Two firefighters died while working to extinguish a raging fire aboard a cargo ship docked at Port Newark in New Jersey on Wednesday, authorities said.
Firefighters “tried to extinguish the fire and, due to the intense heat, they were pushed back to the area of the first fire,” Chief Rufus Jackson of the Newark Fire Department said at a news conference early Thursday.
The firefighters were not immediately identified.
“This is a tragedy, and my heart goes out to the families of each of these members and also the Newark fire department,” Chief Jackson said. “We will continue to work, and we will continue to pray for the family of the two members who went missing tonight.”
Port Authority police officers responded just after 9:30 p.m. Wednesday to a fire on a ship docked at Port Newark in New Jersey, said Lenis Valens, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said at a news conference that several fire companies responded to the scene. The New York Fire Department said several of its units responded after midnight, and the United States Coast Guard said on Twitter that it also responded to the fire.
The Coast Guard identified the vessel as a cargo ship, and Mr. Baraka said there were about 5,000 vehicles on board.
“Boat firefighting is a unique skill, and this is not a common fire for the city of Newark and the Newark firefighters,” said Chief Jackson. “This is a tragedy. This is something as a boss I don’t want to deal with.
Chief Jackson said emergency responders found the fire on the 10th floor of the ship, where five to seven vehicles were on fire, and that the fire quickly spread to the 11th and 12th floors. floor.
Representatives of the Newark Department of Public Safety, Newark Fire Division and the US Coast Guard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The fire is still going today, actually,” Mr. Baraka said during a news conference early Thursday. “We still have agencies and guys inside right now trying to put this fire out on this boat.”
“I see the kinds of acts of bravery and friendship today that are unmatched,” he said. “This is very, very traumatic for all of us in the city of Newark.
An Italian company, the Grimaldi Group, confirmed early Thursday that it is the owner of the ship that caught fire in Newark. It did not say how the fire started or what was on board at the time. Grimaldi is based in Naples and has 130 ships and 17,000 employees, according to its website. The company describes itself as the largest ship-owning group in Italy.
Last year, a Grimaldi-owned ferry caught fire on the Greek island of Corfu en route to Italy, killing 11 people. Hundreds more were saved.
The Port Newark Container Terminal, as the port is officially called, is 272 acres, or about one-third the size of Manhattan’s Central Park. In January 2022, a fire at a scrap metal recycling facility there sent smoke billowing over Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Ports in New Jersey and adjacent New York State are owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Last year, the Port of New York and New Jersey was the second largest container port in terms of cargo volume in the United States – just behind the Port of Los Angeles and slightly ahead of the Port of Long Beach, also in California, according to Port Authority figures.
Of the $271 billion worth of goods moving through the Port of New York and New Jersey in 2022, furniture will be the top commodity import; Vehicles and their parts are the leading exports.
Elizabeth Povoledo contributed to the report.