Cuba brings oil depot fire under control
MATANZAS: Firefighters yesterday finally overcame what officials described as the worst fire in Cuba’s history that over five days destroyed 40% of the Caribbean island’s main fuel storage facility and caused massive blackouts.
Witnesses reported the raging flames that ravaged a fourtank segment of the Matanzas supertanker port had died down and the towering plumes of thick black smoke streaming from the area were diminished and now mostly gray.
Matanzas is Cuba’s largest port for receiving crude oil and fuel imports. Cuban heavy crude, as well as fuel oil and diesel stored in Matanzas, are mainly used to generate electricity on the island.
Lightning struck one fuel storage tank on Saturday morning, New Zealand time. The fire engulfed the fourtank area on Tuesday, accompanied by huge explosions. The Communistrun country, under heavy United States sanctions, is all but bankrupt. It has had frequent electricity blackouts, and shortages of gasoline and other commodities.
Yesterday, more helicopters joined the effort to put out the fire, along with two fireboats sent by Mexico along with heavy firefighting equipment.
‘‘We have not yet been able to access the impact area due to the conditions. There is combustion and so we cannot risk our lives for now,’’ Perez said.
Later in the day firefighters for the first time were entering the area and spraying foam and water on the still smouldering remains.
‘‘Today we have managed to control the fire,’’ Rolando Vecino, head of transport for the Ministry of the Interior, said.
Authorities said no oil had contaminated Matanzas Bay but warned residents as far away as Havana to wear face masks and avoid acid rain due to the plume of smoke the fire generated.
One firefighter died and 14 went missing on Sunday when the second tank blew up, authorities said yesterday, correcting an earlier figure of 16 missing. Five others remain in critical condition. — Reuters