The tragic fire at the Gabriel House assisted-living center in Fall River on July 13/14 this year was the state’s worst fire in such a facility for at least 40 years. Although preliminary investigations have concluded that the cause of the fire was not malicious, the severity of the fire and the number of related fatalities and injuries have led to serious queries about safety standards in assisted-living centers as well as whether local and state legal policies can be tightened to improve safety in the future. Meanwhile, former residents and families of the deceased have filed negligence lawsuits against the owners of the center.
Background to the Gabriel House fire
Gabriel House was a 100 bed facility which at the time of the fire catered to 70 senior residents who had restricted mobility issues or relied on the use of medical oxygen. Both these characteristics were found to have been factors in the difficulties encountered when police and firefighters responded to the fire.
The five-alarm fire (the most severe on the five level scale) was first reported at around 9:50 p.m. on the night of July 13. Flames and smoke quickly spread throughout the three storey wooden building. Police and firefighters from the Fall River Fire Department were deployed within minutes of the first fire alarm and many 911 calls. Despite the bravery of the first responders, conditions were too severe to save all the residents, many of whom had restricted mobility as well as being trapped on the second and third floors. 9 residents died at the scene of the fire or later in nearby hospitals due to burns or smoke inhalation and one more resident died in hospital later. Over 30 residents, as well as a number of firefighters, had to be treated in hospital for injuries.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire most likely started in a second floor resident’s room, with the most probable source of the ignition being a faulty oxygen concentrator, discarded smoking materials, or a combination of the two. The amount of medical oxygen present in the building could have been a factor in the rapidity of the spread of the fire. Sadly, the resident of this room was one of those who lost their life, making further investigation into the cause more problematic.
Investigation of the electrical wiring, mechanical, gas and cooking equipment concluded that these were not involved in the causation of the fire.
Factors that may have made Gabriel House more susceptible to a disaster like a fire
Gabriel House began as an assisted-living center in 1999 and is owned by Gabriel Care, the principal of which is Dennis Etzkorn, who also owns several other assisted-living centers in the state.
Gabriel House had had a checkered history since its inception. Etzkorn was implicated in kickback allegations, which led to a resolution in 2015 when a $950,000 civil settlement was made.
The building’s certificate of inspection was only renewed on October 15, 2024 after a series of compliance issues, including staffing shortfalls, insufficiently complete emergency preparedness plans and resident incidents. Earlier problems which had been identified included substantiated accounts of mistreatment of residents, chronic cleanliness problems, an out of service elevator, infestations of pests, withheld medication and allegations of abuse and neglect. The facility had lost its certification in 2016, but regained it after a plan to correct identified problems was put in place.
Five days before the fire, a fire-safety contractor notified the Gabriel House owner that an internal sprinkler inspection, due to be held every five years under the state’s NFPA 25 regulations, had not been completed and that the sprinkler in the room where the fire had originated failed to activate on the night of the fire.
Legal fallout as a result of injuries and fatalities caused by the fire at Gabriel House
At the time of writing, at least five lawsuits have been filed in the Bristol Superior Court, alleging negligence by Gabriel Care, Dennis Etzkorn and FireSystems Inc., which is the company which inspected the alarm and sprinkler systems.
The lawsuits allege that the assisted living facility owners failed to prevent the fire from starting and spreading, citing the lack of monitoring of smoking in the building, which had a no smoking policy. The litigants allege that the owners of the facility knew about the fact that smoking was taking place in the building, a particularly risky activity in an environment in which medical oxygen was present. Heightened oxygen concentrations are likely to be more conducive to combustion when a spark or ignition takes place.
The litigants also allege that lack of fire preparedness information had been made available to the residents and that planning in the event of a fire was insufficient, especially considering the fact that many of the residents had reduced mobility.
Premises liability and duty of care
Facilities like Gabriel House have a duty of care to their residents and therefore can be sued whenever negligence is proven to have been a factor in such a tragic event. Under the state’s NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, residential care facilities are mandated to have installed and regularly inspected functional smoke detectors, sprinklers, fire alarms and regular fire drills. Unfortunately, failure to maintain these safety features is one of the most common reasons for injuries and fatalities in residential care facilities across the country, not just in Massachusetts.
Safety standards in assisted-living facilities in Massachusetts are not as strict as aged care centers where most residents generally need a higher level of care. One of the recommendations that has come out of the discussions about the fire at Gabriel House is that state legislation should ensure that safety standards at assisted-living facilities across the state are the same as those for aged care facilities. There are currently 273 assisted-living facilities in Massachusetts.
If you have a loved one who has experienced harm as the result of negligence in an aged care or assisted living facility, you should contact a premises liability attorney to discuss legal remedies to resolve the issues as soon as possible.