Document QXJpYdrE8e1x190kJOJea1qVE

Tl''"'1 *' A'-v I*,.,! Aft '- = ;,.v'.' ' -V *?.>.*. -. mIpmWmifMm . *V. &4fA4. sfe/* -- >-' '.7*- '- .*-. n`-7'~jfe.*.>'. i:- A' '^^5 . , ..y-MV ' ' bib&bb;': .'` :K .: - ` V 1 . ; ,') r- ' `' \ !? 1 rW-.J. is3; ' r&Sx ff. '<&?; i - 'Mr, &VJ / - , ' *cr?5?r.v gi:-,. s *< IBeaths^^- - ( p t/tWcrj 'i* .' V, r K.* Decorated firefighter dormant because the body is resisting them," said Ullyot, a Harvard-trained pathologist and physiologist. "Then you succumbs to cancer ' ;*!: (Ho7 ::> ;' t-.Vj' v By Carol Pogash b-J >' T. Examiner staff writer - -\. v . have something that knocks down that resistance, like PUB, which is very harmful to the liver. So this cluster grows very rapidly." .' . _ ' -,v V .- . But Fire Department surgeon Dr. William New'som differed with Ullyot. ' ' . i "My feeling," he said, "is it's an extremely remote William Azich, the first San Francisco battalion chief on `possibility that the PCB could have activated a preexisting the'seene of last year's PG&E gas explosion and PCB leak in. cancer, but it's just speculative. There's no way of proving it. ,the:Financial District, died Friday from cancer he and one of - After talking with Azich's attending physician and other his`doctors believed was triggered by exposure to PCB. . - doctors in occupational medicine, Newsom concluded, "The he was 52.' . . . ' PCB would have to be considered unrelated." <; . . "He didn't blame anybody," said acting Fire Chief Emmet Condon. "He said he had been exposed many times to danger. He had no bitterness. (He felt) it was just the hazard of the job. ' ' . . "He said he was born to be a fireman." v 7. . Earlier this .week, when Condon visited the ailing firefighter at St. Francis Hospital, Azich said he had advised `.t Studies of humans exposed to PCB have not shown a link to cancer, according to Dr. Blair Smith, of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati. > Mice exposed to PCB have experienced increased numbers of tumors bcrrihe statistical significance was questioned and the chemical is only listed as a suspect carcinogen by the National Cancer Institute. . his! physicians to 'conduct "any research that could help Azich's death was called "a great loss to the department" anyone else. ' . by Condon, who considered him "one of our best chief "He knew he was going to die" and made arrangements officers," and "a man of tremendous physical courage." for`his own funeral.. . ' Azich, who joined the Fire Department in March 1954, On Aug. 25, Azich responded to an explosion at the distinguished himself early, in the cliff rescue unit, saving Embarcaderov At a high-rise construction site, a worker surfers and climbers from ocean tides and slippery rocks. He accidentally hit a PG&E gas' pipeline, which set off the received the coveted Class A Medal in 1966 for one such explosion and leak; forcing 40,000 persons to evacuate 'rescue and two Class B Medals in 1975 for coaxing would-be nearby buildings. . . J.7; V. ' J ' suicidal jumpers down from high-rise office buildings. Not until after the incident did firefighters and others in I When he knew he was dying, Azich, who never married, . the area learn from PG&E that the gas to which they had telephoned eight personal friends in the Fire Department' been exposed was laced with the toxic PCB. ' ' . and asked them to be pallbearers at his funeral, Condon said. ' PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) was commonly used as an He also telephoned a delicatessan to arrange for food for insulating fluid by utility companies until its manufacture the reception afterward. . . : ' .' . was banned several years ago. But it still is found in many The rosary will be said at 8 p.m. tomorrow at Duggan's older.pipes. / '-. ' * Serra Mortuary, 500 Westlake Ave., Daly City. Azich's funeral Immediately following the PCB spill last August, Azich will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the mortuary. From there suffered a severe rash, respiratory problems, bloodshot eyes, sore throat and headaches. . . ' . Less than two months later, the highly decorated Fire a procession will move to St. Mary's Cathedral where a Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10:30 a.m. Friends may call at the mortuary any time after A p.m. Department- veteran of '28 -years, was unable to work, today. . .. . . . - complaining of stomach pains and abdominal swelling. --. Ir^JOecember, he was diagnosed as suffering from cancer of the liver. Always in excellent health, Azich had run a marathon race shortly before he became ill, he told Condon. Recording to Dr. Joan Ullyot, who monitored Azich's health for nine years as part of a medical study, the exposure to PCB lowered his body's resistance to cancer. 1" . - : . "We're not saying the PCB is suddenly causing the cells to become malignant," Ullyot said in an earlier interview. -. "But, say you got a cluster of abnormal cells (that) are' PCB-ARCH-EXT0376209