Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley issues statement on fatal Boston fire

District Attorney Conley’s office released the following statement through Press Secretary Jake Wark:

A Suffolk prosecutor with specialized training investigating fatal fires has been assigned to the death investigation arising out of the fire at 298 Boylston St. after responding to the scene earlier this afternoon.  He will work with Boston Police and Boston Fire investigators to determine the facts and circumstances of the deaths of Firefighter Michael Kennedy and Lt. Edward Walsh in the line of duty, including the cause and origin of the blaze.  A death investigation is standard procedure in any unattended or unnatural death; it does not necessarily suggest foul play.  Because this probe is still in its very early stages, I don’t have any information on preliminary findings and I defer to Boston Fire on that point this evening.

On behalf of the District Attorney, our office extends its deepest condolences to the Kennedy and Walsh families, as well as to their brothers and sisters at Ladder 15, Engine 33, and the Boston Fire Department.  We are mindful that today’s deaths occurred just a few blocks from the Vendome building, where nine Boston firefighters perished during a 1972 hotel fire.  A memorial to those men stands on the Comm Ave mall near Dartmouth Street and carries special significance on this very sad day.