Jeffrey Bacon said the fire was "destined to kill" more than 50 people, but heroic acts limited the tragic loss of life.

Mayor Paul Coogan and IAFF General President Edward Kelly announced on Wednesday that staffing levels a the Fall River Fire Department will increase immediately.

River's building department released certificates of inspection Tuesday for Gabriel House, the assisted living facility where nine people died in a fire Sunday night. The reports do not detail any of the conditions inside the complex,

FALL RIVER — The nine residents killed in a fire here at Gabriel House, an assisted living residence, are being remembered as fonts of knowledge and symbols of longevity.

Following a deadly fire at the Gabriel House assisted living home in Fall River, a state lawmaker is pushing for hearings to examine the incident and the regulatory requirements for assisted living centers in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts assisted-living facility where a fatal fire killed nine people was caring for dozens of aging residents reliant on wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, but it lacked the safety measures and most of the staffing requirements that are commonplace in nursing homes.

Heartbreak and questions still linger in Fall River after a fire tore through an assisted living facility on Sunday, killing nine people.