'It's our duty': Hundreds gather to remember Newark firefighters killed in ship fire


Mike Kelly, NorthJersey.com
Updated Fri, July 14, 2023 

NEWARK, N.J. — Firefighters are helpers by nature. It prompts them to run into danger. It’s also the glue that holds them together in tough times.

And so, on a hot, windy Thursday in Newark, New Jersey, hundreds of firefighters — some traveling from as far away as California — gathered to help one another get through the first of two long goodbyes to two Newark firefighters who perished last week after they were trapped aboard a burning ship loaded with used cars bound for Africa.

“This is what it’s all about,” said Tim McGovern, a retired Newark battalion chief who drove from Toms River to pay tribute to firefighter Augusto “Augie” Acabou, 45, who was overcome by smoke along with his colleague, firefighter Wayne “Bear” Brooks Jr., while battling flames aboard the Grande Costa D'Avorio, a 692-foot cargo ship, on July 5.

“When something like that happens, you show up,” McGovern said. “It’s part of the job.”

Augusto’s nearly three-hour funeral at Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Thursday morning ended only a few hours before a wake for Brooks, whose funeral took place at the same church on Friday morning.

Timeline: Chief breaks down department's response to fatal Newark ship fire

Profound anguish

For firefighters, the loss of just one of their breed in the line of duty often sets off deep emotions about the ever-present dangers of the job that requires them to run into a fire instead of from it. But the loss of two firefighters in Newark seemed to set off especially widespread sorrow.

The anguish was even more profound because Acabou, 45, a 10-year veteran of the Newark Fire Department, and Brooks, 49, who served 16 years, were not rescuing people. They died trying to extinguish a blaze that broke out amid nearly 1,200 cars parked tightly together aboard a 12-story cargo ship that is nearly as long as two football fields.

Firefighter Augusto Acabou's Funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

“That’s what brings us together,” said Lt. Joseph Hoyle Sr., a 31-year veteran of the Englewood, New Jersey, fire department. “We understand our profession, and we understand the extreme risks. But to lose two firefighters to a car fire is especially difficult to live with.”

Hoyle said he hopes that the questions raised about the ship fire would result in some changes in how to battle shipboard fires, just as criticism of the firefighters’ response to a blaze in a truss roof at a car dealership in Hackensack, New Jersey, in July 1988 resulted in new firefighting standards across America.

One recommendation that Hoyle said he and other fire fighters would wholeheartedly support would be the establishment of specially trained fire brigades at America’s shipping ports.

“This will, without a doubt, cause a renewed focus on having a fire service especially at our ports,” Hoyle said of the fire.

In the wake of the deaths of Acabou and Brooks, firefighters have voiced criticism of Newark’s fire department for what they described as insufficient training and equipment to fight ship fires. Some of Newark's fire engines are staffed by only one officer and just two fire fighters. The optimum staffing of fire engines is one officer and four or five fire fighters. But many municipalities cuts budgets by trimming staffing levels.

In a larger sense, firefighters from across the region also questioned why nozzles on the cargo ship’s firefighting system were only one inch wide while the firefighters arrived with hoses with nozzles that were 2.5 inches wide.

Firefighter Augusto Acabou's funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

The criticism also raised concerns about whether the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey should establish its own specially trained fire department for its 272-acre docking facility in Newark, the nation’s third-largest port. For decades, the Port Authority, which has specially trained fire fighting teams at its airports, has relied on Newark’s fire department, which is trained mainly to fight fires in home and offices, to respond to fires at its shipping ports.

Before Acabou’s funeral began, Sean DeCrane, director of health and safety operational services for the International Association of Firefighters, the nation’s largest firefighting union, said federal safety officials planned to examine the Newark port fire with an eye toward improving firefighting techniques. But DeCrane said in an interview with NorthJersey.com and The Record outside the cathedral basilica that the federal study could not begin until Newark’s fire department officially requested it.

On Thursday, Newark fire officials were unavailable for comment on this issue.

Mike Kelly: As Newark firefighters are laid to rest, these are the questions we must answer

More: Newark firefighters union blasts 'neglect' by city in wake of two deaths
A final farewell

Acabou’s funeral was a mix of tradition and heartfelt family memories.

In addition to English, scripture readings were recited in Acabou’s native language, Portuguese.

A large American flag hung from ladders between two firetrucks as Acabou’s coffin was brought to the cathedral basilica in an antique fire engine. A pipe band played the Irish funeral tune “Going Home” — a tradition at many fire department funerals across America. As a farewell, three fire chiefs rang a bell and a Newark fire dispatcher sent a final radio message to city fire fighters that Acabou had answered his last call.

Police on horses stood by. Hundreds of firefighters, clad in blue uniforms and white gloves, saluted. Color guards from fire brigades from across the region lowered their flags as Acabou's coffin, draped in an American flag, was carried into the cathedral basilica.

Inside, the ancient Roman Catholic hymn “Ave Maria” was sung. So was Leonard Cohen’s more modern pop classic, “Hallelujah.” And Acabou’s former football coach at Newark’s Eastside High School, Kevin Bullock, presented his jersey inscribed with the number 85 to his family. Bullock also said that Acabou devoted hours driving his former coach to doctors' appointments or just picking up groceries when he battled cancer.

"Augie would give his heart to anyone," Bullock said. "I said, 'Augie, you don't have to do this.' But that's what Augie did."

“To say that Augie Acabou was brave is an understatement,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in one of six eulogies that included an announcement by the city that Acabou would be promoted posthumously to the rank of captain.

Earlier: Newark firefighters killed in cargo ship fire remembered for dedication, selflessness

The same honor was bestowed Friday on Brooks during his funeral in a proclamation read by Newark Public afety Director Fritz Frage. And just as many who came to Acabou’s funeral had personal memories of him, the same was true of Brooks.

Bob LaCour, a retired Edison firefighter who worked with Brooks on an extra job on the runways at Newark Liberty International Airport, said in an interview that Brooks deeply wanted to help people in need.

