90% of MA fire engines are short-staffed: Why one firefighter changes

Members of the Fall River Fire Department union said they were overwhelmed in the Gabriel Street fire.

The Fall River Fire Department is not staffed to national standards.

A look at fire departments across the state show the vast majority are also not staffed to NFPA standards.

The ashes were barely cool at the Gabriel House assisted living facility in Fall River — the day after a horrific late-night fire led to 10 deaths of elderly and physically infirm people — when members of the firefighters’ union stood before the building to talk about the price of safety .

Edward Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, lambasted the city of Fall River for not staffing all its fire companies to national standards of four firefighters per piece of appara