What to know about the Massachusetts assisted-living facility fire that killed 9

Finger-pointing has begun after nine people died and dozens were hurt in a fire at a Massachusetts assisted-living facility, with questions over whether there were enough firefighters to respond and whether staff did enough to help.

Questions have also arisen about the facility's safety and disaster preparedness, after it was previously cited by the state for failing to report numerous health and safety incidents.

Here’s what to know about the blaze, its victims, and how authorities and residents have reacted in the aftermath.

What is known about the fire

Firefighters responded to the Gabriel House in Fall River, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Boston, at about 9:50 p.m. Sunday and were met with heavy smoke and flames at the front of the building.

The fire trapped residents inside, including some who were hanging out windows screaming for help, authorities said Monday. At least 30 people were hurt.

About 50 firefighters responded to the scene, including 30 who were off-duty. Police helped break down doors and carried about a dozen residents to safety. Five injured firefighters were released from the hospital Monday.

The blaze's origin and cause are under investigation, and the Bristol County district attorney’s office said Monday the cause “does not appear to be suspicious.”

What is known about the Gabriel House

The Gabriel House is an assisted-living facility that opened in 1999 and has 100 units, according to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging and Independence. The facility's website promotes studio apartments “for those seniors who cannot afford the high end of assisted living,” as well as group adult foster care within walking distance of shopping, restaurants and churches.

Those who live alone in studio apartments pay between $1,850 and $2,400 monthly, depending on their level of services, according to the website. The residence also offers a basic living plan that includes shared studio apartments but doesn't specify a price.

“If an emergency occurs, no matter the time, there will be someone ready to help,” the website states.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey at a news conference described the facility’s residents as a vulnerable population with many in wheelchairs and having oxygen tanks.

Those who died ranged in age from 61 to 86.

Dennis Etzkorn, the facility’s owner, declined to comment Monday, but officials said he was cooperating with what Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon called “a very extensive investigation.”

Tension over fire preparedness and response

A firefighters union said inadequate staffing hindered the response to the blaze and contributed to the death toll. One fire captain said no breathing equipment was available when he arrived, so he searched door to door without an air tank until the smoke got to him.

“We did the best we could with what we had, and what we had was not enough,” said Michael O’Reagan, president of the Fall River firefighters union.

Mayor Paul Coogan said fire department staffing is based on the fire chief's recommendations.

“You couldn’t have had enough people here to save everybody that needed help last night,” Bacon said.

Meanwhile, several residents praised firefighters and police for heroic rescue efforts but said staff members did little to help.

Richard Moore, a former head of the Massachusetts Assisted Living Association and a former longtime state senator, has called on the attorney general to investigate. He said he was troubled by what he heard about the circumstances leading up to the fire, including insufficient fire drills and an owner who was indicted in 2012 on medical assistance fraud and kickback charges that were dismissed three years later.

Gabriel House was cited for failing to report more than two dozen health and safety incidents within a day, as required by state law, according to regulators’ most recent review of the facility.

Fall River has struggled economically

With about 94,000 residents, Fall River is the state’s 10th-largest city and one of its poorest.

The blue-collar community in southern Massachusetts was once a global center for textile manufacturing, but economic hardship and a population decline followed after the industry slumped. Recent decades have seen some new development and investment.

In 2021, former Mayor Jasiel Correia was convicted in a corruption trial and sentenced to six years in prison.

Gabriel House is in a dense neighborhood of mostly three-story apartment buildings just south of Kennedy Park, the city’s largest park.

The Fall River blaze is the deadliest fire in Massachusetts since 15 people were killed in 1984 in a rooming house fire in Beverly, according to the state Department of Fire Services. Eight people were killed in a 1982 apartment fire in Lowell, seven people were killed in a 1978 apartment fire in Lawrence, and six firefighters died in a 1999 warehouse fire in Worcester.

Head cook Paul Ferreira said the people at the facility had long struggled to find affordable housing.

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Contributors to this report include Associated Press writers Michael Casey and Kimberlee Kruesi in Fall River, Massachusetts; Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island; and Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire.