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.

Assisted living centers are rare in Mass, but many families still don’t know what they offer — or what they don’t.

A Massachusetts assisted-living center where nine residents died in a fire was cited for failing to immediately report more than two dozen health and safety incidents.

The city is taking a significant step closer to meeting the national standard for firefighters working at a given time.