, hauling people down in any way possible to get them out of the building. The panic. It’s so heartbreaking and so sad, and something you never want to see.”
What we know about the cause
The fire’s origin and cause are under investigation by Fall River police and fire officials, as well as Massachusetts State Police troopers with both the Fire Marshal’s Office and the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.
Asked about the status of the investigation Monday, Bacon had few details to offer.
“It’s all still under investigation,” he said during the press conference with Healey. “This is a very extensive investigation. It’s going to take a lot of time, and we need to get the facts right before we release them.”
The fire damage is limited to one wing, but Bacon said there is smoke damage throughout the assisted living facility. He confirmed the building had fire sprinklers, though he couldn’t say whether they were activated during Sunday’s blaze.
“Smoke was everywhere in this building, from top to bottom and left to right,” he recalled during the press conference with Healey.
The governor confirmed a “full investigation” into the fire is already underway and said she’s been in contact with Fall River officials to express her condolences and offer state assistance.
“My heart goes out to those who are waking up to the most horrific news imaginable about their loved ones this morning,” she said in an earlier statement. Authorities have not publicly named the people killed in the fire.
“My heartfelt thanks and gratitude, deepest gratitude, to police, to fire, to EMS, and to all the first responders who showed up last night and worked through the night to save so many lives,” Healey added during the press conference. “We are so grateful to all of them.”
Where are the survivors now?
Soon after the fire, authorities set up a family notification center in the chapel of St. Anne’s Hospital. Several Gabriel House residents have since been moved to the Timao Center, a shelter set up as a reunification site.
“I was just hoping I was going to make it,” 78-year-old Neal Beck told The Boston Globe outside the center. “I was thinking about jumping out the bathroom window, but thank God I didn’t because it’s too high.”
He said he was in bed when the fire alarms went off and opened his door to find the hallway full of smoke.
“I went out and I couldn’t see nothing and shut that door,” Beck told the Globe. “That smoke was horrible stuff.”
Another Gabriel House resident, 75-year-old Shirley Cambra, told the newspaper the fire was the “worst thing I ever saw in my life.”
Michael Pimentel, 72, told the Globe he went into the bathroom and tried to open a window, though it only lifted a few inches.
“I could only get it open that much, and I’m screaming at the firemen to help me out and other people,” said Pimentel, who has a congenital condition in his left hand and two prosthetic legs. “I finally got fed up with that and I stood up and I grabbed the top of that window and I ripped it right off the hinges.”
Other survivors who spoke with the Globe said they were worried about finding a new place to live.
Addressing reporters, Healey said authorities are now in the process of “looking to rehouse this vulnerable population.”
Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan said getting the displaced residents their medications has also been a challenge Monday, “because when they were evacuated, they had nothing.”
He said there were efforts underway to feed the residents and provide them clean underwear and clothing. The Fall River Firefighters Wives Association also launched a GoFundMe to support families impacted by the fire.
“So we’re going to do our best to support them all day, and we’ll see how this works out,” Coogan told reporters. “We don’t know what the long-term plans are.”
What we know about the facility
State records indicate Gabriel House opened in 1999 and has 100 units, though fire officials said about 70 people lived there prior to the fire.
According to its website, Gabriel House offers private studio apartments and is “committed to providing a secure homelike environment for older adults who are looking to maintain their independence, while having peace of mind that help is there when they need it.”
City property records list the facility owner as Gabriel Care Inc., which also operates adult foster care locations in Massachusetts. Gabriel Care owner Dennis Etzkorn did not immediately return a voicemail seeking comment Monday.
Sunday’s fire is not the first time Etzkorn’s businesses have come under scrutiny, as GoLocalProv first reported. In 2012, Etzkorn and an adult foster care director were indicted for allegedly paying illegal kickbacks in exchange for the referral of new clients enrolled in a Medicaid-funded program, Wicked Local reported at the time.
Prosecutors ultimately declined to pursue the charges after judges determined investigators had obtained certain evidence illegally, and the case was closed in 2015, court records show.
Asked Monday if the state is aware of any previous safety complaints against the facility, Healey replied, “Not at this time. But again, we haven’t had a full opportunity to look into everything.”
Bacon likewise urged patience as the investigation continues.
“We’re, again, very early on in the investigation, and one of the most dangerous things that we can do is speculate,” he told reporters.
Addressing safety measures at Gabriel House, Bacon explained, “They’re held to the same standard as any nursing or hospital care facility in the city. They are quarterly inspected and compliant. So those inspections are done by our department, by DPH. So we’ll have more information on if there were any issues with those, but as of right now, I don’t have that information.”
Were there enough firefighters?
Speaking to reporters Monday afternoon, fire union officials alleged understaffing hindered the initial response the night before. According to Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, eight of Fall River’s 10 fire companies were staffed below national standards with three firefighters per truck, instead of four.
“There is no doubt that would have made a difference in the amount of people that we lost to this terrible fire last night,” Kelly said during a press conference. “Lives would have been saved if the Fall River Fire Department was adequately staffed.”
He later added: “I don’t think I’m overstating that probably five more people could have lived had those eight firefighters been on scene.”
Even with off-duty firefighters rushing to help, “it just wasn’t enough,” Kelly asserted, calling on Coogan to increase fire department staffing levels to meet the national standard.
“We did the best we could with what we had, and what we had was not enough,” added Michael O’Reagan, president of the Fall River firefighters union.
His brother, Fire Capt. Frank O’Reagan, was off-duty at the time but responded to the scene. Even though he couldn’t find a breathing apparatus, Frank O’Reagan rushed inside to help after learning people were still trapped on the third floor.
“They raised a ladder. I went in; I didn’t have an air tank or anything. First room, empty. Second door I kicked in, body. Next room, empty. Next room, body,” he recalled. “I searched as much as I could, and then after a while, you just can’t take that much smoke.”
He told reporters Sunday marked the worst loss of life he’s seen at a fire scene in 32 years on the job.
“It was awful,” he added.
Earlier, Bacon said he plans to check in on the city’s firefighters to ensure they have the mental health supports they need in the wake of a traumatic call.
“Everyone thinks firefighters are heroes and they’re just designed to be able to deal with anything, but that’s not the case,” Bacon explained, adding, “Nobody’s programmed to deal with this.”
Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
