MURRIETA, Calif. --
He survived battles with wildfires, but lost his fight against a rare and deadly parasite.
Loved ones spoke Wednesday after Captain Matt Moore died in a San Diego hospital.
It wasnt fire that would claim the life of Matt Moore, but something else.
For seventeen years, brothers Matt and Mark Moore faced their share of risk as firefighters in Murrieta, California.
It's just shocking to me. You don't think of those things. You think of common dangers out there as a firefighter, said Mark Moore.
Compared to those dangers, the flu-like symptoms Matt came down with in November seemed minor.
Matt had just spent weeks fighting fires near Murrieta, even as wildfires swept across San Diego county.
Mark now believes something his brother breathed in would kill him.
He had severe headaches and it just kept getting worse and worse.
By January, Matt was being treated in San Diego. A biopsy showed his brain had been attacked by the parasite Balamuthia mandrillaris, a rare amoeba that lives in soil.
Once the amoeba gets inside humans, few people survive. Matt died Monday.
Wednesday morning, a procession of family and firefighters escorted his body from San Diego to Murrieta.
It's heartwarming and at the same time heartbreaking, added Mark. Now his children dont have a father. That's hard.
Matt Moore, a father of three children, will be buried in Murrieta next Thursday.
Copyright 2008 by 10News.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
