FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — It was 9:45 p.m. on June 13 when Father Michael Racine's phone rang.
It was Richard Aguiar, director of the Fall River Emergency Management Agency.
Aguiar told him the situation at the Gabriel House assisted living facility was dire.
"He basically told me that they already had two fatalities that they knew about and to get down there as quickly as possible," Racine recalled.
Racine, who has been the Fall River Fire Department's chaplain for about a decade, rushed over to the Oliver Street facility and couldn't believe his eyes.
The guys were starting to bring victims out of the windows," Racine recalled. "I actually anointed someone right as [the firefighters] were bringing the body down the ladder.
"You have to make the assumption that they're Catholic, so they at least get the graces of the sacrament," he explained.
Racine remembers anointing the first five victims, who were brought to a makeshift morgue set up by the Fall River Police Department.
It was very respectful and dignified," Racine said about the morgue, which was shielded and guarded by an officer the entire night. "Everyone was treated with love and respect, as they should be.
To Racine, the entire ordeal was "chaos, but controlled."
I was proud of what I saw from the Fall River Fire Department," Racine said. "Everybody just bonded and worked together.
It wasn't until he got home that the magnitude of the ordeal started to sink in, when he began recording the anointments in his sacrament book.
Racine realized he hadn't gotten the names of the victims he had anointed.
You don't know who you're anointing," Racine said. "When I went to record them on Monday, I wrote, 'Fire victim 1, fire victim 2, fire victim 3, fire victim 4, fire victim 5.'
It's very odd looking at that because it's a permanent record," he continued. "It's a very eerie feeling, because you don't know who you're administering the sacrament to.
Racine said he has never experienced anything like the Gabriel House fire.
This was not your usual fire," Racine said. "Nobody was prepared for this.
In the days afterward, as the victims were identified, Racine was able to meet some of the families of the residents he anointed. Racine told 12 News they were grateful that he was there to anoint their loved ones.
People appreciate that," he said. "They understand what the sacrament gives. It gives us that fulfillment, the forgiveness of sins, the healing they needed.
Racine also made sure to support the firefighters who were risking their lives to save trapped residents from the burning building.
I just made sure they were OK," Racine said. "Most of these guys haven't seen a fire like this in their careers.
In the wake of the tragedy, Racine hopes everyone will turn to their faith while trying to cope with what happened.
This is going to take a long time to get over," he said. "But I think faith is very important.
Racine told 12 News his door is always open to firefighters who want to talk about what they witnessed that night.
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