A firefighter from a coastal town in northeastern New Jersey has died after suffering serious burns during a fire nearly 35 years ago.
The U.S. Fire Administration on Tuesday announced the line-of-duty death of Perth Amboy firefighter Douglas C. Ambrozewycz, who passed away Sunday from complications of burn injuries he sustained in a fire on Dec. 11, 1983.
Ambrozewycz was part of a crew with Protection Hook & Ladder Company #1 that responded to a fire at a building housing a bakery, and while he was engaged in fire suppression, a section of the first floor collapsed beneath him, sending him through the floor and into the fire below.
He suffered second- and third-degree burns and received extensive medical care, including blood transfusions. It was through one of these transfusions that Ambrozewycz contracted Hepatitis C, which did not appear until many years later.
The disease caused many debilitating health conditions that included liver failure, which was what ultimately caused the 60-year-old's death.
