9 people killed in fire at Massachusetts assisted living facility

Nine people were killed and one person was in critical condition after a large fire broke out at an assisted living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Sunday night, officials said.

The Fall River Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at Gabriel House, an assisted living facility, shortly after 9:30 pm Eastern, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said at a news conference Monday morning.

Firefighters encountered thick smoke and flames, as well as residents who were screaming for help out of windows, Bacon said. More than 30 residents were taken to the hospital, he added.

"We're at the scene of a pretty unfathomable tragedy tonight," Bacon said, adding that the situation was "tricky and chaotic" as firefighters struggled to rescue people and douse the blaze. About 50 firefighters were involved, including every firefighter on duty in the city, he said. "Everybody was rescuing people," Bacon said Monday morning.

The fire was extinguished as of early Monday, Sgt. Ross Aubin, a spokesperson for the Fall River Police Department, said. The cause of the fire was under investigation, he added. Officials said the fire was contained to one wing of the building.

Officers from the Police Department were the first emergency workers to arrive, Aubin said. They ran into the building and rescued more than 12 residents who were not able to walk out on their own.

Five firefighters were taken to the hospital with minor injuries but had been released by Monday morning, the fire chief told reporters at the news conference.

Multiple residents were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Jake Wark, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

The city set up a shelter for displaced residents, officials said. "One of the issues we're facing this morning is getting people their medicine," said Paul Coogan, Fall River's mayor, at the Monday morning news conference.

"This is the kind of thing you don't want in the middle of July," he said. "It's Sunday night, and the city explodes around a tragedy like this, it's not good for anybody."

Gabriel House opened in 1999 and has 100 units, according to records from the state of Massachusetts. About 70 residents had been living in the facility before the fire, and all of them were displaced, Wark said.

Fall River, a city of about 94,000 people, is near the border with Rhode Island.