“He was a friendly, helpful, jolly person,” LaCour said. “And he really wanted a career in the fire service. Firefighters are just helpful people by nature.”

LaCour said he was especially impressed by Brooks' desire to assist almost anyone. "There are people who take a job for benefits and people who aspire to help people," LaCour said. "Wayne wanted to help people."

Like the service for Acabou, Brooks' funeral brought together hundreds of fire fighters from across New Jersey, with some coming from as far away as Chicago. Brooks' memorial also included a stream of eulogies that praised him as a devoted father and friend. Many mourners wore blue to honor Brooks -- blue dresses for women and blue ties for men.

Jason Brooks spoke of his older brother as a "super hero" who loved to brag about his family's achievements, from graduating from college to the birth of a new baby.

"Let's brag about him even more than he would brag about us," said Jason Brooks, adding that "Wayne was always the type of person who takes the lead in solving a problem. He never complains. He just got things done. Nothing I could say could describe the void left by Wayne because he’s a connector.

"It may be a stretch to call Wayne a 'super hero,' but it's not a stretch to call him a super servant," said the Rev. DeForest "Buster" Soaries, a Baptist minister and noted civil rights leader in New Jersey.

Soaries said that Brooks "had the intellect" to take on any job he wanted but "he chose to become a super servant and now he's a super hero."

Brooks' wife, Michele, did not speak at the service. But a friend read an emotional letter from her.

"Wayne 'Bear' Brooks Jr., loved me in a way I always dreamed for," Michelle Brooks wrote. "You believed and saw the brighter side of things, always."

Captain Brett Hendrie of the New Rochelle, New York, fire department agreed that the instinct to be helpful also creates a unique bond of friendship and loyalty among firefighters. He said that’s why he drove from New Rochelle to Newark to attend the funeral of a man he did not know.

“When they talk about the brotherhood, it’s truly a real thing,” Hendrie said. “What Acabou and Brooks went through could happen to any firefighters. When one of us dies, it’s like a member of the family died.”

Firefighter Augusto Acabou's funeral at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Thursday, July 13, 2023.

As a final eulogy, Acabou’s close friend and fellow Newark firefighter Eddie Paulo drew laughs when he mentioned that Acabou quit his amateur boxing career because “he felt bad for the guys he was hurting.”

“It’s a cliché to say that someone is the nicest guy in the world,” Paolo said. “But in Augie Acabou’s case, it was true.”

As he waited outside the cathedral basilica, Englewood firefighter Chandy Campbell, a 28-year veteran, drew quiet as he reflected on the possibility that every firefighter might someday face the same fate as Acabou and Brooks.

“Is it fair?” Campbell said. “No. But it’s our duty.”

As the funeral ended, Acabou’s coffin was driven away in the antique firetruck. The band played “America the Beautiful.”

Mike Kelly is an award-winning columnist for NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, as well as the author of three critically acclaimed non-fiction books and a podcast and documentary film producer. To get unlimited access to his insightful thoughts on how we live life in the Northeast, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Port Newark fire: Hundreds honor Augie Acabou, Wayne Brooks

'Magical' fire suppressant kills zombie fires 40% faster than water alone

ZOMBIE FIRES BURNING FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS UNDERGROUND 

IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

Research News

 

The researchers say this is a big step in tackling smouldering peat fires, which are the largest fires on Earth. They ignite very easily, are notoriously difficult to put out, and release up to 100 times more carbon into the atmosphere than flaming fires, contributing to climate change.

The fires, known as 'zombie fires' for their ability to hide and smoulder underground and then reanimate as new flames days or weeks after the wildfire had been extinguished, are prevalent in regions like Southeast Asia, North America, and Siberia.

They are driven by the burning of soils rich in organic content like peat, which is a large natural reservoir of carbon. Worldwide, peat fires account for millions of tonnes of carbon released into the atmosphere each year.

Firefighters currently use millions to billions of litres of water per to tackle a peat fire: The 2008 Evans Road peat fire in the USA consumed 7.5 billion litres of water, and the 2018 Lake Cobrico peat fire in Australia consumed 65 million.

However, when water alone is used to extinguish peat fires, it tends to create a few large channels in the soil, diverting the water from nearby smouldering hotspots where it is most needed. This is partly why they take can so long to be extinguished.

Now, researchers at Imperial College London have combined water with an environmentally friendly fire suppressant that is already used to help extinguish flaming wildfires, to measure its effectiveness against peat fires at different concentrations.

During laboratory experiments at Imperial's HazeLab, they found that adding the suppressant to water helped them put out peat fires nearly twice as fast as using water alone, while using only a third to a half of the usual amount of water.

Lead author Muhammad Agung Santoso of Imperial's Department of Mechanical Engineering said: "The suppressant could enable firefighters to put out peat fires much faster while using between a third to half of the amount of water. This could be critical in ending pollution-related deaths, devastation of local communities, and environmental damage caused by these fires."

The results are published in International Journal of Wildland Fire.

IT IS AN ORGANIC SURFACTANT 

The suppressant, also known as a 'wetting agent', increases the penetrating properties of liquids like water by reducing their surface tension. This agent is made from plant matter and is biodegradable so it doesn't harm the environment. 

The researchers mixed the wetting agent with water at three concentrations: 0% (pure water), 1% (low concentration), and 5% (high concentration). They used each concentration on a laboratory peat fire with varying rates of flow between 0.3 and 18 litres per hour.

They found that the suppressant reduced the surface tension of the liquid, which made it less likely to create large channels and instead flow uniformly through the soil. Low-concentration solutions reduced the average fire suppression time by 39%, and the high concentration solution reduced it by 26% but more consistently. The average volume of liquid needed for suppression was 5.7 litres per kilogram of burning peat, regardless of flow rates or suppressant.

They also learned that the agent acts thermally and not chemically: it encapsulates the fire to bring down the temperature and remove the 'heat' element from the fire triangle. The other two essential elements for fire are oxygen and fuel.

