# Nightmare: 2 firefighters killed, 2 others critically injured



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*Nightmare: 2 firefighters killed, 2 others critically injured*
By *O'Ryan Johnson*

Breaking News » Seven Boston firefighters were trapped inside a raging West Roxbury restaurant inferno last night - a fire that killed two of the jakes after an enormous rooftop air conditioning unit caved in, enveloping the men in a disorienting cloud of dust and smoke.








*Boston firefighters Paul Cahill (left) of Scituate and Warren Payne of Canton*

*2 FIREFIGHTERS KILLED: Boston blaze claims Scituate, Canton men; 12 others hurt fighting fire in West Roxbury
*BOSTON - Two Boston firefighters - one from Canton and the other from Scituate - were killed in the heavy smoke and flame of a restaurant fire in a West Roxbury neighborhood. Dead are Warren Payne, 53, of Canton, and Paul Cahill, 55, of Scituate. Both were veteran firefighters and both were the fathers of two children.

More of this story


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## Slimer (Jan 29, 2007)

*2 Boston Firefighters Killed In The Line Of Duty*

*2 Boston firefighters killed, 2 others critical*

August 30, 2007
BOSTON --Two Boston firefighters were killed fighting a commercial fire in the West Roxbury neighborhood, a fire department spokesman said early Thursday.

Scott Salman said two other firefighters were in critical condition.

He said the dead firefighters were Paul Cahill and Warren Payne, who served on Engine 30, Ladder 25, the first to respond to the fire Wednesday evening.
Salmon said eight other firefighters had less serious injuries, and an EMS paramedic was being evaluated for chest pains.
The four-alarm fire started at about 9 p.m. in the Tai-Ho Mandarin and Cantonese restaurant and spread to an adjoining building in a one-story row of yellow-brick storefronts, where at least three other stores were damaged. The fire was put out within about an hour.
Fire Chief Kevin MacCurtain said the most seriously injured were members of the first crew that responded to the fire. They were trapped after they became disoriented in heavy smoke.
"When they arrived they had heavy fire in the Thai restaurant with heavy smoke conditions on the block," MacCurtain said. "They advanced their lines into the store, and they became trapped and they were disoriented and they couldn't find their way out."
"We're doing a full investigation as to why that happened," he told the Globe.
He said officials do not believe the restaurant was open when the fire broke out.
One witness who works at a restaurant across the street said the fire spread quickly.
"We just started hearing sirens we saw flames coming out of the roof of the Tai Ho, then flames started bursting out everywhere," Bryan Strickland, 18, told The Boston Globe.
"I never saw anything like it. It happened real fast. It seemed like they had everything under control. That's when we saw the firefighters coming out (on stretchers)."


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

*BREAKING NEWS:* One of two Boston firefighters who died fighting a fire in a Chinese restaurant in August was legally intoxicated at the time, and the other had cocaine in his system, according to two officials who were briefed on the autopsy results. *--Developing*

http://www.boston.com/


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## DodgeRam (May 3, 2006)

*Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

By Jonathan Saltzman and Frank Phillips, Globe Staff

One of two Boston firefighters who died fighting a fire in a Chinese restaurant in August was legally intoxicated at the time, and the other had cocaine in his system, according to two officials who were briefed today on the autopsy results.

A government official briefed by state public safety officials on the autopsies of Paul J. Cahill and Warren J. Payne told the Globe that one firefighter had a blood-alcohol level higher than .08, the level when someone is too drunk to drive legally in Massachusetts. The other firefighter had traces of cocaine in his system, according to the government official.
A second government official briefed on the findings of the state medical examiner's office said it was Payne who had cocaine in his system. The second official said Cahill registered a blood-alcohol level of .27 in the autopsy, which would have placed him more than three times the legal limit.

Neither official was specific about the amount of cocaine found.

The two government officials were briefed separately. They spoke separately to the Globe on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

The autopsy results marked a stunning development in the saga of the two veteran firefighters, the first members of the department to die in the line of duty since 1994.
Cahill, 55, of Scituate and Payne, 53, of Newton were killed Aug. 29 in West Roxbury in what appeared at first to be a simple grease fire in the Tai Ho Mandarin and Cantonese Restaurant, about a half-mile from the Centre Street firehouse of Engine 30 and Ladder 25. Firefighters did not know that flames had been smoldering for an hour above a drop ceiling, which exploded in a ball of fire. 
More than 10,000 firefighters came from across the country to mourn the deaths of the first Boston firefighters killed in a fire since 1994. Payne had been in the department for 19 years. Cahill had been a firefighter for 14 years.
The Globe reported after the fire that the restaurant had a history of code violations for greasy equipment and vents and was eight months overdue for a health inspection. The blaze prompted the city to consider legislation that would establish training and certification requirements for cleaning contractors hired by restaurants to remove excess grease from kitchen vents.

Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 06:56 PM


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## csauce777 (Jan 10, 2005)

*Re: Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

Wow...what a crazy development. But why tarnish their story with this?


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## j809 (Jul 5, 2002)

*Re: Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



csauce777 said:


> Wow...what a crazy development. But why tarnish their story with this?


 So they won't have to pay death benefits.


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2007)

*Re: Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



csauce777 said:


> Wow...what a crazy development. But why tarnish their story with this?


It sells papers.

I don't think the Boston FD is going to screw with their death benefits because I don't think the alcohol and drug issues contributed to their deaths. A two-ton A/C unit landing on top of you is going to kill you no matter what you're on.


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## Inspector (Nov 13, 2006)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

These guys died doing their jobs and as far as I'm concerned they should be allowed to rest in peace. The Boston Globe and any other newspaper which insists on throwing mud on the graves of these firefighter should back off and allow the families of these men the peace and healing they deserve.


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## TopCop24 (Jul 11, 2005)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

I agree with all of the previous posts, but if it's true .27....thats not just a little buzzed he was absolutely cocked and had no business being there. Just imagine if a cop died doing his job and his blood alcohol level was .27, we'd never hear the end of it.


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2007)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



TopCop24 said:


> I agree with all of the previous posts, but if it's true .27....thats not just a little buzzed he was absolutely cocked and had no business being there. Just imagine if a cop died doing his job and his blood alcohol level was .27, we'd never hear the end of it.


Very, very true.


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## Goose (Dec 1, 2004)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

Didn't they have a problem with this with another case (non-FF related) about six months back - something about natural decomposition of the body causing BAC levels to rise in the blood?


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

WTF ! looks like Boston media has hit a new low. fire fighters face allot of stress like pulling dead bodies from fires and car wrecks.

allot of these victims are kids. if guy has a drink or what ever , so what ?

they went to a routine grease fire and had an A/C unit that was probably too big for that old structure fall on top of them.

stress manifests itself in many ways. it wasn't long ago when lots of guys were drinking on the job. at least back then they wouldn't put a man's personal business out there.


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## sweeper20 (Dec 22, 2006)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

Nothing confirmed yet...no official results... lets wait and see the final report.


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## dave7336 (Mar 25, 2006)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



sweeper20 said:


> Nothing confirmed yet...no official results... lets wait and see the final report.


we all know that if nothing comes back verifying the original story, the results will be on page 10...the damage has already been done to the department and the firefighters image...nothing like destroying someone's legacy in order to get tv ratings or sell papers!!


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2007)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



pahapoika said:


> if guy has a drink or what ever , so what ?


anyone here who has locked up OUIs and/or is a certified BT operator knows what .27 looks like....... pahp, we are not talking about a drink or whatever.......


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## Barbrady (Aug 5, 2004)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



mikemac64 said:


> I believe it was an OUI case involving a Police Officer in the mid-west. I don't know the outcome of even where it was (Ohio maybe).


You guys are right, I remember hearing same. I think it was an Ohio Highway Patrolman.


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

Judge bans TV station from running story









Photo by Patricia McDonnell 
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Merita A. Hopkins yesterday stopped WHDH from airing a story on autopsy results of two fallen Hub firefighters.

