Elderly residents – some in wheelchairs and some dependent on oxygen tanks – were blinded by deadly smoke as they tried to escape an assisted-living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, which caught fire Sunday evening.

Gabriel House had seen better days. The 100-unit assisted-living facility that burned Sunday night, killing nine people so far, opened in 1999.

River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon deferred all questions about the fire investigation to the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services.

Top Massachusetts officials are suggesting the state consider new ways to regulate and finance so-called affordable assisted living homes after the deadly fire Sunday night at the facility for seniors in Fall River that relies heavily on public funding.

Flames roared through an assisted-living residence in Massachusetts, killing nine people, injuring 30 others and trapping residents inside.

Around 50 firefighters, including dozens who were off-duty, rushed to Gabriel House in downtown Fall River just before 10 p.m. local time Sunday.

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.

A fire tore through an assisted living facility in Massachusetts, killing nine people and trapping residents inside.