Senior author Professor Guillermo Rein, Head of Hazelab at Imperial's Department of Mechanical Engineering, said: "Fighting peat fires uses an incredible amount of work, time and water, and this biodegradable wetting agent could help everybody: fire brigades, communities and the planet. This magical suppressant could make it easier to put zombie fires to rest for good."

The results provide a better understanding of the suppression mechanism of peat fires and could help to improve firefighting and mitigation strategies. The researchers are now looking to replicate their findings in controlled peat fires outside the lab in real peatlands.

This research was funded by the European Research Council and the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education.

"Laboratory study on the suppression of smouldering peat wildfires: effects of flow rate and wetting agent" by Muhammad A. Santoso, Wuquan Cui, Hafiz M. F. Amin, Eirik G. Christensen, Yulianto S. Nugroho, and Guillermo Rein. Published 9 March 2021 in International Journal of Wildland Fire.

Dozens injured as lightning sets off fire at Cuban oil storage tank

6 August 2022, 

Cuba Oil Fire. Picture: PA

Faustino Perez Hospital reported it was treating 49 people, two of them with critical injuries.

Lightning has struck an oil storage tank in the city of Matanzas in Cuba, causing a fire that led to four explosions which injured more than 50 people, authorities said.

Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, which began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted.

The official Cuban News Agency said the lightning strike set one tank on fire and the blaze later spread to a second tank.

The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages. There was no immediate word on how much oil had burned or was in danger at the tank farm, which stores oil used to fuel electricity production.

A huge plume of smoke caused by a blaze after lightning struck an oil storage tank in Cuba (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

Officials at Faustino Perez Hospital reported 52 injured, according to the provincial government’s Facebook page.

The hospital’s director, Dr Taymi Martinez, said one person was in an extremely critical condition, three patients were in a critical condition and 10 in a serious conditions.

“I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and terrible fire rose through the skies,” said resident Adiel Gonzalez.

Authorities said the Dubrocq neighbourhood closest to the fire was evacuated, while Mr Gonzalez added that some people decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little further from the tank farm.

A helicopter carrying water flies over the fire in Cuba (Ramon Espinosa/AP)

There were many ambulances, police and fire engines, he said.

Matanzas, which has about 140,000 inhabitants, is 62 miles from Havana, on Matnzas Bay.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel travelled to the area of the fire on Saturday, officials said.

By Press Association

Firefighters missing, dozens hurt as fire rages in Cuban oil tank farm

Cuban authorities say lightning struck a crude oil storage tank at the Matanzas Supertanker Base, causing a fire that led to four explosions which left dozens missing and injured.

The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages. (AP)

A fire set off by a lightning strike at an oil storage facility has raged uncontrolled in the Cuban city of Matanzas, where four explosions and flames injured nearly 80 people and left 17 firefighters missing.

Firefighters and other specialists were still trying to quell the blaze at the Matanzas Supertanker Base on Saturday, where the fire began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the Ministry of Energy and Mines tweeted.

The government said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.

The official Cuban News Agency said lightning hit one tank, starting a fire, and the blaze later spread to a second tank.

As military helicopters flew overhead dropping water on the blaze, dense column of black smoke billowed from the facility and spread westward more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) toward Havana.

The Facebook page of the provincial government of Matanzas said the number of injured had reached 77, while 17 people were missing.

The Presidency of the Republic said the 17 were “firefighters who were in the nearest area trying to prevent the spread.”



'Smell of sulphur'

The accident comes as Cuba struggles with fuel shortages.

There was no immediate word on how much oil had burned or was in danger at the storage facility, which has eight giant tanks that hold oil used to fuel electricity generating plants.

“I was in the gym when I felt the first explosion. A column of smoke and terrible fire rose through the skies,” resident Adiel Gonzalez said. “The city has a strong smell of sulphur.”

Authorities said the Dubrocq neighbourhood closest to the fire was evacuated, while Gonzalez added that some people decided to leave the Versailles district, which is a little farther from the tank farm.

Many ambulances, police and fire engines were seen in the streets of Matanzas, a city with about 140,000 inhabitants that is on Matnzas Bay.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel traveled to the area of the fire early on Saturday, officials said.

Local meteorologist Elier Pila showed satellite images of the area with a dense plume of black smoke moving from the point of the fire westward and reaching east to Havana.

“That plume can be close to 150 kilometres long,” Pila wrote on his Twitter account.

Third fuel tank collapses as helicopters battle Cuban blaze

Issued on: 08/08/2022 

The fire at a Cuban fuel depot has been raging for days 

YAMIL LAGE AFP

Matanzas (Cuba) (AFP) – Cuban army helicopters scrambled to contain a blaze that felled a third tank at a fuel depot on Monday after burning for days, as the search continued for 16 missing firefighters.

According an official update, the confirmed toll from the fire was one person dead, with 24 people receiving treatment in hospital -- five of them in a critical condition. Many others were treated for burn wounds.

The fire on the outskirts of Matanzas, a city of 140,000 people 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Havana, broke out late Friday after lightning struck one of eight tanks at the depot.

On Monday, the governor of the western Matanzas province said the blaze had spread to a third tank, which collapsed like two others before it.

"The third tank also collapsed, after the second spilled its fuel" as it caved in on Sunday, governor Mario Sabines told state TV.

He said the blaze area was "very big" and the containment effort "very complex."#photo1

Aircraft, firefighters and other specialists and equipment arrived in Cuba from Mexico and Venezuela on Sunday after the island nation asked for help from "friendly countries."

Sabines said the teams were preparing an operation to attack the flames with foam, "but this could take a while."

Efforts 'intensifying'

Some 1,900 people had been evacuated from around the disaster site, officials have said.

"Work is intensifying to combat the fire," the Cuban presidency said on Twitter Monday, adding this was a "decisive day" for the effort.

After the first tank caught fire late Friday, the blaze spread to a second tank by the early hours of Saturday.

