ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A retired firefighter died Saturday 30 years after repeatedly entering a burning stairwell to rescue his fellow brothers.
The death of Walter E. Hauser, 62, is being treated as a line of duty death arising from the injuries he suffered in the 1981 department store fire in Rochester, N.Y. Dozens of firefighters attended his funeral Wednesday.
Twenty-six firefighters were injured in the fire at McCurdy’s. Firefighter Hauser went back and forth into the basement of the store five times to save other firefighters, according to WHEC.com.
His lungs were damaged during the rescues, and the website reported Firefighter Hauser endured a heart and lung transplant, and cancer in the years that followed.
Rochester Fire Chief John Caufield called Firefighter Hauser a “true hero.”
The district attorneys office are investigating the status of the man convicted of the arson that caused the fire, and whether they can press murder charges.