Two Newark firefighters died Wednesday night while fighting a blaze on a cargo ship at Port Newark, officials said.
Wayne Brooks Jr., 49, and Augusto “Augie” Acabou, 45, were identified by Mayor Ras Baraka as the two firefighters who died while trying to contain the blaze.
“This was a tragedy, and my heart goes out to the family of each of these members and also the Newark fire department,” said Newark Fire Chief Rufus Jackson during an early morning press conference.
Officials at a later press conference did not say if the fire had been contained, as it had continued to smolder several hours after it began late Wednesday.
“We just lost two of our best here in the city of Newark, two of our bravest here in this city who, without hesitation, gave their lives and probably that morning didn’t think they would be fighting a fire on a ship of 5,000 cars, something they had not trained for,” Baraka said shortly after 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Five other firefighters were injured combating the blaze, including those from other municipalities, officials said. One firefighter from Newark had burns to his feet, another had heat exhaustion and a third had respiratory distress.
The department responded around 9:30 p.m. to a fire on the massive car carrier Grande Costa d’Avorio, which was loaded with roughly 5,000 vehicles, officials said. By the time firefighters arrived, the blaze was already burning a handful of cars on the ship’s 10th floor, Jackson said. It quickly spread to the 11th and 12th floors.
“The members made an attempt to extinguish the fire, and because of the intense heat, they got pushed back out of the area where the initial fire was,” Jackson said as he fought back tears. “Two firefighters were lost while conducting this action of backing out of the structure.”
After initial searches to locate the missing individuals were unsuccessful, other teams were called from around New Jersey and New York City. The U.S. Coast Guard was also called in to…
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