Tanker delivering petrol catches fire at gas station

Timely operation by eleven fire tenders averts big disaster in Saddar

KARACHI:

A fire broke out in a tanker parked at a petrol pump in front of Saddar Parking Plaza on Saturday.

The fire started during the transfer of fuel which was put out by the firefighters after a fierce struggle. The tanker contained 16,000 litres of petrol.

There was also a risk of exploding the tanker as well as the underground fuel tank at the petrol pump during the fire. One snorkel and eleven fire brigade vehicles took part in the operation.

Sources said, at around 11 o'clock on Saturday morning, an oil tanker reached the petrol pump in front of the Parking Plaza in Saddar to deliver petrol. The petrol pump crew was connecting the tanker's pipe to the fuel tank when a fire broke out which soon got intensified.

Panic and fear spread in the area. The staff at the fuel station immediately used fire extinguishers to extinguish the fire and alerted the fire brigade.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Abdul Ahad said that as soon as the information was received, four vehicles were dispatched to the spot and the number of vehicles kept increasing.

The firefighters rushed to the spot and risked their lives to put out the blaze by standing in front of the tanker.

Read Fire at another market in a week

During this time, the fuel was added in the running water several times and the fire spread along the water to the road. At one point, the fire spread rapidly under the fire brigade vehicles, which was immediately extinguished.

Firefighters battled the blaze for about an hour and a half, after which the cooling process began.

The firefighters kept the fire under control despite severe difficulties and prevented it from spreading further. They said the fire could have caused irreparable damage if it had spread to other parts of the gas station or to an underground tank.

Inam Ahmed, manager of the petrol pump, said that there was fuel in the underground tank which has the capacity of storing 30,000 litres of fuel. The fire brigade vehicles arrived on time and averted a big disaster, he said.

The fire partially damaged the petrol pump. Earlier, as soon as the fire was reported, police and traffic police personnel rushed to the spot and closed the roads around the gas station for all traffic.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2021.