For weeks at a time, assisted living residents in wheelchairs on the top level of Gabriel House couldn’t leave their floor, trapped by a broken elevator that management wasn’t in any hurry to fix. Because they couldn’t make it downstairs to the communal dining room,

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 Bristol County DA reported the update Friday saying, "it was due to a miscommunication with a medical agency."

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.

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.

The investigation into the fire’s cause is ongoing but “does not appear to be suspicious,” according to the Bristol County district attorney's office.