Cuba: relentless fight to contain the fire of the oil depot
Steph Deschamps / August 10, 2022
Cuban firefighters still battling the fire at an oil depot that consumed four of the eight tanks, were working Tuesday to prevent the fire from spreading further and were preparing to spread extinguishing foam in huge quantities.
As of dawn, four helicopters were making rotations to drop water in the middle of the burning oil to open a path for firefighters on the ground, an AFP reporter noted.
Fire crews continue to clear a path in front of the flames so that the brigades responsible for spreading the foam can advance, Matanzas Governor Mario Sabines said on his Twitter account.
The thick black smoke limits the visibility of the pilots who are assisted by drones, he said.
About 40 trucks carrying dry materials are ready to contain the flames, the governor added.
Some 17 aircraft in total, 13 from Mexico and four from Venezuela, carrying oil firefighting specialists and extinguishing foam landed at the resort of Varadero, 40 kilometers northeast of Matanzas.
On Monday, efforts were concentrated on avoiding the spread of the fire to a terminal where the tanks of clear products are located, gasoline and other light fuels even more flammable than crude oil and fuel oil that were in the four burned tanks, said at a press conference Alexander Avalos Jorge, deputy chief of the Cuban Fire Department.
The four tanks of 50 million liters each were engulfed in flames, he said, it was a chain reaction.
According to the latest report, one firefighter is dead and 14 others are missing, 22 people are still hospitalized, five of them in critical condition.