Several people were killed after a large fire broke out at an assisted living facility in Fall River, Mass., on Sunday night, in what the local fire chief called an “unfathomable tragedy.”
The Fall River Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at Gabriel House, an assisted living facility, at about 9:30 p.m. Eastern time, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said at a news conference.
Firefighters encountered thick smoke and flames, and residents who were screaming for help out of windows, Chief Bacon said.
“It was a tricky and chaotic scene” as firefighters struggled to rescue people and douse the blaze, Chief Bacon said. About 50 firefighters were involved, including every firefighter on duty in the city, he added.
Officers from the Fall River Police Department were the first emergency workers to arrive, said Sgt. Ross Aubin, a spokesman for the department. They ran into the building and rescued more than 12 residents who were not able to walk out on their own. Several emergency workers were treated for smoke inhalation, Sergeant Aubin said.
Multiple residents were pronounced dead at the scene, and many more were hospitalized, Jake Wark, a public information officer at the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services, said.
The fire was extinguished as of early Monday, Sergeant Aubin said. The cause of the fire was under investigation, he added, and the exact number of fatalities and injuries was not yet available.
“We’re at the scene of a pretty unfathomable tragedy tonight,” Chief Bacon said.
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, Mr. Wark said.
Fall River, a city of about 94,000 people, is near the border with Rhode Island.
Claire Moses contributed reporting.
Yan Zhuang is a Times reporter in Seoul who covers breaking news.
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