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.

First responders rescued dozens of people from inside an assisted living facility where nine people were killed.

More than 75 percent of Gabriel House residents are enrolled in Medicaid, state officials have said, and it charges significantly less than a typical assisted living facility does for private-paying patients.

A deadly fire tore through an assisted living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts, on Sunday night, July 13. The Fall River Fire Department said the fire caused multiple injuries and fatalities at the Gabriel House home on Oliver Street, ABC6 reported.

River fire union has claimed more lives could have been saved if more firefighters were on scene. The mayor says the department was staffed as requested by the chief.

River Fire Department confirmed that there are multiple injuries and fatalities. A family reunification centre has now been set up at the chapel at the St. Anne’s Hospital.