Two firefighters Dead in the Port Newark, NJ Fire

Two emergency mayday calls led to two firefighters’ lives being taken from their families on Wednesday night fire at the Port Newark, NJ. The two officers responded to the calls and arrived at Port Newark, trying to extinguish the ‘unusual nature of the fire’ on the Italian cargo ship. It was loaded up with roughly 1,200 new and used cars, vans, and trucks and 157 containers.

The unusual nature of the fire — on board a ship loaded with vehicles — made it exceptionally challenging, leading to two mayday calls after emergency crews began arriving at the port at about 9:30 p.m., said Chief Rufus Jackson of the Newark Fire Department.

The first call for help came from a nine-year department veteran, Augusto “Augie” Acabou, 45. Soon after, a firefighter with 16 years of experience, Wayne Brooks Jr., 49, became trapped. Neither survived, Chief Jackson said.

“These were two of our best,” Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark said on Thursday, noting that neither hesitated to rush into the fire on a ship with at least 12 decks — “something that they had not trained for.”

The ship, the Grande Costa d’Avorio, owned by the Grimaldi Group, said that the fire began on the ship’s 10th deck as crew members and local stevedores were loading vehicles.

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