FALL RIVER, MASS. (WHDH) - Balloons, candles, and flowers decorate the outside of the assisted living facility in Fall River where a fire took the lives of nine Sunday night. As the community mourns, the city’s major has a message for the facility’s owner.
As the Fall River community continues to grieve the tragedy at Gabriel House, Coogan is directing his frustrations at the owner of the assisted living facility, saying Dennis Etzkorn is no longer answering his calls.
“To me, he should be here everyday,” Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan said. “I want him to know these are his residents. He might as well push them to the side and say ‘Have a nice day’ if he’s not going to follow up.”
Meanwhile, questions remain about the fire department’s staffing levels. Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said that while more firefighters would be ideal, the focus should stay on the nine lives lost in the fire, their families, and those who survived.
“I’m focusing my firefighters on the 50 plus lives saved in that incident based on their heroic efforts,” Bacon said. “That’s what I need to focus on for my mental health and their mental health to get through this.”
On Tuesday, people visited Gabriel House to leave flowers and balloons. One person 7News spoke with there lives nearby and did not know anyone inside but witnessed the immediate aftermath.
“I just pray for the families that had family members in there,” said Carmen Rego. “Especially being assisted living and elderly people, all of us are touched by that because we have a grandmother, a grandfather. The firefighters did a good job. Very, very quick.”
Rego said there is now a void in the neighborhood with the lives lost and the survivors forced out of the place they called home.
“It was so nice to see those people coming outside and catch sun, talk to people,” she said. “It’s so sad. We lost our neighbors.”
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