Nine killed, 30 injured in fire at Massachusetts assisted-living facility
Nine people died and more than 30 others were injured after a five-alarm fire broke out overnight at an assisted-living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services said in an email Monday.
Firefighters responding to the Gabriel House assisted-living facility were met with heavy smoke and flames at the front of the building upon their arrival about 9:50 p.m. Sunday, with occupants trapped inside, the fire department said in a statement.
The facility had about 70 residents the statement said. At least one person taken to the hospital was in critical condition, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said at a news conference early Monday. All nine people who died were residents of the assisted-living facility, Jake Wark, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, said in a phone interview. Multiple residents were pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
“This is an unfathomable tragedy for the families involved and the Fall River community,” Bacon said in a statement.
The cause of the fire are under investigation, the fire department said. The fire was extinguished by Monday morning.
The fire damage was limited to one wing, but there was extensive smoke damage throughout the building, Wark said. Examining whether warning systems functioned properly will be part of the inspection process, he said.
Five firefighters were among the dozens wounded, the fire department said. About 50 firefighters responded to the scene, including 30 off duty.
All Gabriel House residents are displaced, Wark said. The facility has a total of 100 available units, according to public records from the state.
Tom Cabral, 64, told the Washington Post he was asleep at Saint Anne’s Hospital, across the street from Gabriel House, when he was suddenly awakened at 10 p.m. Sunday as blue and red flashing lights flooded through the window.
“It was mayhem out here,” said Cabral, a longtime resident of Swansea, a town neighboring Fall River. He said he stayed awake the rest of the night: “My heart was breaking for those people.”
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement on X on Monday morning that an investigation into the fire is underway and that she had offered the Fall River government “the full assistance of the state.”
“I’m grateful to the firefighters and first responders whose heroic efforts saved lives. We are all praying for those who lost loved ones and for the full recovery of those who were injured,” Healey wrote.
Fall River, a coastal city with a population of 94,000, is about 50 miles south of Boston.
Gabriel House began operating at the Fall River location in 1999, according to Massachusetts’s Executive Office of Aging and Independence. The nearly 43,000-square-foot property was built in 1964, records show.
About 18,000 people reside in assisted-living residences across Massachusetts, according to a 2025 census report. The majority of the state’s assisted-living residents are between the ages of 80 and 99, according to census data.
On its website, Gabriel House says its “staff is awake and available 24 hours a day so if any emergencies occur no matter the time, there will be someone ready to help.”