‘Countless lives were saved’: Fall River fire chief praises firefighters’ efforts at deadly assisted living fire

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — Fall River Fire Department Chief Jeffrey Bacon addressed the media for the second day following Sunday’s deadly fire at the Gabriel House assisted living facility that left nine people dead and multiple others injured.

Chief Bacon started off the press conference praising the efforts of all Fall River Fire Department personnel who assisted in battling the Oliver Street blaze.

He said that those firefighters are not yet ready to speak to the media about their experiences in the incident.

“The emotions are a little too raw, the stories are a little to vivid,” said Bacon, adding that the efforts of the entirety of the department on hand were “nothing short of heroic.”

He said that engine 5 arrived first to an “eerily quiet” scene despite the flames shooting from the building.

He credited personnel with a quick knockdown of the fire and that “countless lives were saved by those actions.”

“There is no doubt in my mind that that fire was destined to kill 50 people,” said a visibly emotional Bacon.

“When those stories comes out, they’ll write books about it, they’ll write movies about it,” he said about the efforts of the department’s personnel.

Many more people have been discharged from area hospitals following the fire, according to Bacon, though he didn’t have an exact number at the time of the media availability.

He was able to say that two patients from the fire are currently in critical condition, up from one.

Bacon said that the Timao Center has been closed as a shelter for displaced residents as of Tuesday and that all displaced residents from the Gabriel House have been placed in new living arrangements.

Two residents at a hotel will likely be placed in a new facility later Wednesday.

The eighth person to die as a result of the fire has also been identified by authorities.

He added that all of the injuries sustained by firefighters took place during the actions of the first 35 to arrive at the scene Sunday night.

He described firefighters taking quick breaks to obtain new oxygen tanks two or three times and going back into the building.

Bacon said that he is unable to say whether or not the fire was accidental, but Massachusetts Department of Fire Services spokesperson Jake Wark stated Tuesday that the fire does not appear suspicious in the preliminary investigation.

Bacon went on to say that national firefighter union leadership traveled to Fall River to listen to the stories of firefighters who helped put out the blaze and rescue residents from the building.

He closed stating that an outside company has recently assisted the department in assessing manpower needs through a study of the department’s call records.

New developments in the works near the recently opened MBTA station were also factored into the equation.