Source: CCTV Finance
As of 10:00 local time on the 11th, the fire and explosion at the oil storage base in Matanzas Province, Cuba, have killed 2 people, injured 130 people, and 108 of them have been discharged. As of the 11th, the fire has lasted for nearly a week. What progress has been made in firefighting and rescue efforts, and what potential fire risks are there?
The fires at Cuba's largest oil storage base have lasted for nearly a week
2 people have been killed and 130 injured
At present, the main job of the rescue team is to go all out to extinguish the small-scale embers and continue to cool the ground with water to prevent re-ignition. Experts will also begin assessing the fire damage. It is understood that the port of Matanzas in Cuba is the largest port in Cuba to receive imported fuel, and the place where the fire occurred is the largest oil storage base in Cuba, which has a total of eight crude oil storage tanks, one of which was struck by lightning at about 7 p.m. local time on August 5 and caught fire.
At first, the fire was somewhat controlled, but strong winds caused the fire to spread to another oil storage tank and cause several explosions, causing casualties. On the 8th, the first fire in the oil storage tank that caught fire was extinguished, and the second collapsed and spilled fuel after burning for nearly 40 hours. The spread of the fire caused two other oil storage tanks in the immediate vicinity to catch fire and explode several times. It is understood that because the oil stored in the fourth oil storage tank has been evacuated and transferred in advance, the intensity of combustion during the fire is relatively smaller than that of other oil storage tanks.
According to the Cuban Fire Department, the four oil storage tanks that are currently on fire have all collapsed, and the remaining oil storage tanks and generator sets in the oil storage base have not been affected by the fire. The fire department said the scale of the fire was unprecedented in Cuba.
Following the accident, the Governments of Mexico and Venezuela have sent more than 20 aircraft carrying technicians, rescue workers, firefighting supplies and equipment to Cuba to join the rescue. A number of foreign organizations have donated food, protective materials and other relief materials to the disaster areas.
The animation recreates the fire after multiple oil tanks were struck by lightning
Next, you can use a short video to understand the detailed process of the fire at the oil storage base in Cuba.
Located in the oil storage base of the industrial zone of the port of Matanzas in the province of Matanzas, Cuba, there are 8 oil storage tanks, each with a volume of 50,000 cubic meters, which can store 50 million liters of crude oil.
On the evening of the 5th local time, the first oil storage tank was struck by lightning and caught fire, and 50% of the oil was produced at that time, about 26,000 cubic meters.
The next day, in the early morning of the 6th, the fire spread to the second oil storage tank and there were four explosions.
On the 7th local time, the fire continued to spread after burning for more than 24 hours, and then spread to two other oil storage tanks in the immediate vicinity.
It is understood that the interval between these 4 fire storage tanks is about 50 meters. Earlier, The Cuban Fire Department official Aleksandr Avalo had said that all four of the burning oil storage tanks had collapsed, but the remaining four oil storage tanks and generator sets had not been affected by the fire.