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.

The fire that claimed nine lives at an assisted-living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, "was destined to kill 50-plus people," according to the local fire chief.

According to Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon, the blaze started in a room on the second floor on the east side of the Gabriel House building, but details about the exact origin and cause are under investigation.

Nine people died Sunday night after an assisted living facility caught fire in Fall River, Massachusetts, officials said, with elderly people begging for help from first responders as smoke poured out of the building.

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

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

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.

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.