Smoking or oxygen machine may have caused deadly fire at Massachusetts assisted-living home

FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — A fire that killed 10 people at a Massachusetts assisted-living facility was unintentionally caused by either someone smoking or an electrical issue with an oxygen machine, investigators said Tuesday.

The state’s deadliest blaze in more than four decades has highlighted the lack of regulations governing assisted-living facilities that often care for low-income or disabled residents. So far, investigators have remained mum on the possibility of criminal charges related to the fire at Gabriel House in Fall River, and declined to answer when asked during a Tuesday press conference.

The Massachusetts fire marshal, Jon Davine, said the presence of medical oxygen contributed to the fire's spread on the night of July 13. The blaze left some residents of the three-story building hanging out windows and screaming for help.

“Please, there’s truly no safe way to smoke. But smoking is especially dangerous when home oxygen is in use," Davine told reporters on Tuesday.

Investigators are still collecting evidence on numerous aspects of the case, including whether the facility’s sprinkler system worked as it should, said Thomas Quinn, the district attorney for Bristol County. He told reporters there was no sign that electrical outlets, lights, heaters or cooking appliances sparked the fire.

The blaze began in a studio apartment on the second floor of the facility, where investigators found the remains of smoking materials, a battery-powered scooter and an oxygen concentrator. It's hard to know exactly what happened, Davine said, because the person who lived in the room was among the victims of the fire.

Members of the local firefighter’s union have said understaffing made it harder to respond to the blaze, and made the fire deadlier.

Earlier Tuesday, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said the state was releasing $1.2 million to hire more emergency response personnel for blue-collar city about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Boston. She said additional funds will be fast-tracked for the state’s municipal public safety staffing program.

“We are here today to listen,” Healey said at a news conference, “to make sure that we understand what this community needs now and moving forward in the wake of this tragedy.”

The district attorney’s office identified the 10th victim as Halina Lawler, 70, on Monday. The victims of the fire ranged in age from 61 to 86.

A state agency is doing a monthlong investigation into the 273 assisted-living facilities in Massachusetts to make sure they're ready to protect residents during emergencies, the governor said.

Meanwhile, legal wrangling over who bears responsibility for the Gabriel House fire has already begun.

A resident of Gabriel House filed a lawsuit Monday alleging the facility was not properly managed, staffed or maintained and that “emergency response procedures were not put in place.”

Trapped in his room during the fire, Steven Oldrid was in an “already compromised physical condition” when he suffered smoke inhalation and lost consciousness, according to the complaint. As a result, Oldrid says he has increased mobility restrictions and has racked up medical bills.

George K. Regan Jr., a spokesperson for the facility owned by Dennis Etzkorn, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the lawsuit. A phone message was also left with Oldrid’s attorney.

Public injury law firm Morgan & Morgan also said last week it was hired to investigate the fire by the family of a resident who died, spokesperson Emily Walsh said, including possible issues with staffing, training and safety equipment.

Etzkorn says he is cooperating with investigations. Gabriel House issued a statement Monday emphasizing the importance of finding out “exactly what caused this catastrophe, and if there were factors that made it worse.”

“Maintaining compliance with all safety and building codes has always been our priority, and there were quarterly inspections of the fire suppression system – the latest as recently as five days prior to the fire,” the facility's spokesperson said.

Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writer Leah Willingham in Boston contributed.

FILE - Boards cover the windows of the Gabriel House assisted living facility, July 15, 2025 in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi, file)

FILE - Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey approaches a news conference to face reporters, July 14, 2025, near the Gabriel House assisted living facility, behind, following a fire that started late Sunday in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, file)

State Fire Marshal Jon Davine speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Fall River, Mass., about a deadly fire at the Gabriel House assisted-living facility. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

A handwritten sign is propped outside the Gabriel House on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, more than a week after a deadly fire at that assisted-living facility in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

FILE - Boards cover the windows of the Gabriel House assisted living facility, July 15, 2025 in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Kimberlee Kruesi, file)

FILE - Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey approaches a news conference to face reporters, July 14, 2025, near the Gabriel House assisted living facility, behind, following a fire that started late Sunday in Fall River, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, file)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)