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The popularity of assisted living communities continues to grow as aging individuals look to simplify their lives while receiving limited support and maintaining much of their independence. Residents in assisted living communities can benefit from custodial or personal care services including prepared meals, transportation, and basic medical assistance while shedding the challenges associated with managing their own home and property as they transition toward needing additional care.

The tragic fatal fire that occurred on July 13, 2025, at the Gabriel House assisted living community in Fall River, Mass., has reignited a critical and complex conversation around assisted living fire evacuation planning—specifically, how well communities understand their unique fire protection features, evolving resident capabilities, staffing availability, and ongoing training and drills. 

Fire Protection Challenges

One of the primary challenges stems from overlapping regulatory frameworks. Fire and life safety requirements are governed by individual state building codes (often based upon the International Building Code), the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101), and various state-specific licensure rules. Each of these codes and regulations approach assisted living occupancies differently, affecting criteria for construction, egress, fire protection systems, and even staffing. Communities are often caught between conflicting or inconsistent standards, especially when states adopt different versions or impose unique amendments.

This risk may also be impacted by building design features. Some communities incorporate smoke barrier wall assemblies that allow for horizontal evacuation, moving residents to a protected area on the same floor without leaving the building. While others rely on full evacuation to the exterior every time a fire alarm activates. This distinction affects evacuation planning and may create challenges, especially during nighttime hours or in inclement weather.

Another critical variable is the sprinkler system. Communities equipped with systems fully compliant with NFPA 13 provide comprehensive sprinkler coverage, whereas those meeting NFPA 13R, a residential standard, may omit sprinklers in certain areas, including attics, concealed combustible spaces, exterior overhangs, small closets, and bathrooms. 

Resident Capabilities and Staffing Availability

Adding to this complexity is the assisted living model itself. It’s common for residents who are mobile and capable of self-preservation upon move in to later experience a gradual decline in mobility and/or cognition. Yet, the community’s original design and classification may not change to reflect these evolving realities, leading to a growing gap between code assumptions and actual risk.

Staffing levels also vary from one assisted living community to another, particularly overnight, when fewer staff members are available to initiate a community’s fire response procedures and provide direction and assistance to residents. Support and guidance are particularly important for residents who may have mobility or cognitive impairment. 

Evacuation Response Plan

All of these factors play a role in determining a community’s fire and evacuation response plan, and specifically its ability to defend in-place, relocate within the building (progressive evacuation), or execute a complete building evacuation. Codes and regulations aside, the following factors must be addressed to consider options other than full building evacuation.

• Building Compartmentation with Smoke Barriers: Similar to a health care facility, smoke barrier walls must be in place to divide each floor into two or more compartments. Smoke barrier walls are designed to be continuous from floor to floor and outside wall to outside wall with any penetrations sealed to limit the passage of smoke. Smoke barrier walls minimize the ability for smoke to travel to adjacent portions of the building, allowing for the horizontal relocation of occupants to unaffected portions of the same floor. 
• Comprehensive Sprinkler Coverage: A sprinkler system designed and in compliance with NFPA 13 will provide complete and comprehensive sprinkler protection throughout the building. Buildings with NFPA 13R systems are permitted to omit sprinklers in attic spaces. This can allow a fire to spread through the attic, requiring full evacuation of the building without delay. 
• Early Fire Detection: Smoke detectors installed throughout building common areas can provide early notification to building staff, residents, and the local fire department to enable quicker execution of a building fire response plan.
• Staffing: If residents are directed to remain in the building, whether in their apartments or another interior location, trained staff must be available at all times to respond to the fire/alarm area and provide direction to residents. If there are times when staff are not on-site and available for that role, the expectation is that residents will evacuate the building under their own power, remaining at an assembly location until otherwise directed by fire department personnel. 

Staff and Resident Training 

The success of any fire safety program, regardless of the type of evacuation, relies on an effective staff training and testing program. Periodic staff training on the community fire response plan, including specific roles and responsibilities, is critical. While training can be presented through various mechanisms, in-person training that includes building familiarization, an overview of evacuation routes, familiarization with the fire alarm system, and highlighting the location of smoke barrier walls is a comprehensive training program. In-person training also allows for real-time questions and answers.

In similar fashion, residents should receive training upon admission and then at predetermined frequencies thereafter that clarifies their role and appropriate response during a fire or upon hearing the fire alarm. This includes instruction on whether they should remain in place while waiting for further direction or if they should automatically commence evacuation upon activation of the fire alarm system.

Education on the functionality of the fire alarm system is particularly important for assisted living residents. Apartment smoke detectors may only sound locally upon activation, therefore requiring the building-wide fire alarm to be activated manually. The systems in place and resulting response may be very different from what residents were familiar with in their previous residential settings.

Training is specifically identified as a lesson learned in the Gabriel House Fire After Action Report, prepared by the Fall River Fire Department and released on October 21, 2025. The report states that, “staff and residents must be trained in shelter-in-place and compartmentalization strategies, including maintaining closed doors and using designated refuge areas, while also recognizing when conditions require prompt evacuation to triage or transport points. While shelter-in-place was not feasible at Gabriel House, it should be strongly considered whenever appropriate.”

Fire drills are an excellent way to both test and educate. Fire drills test staff and resident knowledge, validate the effectiveness of procedures, verify resident evacuation capability, and provide an opportunity to learn through actions. An effective fire drill program will incorporate all aspects of the community fire procedure, including activation of the alarm, containment of the fire and smoke, implementation of the appropriate evacuation strategy, communications, and accountability. Fire drills are best conducted on different days and at different times. Most states have detailed requirements related to fire drills.

Coordination and collaboration with the local fire department is essential to ensure positive fire outcomes. It is critical that fire department personnel are familiar with the building, the fire safety plan, and resident capabilities. These factors will affect their pre-planning efforts and help establish proper expectations when they respond to the community, minimizing surprises.

Ultimately, assisted living communities require a customized fire safety and evacuation planning approach that complies with applicable codes. Additionally, an assessment of the building design, staffing patterns, and fire protection features should be coupled with an ongoing risk assessment that considers the changing capabilities and needs of the residents. While the analysis required to properly develop emergency procedures can be complicated, the product should be a clear and concise set of fire and evacuation procedures tailored to the building and its occupants. By ensuring proper procedures are in place, assisted living communities can better protect both their residents and staff, ensuring safety remains at the heart of care. 

David Hood is a technical fellow at Jensen Hughes and a past Chairman of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Health Care Section Executive Board. He currently serves as the Chair of the Health Care Section Education Committee. Hood also has fire service experience at the Company Officer level in Prince George’s County, MD, and Monroe County, NY, and previously served as the Fire Chief in Honeoye Falls, NY.