The first two tanks collapsed overnight Sunday, causing three more reported injuries and spilling their oil.

According to the Cupet state oil company, the first tank had contained about 26,000 cubic meters of crude, about half its capacity.

The second contained 52,000 cubic meters of fuel oil. It was not immediately clear how full the third tank was.#photo2

Firefighters had been battling to prevent the third tank from catching fire, dousing it with water to keep it cool, but ultimately to no avail.

The depot supplies the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the communist nation.

The disaster comes at a time the island -- with an outdated energy network and persistent fuel shortages -- has faced mounting difficulties in meeting energy demands.

Since May, authorities have imposed energy blackouts of up to 12 hours a day in some regions -- sparking protests around the Portugal-sized nation of 11 million people.

© 2022 AFP

More than 100 injured, one dead, 17 missing after fire at Cuban oil facility

Officials in Cuba on Sunday said that 122 people were injured, at least one person had died and 17 people were missing after a fire at a crude oil storage facility. Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA-EFE

Aug. 7 (UPI) -- More than 100 people have been injured and one has died after a fire sparked by a lightning strike at a crude oil storage facility in Cuba, officials said Sunday.

At least 122 people were injured in the blaze, with 24 still hospitalized, including five in critical condition, Cuban state-run media outlet La Prensa reported. The Ministry of the Interior later recovered a body at the scene.

In addition to the injuries and deaths, 17 people remained missing Sunday.

The fire began Friday night after lightning struck the Matanzas Super Tanker Base, about 60 miles east of Havana.

Two storage units, one containing about 918,000 cubic feet of petroleum and the other carrying about 1.8 million cubic feet of fuel oil, were impacted by the blaze.

Officials said the fire did not pose an immediate threat to the nearby Antonio Guterres power plant, one of the largest in the island nation.

Specialized fire crews from Mexico and Venezuela were on the scene trying to combat the blaze and prevent it from spreading to other tanks and installations.

"This morning was, once again, difficult," the Cuban presidency said. "Firefighters continue fighting the intense fire as help comes from friendly countries. Today will be a pivotal day in our fight for life."

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canal Bermudez expressed "deep gratitude" to Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile for offering aid.

Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, vice minister of foreign affairs, also said that the Cuban government had accepted "technical guidance" offered by the United States to combat the fire.

"We deeply appreciate the condolences and expressions of help from people and organizations in the U.S. regarding the #Matanzas incident, including from the U.S. government, which offered technical advice, a proposal is already in the hands of specialists for proper coordination," he wrote on Twitter.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told the Miami Herald that the Biden administration was "closely tracking the situation, including any humanitarian needs that may emerge."

"The U.S. embargo authorizes U.S. persons to provide disaster relief and response in Cuba," the spokesperson said.

Firefighters battle big blaze at Cuba tank farm for 2nd day

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ

August 7, 2022

1 of 12

People watch a huge plume of smoke rise from the Matanzas supertanker base, as firefighters work to douse a fire that started during a thunderstorm the night before, in Matanzas, Cuba, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Cuban authorities say lightning struck a crude oil storage tank at the base, sparking a fire that sparked four explosions that injured more than 121 people, one person dead and 17 missing.

 (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)


HAVANA (AP) — Cuban firefighters were joined by special teams sent by Mexico and Venezuela on Sunday as they battled for a second day to control a fire blazing at a big oil tank farm in the western province of Matanzas.

The blaze began Friday night when lightning struck a storage tank during a thunder storm, and the fire spread to a second tank early Saturday, triggering a series of explosions, officials have said.

“The mission of the day is to keep the third tank cold,” in hopes of preventing the flames from spreading into more of the site, provincial Gov. Mario Sabines said.

Most of the fuel held in the tank where the fire initially started was believed to have been consumed, officials said.

Authorities said a body found at the site Saturday had been identified as firefighter Juan Carlos Santana, 60. Officials previously said a group of 17 firefighters had gone missing while trying to quell flames, but there was no word if he was one of those.

Conditions were still too dangerous to mount a search for the missing firefighters, officials said.

A total of 122 people were treated for injuries, including five that officials said were in critical condition.

The governor said 4,946 people had been evacuated, mostly from the Dubrocq neighborhood, which is next to the Matanzas Supertanker Base in Matanzas city. The facility’s eight huge storage tanks hold oil used to fuel electricity generation.

Dense black smoke billowed up from the tank farm and spread westward more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) to Havana. The Ministry of Science and Technology said Sunday that the cloud contained sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and other toxic substances.

The disaster comes as Cuba struggles with a severe economic and energy crisis, with frequent power blackouts hitting during a torrid summer. It was unknown how much fuel had been lost to the flames.

Cuba’s government had appealed for help Saturday from oil nations, and specialized firefighting teams began arriving with their equipment from Mexico and Venezuela late Saturday. They brought helicopters and specialized chemicals for fighting oil fire.

“The support (is) in the prevention of risks and also help to quell the fire by means of cooling based on water and foam,” Mexican Brig. Gen. Juan Bravo said upon arrival. “We hope that more support will arrive soon, such as chemical material.”

President Miguel Díaz-Canel met with the heads of the teams from Mexico and Venezuela to coordinate efforts for controlling the blaze. He later told Cuban media he appreciated the help, since Cuba doesn’t have experience or resources for dealing with fires of such magnitude.

Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío said Saturday evening that the U.S. government had offered technical help. On his Twitter account, he said the “proposal is in the hands of specialists for the due coordination.”

Minutes later, the president thanked Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina and Chile for their offers of help.

___

Andrea Rodríguez on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP

The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight

Friendly fire kills Canadian soldier again. This time along with the Taliban and suicide bombers killing our troops we still have to worry about our allies. In this case NATO. So far our score in Afghanistan is 50% of our soldiers have died at the hands of insurgents and 50% have died from friendly fire. Not a good score.

Another good reason to Bring the Troops Home Now!

