There’s no doubt in my mind that that fire was destined to kill 50-plus people,” Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said Wednesday.

You could have had 100 firefighters show up on that scene and it wouldn’t have been enough,” the fire chief said at a news briefing outside the fire department’s headquarters Tuesday.

When the deadly fire broke out Sunday night at Gabriel House in Fall River, Massachusetts, the assisted living facility had 70 residents and just two staff members working, according to the mayor and an employee.