Hero Firefighter Arrested On Drug Charges

BOSTON -- A Boston firefighter was arrested in Dorchester Friday on suspicion of drug possession.

Anthony "Tony" Gaston, 47, an inspector with the department's Fire Prevention Division, was found at about 3 p.m. with marijuana inside his fire vehicle while on duty on Dunlap Street, according to police.

Video: Hero Firefighter Arrested

Officials said that he was in uniform doing investigations for the department at the time of his arrest.

Officials said that police were on routine patrol when they spotted Gaston in his vehicle with two other men smoking marijuana. Inside Gaston's vehicle, police said that officers found several bags of marijuana, Percocet and large amounts of cash.

Gaston, a 26-year veteran of the department, was placed on administrative leave and will be asked to submit to a drug test.

"We do not have all the facts. He deserves his day in court, but if he is convicted, there's absolutely no room for that type of behavior on the Boston Fire Department," Boston Firefighters Union Chief Ed Kelly said.

In July 2002, Gaston was profiled in a NewsCenter 5 story after making a daring rescue to get residents out of a burning building. Gaston rushed into the building on Wales Street in Boston and led six residents to safety. He suffered smoke inhalation during the rescue.

The city of Boston is in the process of negotiating a new contract with firefighters, and the issue of mandatory drug testing has been a sticking point. Currently, mandatory drug testing is not required for members of the fire department.

In August, Boston firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne were killed in a West Roxbury restaurant fire. News reports on the autopsies said that at the time of the fire, Payne had traces of cocaine in his system, and Cahill had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit.

A report released last month by the fire department's board of inquiry concluded that drugs and alcohol were not factors in their deaths.