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.

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.

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.

It’s very important in a crisis that people stay in contact,” Mayor Paul Coogan said in a wide-ranging interview from his office Friday.