FALL RIVER, Mass. — The Massachusetts assisted-living facility that caught fire Sunday evening, leaving nine dead, was slated to undergo a recertification and compliance review process later this year.
“Gabriel House is up for recertification in November 2025 and is on the list of compliance reviews to be conducted this Fall,” a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services said in a statement Monday evening.
An official briefed on the probe into the cause of the deadly fire told ABC News that, as a preliminary matter, the fire does not appear to have been set intentionally. More likely, the source said, it appears to have been caused by some sort of electrical or mechanical problem.
Thirty people, including five firefighters, were taken to local hospitals after the deadly fire, according to officials.
The facility in Fall River is classified as an assisted-living residence, not a nursing home. This distinction means that complexes like Gabriel House are subject to a different inspection, certification and regulatory process than Massachusetts nursing homes.
The Massachusetts Division of Health Care Facility Licensure and Certification’s website says that the division conducts unannounced inspections of nursing homes every nine to 15 months.
Since Gabriel House is considered an assisted-living residence, its last onsite visit by representatives of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Aging & Independence occurred in October 2023.
The office said that at the time, it found areas where Gabriel House “was not in compliance with state regulations,” and the facility was required to submit a plan of correction.
A compliance review report sent to Gabriel House Executive Director Dennis Etzkorn indicated the alleged violations were primarily related to missing documentation.
One part of the report noted that state representatives reviewed a 90-day correspondence log “required to communicate information necessary to maintain the continuity of care for all Residents.”
“The Residence did not consistently document for each 24-hour period in the Correspondence Log,” the document stated. “The Residence did not use the Correspondence Log to communicate all significant or pertinent information necessary to maintain the continuity of care for all Residents.”
Another part of the report said, “Documentation of the Residence monitoring the effectiveness of its Evidence Informed Falls Prevention Program was missing for all calendar years” and that the personnel records of three employees “were missing documentation of a pre-employment physical examination.”
Gabriel House’s plan of correction indicated that changes were made and it received a certificate in December 2023. The certificate allowed Gabriel House to operate until November of this year.
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