N.J. city dedicates firehouses to 2 firefighters killed in port blaze

By Steve Strunsky
nj.com

NEWARK, N.J. — A pair of firefighters killed battling a blaze aboard a ship at Port Newark last summer were honored Tuesday with the renaming of two firehouses in their memory.

The latest tribute to Newark Fire Division Captains Augusto Acabou and Wayne Brooks Jr. comes just over a year after their deaths on July 5, 2023, aboard the Grande Costa D’Avorio, a cargo ship bound for Africa loaded with 1,200 junked cars and trucks.

Newark City Council Member Louise Scott-Roundtree, a Baptist minister, spoke at the rededication of the Engine 27/Ladder 4 firehouse on Elm Road to Brooks.

“We rededicate this building knowing that it’s a symbol of your love and symbol of the care that you had for us, that called you into service to protect and to serve,” Scott-Rountree told family, friends and fellow firefighters gathered outside the firehouse.

At the rededication of Engine 16/Ladder 8 to Acabou, bagpipers played “God Bless America,” and a department member sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” outside the Ferry Street firehouse.

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Acabou, 45, and Brooks, 49, were among the first responders to arrive at the dockside fire and ordered below decks to assess the situation before losing contact.

The two were promoted posthumously to the rank of captain by the Newark Department of Public Safety. In May, they were among 22 emergency responders honored by the 200 Club of Essex County , a business group that supports the families of police and firefighters who demonstrate extraordinary valor.

The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the fire and the response. The agencies held hearings in January but have not announced their findings.

A months-long inquiry by NJ Advance Media found that Newark was unprepared to fight a major fire at one of the nation’s largest ports, interviews with firefighters and marine fire experts, public records and court filings, hours of radio traffic, and internal incident reports revealed.

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