Blaze on two crude oil tanks successfully extinguished

CHUKAI: The massive blaze which engulfed two of the Kemaman Bitumen Company’s (KBC) giant crude oil tanks at the KBC industrial area here were successfully extinguished yesterday, while the third tank is still burning.

Terengganu Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Sharikan Bustaman said after 43 hours of battle, the firefighters managed to extinguish the fire on the two giant tanks at 6.40am and 10am respectively.

“The wind was quite calm at 3 o’clock this morning, allowing us to fully focus on putting out the fire and as a result, the blaze on the two tanks were successfully extinguished at 6.40am and 10am.

“As of 1pm, only 30 per cent of the third tank containing 13,666 cubic meters of still on fire, which we estimate to be put out completely later tonight,” he told the press at the location.

According to Sharikan, the current strong wind condition had somehow affected the concentration of the firefighters, making the operation much more difficult as they had to change members every two hours.

“The windy condition also made it difficult for us to set the direction for the water flow, when we take a position, the wind condition forced us to change the course 30 degrees from the actual target,” he said.

He added the third-day operation involves 196 firemen of the states of Terengganu, Perak and Pahang, assisted by 46 members from nine other agencies including police, Department of Health and Occupational Safety (Dosh) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID).

The fire broke out at 6.15pm last Thursday, involving three out of six oil tanks containing crude oil of more than 20,000 litres. - Bernama