It's "very unusual" for a judge to issue an order preventing news organizations from running or publishing stories, a Boston civil rights attorney said yesterday.
"They should have been allowed to run the story," attorney Howard Friedman said of WHDH-TV (Ch. 7), which was banned by a judge from airing a story yesterday on the autopsy results of two Boston firefighters killed in August.
"In our system with the First Amendment, in almost all instances, you can run with the story but suffer the consequences," Friedman added. "Obviously, they publish at their peril. If it's inaccurate, if there's some damage caused . . . there could be lawsuits."
Technically, Friedman said, autopsy reports are not public record, but he stressed that it's "very unusual for a judge to order any newspaper or press to not publish."
Yesterday, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Merita A. Hopkins prohibited WHDH from airing its story.
In court, Paul Hynes, the attorney representing the Boston firefighters' Local 718, argued that it was a privacy issue and pointed to a 1989 decision by the state Supreme Judicial Court that said medical examiners' autopsy reports are not public because they are medical records.
That decision reversed a lower court ruling that said autopsies were public record after the Boston Globe sued the state's chief medical examiner's office for the autopsies of three patients who died at Bridgewater State Hospital.
Hopkins, who was sworn in as a judge in August 2006, is Boston Mayor *Thomas M. Menino*'s former chief of staff and was his legal counsel for more than a decade.
Last night, the Herald published an online report detailing the autopsy results, which found that one of two hero firefighters who died fighting a West Roxbury blaze was legally drunk at the fire while the other had traces of illegal drugs in his bloodstream.
During its 11 p.m. newscast last night, WHDH reported that it had the information, but was blocked by the judge from reporting it.
Friedman said WHDH will likely win its court appeal today because the "cat's out of the bag."

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1035913

Officials: Jake autopsies reveal alcohol, drugs 








By O'Ryan Johnson, Laurel J. Sweet and Michele McPhee 
Autopsies performed on the two hero firefighters who perished battling a West Roxbury blaze on Aug. 29 showed that...

137 Comments

More Information


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## rg1283 (Sep 14, 2005)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



frank said:


> Didn't they have a problem with this with another case (non-FF related) about six months back - something about natural decomposition of the body causing BAC levels to rise in the blood?[/quoItste]
> 
> That and the fact the FF would be so obviously drunk and traces of cocaine mean just that traces.
> 
> Its pure speculation, especially from the globe.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

If this is true, I stand in awe of Paul Cahill.

I'm not trying to be funny.....fighting a fire while sporting a .27 BAC is a truly impressive feat.


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

Give them the cash









 by Michele McPhee 
There are many things about the inferno that killed firefighters Warren Payne and Paul Cahill that have...
13 Comments

 
Photo by Mike Adaskaveg
Local Coverage

Enraged mayor orders BFD review

by Michele McPhee and Dave Wedge 
A furious Mayor Thomas M. Menino is calling for a sweeping review of the Fire Department's policies...

4 Comments

Pol vows to stand by families

Quincy patriot Ledger

*Experts: Drunken fireman unfit for duty; Scituate man's license was suspended after OUI in Marshfield*
SCITUATE - Boston Firefighter Paul Cahill, who reportedly had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit when he was killed on the job, reported for work an hour before the fatal fire. Alcoholism experts say there was no way someone should have missed the fact that he was intoxicated.​*Toxicology tests might cost kin benefits: Substance abuse could disqualify survivors for federal payment*
BOSTON - The families of two Boston firefighters killed in the line of duty Aug. 29 may be ineligible for a federal death benefit because toxicology testing showed evidence of substance abuse in the firefighters' systems.​*There's no uniform policy for firefighter testing: South Shore departments vary in their approach to monitoring for drugs, alcohol*
QUINCY - Policies on drug and alcohol testing for firefighters vary from town to town - mainly because it is subject to collective bargaining.​*Durkin family overwhelmed by attention*
QUINCY - It's what the family of Ciara Durkin wanted: to draw attention to the mysterious death of their beloved sister on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan. What they didn't bargain for: the media crush as they grieve.​


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## Buford T (Feb 12, 2005)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

The fourth estate has sunken to a new low, kicking these HEROES posthumously. Shame on them. Would the outcome have been any different? It will be interesting to see who leaked the autopsies to the press. My guess is someone inside, maybe the Commissioner? The timing is coincidental with contract negotiations set to begin. R.I.P. to both families.


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## Motor23 (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

Agree or dis-agree the police and fire are in the public's eye. Every once in awhile we get a black eye. All of us in this type of work don't like to hear stories about when we do things not accaptable. I'm not going to pass judgment on their actions. They were doing their jobs.. Both police and fire are held to a higher standard in the eye of the public, do people get concerned when they hear the people coming to help them are under the influnce of a substance I would have to say yes. This subject needs to be addresed with the department, not aired over the rags.


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## 94c (Oct 21, 2005)

*Re: Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*



DodgeRam said:


> The two government officials were briefed separately. They spoke separately to the Globe on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.


Right wrong or indifferent, the rats will always be there because of the pathetic miserable lives they live.

