In a U.S. Coast Guard investigative listening to on Tuesday, a Newark firefighter testified that the 2 males who died aboard the con/ro Grande Costa D’Avorio final yr bought misplaced within the smoke as they tried to exit the ship.

Oswald Robetto, a Newark Fire Department captain, was on Deck 10 with colleagues Augusto Acabou, Wayne Brooks, Jr. and a fourth firefighter through the response effort. Brooks was utilizing a hose to use boundary cooling on the overhead, he stated. At this level, Batallion Chief Al Maresca radioed in and ordered the lads to wrap up and are available out of the compartment. 

They retreated by way of the smoke-filled inside, utilizing the firehose to information them to security. As they moved alongside the deck, the smoke thickened, and Brooks’ masks gave an alert that he was operating low on air. He moved to the entrance of the road. 

As they moved alongside, Robetto encountered a kink within the hose, and he grew to become confused: a kink ought to have been “impossible.” 

“I got stuck and I hesitated,” he stated. He bought disoriented and misplaced contact with the hose. In the thick smoke, he couldn’t discover it once more, so he started attempting to find a wall to comply with to security. His air was additionally operating low, and he radioed for assist. At this level, the firefighters had been working aboard the con/ro for about half an hour. 

Robetto made it out earlier than his air ran out, however Acabou and Brooks remained behind. Their absence was solely detected when the hearth crew mustered. Both males died within the hearth and their our bodies have been recovered later. 

In testimony, hearth division officers informed the Coast Guard that they’d appreciable difficulties with communications through the response. Their radio methods didn’t work nicely, and so they had a tough time talking with the crew due to language obstacles. 

The battalion chief, Maresca, informed the panel that he had by no means fought a shipboard hearth earlier than, nor did he have any coaching on this specialty. His preliminary impression of the scenario was that it was a minor hearth. Even after speaking with the crew and taking a look on the scene on Deck 10, “we didn’t know where this fire was burning.” 

After placing out two burning automobiles on Deck 10, the responders thought that the hearth was out. “We weren’t combating a fireplace. I believed nothing of it. There actually was nothing happening till they [Robetto, Acabou and Brooks] bought misplaced,” stated Maresca. 

The ultimate final result was tragic. Search groups discovered Acabou wedged tightly between two automobiles, close to the exit. Brooks was discovered additional within the maintain, with out his helmet, flashlight or radio. 

Courtesy NIOSH / USCG