A survivor of the deadly fire at the Gabriel House assisted living home in Fall River, Massachusetts is now suing the owner.

Steven Oldrid, a resident of the facility, filed the civil lawsuit against Gabriel Care, Inc. in Bristol Superior Court on Monday. He said he was trapped in his room during the fire and "suffered smoke inhalation, respiratory distress, and loss of consciousness."

Ten residents died and more than 30 were hurt in the fire on Sunday, July 13.

Gabriel House evacuation plans

"The facility was not properly managed. It was not properly staffed. The maintenance was defective," Oldrid's attorney Robin Gouveia told WBZ-TV. "The evacuation plans didn't work." 

"There were signs on the back of the doors that said in the event of a fire or in the event of when you hear the alarms, stay in your room and close your door and wait for somebody to come get you. And unfortunately, that's what he did," she said.

Gouveia also said any rules for not smoking in Gabriel House "were not enforced properly."

WBZ has reached out to Gabriel Care's owner, Dennis Etzkorn, for comment on the lawsuit but has not heard back yet.

The cause of the fire is still officially undetermined, but investigators have narrowed it down to smoking or the failure of a resident's oxygen device. 

In a press conference Tuesday, State Fire Marshal Jon Davine said the fire started in a resident's room on the left side of the second floor. Investigators found an oxygen concentrator and numerous smoking materials in the room. 

Gabriel House staffing

Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan said only two people were working at Gabriel House the night of the fire.

"At the time of this incident, there were two staff at night and that was it, there were two women," Gouveia said.

Oldrid was on oxygen and needed a powerchair to get around his studio apartment on the third floor of the facility, his attorney said. He's currently being treated at Saint Anne's Hospital in Fall River. If he gets discharged, Gouveia said he has no place to go and that his powerchair is still at Gabriel House.

Oldrid said in the lawsuit, the fire caused him "to suffer further injury to an already compromised physical state" and that he's had to pay more than $19,000 for hospital and medical treatment. He added that his activities are now "restricted" and his "ability to engage in his pre-injury daily activities has been adversely affected."

He's asking for a jury trial, but not a specific dollar amount in damages. Oldrid is requesting something the "court deems just and fair."

• Fall River News