State regulators say a Massachusetts assisted-living facility where a fire killed 10 people earlier this month had its certification temporarily suspended nearly a decade ago due to resident mistreatm

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 July 13 fire killed 10 people and injured at least 30. Its exact cause might never be determined, officials said.

Based on a March 2016 incident involving a certified nurse’s aid who was later fired, state regulators concluded that Gabriel House failed to treat residents with “consideration, respect, personal dignity and privacy.

A Fall River independent and assisted-living facility where a fire killed 10 people earlier this month temporarily lost its certification nearly a decade ago.