Mayday Call From Burning Cargo Ship in New Jersey Prompted Doomed Rescue Effort for 2 Firefighters

UNION, N.J.—The Grande Costa D’Avorio cargo ship was being loaded with 1,200 West Africa-bound cars at Port Newark last July when a deadly fire began. Dense black smoke limited visibility to about 3 feet, and the floor was so hot it made the soles of a firefighter’s boots begin to peel off. “We cannot find our way out!” Newark Fire Capt. Augusto “Augie” Acabou yelled into his radio as he tried to fight the growing blaze. “We are lost!” Those words touched off a frantic scramble to find Acabou and fellow Newark Fire Department Capt. Wayne Brooks Jr., who had become disoriented in the heat, smoke and darkness—an effort that was plagued by confusion, adrenaline, panic and a shortage of personnel and equipment....