Newark, NJ fire captain dead, retired firefighter hospitalized

Newark – Fellow firefighters and community members are mourning a Newark fire captain who was found unresponsive inside a Newark fire house on Saturday morning.

Social media tributes by his own fire department and others have identified Captain Carlos Rivera, of the Engine 15 Ladder 7 Firehouse.

He was found alongside a second unconscious person — a retired firefighter — at the firehouse at 269-271 Park Avenue, according to Acting Essex County Prosecutor Theodore Stephens.

Both were taken to University Hospital where Rivera was pronounced dead, while the unnamed second person remained hospitalized. A condition was not known Sunday morning.

Stephens said there were no preliminary signs of violence, as his office is investigating the situation.

The cause and manner of death would be determined by an autopsy by the Regional Medical Examiner.