Port Newark cargo ship fire investigation set to wrap up with final witness testimonies
NEWARK, N.J. -- The final witnesses are expected to testify Wednesday in the ongoing investigation into last year's deadly cargo ship fire at Port Newark.
Newark Fire Captains Augusto Acabou, 45, and Wayne Brooks Jr., 49, were killed when the massive fire tore through the Italian cargo ship Grande Costa D'Avorio last July. Five other firefighters were injured.
Acabou was a 10-year veteran of the fire department. At his funeral, he was remembered as a kind and compassionate jokester who loved baseball and his family.
Brooks, affectionately known as "Bear," spent 16 years with the department after graduating first in his class at the academy. His friends said he loved to cook for fellow firefighters.
Both men were posthumously promoted to the rank of captain.
The Newark Firefighters Union and the victims' loved ones say they were not properly trained on how to respond to this type of fire.
"They never had ship board fire training and this was absolutely a contributing factor to their deaths," the union said in a statement earlier this year.
Investigators said a Jeep Wrangler that was being used to load vehicles onto the ship caught fire, and the flames quickly spread. It took crews several days to get the blaze under control.
The U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board are scheduled to conduct their final witness testimonies Wednesday. The details will likely be made public Thursday.