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Canada, NATO, Afghanistan, Taliban, Army, insurgency, CanadianForces, friendly-fire, sucide-bomber, Harper, Conservatives, Government, NDP, Layton,

Cuba disconnects one of its largest power plants, aggravating the country’s energy supply problem


The Cuban government announced Monday afternoon that it has been forced to disconnect one of its largest power plants, a thermoelectric plant with the capacity to produce up to 200 megawatts (MW), due to a fire in a fuel storage tank in the city of Matanzas.


Fire at supertanker in the port city of Matanzas, Cuba - PRESIDENCIA DE CUBA

The Antonio Guiteras de Matanzas thermoelectric power plant, which is located barely five kilometers from the fire at the supertanker port of Matanzas, has suffered a water shortage, reason why the Ministry of Energy and Mines has proceeded to shut it down.

"The Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant in Matanzas has gone out of service due to water deficit. In this condition, it was necessary to increase the affectation to megawatts (MW) in Havana, and the reestablishment of this load will depend on the availability conditions of the National Electric System," the company Unión Eléctrica has announced in its Twitter account.

With the disconnection of this power plant, Cuba further aggravates the energy crisis that the Caribbean island is facing. Of the country's total generation capacity of 3,000 megawatts (MW), only 1,824 are currently in operation, so an energy deficit of 1,176 megawatts is expected.

Cuba has been experiencing failures in its electricity supply for weeks, a situation that has worsened with the fire at the supertanker port of Matanzas, since the Cuban Executive is being forced to allocate many of its resources to extinguish the fire.

Last week a sporadic demonstration was held in Santiago de Cuba, one of the largest cities on the island, in protest against the continuous blackouts and the difficult economic situation facing the city.

Devastating fire may force Cuba to resort to floating oil storage

By Marianna Parraga - Yesterday 

© Reuters/ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI

(Reuters) - An inferno at Cuba's largest oil storage facility has killed at least one firefighter, injured many more, and threatens to further swell the fuel import bill for the impoverished island nation that relies on foreign oil for everything from transportation to its power grid.


© Reuters/ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI

Cuban officials may need to scramble to set up expensive floating storage capacity to handle imports aimed at easing an acute fuel scarcity, sources and experts said on Monday.

Cuba relies on the 2.4-million-barrel Matanzas terminal, about 60 miles (130 km) from Havana, for most crude and heavy fuel imports and storage.

Matanzas is Cuba's only terminal with the ability to receive large tankers rated for 100,000 tonnes of deadweight. It also serves as a hub for domestic oil output to be blended for supplying the country's power plants, and for distributing imported fuel and crude to local refineries.

A large fire spreading since Friday is expected to boost shipping and import costs. Cuba was already struggling to afford fuel purchases, and global tanker freight rates have skyrocketed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Cuba now may have to seek long-term tanker charters for its storage needs or smaller vessels to carry imports. This logistical problem would be on top of recovery costs for the largest oil industry accident in Cuba decades.

In the first half of the year, Cuba imported 57,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and fuel from its main ally, Venezuela, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. The imports arrive onboard shrinking fleets of old tankers owned by Cuba or Venezuela.

The Cuban government has been ramping up purchases from others, including Russia, to ease shortages that have led to long lines of drivers at stations and to power rationing. President Miguel Diaz Canel has complained about almost unaffordable fuel prices this year.

The Liberia-flagged tanker NS Laguna is scheduled to arrive in Matanzas next week carrying some 700,000 barrels of Russian oil, according to Eikon. The vessel follows a delivery of Russian fuel oil to the country in July.

If Matanzas' containment walls can stop the fire from spreading to port berths, the receiving portion of the facility could still be used for discharging imports and transferring the oil to smaller tankers for floating storage, experts said.

Once the fire is extinguished, Matanzas' berths could be used to make an "u" to fill other vessels, which does not represent a difficult technical challenge.

A switch to floating storage might lead Cuba, a heavily sanctioned country, to ask the U.S. government for relief from rules limiting the flow of vessels touching the island's ports, the experts said.

"The most likely scenario now is that authorities will let burn the product remaining in the tanks while keeping the area as cold as possible by using water," said Lino Carrillo, a Canada-based expert and former executive at Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA.

Following a fire of the proportions seen in Cuba, recovery typically takes time and millions of dollars in repairs, according to analysts.

"Affected tanks will be useless after the fire and everything else connecting them within the containment walls," Carrillo added.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston; Editing by David Gregorio)

Firefighters, helicopters battle to contain Cuba fuel depot blaze


Flames rise from a massive fire at a fuel depot sparked by a lightning strike in Matanzas, Cuba, on August 8, 2022. (AFP)


AFP  Published: 09 August ,2022

Helicopters and firefighters battled Tuesday to gain access to four tanks at a fuel depot in an industrial area west of the Cuban capital Havana that has been ablaze for days, hoping to deploy special foam to control the flames.

The fire, which started on Friday, has left one firefighter dead and 14 more missing.

From dawn, AFP reporters saw four military helicopters flying over the depot in Matanzas, an industrial city around 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Havana, dropping sea water in a bid to extinguish the blaze.

Four out of the eight tanks on site have already fallen victim to the flames, deputy fire chief Alexander Avalos Jorge said, and authorities are now trying to protect the other four.

“The firefighting teams continue to clear a path to the flames so the teams charged with applying the foam can get to the place,” said Matanzas governor Mario Sabines on Twitter.

Sabines added that the smoke from the fire had left visibility at a minimum and drones were being used to provide greater precision to operations.

Firefighters and specialists in fuel fires from Mexico and Venezuela have arrived in Cuba to help their local counterparts.

The fire broke out on Friday in the city of 140,000 people after lightning struck one of the tanks at the depot, which is of strategic importance for the island nation.

Each of the eight tanks can hold up to 50 million liters of fuel – three have collapsed while a fourth has been engulfed by flames.

Some 125 people injured by the blaze were taken to hospital with 22 remaining in care. Some 5,000 people have been evacuated from around the disaster zone, authorities reported.

