Police/Fire

Fallen Boston Firefighter Has Family on Watertown Fire Department

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Lt. Edward J. Walsh, one of the Boston firefighters killed in the 9-alarm blaze in the Back Bay on Wednesday, has family on the Watertown Fire Department.  

Walsh, 43, of West Roxbury, and firefighter Michael Kennedy, 33 of Hyde Park, died in the basement of a brownstone on Beacon Street when flames flared up in a backdraft, Boston Fire officials said Wednesday night. Thirteen other firefighters were injured in the fire. The fire touched Watertown, as Walsh has family members currently and formerly on the Watertown Fire Department. His father was a lieutenant on the WFD as was his late uncle Bill, according to the Boston Fire Department.

Around Town

Watertown Firefighters Now Armed with Antidote for Heroin Overdoses

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Deaths from overdoses caused by heroin and other opioids has risen in Massachusetts, and has even impacted Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department is one of the first departments to have access to an antidote for overdoses. Starting on Feb. 20, all Watertown fire vehicles began carrying Nalaxone, a drug that can be given as an antidote to a person suspected of suffering from an opioid overdose, said Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio. Opioids also include prescription painkiller medicines codeine and oxycontin.