UNION TOWNSHIP, N.J. (PIX11) -- The family members of two firefighters who lost their lives fighting the fire onboard a ship in Port Newark said that they were "heartbroken" after hearing days of testimony about the tragedy.
Wednesday was the fifth of six days of testimony into the fire that broke out onboard the Grande Costa D'Avorio last July.
The Coast Guard organized the hearings at the Union Township Municipal Building, and some NTSB investigators joined Coast Guard officials in questioning crew members from the ship, firefighters, and other witnesses.
After hearing testimony and seeing evidence, family members' reactions were emotional.
"Extremely upsetting to me and my family," is how Miguel Acabou described it.
He's the brother of firefighter Augusto "Augie" Acabou, from the Newark Fire Department, who perished in the fire, along with Firefighter Wayne "Bear" Brooks, Jr.
After hearing testimony and seeing evidence, Brooks's widow, Michelle, said, "The family and I are deeply, deeply disturbed."
Among the evidence released by the Coast Guard were photos of the decks of the ship after the fire that broke out on July 5, 2023, was extinguished. The effort took more than a week.
The images show extensive damage to vehicles, walls, and floors.
One of the photos focuses on a burnt-out Jeep. Testimony at the hearings, according to lawyers for the firefighters' families, indicated that on the day of the fire, the Jeep, which had been used to push vehicles onto the ship, had been designated to be put out of service.
Instead, said Mark Apostolos, the families' attorney, "Those workers continued to use that Jeep pusher vehicle until it set ablaze, and ultimately caused this massive inferno and death trap."
Another item of evidence from the hearing is surveillance video, which shows the Jeep moving cars onto the ship before the fire broke out.
According to family members, the greatest frustration from the five hearings -- three last week and two this week -- was with the main witness from Wednesday's hearing.
"Upset, heartbroken all over again," is how Michelle Brooks, Firefighter Wayne Brooks's widow, described her feelings, "by the things we heard these last two weeks, especially from Rufus Jackson."
Jackson was the Newark fire chief at the time of the fire. On the stand, he wiped away tears, recalling how he had inspected the fire boats and fire units shortly before the blaze that took the two men's lives.
He was questioned about the protocols from his department for fighting ship fires and admitted that the last known training was a decade ago.
"In the nine years from 2014, up 'til the time of the fire," asked NTSB investigator Bart Barnum, "none of your members had been to shipboard fire training?"
Jackson paused and then said no.
Additional testimony on Wednesday from Jackson and other witnesses supported the fact that Newark firefighters have had no training in fighting fires onboard ships.
Last October, Jackson was promoted from fire chief to assistant public safety director by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. His office declined to comment on Wednesday.
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