Two firefighters who died after responding to a ship fire at Port Newark last summer and a New Jersey State Police Trooper killed in a training accident over the weekend were among 22 public safety officers honored Tuesday during a sometimes tearful luncheon attended by more than 200 family members and colleagues.
Newark Fire Division Captains Augusto Acabou and Wayne Brooks Jr. were honored following their deaths on July 5 during Tuesday’s annual luncheon of the 200 Club of Essex County, a group founded by business leaders in 1966 to support the families of police and firefighters who demonstrate extraordinary valor on the job.
Acabou, 45, and Brooks, 49, who were promoted posthumously to captain, were among the first firefighters to arrive at the scene of a dockside fire onboard the Grande Costa D’Avorio, a cargo ship bound for Africa loaded with 1,200 junked cars and trucks. Acabou’s brother, Clark Police Capt. Miguel Acabou, was among the family members who attended the event.
“We’re happy, but it’s also a profound loss, and we’re still grieving every day because of what happened to my brother, who had a heart of gold,” said Acabou as their mother stood by crying. “But we are very grateful that the 200 Club of Essex County is showing us their heartfelt condolences in presenting my brother with this award.”
Acabou said the City of Newark will name a street after his brother on June 1 in the city’s Ironbound section, where he and his brother grew up.
Brooks’ widow talked after the ceremony at Nanina’s in the Park in Belleville.
“I think Wayne would be proud. He is proud. And I speak of him in the present tense because he’s here,” said Michelle Brooks. “Wayne was a good, great fireman. And I say that because I watched him. He read all the books to keep up. He was taking all the classes. So, he’s proud. He’s very proud. And I’m proud, very proud. And thankful.”
Trooper Marcellus E. Bethea, an eight-year State Police veteran assigned to the Moorestown Station in Burlington County, was the only other honoree who had died in the line of duty. Bethea was killed Sunday in what State Police said was a training accident at its headquarters in Ewing, though it did not say how his death occurred.
Lt. Col. Joseph Brennan of the State Police recalled the difficult task he had Sunday of informing Bethea’s widow that her husband had died.
“‘What he did counted. What he did mattered,’” Brennan recalled telling her. Addressing Tuesday’s gathering, he added, “Trooper Marcellus was a hero. You are all heroes.”
Asked about it later, Brennan called Bethea’s death “tragic” but declined to provide any details, citing the ongoing investigation.
Tuesday’s event was co-hosted by 200 Club President Ira H. Cohen and Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura, a rookie cop in Newark when the club was founded in 1967, who will retire from law enforcement in January when his 11th full term as sheriff expires. Honorees or their families each received a $1,000 award, part of the $2.2 million that Cohen said the club had raised and donated since its founding.
Sheriff’s officers in dress uniforms saluted while Maria Acabou and Michelle Brooks held their hands on their hearts as Newark Police Sgt. Maysa Washington sang “America the Beautiful.” The Newark Firefighters Pipe Band played an instrumental version of the anthem on the bagpipes after a somber rendition of “Dawning of the Day.”
This year’s 19 living Valor Award recipients included police officers who apprehended armed assailants and saved a child floating face down in a pond, and firefighters who pulled unconscious children and adults from burning homes. They were from the Newark Police and Fire divisions in the Department of Public Safety; the Bloomfield Police and Fire departments; the Irvington Fire Division; the NJ Transit Police; the Orange Police Department; and the State Police Major Crime North Unit.
The 200 Club has maintained an Honor Roll of public safety officers who died in the line of duty since its founding. It is now 91 names long, including any law enforcement, corrections officer, or federal agent in Essex County, or any trooper to die in New Jersey. There are 52 law enforcement officers and 39 firefighters on the list.
After arriving at the port fire, Acabou and Brooks were ordered below decks to assess the situation. They became trapped on Deck 10 of the ship, which was filled with 1,200 highly combustible junk cars and trucks.
The fire started when a 16-year-old Jeep Wrangler, modified with a steel push bar on the front, erupted in flames as it was being used to shove an inoperable Toyota Venza on board. The cause of the fire and who may be to blame for what happened is still being investigated by the Coast Guard, the National Transportation Safety Board, and other federal, state and authorities.
A months-long inquiry by NJ Advance Media found that Newark was unprepared to fight a major fire at one of the nation’s largest ports, interviews with firefighters and marine fire experts, public records and court filings, hours of radio traffic, and internal incident reports revealed.
The families have filed a wrongful death suit in federal court, though the city and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have asked a judge to dismiss the case against them.
Nobody knows Jersey better than NJ.comSign up to get breaking news alerts straight to your inbox.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com
