Two Firefighters Killed In Boston Blaze

Two firefighters were killed and 11 other people were injured after crews became disoriented in dense smoke and trapped in a restaurant fire in the city's West Roxbury neighborhood, officials said Thursday.

Killed were Paul Cahill, 55, of Scituate, and Warren Payne, 53, of Canton, who served on Engine 30, Ladder 25, the first unit to respond to the Wednesday night fire, Fire Department spokesman Scott Salman said.

Two other firefighters were under observation at Brigham and Women's Hospital and were expected to be released Thursday once oxygen levels in their blood return to normal, Salman said. Eight other firefighters who had less severe injuries were released overnight. Salman was unsure of the status of an EMS paramedic who was evaluated for chest pains.

"Tonight is a very sad night for the city of Boston," Mayor Thomas Menino said. "Two of our bravest have lost their lives in a fire in West Roxbury. Our prayers and offers of help are extended to the families of those two firefighters and the other firefighters who were injured in the line of duty. This is a dangerous job, and these firefighters answered the call."

The mayor and fire officials said both firefighters had two children and asked for prayers for the families.

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.

"I think they went in pretty well prepared. There were about 100 firefighters who responded to this," reports Karen Twomey of CBS radio station WBZ-AM. "But we're told because of the heat and the smoke, the firefighters became disoriented and that's when they became trapped."

Fire Chief Kevin MacCurtain said the most seriously injured were members of the first crew that responded. The cause remained under investigation Thursday.

"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 said.

Fire Department spokesman Scott Salman said a ball of fire may have been created after a three-ton air conditioning unit partially fell through the roof.

The firefighters who died didn't appear to have been hit by the falling AC unit, which was lifted out of the blackened building early Thursday. However a burst of flames can be caused when a fresh supply of oxygen reaches a confined space with superheated air, Salman said.

He said officials do not believe the restaurant was open when the fire broke out.

Several blocks from the fire, the Engine 30, Ladder 25 firehouse was mostly dark early Thursday, with a U.S. flag flying at half-staff in front of the building.

One block of Centre Street remained closed. Several other businesses were heavily damaged, including a flower shop, an art gallery and a pet grooming store.

A police station was at the end of the block, but was not affected by the fire.

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 Globe.

Strickland told CBS station WBZ-TV: "From the top it was just smoke, but once it started coming out of the front of the building it was really, really crazy. I mean, it seemed like it was halfway in the street. I've never seen anything like it. It was huge."