Fall River releases certificates of inspection for Gabriel House
The reports do not detail any of the conditions inside Gabriel House, which was converted to an assisted living facility in 1996. The reports do show a timeline of inspection by the city department.
According to the records, the building was inspected annually until 2006 and then there is a gap in the records. No record of an inspection between 2017 and 2024 was provided to WBZ.
The latest inspection occurred in October of 2024 and the certificate of inspection is set to expire this fall.
One day after the deadly fire, employees and residents told WBZ about health and sanitation issues at the facility.
"They had mice. They had cockroaches, infested with cockroaches, bed bugs. It was dirty, very dirty," said Debbie Johnson, a certified nursing assistant who worked at Gabriel House. "The elevator has been broken for the last four years, off and on forever and there's people stuck in their rooms, have to have their food brought to them."
Another employee, who did not want to give her name, said she was unaware of any issues with the facility.
During a 2023 review, state inspectors found issues with Gabriel House and issued a correction plan which included more training for certified nursing assistants and better cleaning and maintenance of medication boxes.
During a news briefing on Tuesday, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon did not respond to questions about inspections at the facility, citing the ongoing investigation.
Bacon responded to allegations by the state and local fire union that his department is understaffed and has three firefighters per truck instead of four, which is the national standard.
"Absolutely, if you gave me eight more firefighters on that scene, we're throwing more ladders, we're affecting more rescues more efficiently. That's a fact. I don't know if lives could have been saved or if it would have changed the incident at all," Bacon said.
Bacon said he applied for a grant to get more firefighters on the job.
The city has not yet provided WBZ with health or fire inspection reports of the Gabriel House location.
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