A fire in a crude storage tank at Hengyuan Refinery in Port Dickson, Malaysia began at around 16:20 local time on 22 May. Firefighters reportedly took around ten hours to extinguish it.
The local fire department said its teams had been on the scene within minutes of the fire being called in, and were assisted by emergency response teams from the refinery itself and a nearby Petron facility. The tank that caught fire has a capacity of 53,500 m3. No injuries have been reported.
In a statement to the board of Bursa Malaysia (which owns the refinery), Hengyuan Refining Company said that the fire was restricted to one crude tank area, and other sections of the refinery and the offices building were not affected.
The board added that preliminary indications were that the fire was due to a lightning strike. This is supported by eyewitnesses who spoke to local media. Investigations into the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are ongoing.
For more information www.hrc.com.my
