Blaze rages on
Efforts are still on to extinguish the fire that broke out at a fuel tank farm of the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) on Friday evening and officials expected it to take until Sunday morning for the flames to die down.
The diesel tank of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) that caught fire on Friday night at Jawahar Dweep, has been burning even after 21 hours. However by late evening, the Mumbai Port Trust and fire brigade that had been battling to douse the fire succeeded in controlling it. “One fire tank was deployed to ensure the fire is doused, however the fire is still burning,” Manohar Rao, chief of Safety, Security & Environmental refinery, BPCL. The good news is that there has been no casualty or injury.
After the thunderstorm on Friday at 5.15 pm, the lightning struck a loading hub for petroleum products near Mumbai, in Thane creek. “It took several hours for fire fighters to bring it under control. But although the flames are under control, but even 24 hours the firefighting operation is still underway," said Prabhat Rahangdale Chief Fire Officer (CFO) of Brihanmumbai Fire Brigade.
He added, “Due to intense heat of more than 350 degree Celsius near affected tank the fire fighting team is trying to put the fire under control by using foam from safe distance. Situation is dynamic but still under control.”
In addition as a precaution, vessels that were near Jawahar Dweep, were asked to move away. The blaze broke out in one of the fuel tank owned by the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, and as per the initial investigation lightning may have caused the fire, Rahangdale said.
A team of six fire brigades from Mumbai Fire Brigade and more than 100 persons from MbPT are present at the spot. As the information of blaze was received immediately authorities of the Mumbai Port Trust informed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Disaster Management Unit. Also the Indian Navy and Coast Guard are both monitoring the situation.
Mumbai Port Trust spokesperson Rajendra Paibir said that mobile network are affected on Butcher Island therefore all communication is going on via radio. “All employees have been evacuated, and the port’s firefighting experts are dealing with the situation. And also no causality has been reported.”