investigative hearings continue into a Dockside cargo ship fire at Port Newark last summer that killed two Newark firefighters today's testimony centered on the source of the blaze a Jeep Wrangler that was being used to push hundreds of other vehicles on and off the ship and according to experts was part of a massive vehicle recall Ted Goldberg has the latest the only thing we cannot disprove is a mechanical failure that is consistent with the recall condition is described by Chrysler the third day of hearings investigating last Summer's deadly Port fire zeroed in on the Jeep Wrangler that started the fire ATF special agent Matthew hartnet testified that his agency eliminated every other hypothesis as to how the fire started blaming the start of the blaze on a defect in the engines of overworked Wranglers causing transmission fluid to expel from the filler tube contacting a hot surface and and suddenly Catching Fire this Pusher car was part of a recall issued by Chrysler it stated that transmission fluid May overheat in certain driving conditions continuous operation under these conditions may cause the transmission fluid to boil over and come in contact with hot engine or exhaust components this could cause an underhood fire without warning the corrective action special agent hartnet wouldn't say fix was to alter the dashboard to notify drivers so the corrective action was to install a morning lamp in a chime that says hot oil but there was no the corrective action didn't consist of any mechanical changes it was strictly a a warning light and alarm that's correct the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco firearms and explosives confirmed that the Jeep received the corrective action 14 years ago we did hear testimony that there were flaming Fireballs dripping from the bottom of the vehicle that's obviously consistent with a fluid burning since that was the onset of the fire according to the owner's manual for that Year's Wrangler the solution for an overheated engine is to let it idle but lashers testified earlier this week that the jeep was placed off to the side and shut off so if the Jeep overheated earlier in the day it may not have cooled off when you shut a vehicle off you're no longer using the vehicle's cooling systems and the temperature will Elevate for a short amount of time a day earlier shipmaster alisand merti explained why his crew fought the fire with CO2 instead of fire resistant foam like some have suggested did you have a discussion with the chief made about using the foam to in in their initial efforts to fight the fire nope this must no sense to use that one okay and why is that the foam need to be spreaded on some surface to create the foam is full of holes holes for lashing merti also says he warned the firefighters about their initial approach to fighting the Flames when the Shor Side Fire Department ask you to turn on turn back on the ventilation system did that raise any concerns for you yes please explain I clearly asked them you are sure because if you are going to start the exhaust system again the oxygen and the flow air can start again the fire from the Amber or from the heat today's hearing ended by describing how the fire spread through the ship and how firefighters responded to the Flames multiple new Yark fire officials are scheduled to testify next week when the hearings resume on Tuesday in Union I'm Ted Goldberg Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight News [Music]