Two firefighters previously reported as missing have been located among those receiving hospital treatment.

Watch: Major fire spreads at Cuba fuel storage facility hit by lightning, dozens hurt

Third fuel tank collapses as helicopters battle Cuban blaze

Mon, August 8, 2022 


Helicopters scrambled to contain a days-old blaze that felled a third tank at a fuel depot in Cuba on Monday as the search continued for 16 missing firefighters.

According an official update, the confirmed toll from the fire was one 60-year-old fireman dead, with 24 people hospitalized -- five of them in a critical condition.

More than 100 others were injured, most suffering burn wounds, and some 5,000 people have been evacuated from around the disaster zone, authorities reported.

The fire on the outskirts of Matanzas, a city of 140,000 people 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of Havana, broke out late Friday after lightning struck one of eight tanks at the depot.

On Monday, the governor of the western Matanzas province said the blaze had spread to a third tank, which collapsed like two others before it did over the weekend.

"The third tank also collapsed, after the second spilled its fuel" as it caved in on Sunday, governor Mario Sabines told state TV.

He said the blaze area was "very big" and the containment effort "very complex."

Aircraft, firefighters and other specialists and equipment arrived in Cuba from Mexico and Venezuela on Sunday after the island nation asked for help from "friendly countries."

Sabines said the teams were preparing an operation to douse the flames with foam, "but this could take a while."
- Efforts 'intensifying' -

"Work is intensifying to combat the fire," the Cuban presidency said on Twitter, adding Monday would be a "decisive day" for the effort.

Family members of the missing firefighters met President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Sunday at a hotel in Matanzas, where they were given access to doctors and psychologists.

"My son was doing his duty, he stepped forward," said the distraught mother of one 19-year-old fireman who was at the depot when the second fuel tank caught fire.

Health officials said they were monitoring the air quality, and advised at-risk people to wear masks in smoke-affected areas, and to avoid being out in the rain.

After the first tank caught fire late Friday, the blaze spread to a second tank by the early hours of Saturday.

The first two tanks collapsed overnight Sunday, causing three more reported injuries and spilling their oil.

According to the Cupet state oil company, the first tank had contained about 26,000 cubic meters of crude, about half its capacity.

The second contained 52,000 cubic meters of fuel oil. It was not immediately clear how full the third tank -- also with a capacity of 52,000 cubic meters -- was.

Firefighters had been battling to prevent the third tank from catching fire, dousing it with water to keep it cool, but ultimately to no avail.

The depot, built in the 1980s and modernized several times, supplies the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, the largest in the communist nation.

The plant features five docks to receive ships of up to 180,000 tonnes, according to the Granma official newspaper.

The disaster comes at a time the island -- with an outdated energy network and persistent fuel shortages -- has faced mounting difficulties in meeting energy demands.

Since May, authorities have imposed energy blackouts of up to 12 hours a day in some regions -- sparking protests around the nation of 11 million people.

Extreme fire weather

Researchers model the regional impacts of specific anthropogenic activities and their influence on extreme fire weather risk

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SANTA BARBARA

Research News

 

When the Thomas Fire raged through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties in December 2017, Danielle Touma, at the time an earth science researcher at Stanford, was stunned by its severity. Burning for more than a month and scorching 440 square miles, the fire was then considered the worst in California's history.

Six months later the Mendocino Complex Fire upended that record and took out 717 square miles over three months. Record-setting California wildfires have since been the norm, with five of the top 10 occurring in 2020 alone.

The disturbing trend sparked some questions for Touma, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at UC Santa Barbara's Bren School for Environmental Science & Management.

"Climate scientists knew that there was a climate signal in there but we really didn't understand the details of it," she said of the transition to a climate more ideal for wildfires. While research has long concluded that anthropogenic activity and its products -- including greenhouse gas emissions, biomass burning, industrial aerosols (a.k.a. air pollution) and land-use changes -- raise the risk of extreme fire weather, the specific roles and influences of these activities was still unclear.

Until now. In the first study of its kind, Touma, with fellow Bren School researcher Samantha Stevenson and colleagues Flavio Lehner of Cornell University and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and Sloan Coats from the University of Hawaii, have quantified competing anthropogenic influences on extreme fire weather risk in the recent past and into the near future. By disentangling the effects of those man-made factors the researchers were able to tease out the roles these activities have had in generating an increasingly fire-friendly climate around the world and the risk of extreme fire weather in decades to come.

Their work appears in the journal Nature Communications.

"By understanding the different pieces that go into these scenarios of future climate change, we can get a better sense of what the risks associated with each of those pieces might be, because we know there are going to be uncertainties in the future," Stevenson said. "And we know those risks are going to be expressed unequally in different places too, so we can be better prepared for which parts of the world might be more vulnerable."

Warm, Dry and Windy

"To get a wildfire to ignite and spread, you need suitable weather conditions -- you need warm, dry and windy conditions," Touma said. "And when these conditions are at their most extreme, they can cause really large, severe fires."

Using state-of-the-art climate model simulations available from NCAR, the researchers analyzed the climate under various combinations of climate influences from 1920-2100, allowing them to isolate individual effects and their impacts on extreme fire weather risk.

According to the study, heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions (which started to increase rapidly by mid-century) are the dominant contributor to temperature increases around the globe. By 2005, emissions raised the risk of extreme fire weather by 20% from preindustrial levels in western and eastern North America, the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and the Amazon. The researchers predict that by 2080, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to raise the risk of extreme wildfire by at least 50% in western North America, equatorial Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia, while doubling it in the Mediterranean, southern Africa, eastern North America and the Amazon.

Meanwhile, biomass burning and land-use changes have more regional impacts that amplify greenhouse gas-driven warming, according to the study -- notably a 30% increase of extreme fire weather risk over the Amazon and western north America during the 20th century caused by biomass burning. Land use changes, the study found, also amplified the likelihood of extreme fire weather in western Australia and the Amazon.

Protected by Pollution?

