Massachusetts nursing home staffing accused of fleeing instead of helping elderly residents escape
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A survivor of a Sunday blaze that tore through an assisted living facility in Massachusetts has claimed that staff members abandoned the burning scene leaving the elderly residents to fend for themselves – while another said that workers didn’t even knock at doors to alert the seniors as the flames spread.
Resident Lorraine Ferrara, 70, told the Associated Press of her shock to see staff running away from the fire that ultimately killed 9 people and injured dozens more at Gabriel House in Fall River.
“They left us alone and ran,” Ferrara said. “I was hanging out the window — ‘Help! Help!’ — and they just kept running.”
Meanwhile, resident Robert Cabral also said that workers fled the terrifying scene as smoke filled rooms.
“They didn’t knock on one door,” Cabral said. “They just ran.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Gabriel Care, the operators of the facility, for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The deceased were aged 61 to 86. The facility opened in 1999 and had 100 units with about 70 people residing there at the time.
As well as workers apparently fleeing the scene, reports have emerged of an alleged lack of fire drills at the facility, while a firefighters union said inadequate staffing hindered the response to the blaze.
Paul Lanzikos, a former Massachusetts Secretary of Elder Affairs and co-founder of the advocacy group Dignity Alliance, said the group was concerned by reports about the apparent lack of fire drills as well a low number of staff for a highly dependent population and safety issues such as a broken elevator and air conditioners in the windows.
“It’s a terrible tragedy that should have never happened,” Lanzikos told the Associated Press.
About 50 firefighters responded to the scene at around 9:50 p.m., including 30 who were off duty. Police also helped break down doors and carried about a dozen residents to safety. Five injured firefighters were released from the hospital Monday.
Edward Kelly, president of the national firefighters union, said eight additional firefighters would have been on scene if national staffing recommendations were followed.
Capt. Frank O’Reagan said there was no breathing equipment available when he arrived, so he started going door to door on the third floor without an air tank until the smoke got to him.
O’Reagan’s brother and fellow firefighter Michael O’Reagan said he was shocked that 40 minutes after firefighters arrived, a large part of the building had not been searched.
“We did the best we could with what we had, and what we had was not enough,” said Michael O’Reagan, president of the Fall River firefighters union.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Officials said it did not appear suspicious,
Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon told Boston 25 News that staffing levels is not unique to Fall River and that municipalities across the Commonwealth face similar concerns.
“The crews were faced with an incredibly difficult situation. A fire is a difficult situation, a rescue is a difficult situation,” Bacon said. “When you combine the two at the level this call asked for, it was almost an impossible situation.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.