Tai Ho

Feds criticize Boston Fire Department for fatal Tai Ho fire

adamg — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:16:54 +0000

Channel 4 points us to a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health report on the 2007 fire that killed Boston firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne, which says a number of contributing factors led to their deaths:

Ineffective incident management system at the incident.
Insufficient incident management training and requirements.
Insufficient tactics and training.
Ineffective communications.
Delay in establishing a rapid intervention team.
Inadequate building code enforcement and development.
Inadequate turnout clothing and personal protective equipment.

Settlement over fatal West Roxbury restaurant fire not yet a done deal

adamg — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:07:07 +0000

Despite what the Globe and Herald wrote about the lawsuit brought by survivors of the two firefighters killed battling an out-of-control grease fire at the Tai Ho in 2007.

West Roxbury firefighters having their barbecue today, anyway

adamg — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:35:59 +0000

Firefighters get ready. Photo
from Bulletin Newspapers.

UPDATE: The Bulletin Newspapers report on today's memorial service as well as a barbecue banquet provided by Tex's BBQ of Dedham as a way for the firefighters to thank West Roxbury.

They're not letting the city or the union tell them how to thank West Roxbury for its support after the Tai Ho fire.

According to the Bulletin Newspapers, the men of Engine 30 and Ladder 25 will start their ~~cookout~~ thank-you barbecue immediately after a 1 p.m. memorial service for Warren Payne and Paul Cahill - in the Hyde Park Savings Bank parking lot next to the Centre Street station.

Fire brass had ordered the cookout canceled earlier this week, saying they did not feel it an appropriate way to honor the two men's memories.

The new plaques unveiled today (photos courtesy Bulletin Newspapers):

Boston Fire Department disses West Roxbury

adamg — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:38:25 +0000

Cancels cookout planned for Friday; West Roxbury firefighters wanted to thank the community for its support after the Tai Ho fire.

No criminal charges in Tai Ho fire

adamg — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 20:34:20 +0000

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:

Does Adrian Walker's column offer any new insights on the deaths of two firefighters in West Roxbury?

adamg — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:53:20 +0000

No.

Compare his column with Peter Gelzinis's column on Saturday, when this was all still breaking news.

The death of firefighters vs. a bunch of rich dog owners in Manchester-by-the-Sea

adamg — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 03:33:50 +0000

It's interesting to compare the second-day coverage of the report on the dead firefighters - and see how the Herald is taking the lead on the story.

Report on the death of two West Roxbury firefighters

adamg — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:57:43 +0000

Box 4-281 Report is the Board of Inquiry report into the deaths of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne at the Tai Ho restaurant in West Roxbury on Aug. 29, 2007 (It's a 9M file, so it might take awhile to download; if you have trouble, I've put a copy here).

It contains a detailed timeline of the night, background on the building and firefighting equipment and photos from the night of the fire. And it concludes the fire was caused and worsened by the restaurant's failure to adequately clean accumulated grease out of ducts and that initial efforts to fight the fire (which firefighters did not realize was as bad as it was) helped contribute to "an intense fireball" that helped disorient Cahill, Payne and other firefighters by providing a sudden infusion of oxygen to the fire.

... The substandard construction, installation and maintenance of the kitchen hood, duct and exhaust system, along with the degradation of the duct work were the underlying factors involved in this fatal fire incident. ...

The board does not actually say the two firefighters were not impaired by either alcohol or drugs, but that:

... The Board of Inquiry could find no factual indications supporting that alcohol/drug impairment contributed to or caused these two firefighters to become disoriented or inhibited their ability to perform the firefighting duties assigned to them at the fatal fire incident. ...

Fire Department report says West Roxbury firefighters not impaired; fire commissioner not so sure

adamg — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:36:22 +0000

The Herald posts a brief story on a 134-page report due out tomorrow on the death of firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne at the Tai Ho restaurant in West Roxbury on Aug. 29.

The report is due to be posted on the Fire Department Web site tomorrow.

Bad Timing Award of the Year

adamg — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:43:59 +0000

The West Roxbury Transcript alerts us to the news that some Chinese-restaurant group this month named Tai Ho in West Roxbury one of the 100 best Chinese take-out places in America.

Only problem: Tai Ho burned to the ground in August, killing two Boston firefighters in the process.

Tai Ho firefighters: Our heroes are human, nothing more, nothing less

Rocinante — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:46:18 +0000

It is difficult to find an adequate definition for the phrase "human being." Nothing I found comes close, taking into account the complexities of our species.

People don't live on the margins, none of us are all good or all bad. Our lives take place on a broad page with many choices. Good, bad, decisions we make that we would like to take back. We are all capable of great kindnesses and cruelties. Few of us would turn down the opportunity to hit the "do over" button of life and get a chance to change one aspect or another of our lives.

Appeals Court judge: You can't censor news outlets

adamg — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 20:08:34 +0000

Jessica Heslam gets a copy of the appellate ruling letting Channel 7 air its story on the two Tai Ho firefighters by overturning a lower court ruling that banned it from doing so (even as every other news outlet in town was doing stories on the subject):

... "Simply put, the inability of the press to require the government to disclose information that is not part of the public record does not support a restraint on speech with respect to information already known to the press," Grainger wrote.

"Indeed and famously," the judge continued, "the presumption against prior restraints on free speech has prevailed even when the materials at issue are stolen and deal with issues of national security." ...

Other Tai Ho notes:

Random drug tests for Boston firefighters

adamg — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 13:34:12 +0000

John Tobin for mayor?

adamg — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 20:03:07 +0000

Riding a wave of public disgust over the lack of drug testing for firefighters? David Bernstein thinks it's possible.

Why only Channel 7 didn't report on the Tai Ho autopsies

adamg — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:04:35 +0000

Every other media outlet did, even BostonNow, but WHDH was enjoined by a court ruling in a case brought by the firefighters' union. The Outraged Liberal discusses that:

... I'm no fan of 7News, with its over-the-top emphasis on crime, mayhem and the latest "thing." I find their style to be overly aggressive and their heated pursuit of what I think to be non-stories as annoying.

But, to single then out is wrong. Whether we like it or not, this is a legitimate story. And as we have learned from CSI and the other shows of its genre, evidence doesn't lie. The odds on mixing up the samples, even in a medical examiner's office as screwed up as the one in Suffolk County, are astronomical.

[Judge] Hopkins ruled that one news outlet could not report the kind of news we don't like to hear -- that even heroes are mortal human beings. That ruling is a bigger abomination than reporting the facts.

Dan Kennedy is shocked by the ruling:

By stopping WHDH-TV (Channel 7) from reporting on autopsy reports that allegedly show two Boston firefighters killed in an August restaurant blaze had abused drugs and alcohol, Hopkins violated the most basic of First Amendment protections — the protection against prior restraint. ...

The courts - right up to and including the U.S. Supreme Court - have consistently ruled that when a confidential document ends up in the hands of the media, there's nothing that can be done about it. The legal responsibility is on the keepers of those documents not to release them; the media, by contrast, have no legal obligation not to report on them. ...

Earlier:
Oh, my: Were Tai Ho firefighters drunk, on coke?