Newark, NJ 7/5/23 Ship Fire

Really terrible news to hear, condolences to the families of those firefighters lost.

I used to work on car carriers pretty frequently when I was a port agent at Port Elizabeth, and I can say first hand they can be a labyrinth of main and tween decks, tight stairwells and endless trip hazards from the tiedown chains. Cars, trucks, heavy equipment, trailers and whatever else you can roll on is crammed into every available inch, sometimes in alternating directions depending on discharge plans. I can't even imagine what its like with reduced visibility and reduced or non-functioning overhead lighting.

These Grimaldi Line conro's are a whole other level of complex inside as well. What an immensely challenging fire to have to fight. I'm sure there will be USCG reports and investigations aplenty into this event, but I wonder if the crews were able to use the smothering system onboard before things got out of control

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May they Rest in Peace. May their families at home and on the job be comforted. And may those who responded to and operated at this fire be comforted as well.
 
FFM1938 said:
Really terrible news to hear, condolences to the families of those firefighters lost.

I used to work on car carriers pretty frequently when I was a port agent at Port Elizabeth, and I can say first hand they can be a labyrinth of main and tween decks, tight stairwells and endless trip hazards from the tiedown chains. Cars, trucks, heavy equipment, trailers and whatever else you can roll on is crammed into every available inch, sometimes in alternating directions depending on discharge plans. I can't even imagine what its like with reduced visibility and reduced or non-functioning overhead lighting.

These Grimaldi Line conro's are a whole other level of complex inside as well. What an immensely challenging fire to have to fight. I'm sure there will be USCG reports and investigations aplenty into this event, but I wonder if the crews were able to use the smothering system onboard before things got out of control

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While in Red Hook (L131) I worked two ship fires and can state they were both remembered in my memories as two of the scariest jobs in my time. It’s like fighting a sub cellar fire with no ventilation. Conditions are nothing to compare to structural fires, we trained anytime a ship could be used when in port but it couldn’t prepare you for the actual situation.
My prayers for those who fought the good fight.
 
RIP to the two lost brothers. Condolences to the the families and members of Newark FD
 
In my almost 30 years with the FDNY I had only 2 Ships fires. Both were in ships that, were big, but not as huge as this large Car carrier/Container ship. The problems facing Firefighters in ship fires is, now is more extreme than ever. Complex, Unfamiliar configurations, and extreme size make these among the most difficult, dangerous firefighting we face. The other factor is that ship fires are rare, thank God. But that means that few firefighters, have real experience with ship fires, and many no training in ships fire at all. Let us honor the brave Newark firefighters, who died doing what firefighters at their best do, the Nobel profession of firefighting. I pray for their families and their brothers and sisters in Newark FD and around the world. I will be there in the sea of blue Uniforms when Thay are given all the honor due them. God Bless the Newark F.D. and all those from 2 states that assisted them. Photo below of the ship collision between the Container Ship Sea Witch and the Tanker Alva Cape in the Narrows near the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge between Brooklyn and Staten Island in 1974, when I was assigned to Engine Co. 27 in lower Manhattan.
Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retiredFDNY Ship Collision Under VZ Bridge 6-2-73 COLOR.jpg
 
got a twitter alert late last night about this newark ship fire. God bless the LODD brothers and their families. The radio was busy but calm. so many special units responded and were staged. Things started getting bad when they started calling for more air bottles, batteries and water bottles, then extra oxygen tanks and BVM’s. it must have been a maze in such a large cargo ship.
 
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