Nine people killed in fire at Massachusetts assisted living facility
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First responders standing outside Gabriel House Assisted Living Facility, after a deadly fire broke out on July 14.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Yan Zhuang and Claire Moses
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MASSACHUSETTS – Nine people were killed and one person was in critical condition after a large fire broke out at an assisted living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, on the night of July 13, officials said.
The Fall River Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at Gabriel House, an assisted living facility, Fall River Fire chief Jeffrey Bacon said at a news conference on the morning of July 14.
Firefighters encountered thick smoke and flames, as well as residents screaming for help out of windows, Mr Bacon said. More than 30 residents were taken to the hospital, he added.
“We’re at the scene of a pretty unfathomable tragedy tonight,” Mr Bacon said, adding that the situation was “tricky and chaotic” as firefighters struggled to rescue people and douse the blaze.
About 50 firefighters were involved, including every firefighter on duty in the city, he said. “Everybody was rescuing people,” he said.
The fire was extinguished as at early July 14, said Sergeant Ross Aubin, a spokesman for the Fall River Police Department. The cause of the fire was under investigation, he added. Officials said the fire was contained to one wing of the building.
Officers from the police department were the first emergency workers to arrive, Sgt Aubin said. They ran into the building and rescued more than 12 residents who were not able to walk out on their own.
Five firefighters were taken to hospital with minor injuries but had been released by the morning of July 14, the fire chief told reporters at the news conference.
Multiple residents were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Mr Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.
The city set up a shelter for displaced residents, officials said. “One of the issues we’re facing this morning is getting people their medicine,” Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan said at the July 14 morning news conference.
“This is the kind of thing you don’t want in the middle of July,” he said. “It’s Sunday night, and the city explodes around a tragedy like this, it’s not good for anybody.”
Gabriel House opened in 1999 and has 100 units, according to records from the state of Massachusetts. About 70 residents had been living in the facility before the fire, and all of them were displaced, Mr Wark said.
Fall River, a city of about 94,000 people, is near the border with Rhode Island. NYTIMES
