State's top firefighter awards honor 2 who died in Hub blaze

21 others from 9 communities praised for valor

David L. Ryan/Globe StaffThe annual awards ceremony yesterday at Faneuil Hall recognized firefighters from throughout Eastern Massachusetts. (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

Two Boston firefighters who were killed in a fire at a restaurant in West Roxbury last year have been honored with the state's highest award for valor in firefighting.

Governor Deval Patrick gave the Medal of Honor to family members of Paul J. Cahill and Warren J. Payne at the annual Firefighter of the Year awards ceremony yesterday at Faneuil Hall.

Patrick and his undersecretary of public safety and security, Kurt Schwartz, also handed out 21 other awards, including Medals of Valor that went to firefighters from Brookline, Fall River, Milton, and Saugus; and individual awards for meritorious conduct to firefighters from Boston, Falmouth, Gloucester, Hull, Swampscott, and Saugus.

"I am honored to be able to express my gratitude to these brave individuals and to their families," Patrick said in a statement.

Cahill, 55, and Payne, 53, died while battling a blaze inside the Tai Ho Mandarin and Cantonese restaurant on Aug. 29, 2007. Grease from the restaurant's kitchen exhaust system had seeped into the ceiling and caught fire.

Controversy erupted shortly after the firefighters' deaths, when autopsy results indicated Payne had cocaine in his system and Cahill had a high blood-alcohol content. City officials and the firefighters' union have been engaged since then in a bitter contract dispute over the issue of mandatory drug and alcohol testing.

Steve MacDonald, a Fire Department spokesman, said the controversy should have no bearing on the awards for the two men.

"They were two firefighters that were working their shift and went in, and they got killed as a result of working as firefighters in the building. Whatever else has been written really doesn't play into the job they did," he said.

"They worked as firefighters, they died as firefighters. What happened today was most appropriate."