Firefighter killed while battling cargo ship fire is posthumously promoted during funeral

NEWARK, N.J., (AP) — A firefighter who was fatally injured along with a colleague while battling a massive fire aboard a cargo ship docked in New Jersey last week was posthumously promoted to captain during his funeral service. Hundreds of mourners, including dozens of uniformed firefighters and law enforcement officers, came to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Thursday to honor 45-year-old Augusto “Augie” Acabou, a Newark native who had been a city firefighter for nine years. Acabou and another Newark firefighter, Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr., both died while fighting the July 5 fire aboard the Grande Costa d’Avorio, an Italian-flagged vessel carrying thousands of vehicles and other goods that was docked at Port Newark. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.