Former employees feared disaster at Gabriel House, where wheelchair users were trapped for months by broken elevators and no fire drills were conducted in years.

Assisted living centers are rare in Mass, but many families still don’t know what they offer or how they differ from other elder care facilities.

The Massachusetts assisted-living facility that caught fire Sunday evening was slated to undergo a recertification and compliance review process later this year.

The Massachusetts assisted-living facility where a fatal fire killed nine people was caring for dozens of aging residents reliant on wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, but it lacked the safety measures and most of the staffing requirements that are commonplace in nursing homes.

The family of a resident at the Gabriel House assisted living facility has retained a law firm to investigate the circumstances leading up to the deadly Sunday fire that killed nine people and left dozens injured.

A woman previously reported to have died after a fire at a Fall River assisted living residence remains in critical condition, the district attorney's office said.

Questions and finger-pointing have increased in the days since a fire at a Massachusetts assisted-living facility killed nine and hurt dozens.

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.