Tenth resident dies after Fall River, Massachusetts assisted living home fire
A 10th person has died in the aftermath of the fire at the Gabriel House in Fall River, Massachusetts. Brenda Cropper, 66, had been hospitalized in critical condition since the Sunday fire.
Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn announced Cropper's death on Thursday.
Fall River fire victims
Nine other people, all over the age of 60, died in the fire at the assisted living home on Oliver Street.
In addition to Cropper, the other victims have been identified as 64-year-old Rui Albernaz, 61-year-old Ronald Codega, 69-year-old Margaret Duddy, 78-year-old Robert King, 71-year-old Kim Mackin, 78-year-old Richard Rochon, 86-year-old Eleanor Willett and 77-year-old Joseph Wilansky.
The identification of a 70-year-old woman has still not been released.
Cropper's daughter told WBZ-TV that she had four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. According to Cropper's family, she suffered multiple organ failure and burns over more than 50% of her body in the fire and had been transported to the burn unit of Rhode Island Hospital.
Gabriel House fire
Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire, but have said it is not considered suspicious.
On Wednesday, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said the quick actions of first responders saved lives.
"These actions are heroic. And they're repeated over, and over and over again by the 35 firefighters that showed up on duty that night," Bacon said. "There's no doubt in my mind that that fire was destined to kill 50+ people and that the firefighters from Fall River in conjunction with the police department and the EMS division and the EMA division saved all of those lives. Unfortunately nine were not able to be saved. But that number should have been 4-5 times that."
Dramatic body camera footage released on Thursday shows officers from the Fall River Police Department rushing into the building to make rescues.
According to Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan, only two people were working at the Gabriel House when a fire broke out Sunday around 9:30 p.m. A woman who works at the facility told CBS News that both employees were new to the job.
The deadly fire prompted the Fall River Fire Department and mayor to negotiate an additional $1.5 million into the city budget to add staffing to the department. The firefighters' union had said that there would have been eight more firefighters working that night if the department had been properly staffed.
