Coast Guard previews public hearing on deadly Port Newark cargo ship fire
UNION, N.J. -- There's new information about July's deadly cargo ship fire in Port Newark, as the Coast Guard previewed Wednesday's public hearing.
Firefighters 45-year-old Augusto Acabou and 49-year-old Wayne Brooks Jr. were killed when a massive fire overtook an Italian cargo ship in Port Newark on July 5, 2023. Five other firefighters were injured.
The Coast Guard on Tuesday previewed a hearing to determine what went wrong.
"The purpose of the hearing is to meticulously examine the circumstances surrounding the causes of the fire and the subsequent events that led to the deaths of firefighters Acabou and Brooks so that we can help prevent future incidents and make the shipping and port community safer," said Commander Christian J. Barger, lead investigating officer for the Grande Costa D'Avorio fire.
Families of the fallen firefighters say the men weren't properly trained to fight a fire inside what amounted to a steel-walled, enclosed parking garage.
CBS New York's Jessica Moore asked Barger if improper training led to their deaths.
"That is something that's still under investigation by the Coast Guard and part of what we hope to ascertain through these public hearings that'll take place over the next two weeks," he said.
But the Newark Firefighters Union is ready to make that assessment now, telling CBS New York, "They never had ship board fire training and this was absolutely a contributing factor to their deaths."
The two-week hearing will include 13 witnesses and reveal new photographic evidence taken inside the burned-out ship. The Coast Guard will make safety recommendations based on its findings.