The role of industrial aerosols has been more complex in the 20th century, actually reducing the risk of extreme fire weather by approximately 30% in the Amazon and Mediterranean, but amplifying it by at least 10% in southeast Asia and Western North America, the researchers found.

"(Industrial aerosols) block some of the solar radiation from reaching the ground," Stevenson said. "So they tend to have a cooling effect on the climate.

"And that's part of the reason why we wanted to do this study," she continued. "We knew something had been compensating in a sense for greenhouse gas warming, but not the details of how that compensation might continue in the future."

The cooling effect may still be present in regions such as the Horn of Africa, Central America and the northeast Amazon, where aerosols have not been reduced to pre-industrial levels. Aerosols may still compete with greenhouse gas warming effects in the Mediterranean, western North America and parts of the Amazon, but the researchers expect this effect to dissipate over most of the globe by 2080, due to cleanup efforts and increased greenhouse gas-driven warming. Eastern North America and Europe are likely to see the warming and drying due to aerosol reduction first.

Southeast Asia meanwhile, "where aerosols emissions are expected to continue," may see a weakening of the annual monsoon, drier conditions and an increase in extreme fire weather. risk.

"Southeast Asia relies on the monsoon, but aerosols cause so much cooling on land that it actually can suppress a monsoon," Touma said. "It's not just whether you have aerosols or not, it's the way the regional climate interacts with aerosols."

The researchers hope that the detailed perspective offered by their study opens the door to more nuanced explorations of the Earth's changing climate.

"In the broader scope of things, it's important for climate policy, like if we want to know how global actions will affect the climate," Touma said. "And it's also important for understanding the potential impacts to people, such as with urban planning and fire management."

###

US testing new fire retardant, critics push other methods



\ In this Oct. 13, 2021 photo, an air tanker drops retardant on a wildfire in Goleta, Calif. U.S. officials are testing a new wildfire retardant after two decades of buying millions of gallons annually from one supplier, but watchdogs say the expensive strategy is overly fixated on aerial attacks at the expense of hiring more fire-line digging ground crews. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu, File)




KEITH RIDLER
Sat, July 2, 2022

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — U.S. officials are testing a new wildfire retardant after two decades of buying millions of gallons annually from one supplier, but watchdogs say the expensive strategy is overly fixated on aerial attacks at the expense of hiring more fire-line digging ground crews.

The Forest Service used more than 50 million gallons (190 million liters) of retardant for the first time in 2020 as increasingly destructive wildfires plague the West. It exceeded 50 million gallons again last year to fight some of the largest and longest-duration wildfires in history in California and other states. The fire retardant cost those two years reached nearly $200 million.

Over the previous 10 years, the agency used 30 million gallons (115 million liters) annually.

“No two wildfires are the same, and thus it’s critical for fire managers to have different tools available to them for different circumstances a fire may present,” the Forest Service said in an email. “Fire retardant is simply one of those tools.”

The Forest Service said tests started last summer are continuing this summer with a magnesium-chloride-based retardant from Fortress.

Fortress contends its retardants are effective and better for the environment than products offered by Perimeter Solutions. That company says its ammonium-phosphate-based retardants are superior.

Fortress started in 2014 with mainly former wildland firefighters who aimed to create a more effective fire retardant that’s better for the environment. It has facilities in California, Montana and Wyoming, and describes itself as the only alternative to fertilizer-based fire retardants.

The company is headed by Chief Executive Officer Bob Burnham, who started his career as a hotshot crew member fighting wildfires and ultimately rose to become a Type 1 incident commander, directing hundreds of firefighters against some of the nation’s largest wildfires. He often called in aircraft to disperse plumes of red fire retardant, a decision he said he wonders about now after learning more about fertilizer-based retardants and developing a new retardant.

”This new fire retardant is better,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot less damaging to our sensitive planet resources, and it’s going to be a lot better fire retardant on the ground."

The main ingredient in Fortress products, magnesium chloride, is extracted from the Great Salt Lake in Utah, a method and process the company says is more environmentally friendly and less greenhouse-gas producing than mining and processing phosphate. The Forest Service last summer tested the company’s FR-100, and this summer said it will test a version called FR-200.

Perimeter Solutions, which has facilities and equipment throughout the West, has had a number of name and ownership changes over the years but has dominated the market for more than two decades. The company’s Phos-Chek LC-95A is the world’s most used fire retardant. The company is transitioning to a new retardant called Phos-Chek LCE20-Fx, which the company said is made out of food-grade ingredients, making it a cleaner product.

“We’re certain that the products that we make are the safest, most effective, most environmentally friendly products available,” said Chief Executive Officer Edward Goldberg. “We’ve spent decades in partnership with the (Forest Service)."

Phosphate is mined in multiple places. Goldberg said they get phosphate both domestically, including from Idaho, and internationally. He declined to go into detail, but said the company hasn’t relied on China or Ukraine, and has substituted other suppliers for Russia and Belarus.

The Forest Service said that tests this summer with FR-200 will be limited to single-engine airtankers flying out of an airtanker base in Ronan, Montana. That appears to be to prevent mixing the companies’ retardants.

Two Forest Service watchdog groups contend both types of retardant harm the environment, and that the agency should be spending less on retardant and more on firefighters.

Andy Stahl, executive director of the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, and Timothy Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, both said that the ammonium-phosphates-based retardant is essentially a fertilizer that can boost invasive plants and is potentially responsible for some algae blooms in lakes or reservoirs when it washes downstream. They said the magnesium-chloride-based retardant is essentially a salt that will inhibit plant growth where it falls, possibly harming threatened species.

Both are concerned about direct hits to waterways with either retardant and potential harm to aquatic species. Aircraft are typically limited to giving streams a 300-foot (90-meter) buffer from retardant, but the Forest Service allows drops within the buffer under some conditions, and they sometimes happen accidentally.

