Feb 21, 2008 11:15 pm US/Eastern
Report: Drugs Not Factors In Firefighters' Deaths
Board Of Inquiry's Report Recommends Department Drug Testing
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Warren Payne (left) and Paul Cahill.
CBS
WBZ's I-Team has obtained the results of a five-month investigation into the deaths of two Boston firefighters in August 2007.
The Board of Inquiry's report gives a minute-by-minute analysis of the conditions firefighters faced that night. It concludes that drugs and alcohol were not factors in the deaths of firefighters Warren Payne and Paul Cahill. The board also recommends drug testing for the fire department.
Within six minutes of responding to the fire at the Tai Ho restaurant in West Roxbury last summer, Payne and Cahill were dead. According to the Boston Fire Department document, the conditions for the crews battling the blaze that night deteriorated quickly.
Cahill was on Engine 30 while Payne was on Ladder 25.
When crews went into the restaurant Payne was in the front of the building near a window, while Cahill was in the back, manning a hose in the kitchen.
At 9:08 p.m. there was fire on the roof, but the inside was clear.
By 9:11, there was grease spotted dripping from the ceiling.
Two minutes later a "whoosh" sound is heard. That's when the fire that was hidden in the ducts and ceiling, fueled by built-up grease mixed with gas, exploded into a ball of fire.
The report says Cahill tried to follow the hose out of the kitchen but became disoriented.
Payne's emergency signal sounded. At 9:15 p.m., two firefighters are reported missing.
"We do know that there was a tremendously rapid progression," said Edward Kelly with the Firefighters Union. "The building blew up in their face. It's something of an anomaly on our job."
The last 6 months have been difficult for the firefighters who worked side-by-side Payne and Cahill after allegations surfaced that their two fallen brothers had alcohol and traces of drugs in their systems.
But according to the report, it was extreme conditions, not alcohol and drugs, that killed them. The fire was so hot that it melted Payne's radio and gear, and the smoke was so thick in a maze of a building that Cahill became disoriented and lost.
"The firefighters that fought that fire that night, every single one of them did a great job," said Kelly. "This report shows this fire was just a terrible, terrible fire."
Even though the report says drugs and alcohol didn't play a factor in the deaths, it does recommend drug testing. It also recommends that the district fire chiefs do roll calls at all of the firehouses and inspect all of the safety gear.
The report confirms the suspicion that a build-up of grease in the kitchen exhaust and ducts helped fuel the fire. It also reveals that substandard building materials also played a role.
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