Lightning Strikes Methanol Tanker At EIPL In Vizag, None Hurt
“The personnel acted quickly and controlled the fire before it spread to four nearby diesel tankers,” the RFO said
Visakhapatnam: Tension gripped the East India Petroleum Chemicals (EIPL) premises in Visakhapatnam on Sunday afternoon when lightning struck a methanol tanker during a thunderstorm, causing a fire. However, fire and foam tenders responded quickly and brought the blaze under control before it could spread.
Regional fire officer Niranjan Reddy told this newspaper that four foam tenders from the fire department, along with one each from HPCL, Visakhapatnam Port Authority, and Andhra Petro Chemicals Ltd, rushed to the refinery and managed to control the flames.
“The personnel acted quickly and controlled the fire before it spread to four nearby diesel tankers,” the RFO said.
The lightning hit the tanker at around 2:30 pm while it was raining in the area. It took nearly one hour to bring the fire under control. There were no casualties or injuries reported in the incident, where about 1,000 litres of methanol were destroyed by the fire.
Home minister Vangakapaudi inspected the spot and enquired about the accident. She assured that senior officials were closely monitoring the fire control efforts to prevent further mishaps.
The EIPL’s operations include receiving petroleum, oil, lubricants (POL) products, chemicals, and LPG through pipelines from vessels berthed at Vizag Port. These are stored in tanks before being transported to various consumers and industries in the region. Methanol is supplied from Visakhapatnam to pharmaceutical and chemical industries.