“Their theory is that it’s a war, and when you’re in a war you’re going to have collateral damage,” Stahl said. “It’s the fire-industrial complex, the nexus between corporate and government agencies combined, with really no interest in ending making warfare on wildfires. It’s ever-increasing.”

Currently, much of the West is in drought. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, is reporting that so far this year there have been more than 31,000 wildfires that have burned about 5,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometers). That's well above the 10-year average for the same period of about 24,000 wildfires and 2,000 square miles (5,000 square kilometers) burned.

Wildfire seasons have become increasingly longer as climate change has made the West much warmer and drier in the past 30 years, and scientists have long warned that the weather will get wilder as the world warms.

5 Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire in northern Gaza

MAJORITY OF BATTLEFIELD DEATHS 

TANKS ROLL OVER INFANTRY

Mithil Aggarwal
Updated Thu, May 16, 2024 


The Israeli military said Thursday that five soldiers were killed and seven others were injured in a friendly fire incident in northern Gaza amid renewed battles in the area against regrouped Hamas militants.

The Israel Defense Forces said it had opened an investigation into the deadly incident, which it said happened when the soldiers were hit by tank crossfire in Jabalia.

While battles raged in the north, Israel's defense minister said more troops would join the ground operation in Rafah, where an intensifying assault has sent hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing the southern Gaza city where they had sought refuge.


"An initial investigation into the deaths of five IDF soldiers reveals that IDF tanks, located dozens of meters away, identified a weapon and fired shells at an IDF force nearby," the IDF said in a statement.

"This force had entered the northern part of Gaza and occupied buildings along a logistic route. The tanks fired two shells for unclear reasons, resulting in seven more soldiers being injured, three severely."

The statement added that the IDF "is probing why the shells were fired and if the soldiers were mistaken for armed militants." The troops were members of the 202nd Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade.

Seven months into its war aimed at eliminating Hamas, Israeli forces are again engaged in intense fighting in areas of northern Gaza that the IDF said earlier had been cleared, renewing doubts over the government's strategy in the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under growing pressure from the U.S. to lay out a plan for postwar Gaza, and on Wednesday he faced rare public criticism over the issue from within his own War Cabinet.

In a nationally televised statement, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant challenged Netanyahu over what he said was his refusal to discuss the issue. He said that would lead to Israel’s being forced to rule over the Palestinian enclave again, which he said he opposed. "We must make tough decisions for the future of our country, favoring national priorities above all other possible considerations, even with the possibility of personal or political costs," Gallant said.

Still, Netanyahu insists the focus must be on invading Rafah, where his troops have intensified operations since Israel called on residents of the city's east to evacuate last week.

After he conducted an assessment Wednesday on the Gaza border near Rafah, Gallant said that “additional troops will join the ground operation in Rafah."

“This operation will continue as additional forces will enter" the area, he said, according to a transcript his office provided a day later. "Several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops and additional tunnels will be destroyed soon. This activity will intensify.”

At least 600,000 people fled parts of Gaza's southernmost city, where more than 1 million Palestinians sought shelter, according to the United Nations, with 100,000 more people displaced in northern Gaza.

The U.N.’s top court opens two days of hearings Thursday into South Africa's call to halt Israeli operations in Rafah.

The slow increase in the flow of aid into the strip over recent months could also be wiped out by Israel's assault on Rafah, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday, with one critical aid crossing shut and another restricted.

U.S. Central Command said early Thursday it had successfully anchored a temporary humanitarian pier to a beach in Gaza to increase the flow of aid.

“Trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to begin moving ashore in the coming days,” it said in a post on X.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

5 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza by their own army's tank fire

Haley Ott
Updated Thu, May 16, 2024

5 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza by their own army's tank fir


The Israel Defense Forces said five of its soldiers, all between 20 and 22 years old, were killed by Israeli tank fire in northern Gaza on Wednesday evening. An initial internal investigation found that two tanks fired at a building in the Jabalia refugee camp where the soldiers had gathered. The building was being used by the deputy commander of the battalion, according to an IDF statement.

"It appears that the tank fighters, from the ultra-Orthodox paratrooper company 'Hatz,' identified a barrel of a weapon coming out of one of the windows in the building, and directed each other to shoot at the building," the IDF statement said.

"This is a very difficult incident, the work environment is under very complex operational stress and in a very crowded area," IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on Thursday. "We are in the middle of the investigation, we will learn the lessons. Maintaining the security of our forces is a central task."

The incident came as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, after a situational assessment at the Gaza border in Rafah, said more Israeli troops would be entering Gaza.

"Several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops and additional tunnels will be destroyed soon," Gallant said Wednesday. "This activity will intensify – Hamas is not an organization that can reorganize, it does not have reserve troops, it has no supply stocks and no ability to treat the terrorists that we target. The result is that we are wearing Hamas down."

Israeli defense chief calls for "day after" plan in Gaza

As IDF operations continued, Gallant publicly challenged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week about his post-war plans for the Gaza Strip.

In addition to military action, Gallant said in a televised statement that "the establishment of a governing alternative in Gaza" in the wake of almost 20 years of Hamas rule was also crucial to Israel's stated objective of dismantling the group. "In the absence of such an alternative, only two negative options remain: Hamas' rule in Gaza or Israeli military rule in Gaza."

Gallant said he would oppose the latter scenario and urged Netanyahu to formally rule it out.

Israel plans to "destroy Hamas." If that happens, who will lead the Palestinians in Gaza?

He said he had been trying to promote a plan to create a "non-hostile Palestinian governing alternative" to Hamas since October, but that he'd received no response from the Israeli cabinet.

Gallant has previously suggested the Palestinian Authority (PA), which administers the Israeli-occupied West Bank, could have a role in governing Gaza after the war. Netanyahu has dismissed that suggestion, also floated by the United States, as have various members of the PA.

On Tuesday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari was asked if the lack of a post-war strategy for Gaza was hindering military operations there.

"There is no doubt that an alternative to Hamas would generate pressure on Hamas, but that's a question for the government echelon," he said.