Inside the burned-out Gabriel House: New images show path of fire devastation
Editor's note: This story contains disturbing images of the Gabriel House post-fire. MassLive has made the editorial decision to publish these photos to show what can happen when fire sprinklers don't work properly, as sources have said is the case with this fire.
The walls are blackened and blistering; appearing diseased and scaly.
Much of the contents of the modest room are unrecognizable. But there is a charcoaled box spring. The gaunt remnants of an oversized sofa chair. The handles of a walker are desiccated, and the top half of the bathroom door is missing.
Everything is pewter-colored.
It's a haunting scene — the interior of the second-floor resident room where a fire ignited on the night of July 13 at the Gabriel House assisted living facility in Fall River . That resident was among 10 who were killed. Meanwhile, just across the hall, some rooms went untouched by the flames, photos show.
MassLive has obtained 3D imaging from inside Gabriel House taken in the aftermath of the five-alarm blaze — the deadliest in Massachusetts history in more than 40 years.
Part of an interactive building model being circulated to attorneys and other vested parties as part of the ongoing investigation, the images show an eerie contrast — the devastation wreaked in particular areas, while others were left untarnished.
New Ring camera footage from inside the facility also shows the beginning of the fire as it descended that night — with thick smoke starting to spread, confused residents wandering hallways and staff seen leaving via the front steps of the building.
Interior 3D imaging shows the aftermath of a five-alarm fire at the Gabriel House assisted living facility on July 13. Pictured is a resident's second-floor room where the fire started.(Courtesy of Matterport)
Sources with knowledge of the fire investigation have told MassLive the sprinkler did not go off in the room where the flames started. In addition, those same sources have said the building's sprinkler heads were recalled decades ago and never replaced.
Recent reporting by MassLive revealed that, while owner Dennis Etzkorn said he had the fire sprinklers visually inspected quarterly, he was missing a critical, mandated five-year inspection that assures all internal parts of the sprinkler system are working properly.
Etzkorn is facing at least eight civil lawsuits related to the fire. Via a spokesperson, he did not provide a comment for this story.
Also named as a defendant in the lawsuits is Fire Systems Inc., a Dartmouth-based fire safety vendor that serviced the building.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Fire Systems Inc. said the company has conducted periodic inspections and tests of the Gabriel House fire alarm and sprinkler system since 2014, "in accordance with its service agreement with the property owner, all applicable National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, and local requirements."
"FSI did not install — nor was it contracted to maintain — Gabriel House's system," the spokesperson said. "Furthermore, FSI does not manufacture fire sprinkler components and is not responsible for identifying or evaluating manufacturer recalls."
Fire codes and standardsplace the legal responsibility for sprinkler inspection and maintenance on the building owner.
What the new images show
On the second floor on the left side of the building, where the fire started, the sections of hallway walls not burned reveal they'd been painted pink. But even those swaths are bubbling. Picture frames appear ghostly, as though they'd disintegrate from a touch.
There are stranded wheelchairs, broken window blinds, TVs fallen off walls, untouched laundry baskets with folded clothes and even some beds left neatly made — chaos, and normalcy, frozen in time.
It was just over a week after the Fourth of July when the fire struck. Charred holiday-themed garlands are seen wrapped around pillars in a common area.
Interior 3D imaging shows the aftermath of a five-alarm fire at the Gabriel House assisted living facility on July 13. Pictured is a second floor hallway near where the fire started.(Courtesy of Matterport)
There is an obvious contrast in damage among rooms in the very same areas. Even around where the fire started, there are some rooms — and their contents — that appear nearly untouched, though their doors are badly burned.
The images also show recalled sprinkler heads that have been labeled as such by investigators with writing on the walls. Specifically, sprinklers that were manufactured by Central Sprinkler Company between the mid-1970s until 2001.
They were subject to nationwide recalls in the late 1990s and early 2000s because of their "O-ring seals," a component that can corrode and cause the sprinkler heads not to activate in a fire.
Looking at the sprinkler in the room where the fire started, Avon Assistant Fire Chief Brad Cronin, as an unassociated third-party, told Boston 25 News it appears the seal was still intact, meaning water did not discharge. 25 News was first to obtain the new footage.
Interior 3D imaging shows the aftermath of a five-alarm fire at the Gabriel House assisted living facility on July 13.(Courtesy of Matterport)
In a previous statement, the National Fire Sprinkler Association and National Association of State Fire Marshals said neither entity is aware of a multiple-fatality fire "in a structure with a properly installed and maintained sprinkler system."
"We have success with saving lives in these buildings every day," Shane Ray, president of the National Fire Sprinkler Association, previously told MassLive, referencing the magnitude of death that occurred at Gabriel House.
Etzkorn, the facility's owner, has previously said the sprinkler system was found to be in working order just five days prior to the fire. However, that same day, Etzkorn was notified about the overdue five-year inspection, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
The 3D model of the aftermath at Gabriel House was shared with attorneys and third-party investigators before they were allowed to access the building last month for the first time — after the state and district attorney's office had obtained all of their evidence.
Deadly Gabriel House fire
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