A tenth victim has died following the Fall River fire at the Gabriel House Assisted Living Facility on Sunday, the Bristol County DA announced yesterday.
“The decedent, identified as 66-year-old Brenda Cropper, had been hospitalized in critical condition since Sunday’s fire,” the DA’s office stated. “Ms. Cropper succumbed to her injuries later in the day (Wednesday).”
Five men and four women initially died in the blaze that devasted the Gabriel House community on Saturday, marking the deadliest fire in Massachusetts in over 40 years. At least 30 more were injured in the fire.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Gabriel House provided a preliminary update stating two residents remained in critical condition, though the DA’s office only confirmed one.
The assisted-living facility housed 70 residents, many of whom needed assistance to escape Sunday. Firefighters responded to the scene to find many residents hanging out of the windows of the three-story building, screaming for help.
The fire revealed several issues under dispute, including fire department staffing the firefighter’s unions said was critically below the national standard. The mayor and union came to an agreement to increase staffing Wednesday.
Safety reviews of the facility, which opened in 1999 at the site of a former motel, also resulted in widespread concerns. Advocates have flagged issues with staff size and emergency plans, and a state inspections of the facility, last completed in 2023, reportedly documented several deficiencies.
In documents released Wednesday, receipts from pest control companies as far back as 2015 showed Gabriel House being treated for bed bugs and other pests. A 2015 receipt described the dining room as “filthy” and that “food was undercooked.”
Jenn Marley, who worked at the facility as a certified nursing assistant from 2018 to January 2020, said bedbugs, cockroaches and mice were a problem, and that some bathrooms were filthy even though residents were supposed to get help with cleaning. Management kept track of residents who asked for more toilet paper, she said in an interview.
“God forbid if they ran out of toilet paper, the boss would complain that we had to give them a roll,” she said.
The origin and cause of the fire are currently under investigation by city and state officials.
Associated Press contributed
