A decade after deaths of 2 Boston firefighters, senators pass bill to toughen oversight

BOSTON (AP) — A decade after two firefighters died when they became trapped in a brownstone in Boston’s historic Back Bay neighborhood by a fire caused by sparks from welders working next door, the Massachusetts Senate passed a bill Thursday aimed at toughening oversight of so-called “hot work.”

The fire in March 2014 took the lives of Lt. Edward Walsh, 43, and firefighter Michael Kennedy, 33. They were trapped in the building’s basement and died from smoke inhalation and burns.

The bill requires the Department of Fire Services to develop a publicly accessible database to document notices of code violations and fines from violations of the state fire code, including the failure of an individual to maintain hot-work training certification, performing hot work without hot-work training certification, and failure to comply with hot-work permit requirements.

Investigators determined that the wind-whipped fire was started by welding sparks from work being done by two employees of an ironworks firm working without a permit next door.

Investigators determined that that actions were irresponsible and careless, but not criminal, according to the district attorney’s office at the time.

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