One of the two firefighters who died in an August restaurant blaze in West Roxbury entered the burning kitchen with neither his face mask, which was found on a table, nor his radio, which was left behind at the fire station. When a grease-fueled fireball exploded from the ceiling, the firefighter tried to feel his way out along a hose, but the line led him deeper into the building.
The 134-page report contains 60 recommendations, foremost among them a call for companies that install and clean kitchen exhaust systems in Massachusetts restaurants to be licensed and regulated. The panel urged passage of a state law assigning oversight of the kitchen-exhaust installation and cleaning industries to a government agency that would hold them accountable.
The board's investigation found that the fire was caused by a buildup of grease that had escaped from a hole in the kitchen's ventilation system.
Firefighters arrived at the Tai Ho restaurant on Centre Street at 9:08 p.m. Cahill rushed through the front door with the lead hose and into the kitchen. Payne began searching the restaurant for people.
In the kitchen ceiling, the fire, which had been burning long before firefighters arrived, was starving for oxygen.
Cahill aimed his fire hose up at the ceiling, where flames could be seen next to the exhaust system over the stove. The force of the water stream dislodged ceiling tiles in the kitchen and the neighboring dining room, the report says.
Within seconds, a bank of heavy smoke dropped from the ceiling to within inches of the floor. Suddenly the fire burst like a giant blow torch through a hole where a tile had been in the dining room ceiling. The blaze descended on Payne and burst out the front windows of the restaurant.
Payne was alone in that section of the dining room. An emergency distress signal sounded from his portable radio; dispatchers attempted to contact him but received no response.
One firefighter, an officer, ran into the kitchen and yelled to Cahill and another firefighter, "Get out! Get out!"
The officer and the other man ran to the door and escaped. Meanwhile, Cahill shut off his hose and attempted to follow it toward the front door. But it was twisted, and he moved deeper into the inferno, where he succumbed to smoke inhalation.
The firefighters' bodies were discovered between 9:21 and 9:26. Investigators later found an air mask, with Cahill's name faintly visible, resting on a table in the restaurant.
As to the cause of the fire, the report says grease and combustible gases escaped from the exhaust system into the ceiling through a gap 12 inches long and 1 inch wide in a metal exhaust duct.
Investigators determined that the system was rusty, thick with grease, and had not been installed or maintained in compliance with state fire codes, the report says. The state of the system "directly led to the fire and the products of combustion escaping from the containment area."
State fire codes require quarterly inspections of kitchen exhaust systems and the cleanup of any grease buildup found. The codes charge restaurant owners with the ultimate responsibility of making sure it's done right.
The board of inquiry concluded that companies that install and clean the ducts should be licensed and regulated by a government agency.
The state fire marshal's office regulates and certifies individuals and companies that install fire suppression equipment in restaurant cooking ventilation systems, such as alarms and sprinklers, but not those who install and clean the systems.
Grease-cleaning industry specialists yesterday applauded the board's recommendation for a state law mandating licensing and regulation of the companies.
"It makes a lot of sense," said Steven Schlesinger, co-owner of Tri State Fire Protection and Tri State Hood & Duct, which cleans restaurants in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. "We're huge proponents. You've got to do this right."
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com
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Menino's proposed ordinance, which is scheduled to be taken up by the City Council today, would require that individuals who clean commercial cooking equipment be certified by an agency acceptable to the Fire Department. The department would publish a list of approved agencies, and individuals would have to provide the department with proof of certification.
"It is the responsibility of the individual to keep certification active," the proposed ordinance says.
Currently, grease-cleaning companies are not licensed or regulated in Massachusetts, something that industry specialists say has given way to sloppy cleaning and fire hazards, such as that in the Tai Ho.
The restaurant owner hired J&B Cleaning of Roslindale to remove grease from cooking equipment in June last year, three months before the fire, but a receipt indicates that J&B cleaned the stove and a roof vent, but not the kitchen exhaust pipe.
Fire investigators determined that grease from the pipe seeped into the kitchen ceiling and ignited, causing the fatal blaze.
Under Menino's proposed law, restaurants that hire noncertified cleaners and individuals who clean restaurants without the proper certification could be subject to a fine of up to $200 per day. City inspectors would also have the power to shut down restaurants.
The proposed ordinance must be passed by the council and signed by the mayor to become law.
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