Woman killed, dozens displaced after car crash sparks blaze at Fall River apartment complex

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WHDH) – A woman was killed, her passenger was left critically injured, multiple firefighters were hospitalized and dozens of people were displaced after a car slammed into a Fall River apartment complex and sparked a blaze on Tuesday morning, officials said.

Hours after officials said the fire had been extinguished, the blaze flared again. Flames could be seen shooting from the roof of the Four Winds Apartments on North Main Street as firefighters doused them with water from a cherry picker attached to their truck.

Emergency crews responding to a reported car crash at the complex around 9:30 a.m. found a vehicle that had rammed into a laundry room area and ruptured a gas line, according to a spokesman for the Bristol District Attorney’s Office.

The driver, 72-year-old Judith Mauretti, of Fall River, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mauretti’s passenger, a 75-year-old Fall River woman, was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where she remains in critical condition. Her name has not been released.

Police believe Mauretti was speeding before she plowed 15 feet into the building, which was evacuated after the crash.

Resident Bill Driscoll said the building shook before flames quickly shot up to the roof.

“The building shook,” he said. “I went out in the hall to look and there was smoke. Then I looked out from the landing on the second floor and there was all black smoke.”

Four firefighters were taken from the scene and treated for heat-related injuries, Fall River Fire Chief John Lynch said.

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