Tai Ho

No criminal charges in Tai Ho fire

adamg — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:34:20 -0400

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 08:53:20 -0500

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 — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:33:50 -0500

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 12:57:43 -0500

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 — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:36:22 -0500

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 17:43:59 -0500

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 10:46:18 -0400

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 16:08:34 -0400

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 09:34:12 -0400

* Yes * No * Don't know

John Tobin for mayor?

adamg — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:03:07 -0400

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