A firefighter died Sunday of liver failure after contracting hepatitis C from blood transfusions he received for burns he suffered in a blaze many years ago.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, Perth Amboy Fire Department firefighter Douglas Ambrozewycz was working with Protection Hook & Ladder Company #1 to battle a blaze at a bakery in 1983 when he fell through the floor into the fire below.
Ambrozewycz suffered second- and third-degree burns, and received numerous blood transfusions. As a result, he contracted hepatitis C, but it was not diagnosed until many years later.