‘It’s daunting. It’s extremely difficult…’ Here’s why it’s tough to fight fires on huge ships, states a NJ news source.
Grande Costa d’Avorio
As the fire grew on Wednesday night, Deck 10 was turning deadly.
Inside the tight confines of the Grande Costa d’Avorio, it would have been dark inside the large ship with heavy black smoke from the fire filling low-ceiling compartments making it all-but-impossible to see anything, say marine safety experts. Cars, trucks and other vehicles would typically have been packed tightly together, the lashings that held them fast to the decks an unseen obstacle course. And those experts say it would have already been unbearably hot with the heat quickly building as it reflected off the steel walls of the vessel.
Before the night was over, two veteran Newark firefighters missing in the inferno — Augusto “Augie” Acabou, 45, and Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr., 49 — would lose their way and ultimately their lives amid tragic mayday calls over the radio. Five others were injured, sparking growing questions in the aftermath about the preparedness and training of a department that is seldom called upon to handle major fires on the waterfront.
“At this point, all federal agencies — state, local levels, in addition to the owners of the vessels — will be working closely together to identify the root cause of the fire and the subsequent fatalities to prevent similar incidents from ever happening again,” said Capt. Zeita Merchant, captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey and commander of Coast Guard Sector New York.
“We will continue to do that training, but that is part of what we do and we oversee on a regular basis here in the port,” Merchant said.
Port Authority officials, meanwhile, indicate they are now considering creating their own fire department for the ports, which include the region’s piers and marine terminals in Newark, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Staten Island and Brooklyn.
Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Frage disclosed that the city currently has an agreement with the Port Authority regarding how the city responds to fires at Port Newark. Going forward, he said they were scheduling additional training regarding such incidents.
While most ship fires that occur within any port are typically handled by local fire departments, he said such incidents — in part because they are so rare — represent a whole different world for those who typically rush into burning houses and tall buildings to battle the flames.
“It’s a foreign environment for shore-based firefighters,” explained McManus of shipboard fires such as the blaze that continues to burn through the Grande Costa d’Avorio.
“If I can avoid putting a human in that situation, I’m going to use the tools I have,” he said. “You don’t risk life to put it out. You contain it and let it smolder.”
Car fires are tough to fight, according to McManus, conjuring up the frequent sight of a vehicle burning alongside the New Jersey Turnpike, often with smoke pouring from the engine compartment.
The Grande Costa d’Avorio was a massive sea-going garage with at least 12 decks. Known as a RORO vessel (for roll-on-roll off), the ship was designed like a ferry to carry wheeled cargo such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. Vehicles are driven under their own power up ramps within the ship, which is configured like a giant parking deck, and then secured to the decks for transport.
Grimaldi Deep Sea, the Italian operator of the ship, said a loading operation was underway when the fire started on Deck 10. “The crew of the vessel immediately activated the on-board fire suppression procedures while the local firefighting service were alerted,” the Naples-based company said in a statement.
“You don’t have the staffing at sea to combat a long-term fire,” he explained. “You contain it and cool it.”
“Together, these decks make a structure equivalent to a building with nine aboveground and six below-grade stories,” he said. “As with buildings, commercial ships vary in design, materials and general layout, further complicating the fire attack.”
Training is always key, said McManus, whose job is to train cadets seeking a career at sea.
“But how do you train for the 1 in a 1,000 situation?” he said of fire departments like Newark, which has not seen a major fire within the port in at least 40 years, according to industry officials. “It’s a different world for them.”
Shipboard fires at ports are exceptionally rare, said Shawn Balcomb, a spokesman for the Washington-based American Association of Port Authorities.
The Fire Department of New York, which has specialized rescue and marine response units and multiple fireboats — which continue to pour water on the cargo ship in Port Newark — trains repeatedly for shipboard disasters. That training includes a ship fire simulator on Randall’s Island.
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Source: NJ