A Newark firefighter critically injured last month while battling a fire has returned to New Jersey to continue his recovery.

Firefighter Paul Leber was given a police escort from Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx to a rehab facility in West Orange.

The 38-year-old was visibly moved by the crowd that arrived to cheer him on.

Leber was hurt during the Dec. 30 fire at a Newark tire shop after becoming disoriented while others were evacuating the building. 

Newark Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose says that the department is looking forward to when Leber can finally go home. 

"What I've learned about Paul and his family for the past two weeks is he is a tremendous firefighter,” Ambrose says. “Dedicated, was in two wars, and will not lay down.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.