Credit: Michael Sol Warren / NJ Spotlight NewsWASHINGTON — Legislation to craft a new national strategy for fighting port fires like the 2023 blaze that killed two firefighters at the Newark port has a good shot at becoming law, according to its lead sponsor, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th).
Fighting fires on ships demands particular knowledge and skills, said Sherrill, a Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor in the June primary election.
The two Newark firefighters who responded to and died from the fire two years ago on an Italian cargo ship did not have special training, she said. This bill would include specific measures to better train firefighters for combat maritime fires.
“They had not been given any specialized training,” Sherrill said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “Had they had a lesson in maritime training, I think it would have made a big difference. I think they would be alive today.”
Experts with the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency that dispatches investigators to emergency sites, found thick smoke disoriented the two firefighters — Wayne Brooks Jr. and Augusto Acabou — who could not find their way out of the vessel as the fire burned.
Six other emergency responders were hurt. The fire burned for five days. The probable cause was a Jeep the ship crew used to push other vehicles on board, the NTSB found.
Liquids from the Jeep’s transmission boiled over and ignited the blaze, investigators said. “Also contributing to the severity of the fire was the Newark Fire Division’s lack of marine vessel firefighting training, which resulted in an ineffective response and led to the firefighter casualties,” the NTSB said in its final report, released in April.
The port of Newark and New York is the largest by volume on the East Coast and the third largest in the country, behind Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif.
Sherrill’s Republican co-sponsor on the bill is Don Bacon, a former Air Force general from Nebraska and one of the few moderate members of his party in the House. In 2020, former President Joe Biden won his district, centered around Omaha, and former Vice President Kamala Harris won it in 2024.
The bill directs the U.S. Fire Administration, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, to establish a “comprehensive strategy to improve equipment, training, and staffing standards,” including for groups of firefighters that respond to fires at ports.
Moving around on a ship can be tricky given the tight quarters and segmented structure, Sherrill said, referencing fire training sessions she completed during her Navy career.
“When you get on ships, it can be very, very hard to get in and out. They’re compartmentalized for various reasons,” Sherrill said. “So getting throughout the ship is difficult.”
The bill contains no funding, which could make passage easier.
“I think we have a really good chance at getting this through Congress,” Sherrill said.
Bills expire at the end of each Congress, which last for two years, and must pass the House and Senate before the president can sign them into law.
