UPDATE (July 24, 2025): Recent reports say authorities believe that either “smoking or an electrical issue with an oxygen machine” may have caused the fire. Those are two drastically different things, so the investigations obviously need to continue to find out more. As discussed in the Commentary section below, this is about finding answers and making sure this won’t happen again.
Bristol County, MA — July 13, 2025, nine people were killed and dozens were hurt following a fire accident at around 9:50 p.m. at an assisted living center.
Authorities say they were called to the Gabriel House Assisted Living Facility at 261 Oliver Street.
According to officials, the fire broke out and spread throughout the facility many were trapped until rescue teams arrived, and ultimately authorities say 30 people were injured. Nine have been confirmed dead. Two remain unidentified publicly. The others were identified as follows:
- Rui Albernaz, 64
- Ronald Codega, 61
- Margaret Duddy, 69
- Robert King, 78
- Kim Mackin, 71
- Richard Rochon, 78
- Eleanor Willett, 86
While the cause of the fire remains unconfirmed, some news reports show there were concerns about how staff at the facility responded. This and other potential contributing factors remain under investigation.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
Obviously, there will have to be careful and in-depth investigations to find out what started this fire. But with any fire at a commercial facility like this, there will have to also be broad efforts to find out what conditions, if any, may have existed on this property that could have made things worse.
Was there an adequate fire safety system? Did fire alarms go off? Is there a plan in place for staff and residents to be evacuated? Were there maintenance issues going unaddressed that contributed to the fire? Have any past inspections revealed issues that could have been addressed to prevent this? Have residents or their families expressed concerns about how the property was being run?
All said and done, investigations may show this all truly was just an unavoidable incident no one could have foreseen. But if there were steps that could have saved more lives or prevented this incident altogether, they need to be brought to light.
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