When reports about the autopsy results for two Boston firefighters — Paul Cahill and Warren Payne, who died fighting a West Roxbury restaurant fire Aug. 29 — were leaked to the media, a conflict between the merits of privacy and public safety unfolded on front pages, news broadcasts and talk radio. Any substance-abuse problems within the Boston Fire Department, however, require redress, not denial, from department and city officials even after a time of immense loss.
It is unfortunate the heroism or death benefits of the firefighters may be compromised by the release of the autopsy information. However, the interests of public safety demand a full appraisal of on-the-job drinking and illegal drug use by firefighters. Twelve Boston firefighters have been fired or forced to resign because of drug-test results since 2004, according to an Oct. 4 Boston Herald article. Unlike Boston Police Department officers, who expect an annual random drug test, firefighters are not required to submit to such tests, unless there is suspicion of drug use or problematic alcohol use. Substance abuse by fire fighters has been observed as a national problem, and reports of drug and alcohol use by Cahill and Payne underscore the point that substance abuse can become a problem for even the finest, most civic-minded people. Still, it is a problem that demands action.
The media and citizens should not jump to conclusions about the existence or prevalence of any problems within the fire department, but they also should not hesitate to voice their justified concerns about the matter. Firefighters are responsible for a critical part of community safety, and impairment jeopardizes both firefighters and those they are rescuing.
Though people with insider knowledge of the medical examiner’s report broke laws by leaking the content of the autopsy reports to the media, no news outlet should be singled out or prevented from publicizing this information, which was legally obtained from voluntary interviews with insiders. Suffolk Superior Court Judge Merita Hopkins’s ruling preventing WHDH-TV, Channel 7, from coming out with the report Wednesday was unreasonable and unconstitutional.
However, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino appears to be taking the autopsy reports seriously, and his statements yesterday are a good indication that the city will reexamine institutional flaws that prevent substance abuse from being identified and prevented. People must be careful not to jump to conclusions about the deaths of Cahill and Payne. Twelve other firefighters were injured in the restaurant fire that more than 100 firefighters responded to. Still, questions must be asked to find out how an intoxicated firefighter would be allowed to enter a burning building.
The truth is often painful to hear, but public safety demands that sensitivity to the victims’ families not overshadow a real problem. A thorough investigation into the demands, dangers and emotional stressors for a firefighter on the job, along with a look at the possibility of substance-abuse prevalence, is likely to bring about public understanding and an institution-wide solution.
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