Oil tank fire at Jurong Island put out after five-hour operation

An oil tank fire which broke out at 23 Tembusu Road on Jurong Island was put out by the SCDF after a five-hour operation. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG
An oil tank fire which broke out at 23 Tembusu Road on Jurong Island was put out by the SCDF after a five-hour operation. ST PHOTO: SEAH KWANG PENG
Fire and plumes of smoke are seen rising from an oil tank on Jurong Island, on April 20, 2016. PHOTO: FAIZAL HASSAN
Plumes of smoke are seen rising from an oil tank on Jurong Island, on April 20, 2016. ST PHOTO: WONG SHIYING
Plumes of smoke are seen rising from an oil tank on Jurong Island, on April 20, 2016. ST PHOTO: WONG SHIYING

SINGAPORE - An oil tank fire which broke out at 23 Tembusu Road on Jurong Island at about 3pm on Wednesday (April 20) was put out after a five-hour operation.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a Facebook post that around 150 personnel were involved in "battling the raging inferno", which was extinguished at 7.45pm.

"This operation was a race against time in view of the tank that has buckled and on the need to prevent the intense fire from spreading to its immediate surroundings."

In an earlier post, SCDF said the fire involved a tank containing light crude oil measuring about 40m in diameter and 20m in height. It added that the fire was "not toxic in nature".

When SCDF personnel arrived at the scene, the fire was raging, with the in-house company emergency response team (CERT) using ground water monitors to attempt to contain it.

The intensity of the fire caused the affected tank to fold and buckle, SCDF said. The tank is contained within a bund wall measuring 100m by 150m.

A member of CERT was conveyed to National University Hospital for heat exhaustion.

SCDF said its large 6,000 GPM (gallons per minute) foam monitor was deployed to mitigate the fire, while several ground water monitors and fixed drencher systems were used to cool down two adjacent oil tanks.

A total of five fire engines, three red rhinos, one ambulance and 29 support vehicles were involved in the operation.

Speaking to The Straits Times, construction worker Ravi Saminathan, 52, said: "It was raining heavily but I saw flames shooting up and a lot of smoke. It looked very serious."

Mr Muhammad Ali, 49, a security guard at a shipyard nearby, evacuated his colleagues when he saw the fire.

"We could feel the building shake a little when the fire broke out. I quickly told everyone to gather outside, just in case there are explosions," he said.

Eyewitnesses took to social media to share clips of the incident.

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