Two firefighters died whereas working to extinguish a raging fireplace Wednesday aboard an Italian cargo ship that was loading vehicles at Port Newark in New Jersey, the authorities stated.
The firefighters “made an try and extinguish the hearth and, due to the extraordinary warmth, they acquired pushed again out of the realm the place the preliminary fireplace was,” Chief Rufus Jackson of the Newark Fireplace Division stated in a information convention early Thursday.
The firefighters who died on the ship, the Grande Costa d’Avorio, weren’t instantly recognized.
“This was a tragedy, and my coronary heart goes out to the household of every of those members and likewise the Newark Fireplace Division,” Chief Jackson stated. “We’re going to proceed to work, and we’re going to proceed to hope for the household of the 2 members who had been misplaced tonight.”
Port Authority law enforcement officials responded after 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday to a hearth on a ship that was docked at Port Newark, stated Lenis Valens, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Grimaldi Group, the proprietor of the ship, stated in an announcement Thursday morning that the hearth started on the vessel’s 10th deck as crew members and native stevedores moved automobiles, vans and vehicles. The vessel, which typically operates between the US and West Africa, carried greater than 1,200 new and used automobiles and 157 containers, the corporate stated. It stated there have been no electrical automobiles or hazardous cargo on the ship, nor was it spilling gas or in peril of sinking.
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark stated at a information convention that a number of fireplace firms responded to the scene. The New York Fireplace Division stated a number of of its models responded after midnight, and the US Coast Guard said on Twitter that it was additionally responding to the hearth.
“Shipboard firefighting is a novel talent, and this isn’t a standard fireplace for the town of Newark and the Newark firefighters,” Chief Jackson stated. “This can be a tragedy. That is one thing as a chief I by no means wish to face.”
Chief Jackson stated that emergency responders discovered that 5 to seven automobiles had been on fireplace, and that the flames shortly prolonged to the 11th and 12th decks.
Representatives for the Newark Division of Public Security, the Newark Fireplace Division and the U.S. Coast Guard didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
“The hearth remains to be occurring now, as a matter of reality,” Mr. Baraka stated through the information convention early Thursday. “We nonetheless have companies and guys inside now nonetheless making an attempt to place this hearth out on this boat.”
“I noticed the sorts of acts of bravery and camaraderie right this moment that’s unparalleled,” he stated. “It’s very, very traumatic for all of us within the metropolis of Newark.”
Grimaldi stated that it regretted the firefighters’ deaths, and that its “ideas, prayers and sympathies are with their households and workforce at present.”
“Presently,” the corporate continued, “it isn’t identified how the hearth began however the firm will undertake a full investigation in shut cooperation with all related authorities.”
Grimaldi is predicated in Naples and has 130 vessels and 17,000 workers, according to its website. The corporate describes itself as Italy’s largest ship-owning group.
Final yr, a ferry owned by Grimaldi caught fireplace off the Greek island of Corfu on its technique to Italy, killing 11 individuals. Tons of of others had been rescued.
Port Newark Container Terminal, because the port is formally referred to as, is 272 acres, or a few third the dimensions of Central Park in Manhattan. In January 2022, a hearth at a scrap metallic recycling facility there produced smoke that wafted by means of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The ports in New Jersey and neighboring New York State are owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
As of final yr, the Port of New York and New Jersey was the second-largest container port by cargo quantity in the US — simply behind the Port of Los Angeles and barely forward of the Port of Lengthy Seashore, additionally in California, in response to Port Authority figures.
Of the $271 billion price of products that moved by means of the Port of New York and New Jersey in 2022, furnishings was the highest commodity import; automobiles and their components had been the highest export.
Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting.
