Event to honor firefighters canceled

West Roxbury cookout was planned

"It comes when it rains," said Chuck Caggiano, co-owner of Super Flash T-shirts, of the smell of smoke that lingers from last year's fire at the Tai Ho Chinese restaurant near his store. (Globe Staff Photo / George Rizer)

On certain days, the odor of smoke returns to the small strip of stores that once housed the Tai Ho Chinese restaurant in West Roxbury.

"It comes when it rains," said Chuck Caggiano, co-owner of Super Flash T-shirts next door to the former restaurant.

Like the lingering smell, political controversy continues a year after two firefighters, Paul J. Cahill and Warren Payne, died when kitchen grease exploded in flames at the Tai Ho. Yesterday, Fire Department infighting even overtook plans for a modest anniversary observance.

Department brass abruptly canceled a community cookout that firefighters at the West Roxbury firehouse had advertised for Friday to commemorate the tragedy, which occurred Aug. 29 last year.

Plaques honoring Cahill and Payne will be installed at the firehouse Friday in a smaller event. There will also be a moment of silence at the firehouse Friday evening, to coincide with the time of the fire.

The cancellation is another example of the deep divisions that have developed in the Fire Department since autopsy reports indicated that at the time of their death, Payne had cocaine in his system and Cahill had a blood-alcohol content of 0.27, more than three times the legal limit to drive in Massachusetts.

The deaths opened up a fight between Fire Department management and the firefighters union over whether firefighters should be required to submit routinely to mandatory drug and alcohol testing, a contract request that the union opposes.

Firefighters at the West Roxbury firehouse contend that Cahill, who was assigned to Engine 30, and Payne, who was on Ladder 25, deserve to be remembered without controversy.

"They are very missed guys," said Lieutenant Robert Cardillo, who has been assigned to the West Roxbury firehouse for four years and who was interviewed before the cookout was canceled.

"No matter what happened, two guys are dead, and the families are still hurting," he said.

Cardillo and firefighters at the Centre Street firehouse declined yesterday to talk about the circumstances of the deaths of their colleagues and the political turmoil that has followed.

But Cardillo said firefighters decided they needed to show appreciation to their West Roxbury neighbors, who showed strong support for the firehouse in the immediate aftermath of the fire.

"We want to tell them that we appreciate what they did for us," said Cardillo, "and to also recognize the two guys that died.

"They were two guys that were loved, really."

The firehouse members took out an ad in the neighborhood newspaper last week announcing the cookout and inviting residents to the firehouse for hot dogs, hamburgers, and "heaping helpings of thanks."

The firefighters raised $1,400 among themselves to buy commemorative plaques for Payne and Cahill that will be installed on the firehouse wall and planned to unveil them before the cookout.

But yesterday, after word of the plans reached fire headquarters, Chief of Department Kevin MacCurtain ordered the cookout canceled. He said in an interview last night that he did not feel that a cookout was an appropriate way to recognize a tragedy.

"I feel from a standpoint of tradition and respect that's just not the right thing to do at this time," MacCurtain said, adding that an observance of the deaths will still go forward with a short prayer service at 1 p.m. and the unveiling of the plaques.

Cardillo could not be reached for comment after the cancellation.

The legacy of the Tai Ho fire has been greater during the last year than just the controversy over drug and alcohol testing.

After fire investigators concluded that grease buildup from cooking equipment at the Tai Ho fueled the fatal blaze, the city passed a law requiring training and certification of commercial grease-cleaning companies.

The state fire marshal plans to institute similar requirements statewide this fall.

The Fire Department also has purchased thermal-imaging cameras for every engine and ladder company because having such equipment could have helped West Roxbury firefighters more easily detect the fire burning within the ceiling when they entered the restaurant that night.

Payne was killed instantly when a fireball exploded from the ceiling.

Fire officials began training every fire company on rapid rescue techniques that could have helped firefighters more quickly locate Cahill, who became disoriented in the restaurant kitchen and died of smoke inhalation.

The tragedy also prompted a comprehensive review and rewriting of all department policies and procedures.

"The city has not forgotten the sacrifices made by Firefighter Cahill and Firefighter Payne," Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement yesterday.

"Our hearts go out to their families as we mark this one-year anniversary.

"Unfortunately, nothing we do can bring them back, but we will continue to make the changes necessary to help prevent this type of devastating loss in the future."

"A year later, we still struggle to heal the wounds left by the loss of Firefighter Payne and Firefighter Cahill," Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser said in a statement released yesterday.

Boston firefighters, once hailed as almost unassailable heroes, have endured wave upon wave of negative publicity in the last year.

A civil service test had to be thrown out after state officials found evidence that Boston firefighters may have cheated during the exam. Two firefighters were arrested on drug charges, one charged with buying Oxycontin and another charged with smoking marijuana while in uniform and in a department vehicle.

Another was arrested last week and charged with raping three Brockton women while impersonating a state trooper.

Federal authorities are investigating possible pension fraud involving dozens of current and former Boston firefighters, after the Globe reported in January that 74 percent of Boston firefighter retirements between 2005 and 2007 were granted based on accidental disability, more than twice the rate of similarly sized cities.

One firefighter under investigation, Albert Arroyo, made national headlines last month after he participated in a bodybuilding competition just two weeks after he said he was permanently disabled in a work-related injury and applied for a disability pension.

But in West Roxbury, it is the deaths of Cahill and Payne at the Tai Ho restaurant that continue to draw the most painful memories.

Faint water stains dot the wooden floorboards of what used to be the Tai Ho. The former restaurant has been gutted and a "for lease" sign is taped in the window.

Next door at Super Flash T-Shirts, a small sign above the door offers thanks for "our brave firemen."

"I wanted to keep it up for at least a year," Caggiano said earlier this week.

Across the street, a White Hen Pantry owner stocking his shelves with tomato soup and other canned goods said he thinks about Cahill and Payne every time he looks out the storefront window.

"It always hurts when I look there," said Ahed Rajeh, who has owned the store for six years.

"There's always something to remind us there."

George Rizer of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.