20221015 First responders douse fire at Eastern Refinery, Bangladesh’s only oil refiner
Bangladesh Oct 15 2022 “Building” “Factories”
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First responders douse fire at Eastern Refinery, Bangladesh’s only oil refiner
Updated: 2022-10-15
Emergency workers have put out a fire that erupted at Eastern Refinery, the country’s only oil refiner, in Chattogram’s Patenga.
A pipeline at the refinery caught fire around 11:25 am on Saturday, according to Abdul Hamid, deputy assistant director of the district’s fire service.
Several fire-fighting vehicles from the port city’s Bandar, Patenga, EPZ and Agrabad stations later extinguished the flames around 12:45 pm.
The fire originated near a part of the facility known as the ‘metering section’, according to Hamid.
“It’s like a junction, containing around 70 to 80 small pipes. We were able to quickly bring the fire under control,” he said.
Md Lokman, managing director of Eastern Refinery, said the fire started in a pit next to the metering section, but the incident did not result in any damage.
A six-strong probe committee has been constituted by the company to determine the cause of the incident, according to Lokman. “We hope that they’ll submit a report this evening.”
Khalid Ahmed, director of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, visited Eastern Refinery to assess the situation in the afternoon.
“The facility is equipped with CCTV cameras. We will also speak to witnesses to find out the cause of the fire as soon as possible,” he said.
Asked if the fire was sparked by welding work, he said the fire did not occur in Eastern Refinery’s main facility, but in a pipeline to a terminal, which is under development.
“Those who have the technical know-how will look into the incident. We’ve ensured round-the-clock water supply for cooling after the fire was brought under control to prevent a recurrence due to heat.”
Eastern Refinery began commercial operation in May 1968. The facility was nationalised four years later in 1972. It later became a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation following its inception in 1977.
With an annual refining capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes, the facility processes imported fuel oil which is then supplied throughout the country.
Web Source: BDNews24