Fire broke out on Thursday night in the HPCL refinery here in one of the crude distillation units.

But it was brought under control and extinguished by Friday early morning.

There were no casualties or injuries, according to a HPCL press release.

The release says that “there was a fire in one of the crude distillation units (CDU-III) at HPCL, Visakha Refinery, on May 16 at 10.05 p.m.

Emergency response

The unit was shutdown immediately and the emergency response system of the refinery was pressed into service to fight the fire.

“All the emergency protection systems functioned properly and helped in restraining the fire.

“The fire in the unit pump bay and pipe rack was initially big, but was controlled within one hour.”

Based on the initial intensity of the fire, help from the nearby industries such as Coromandel Fertilisers was sought as a back-up and their fire tenders reported immediately. The AP fire services, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Hindustan Zinc and the Navy participated in the fire-fighting operations.

All other production units in the refinery are functioning normally.

Under investigation

“There was no abnormal emission from the refinery due to the fire and there was no other environmental impact.

“The cause of the fire is being investigated. The unit will be restarted upon inspection of the piping, cables in the affected area and repairs and replacements,” according to the release.

However, there is no mention in the press release of what caused the accident, but it is suspected that the malfunctioning of a pump may have caused it.

There is no estimate as yet of the loss to property or the production loss.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

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