Aug. 1-- A retired New Jersey firefighter will receive full honors as a line-of-duty death after succumbing to injuries he sustained 24 years earlier.
Former Perth Amboy firefighter Richard W. Leonard, 70, died Sunday from complications of toxic smoke he inhaled while battling a fire on April 19, 1993. Leonard was operating a pumper on State Street in Perth Amboy during efforts to contain a blaze at a plastics recycling facility and spent hours taking in the smoke and fumes without any breathing equipment.
Leonard never returned to duty after the incident and had spent the previous 24 years under workers' compensation care for continuous medical conditions related to the smoke inhalation, according to a release by the U.S. Fire Administration.
A post on the Perth Amboy Fire Department's Facebook page reads: "It is with deepest sympathy that we announce the passing of retired career firefighter Richard Leonard. ... Details on Fire Department services will be posted on Tuesday. All services will be on Thursday and Friday this week in Jackson, NJ."
According to an obituary posted on myCentralJersey.com, Leonard leaves behind his wife of 47 years, Catherine, a son, two daughters and three grandchildren.
