Two firefighters have been killed while battling a massive blaze on a container ship docked at Port Newark, New Jersey.
The fire broke out on the massive Grande Coaster Eadoirio around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and continued to burn early Thursday.
The US Coast Guard said multiple vehicles caught fire on the ship.
“It’s a very huge structure that these guys had to breach,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said. “In the process we had two calls for two maydays and we had a response from fire service companies from all over the state who came here to help us look for lost fire guys from the city of Newark that unfortunately didn’t make it.”
The two firefighters were trapped and reported missing as flames overwhelmed the ship.
“Members made an attempt to extinguish the fire but got pushed back by the intense heat. Two firefighters were lost while conducting this action of backing out of the structure,” Newark Fire Chief Rufus Jackson said according to ABC 7 NY.
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The identities of the two fallen firefighters were not immediately known.
The entire crew of the ship, which contained about 5,000 cars, was accounted for.
“This is not a common fire for the city of Newark and the Newark firefighters,” Jackson added. “But it’s in this city and we have members, brave men and women of the Newark fire department that go out and they put this uniform on. They fight fires and protect homes and save lives in the city of Newark every single day.
“Although this is a difficult fire it’s a different type of fire they’re still willing to put themselves on the line.”
The Port Authority announced the Port Newark Container Terminal would not open until at least 8 a.m. due to police and fire activity in the area.
This is a developing story
