The city of Newark welcomed nine new firefighters Wednesday but a pall hung over the graduation ceremony.
Referring to the recent deaths of two city firefighters when responding to a fire in a cargo ship at Port Newark, Mayor Ras Baraka said they were “still fresh in our hearts and minds. Although the deaths of Captain Acabou and Captain Brooks Jr., and we still — the city is still mourning. The families are still mourning and trying to figure that out.”
The tragedy prompted criticism of training protocols for the city’s firefighters. After the graduation ceremony, Baraka pushed back against that criticism. “There’s been training on lithium batteries and all other kind of things that happen at the port. Newark has responded to the fires on the port in the past, two or three times responding to issues, even at the airport. So our relationship with the port and the airport is not new,” he said.
Anthony Tarantino, president of Newark Fire Officers Union, “But I’m disheartened by them saying that we were extensively trained. The training only went out for an hour and a half. It was a tabletop exercise that basically just gave awareness.”
