Listeners:
Top listeners:
-
play_arrow
9 Killed As Fire Hits Massachusetts Care Home; Dozens Injured
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
FALL RIVER, USA (Worthy News) – The U.S. State of Massachusetts was grieving Monday after nine people were killed and dozens injured when a deadly fire tore through an assisted-living facility in the town of Fall River.
Authorities confirmed the death toll, adding that more than 30 others were injured in the blaze, which spread rapidly through Gabriel House.
It “was an unfathomable tragedy”, said Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon, who recalled that it “was very quick” and “just a very smoky fire.”
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday, hours after firefighters, police, and other responders descended on the scene at 09:50 p.m. local time late Sunday.
Bacon told media they found multiple people “hanging out of the windows, screaming and begging to be rescued”
However, Smoke was all over the building, hampering rescue efforts, Bacon suggested.
NON-AMBULATORY RESIDENTS
“This was not a situation where teams arrived and people were able to get out easily — all of these people needed assistance,” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey added. “Many were in wheelchairs, many were immobile, many had oxygen tanks.”
About 12 “non-ambulatory residents were physically carried out by our officers,” according to Fall River police.
However, authorities confirmed that about 70 people needing assistance lived in the roughly 100-unit building when the fire broke out.
Firefighters and police were seen pulling dozens of people to safety through small windows or by breaking down doors. Some residents who use wheelchairs were reportedly carried out of the building. “We had at least a dozen people rescued over ladders,” Bacon stressed.
As of Monday morning, at least one of the injured is in critical condition, he added, suggesting that the death toll may rise.
Five firefighters who were transported to the hospital with minor injuries have already been released, officials explained.
PRAISING ‘HEROIC WORK’
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey told reporters that the death toll could have been higher. “Were it not for the heroic work, brave work, these men and women showed last night, particularly our fire, police, and [emergency medical services] EMS, we would have seen much greater loss of life,” Healey said early Monday.
The latest blaze was due to raising further questions about safety in nursing homes, which comprise half of the annual fires in the United States, according to previous studies seen by Worthy News.
“For each year from 2012 to 2014, an estimated 5,700 medical facility fires were reported to fire departments in the United States. Nearly half of those, 2,700 fires, were in nursing homes,” according to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS).
“It is estimated that these fires caused fewer than five deaths, 125 injuries, and $13 million in yearly property loss,” the NFIRS stressed.
However, a decade after that report, the more deadly fire at the Gabriel House suggested that more safety measures were expected.
It’s unclear if the [water] sprinklers went off during the fire, but officials acknowledged. “My heart goes out to those who are waking up to the most horrific news imaginable about their loved ones this morning,” Governor Healey added.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Investigations continued Friday after a suspected Islamist gunman opened fire in a classroom at Old Dominion University in the U.S. state of Virginia on Thursday, killing a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) instructor and wounding two others before he was subdued by students and died, officials said.
All six crew members aboard a U.S. refueling aircraft have died after the plane crashed over western Iraq, the U.S. military confirmed Friday, as fighting between the United States, Israel, and Iran continued to intensify.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that Iran’s newly installed supreme leader is likely wounded, disfigured, and hiding underground as the Islamic Republic reels from the opening blows of the war with the United States and Israel.
Bible sales in Britain have surged to their highest levels since records began, reflecting a growing spiritual interest across the nation—particularly among younger generations.
A damaged Russian gas tanker is drifting unmanned through the Mediterranean Sea, prompting Malta to prepare emergency measures while tensions linked to the war in Ukraine spill into Europe’s energy and security landscape.
Iran launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks on Gulf countries Thursday, the 13th day of the United States-Israel war against Tehran, with strikes reported in Bahrain and other states, sending oil prices sharply higher and raising concerns among foreign workers, including Christians.
Nearly 25,000 Christians, many of them impoverished sanitation workers and day laborers, face possible eviction from their homes in Pakistan’s capital after authorities ordered them to vacate two settlements within days, Christians familiar with the situation confirmed Thursday.
WHO WE ARE
The Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs encapsulate the beauty, wisdom, and eternal truths found in the Bible, creating an immersive experience that resonates with believers and seekers alike.
CONTACT
- +1 908 280-4246
- Essex County, USA
- info@tnjrfm.com