91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

7 more former residents of Gabriel House sue Fall River assisted living facility after deadly fire

By
Victoria D
Digital Producer, CBS Boston
Victoria D. is a digital producer for CBS Boston. Before joining CBS Boston in 2023, Victoria had already worked in journalism in both New York and Boston for more than 10 years.
Read Full Bio
Victoria D

/ CBS Boston

Seven former residents of Gabriel House, where a deadly fire occurred in July in Fall River, Massachusetts, have sued the residence and its owner, accusing them of negligence. They're also suing Fire Systems, Inc., the company in charge of inspecting the home's sprinkler system and fire alarms.

Albert Almanza, Larry Ashworth, Muriel Boyce, Shirley Cambra, Lorraine Ferrera, Caroline Johnson and James Vicery were named as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. All seven resided at the assisted living facility when the fire broke out, killing 10 people and injuring more than 30.

Owners accused of negligence

The state fire marshal said the cause of the fire on Sunday, July 13, was accidental and that it was started either by someone smoking or the failure of a resident's oxygen device. In the lawsuit, they claim owner Dennis Etzkorn and his wife Karen knew that many residents used oxygen tanks and many also smoked cigarettes, even while being administered oxygen. "[Dennis and Karen Etzkorn] knew or reasonably should have known that smoking cigarettes while being administered oxygen constitutes an increased risk of fires and explosions," the lawsuit said, in part.

The lawsuit also claims the Etzkorns should have known of the "limitations" of the residents, many of whom were of "advanced age" with limited mobility and medical conditions. According to the lawsuit, only two staff members were working the night of the fire.

"Staff were untrained, unprepared and unequipped to carry out an emergency evacuation," said the lawsuit, in part.

The plaintiffs also said Etzkorn allowed residents to install air conditioners that were too large for the windows and this made it difficult for firefighters to get to them.  

Fire Systems, Inc. accused of improper maintenance

Fire Systems, Inc. is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. They're accused of improperly installing and maintaining the fire alarms and sprinklers in the home. The night of the fire, the lawsuit said residents were not warned by the alarms of the fire and were trapped in their rooms "as a result of corridors filled with thick black smoke."

Etzkorn previously said the sprinklers were tested five days before the fire.

This is the third lawsuit filed by former residents of Gabriel House. One man filed suit on July 22 and three more residents sued on Aug. 1. The Etzkorns told WBZ-TV they don't have any comment on the lawsuit.

In:

© 2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=50747257b890e014813016b79ece0fb2'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });