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Investigative hearings open into cargo ship fire that killed 2 New Jersey firefighters

UNION, N.J. (AP) — Federal investigators began several days of hearings Wednesday into a dockside cargo ship fire that killed two New Jersey firefighters last summer at one of the busiest U.S. seaports.

The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of the July 5 blaze in which the Italian-owned Grande Costa d’Avorio caught fire in Port Newark. The vessel was carrying more than 1,200 automobiles.

Newark fire Captains Augusto “Augie” Acabou and Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr. died while fighting the blaze.

A preliminary investigation by the Coast Guard and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health indicated that the Newark Fire Department “had little to no maritime firefighting training, experience or familiarization with cargo ships of any type,” according to a Coast Guard safety alert issued in November.

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