Report: Deaths of Firefighters in Back Bay Blaze Caused by Poor Training, Staffing

BOSTON, MA - Two new reports released Thursday morning say training and staffing issues led to the death of two firefighters in a 9-alarm blaze in Boston's Back Bay in March 2014.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health released its findings Thursday morning on that fatal blaze citing inadequate staffing, lack of training and "failure to adequately assess risk" as three factors that led to the deaths of both men -- Ed Walsh, a 43-year-old career fire lieutenant and Michael Kennedy, a 33-year-old firefighter. Both died during firefighting operations in that multi-family residential structure.

The March 26, 2014 fire claimed the lives of Lt. Ed Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy who died battling that blaze. Both were trapped in the basement of the burning building. Close to two dozen more first responders were also injured in that fire.

At the time of the fire, Patch reported mayday calls from both men made it clear they needed water minutes after entering the building.

The inquiry report by the Boston Fire Department also released Thursday morning found the failure of the glass door between the building’s entry foyer and basement hallway, along with the opening or failure of the shed’s exterior and vestibule doors (the fire began in the shed before extending to the building) is believed to have been the catalyst that caused the sudden and dramatic change in fire conditions behind Lt. Walsh and Firefighter Kennedy, leading to their entrapment as they searched for the source of the fire within the basement where they perished.

The NIOSH report says the following factors contributed to the fatalities:

• Delayed notification to the fire department
• Uncontrolled ventilation by a civilian
• Occupied residential building with immediate life safety concerns
• Staffing
• Scene size-up
• Lack of fire hydrants on Side Charlie (a private street)
• Lack of training regarding wind-driven fires
• Unrestricted flow path of the fire
• Lack of fire sprinkler system

The Boston Fire Department’s Inquiry Report found the fire that led to the deaths of both men was caused by an unpermitted and improperly performed welding operation that ignited a wood frame shed attached to 298 Beacon St. High wind conditions at the rear of the building increased the intensity and contributed to the rapid extension of the fire into the building, accounting for the resulting hot, dense, high velocity smoke venting from the front of the building during the initial stages of the fire.

That report says the fire originated in the attached shed in the rear of 298 Beacon Street when windblown molten slag from an unpermitted and improperly performed welding operation at 296 Beacon St. made its way under the shed’s exterior cedar shingle siding. This smoldering slag ignited the siding and sill plate and quickly extended into the shed’s interior structure and its contents. The fire then extended into the building. Abnormally high winds coming from the direction of the Charles River intensified the rapid growth of the fire by increasing the amount of oxygen available to support combustion.

Read the full NIOSH report >>>

Read the full Inquiry Report by the Boston Fire Department >>>