Pulau Busing
oil storage tank fire extinguished after 'massive operation':
SCDF
SINGAPORE: A raging oil storage tank fire on Pulau Busing was
extinguished by firefighters on Tuesday (Mar 20) after a massive
six-hour operation involving several agencies.
In a Facebook update early on Wednesday morning, the Singapore
Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the blaze was extinguished by the
combined efforts of SCDF Emergency Responders and CERT
members.
No casualties were reported.
SCDF said it was alerted to the fire at Pulau Busing at about
5.50pm.
A total of 128 personnel and 31 firefighting and support
vehicles were deployed for the "massive operation", SCDF said in an
earlier update at 11.46pm, more than five hours after the fire
broke out.
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The SCDF-led operations were supported by the Police Coast Guard,
Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Republic of Singapore
Navy and the National Environment Agency.
Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, K Shanmugam, was on
the island to meet SCDF emergency responders.
The fire involved an oil storage tank on Pulau Busing, one of
the islands off the southern coast of Singapore, which is home to
oil and chemical storage facilities.
"Radiant heat from the affected oil storage tank poses a major
challenge to the firefighters as they move forward while
maintaining a safe distance. Despite the challenge, SCDF
firefighters and members of CERT (Company Emergency Response Team)
are still pressing on," said SCDF in an update during the
operations.
The oil storage tank belongs to Tankstore, which has a facility
on Pulau Busing for storing petroleum and petrochemical
products.
The fire was "quite severe", a Tankstore source told Reuters,
asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the
media.
Photos posted on social media show a thick plume of smoke
billowing from the island.
A 29-year-old Channel NewsAsia reader, who did not want to be
named, said she saw smoke rising from the island since 6pm.
Ms Nicky Ng, 48, told Channel NewsAsia she saw the smoke from
the condominium she lives in near Harbourfront.
“It was about to rain and (we) heard thunder … when (we) looked at
the sky, saw smoke in the sky and then saw it coming from the
offshore island,” she said.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said that there has not
been any increase in pollutant levels, and that it would provide
updates should there be changes in the air quality situation.
"We are monitoring the air quality closely, especially in the
southwestern region of Singapore," NEA said.
"The prevailing winds are currently blowing from the northeast and
the air quality has remained in the good to moderate range," it
said.
There have also been no spikes in the PM2.5, sulphur dioxide and
other air pollutant levels, it added.
Source: Reuters/CNA/ec/ng/de