Be a man and be quoted. RATFACE



Inspector said:


> These guys died doing their jobs and as far as I'm concerned they should be allowed to rest in peace. The Boston Globe and any other newspaper which insists on throwing mud on the graves of these firefighter should back off and allow the families of these men the peace and healing they deserve.


Had they been gun-carrying thugs, they would have died as good fathers who were just turning their lives around.

You rats, and you know who you are, just keep being those "anonymous sources" and "police sources" to the media.


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*Re: www.boston.com/Autopsies found alcohol, cocaine in fallen firefighters' systems*

*Alcohol level challenged in firefighter autopsy results*










*Related Links*

Analysis of toxicology tests
Court of public opinion divided
Families may lose rights to benefits
Hiller Instinct: free speech v. privacy rights
BOSTON -- Questions have been raised about the autopsy results of a firefighter killed in the line of duty.
Paul Cahill of Scituate, 55, had a blood alcohol level of .27, more than three times the legal limit. However, Dr. Kim Collins of the College of American Pathologists says that heat can speed decomposition -- causing the body to generate alcohol after death.
The theory could account for as much as .1 of Cahill's alcohol level, Kim says.
Cahill's colleague Warren Payne, 53, of Canton, had traces of cocaine in his system. The men died battling a blaze in a one-story restaurant in the city's West Roxbury neighborhood in August. 
This week, mayor Thomas Menino called for a review of the city's fire department in the wake of these autopsy results.
The media reports cited confidential sources briefed on the autopsies. State and local officials have declined to comment publicly about the content of the autopsy reports. 
Menino, asked about the reports, said he was concerned about procedures in the department, and said he's launching an investigation. 
"I will order a stem to stern look at the procedures and practices of our fire department in the City of Boston," Menino said. 
Payne, a 19-year veteran of the fire department, had two children and Cahill, a 14-year veteran, was a father of three. They were hailed as heroes and their funerals drew firefighters from across the country. They were the first Boston firefighters to die in the line of duty since 1994. 
A message left at the Cahill home was not returned on Thursday. A phone number for Payne's home was not listed. 
The reports sparked a legal battle when lawyers from a firefighter's union went to court on Wednesday to protest the leaking of autopsy results to the media. Autopsy reports are not public documents in Massachusetts. 
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Merita Hopkins sided with the union and ordered WHDH-TV Channel 7 not to air details of the autopsies, but that ruling was overturned on Thursday after the station appealed. The Boston Globe and Boston Herald both ran reports on the autopsies, also citing unnamed sources they said were briefed on the autopsies. 
During a court hearing on Thursday, lawyers for WHDH-TV argued that the earlier court ruling was an infringement on the station's First Amendment right to free speech. 
"You cannot run into a court and prevent the media ... from publishing information it has," said Mike Gass, a lawyer for the station. 
Paul Hynes, a lawyer for the union, said the station knew autopsy reports in Massachusetts are not public documents and should not run information obtained from people who saw the autopsies. 
"We know that information was not lawfully obtained," he said. "Are we to believe that they are simply going to report the story or put their spin on it?" 
Appeals Court Justice Andrew R. Grainger lifted the injunction. 
Edward Kelly, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, demanded a criminal investigation into the leaking of the autopsy results and prosecution of anyone responsible. 

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO63752/


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## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

*BFD says jakes killed in blaze were not 'impaired'*

*Commissioner disputes finding*

A Boston Fire Department report on a fatal West Roxbury blaze that killed two firefighters says the jakes' deaths were not the result of drug or alcohol "impairment" but the city's top fire official is challenging the finding.
A Fire Department Board of Inquiry report probing the Aug. 29, 2007, deaths of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne at the Tai Ho Restaurant found "no factual indications supporting that alcohol/drug impairment contributed to or caused these two firefighters to become disoriented or inhibited in their ability to perform the firefighting duties assigned to them."
But Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser Jr. is disputing the findings.
"Although that may be the board's opinion, I do not believe that there is evidence to dismiss possible impairment," Fraser wrote in a letter sent today to Mayor *Thomas M. Menino* and Deputy Fire Chief Steven Dunbar, who headed the Board of Inquiry probe.
The Herald reported last year that Cahill was legally drunk and Payne had traces of cocaine in his system, according to officials briefed on the pair's autopsy reports. The Board of Inquiry's 134-page report was released to the firefighters' families today and will be posted on the Department's Web site tomorrow morning.
More details to come.

http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1075164


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