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BOSTON (AP) - A Boston Fire Department panel issued a report Friday that concluded drugs and alcohol weren't factors in the deaths of two firefighters in a restaurant blaze last summer, though it never obtained copies of autopsy reports.
Citing autopsy results leaked by unnamed officials, several Boston news outlets reported last year that firefighter Paul Cahill had a blood alcohol level three times the state's legal limit and firefighter Warren Payne had traces of cocaine in his system when they died battling a fast-moving restaurant fire on Aug. 29.
The reports led Mayor Thomas Menino to demand a review of the fire department and renewed calls for random drug and alcohol testing of firefighters. The issue has added tension in labor negotiations with the firefighters, who have been working without a contract since the middle of 2006.
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