A Boston firefighter was arrested after being spotted buying OxyContin from a dealer at the Broadway T stop, Channel 5 reports. His brother-in-law is a top Boston cop.

Earlier:
And now the feds are looking at the Boston Fire Department.
Boston firefighter faces assault and battery charges.
Alleged pot-smoking firefighter also alleged girlfriend-beating firefighter.
Maybe Boston firefighters should be pushing for free Avodart.

Globe: Dozens of firefighters faked disabilities to get better pensions?

Earlier:
Maybe Boston firefighters should be pushing for free Avodart.

On Saint Patrick's Day, Ladder 28 broke down and had to be taken to the maintenance and repair facility over on Southampton Street. Usually, the Boston Fire Department has plenty of spare ladders to send to the firehouses that need them...but as Murphy's Law would have it, they too were having problems.

Suffolk County DA Dan Conley announced today he's done with his investigation into the fatal fire that killed Boston firefighters Warren Payne and Paul Cahill and that he found nothing criminal.

In addition, I have authorized the release of the contents of our entire investigative file, including autopsy and toxicology results, to Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser, Jr. and the Boston Fire Department's Board of Inquiry should they wish to review it in the course of their own investigation.

A Boston Fire Department board of inquiry earlier ruled the two would have died anyway because of the nature of the fireball that erupted, but that it didn't have enough evidence to determine if the two were under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. Fire Commissioner Rod Fraser has ordered a new report.

Conley did not state what those autopsy and toxicology results showed:

The question of the presence of alcohol and/or other intoxicating substances was considered along with all other evidence and in no way changes our determination that there are no criminal charges to attach to the deaths of these firefighters.

Conley's complete statement:

Wayne Abron of Dorchester pleaded innocent this morning in Roxbury District Court to two counts of assault and battery on a police officer, one count of assault and battery on his girlfriend, and single counts of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's office.

Abron allegedly went after police officers trying to keep him from attacking his girlfriend on Howard Avenue early Sunday, according to prosecutors and the Globe.

The Herald reports he had one outstanding restraining order against him, by another woman.

Earlier:
Alleged pot-smoking firefighter also alleged girlfriend-beating firefighter.

The flyer Adam mentioned earlier today claimed, among other things, that BFD doesn't have a "reliable fireboat". 20 minutes with google finds there is a sizeable fleet: The Howard W, Fitzpatrick (operated by Massport and refurbished in 2007), The BFD Firefighter (twin to the HWF and probably the one that has "low pressure"), The BFD St. Florian II (same page as Firefighter), BFD Boston Marine 2 (same page again), and The BFD Norman Knight (of Leary fame in 2006.) The HWF and Firefighter are big (small tug sized, looks like); the rest are smaller (under 30 feet, more like big sport fishing boats.)

He also claimed a LNG tanker would explode (which would make a fireboat pretty pointless, except it can't explode.) Yes, waterfront residents are in danger; nobody has any real idea of what a major LNG tanker fire would look like, but probably anything and everyone within a 1KM radius of a full-on fire would receive enough radiant energy that it'd catch on fire itself. There's jack Boston Fire could do about it except let it burn itself out.

Nothing like a little fear, surprise and the comfy chair to liven up the contract talks. But how come the firefighters local isn't warning Charlestown about how Tom Menino wants to incinerate them in a blinding ball of LNG death flame?

Dear Boston Herald: You're getting carried away with this "jakes" thing. Jakes, jakes, jakes. Jakes on a rake. Jakes in a quake. Jakes with a snake. Jakes eat a steak. Jakes eat a snake. Yeah, it fits in a headline, but land's sake!

Click on through for a rockem-sockem loosey-goosey summary of the media coverage of this story, which was varied to say the least. Will the grand but lightweight Globe take the short-but-sweet prize for best writeup? Or will the rough, battle-hardened Herald take the Globe to the cleaners? What about the litter transit pulp papers? How do the Kings of Swooshing Animations and Lead-Ins fare?

First up, at 194 words: Maria Cramer, from The Globe:

Firefighter's bail revoked in assault.

The Globe reports a Boston firefighter, in uniform and in a department vehicle, was arrested in Dorchester this afternoon on drug-possession charges after police spotted him smoking what appeared to be marijuana.

The arrest comes one day after the Boston firefighters union stormed out of contract talks that have largely stalemated over the issue of mandatory drug and alcohol testing.