Oil Tank fire in North East China
Firefighters extinguished an oil tank fire at PetroChina's Dalian refinery - the latest in a series of safety-related incidents in China's oil industry.
Firefighters have extinguished an 800 ton diesel oil tank fire in the port city of Dalian, Liaoning province, at a PetroChina refinery. The blaze required the joint effort of 296 firefighters and 65 fire engines to put out, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Public Security. The statement indicated that an explosion in the pipeline linking two oil tanks was thought to have caused the fire.
Though there were no reported casualties, there existed a potential for even greater destruction, as the fire started close to other tanks filled with aviation gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas and other oil tanks.
The explosion comes after a bad summer for oil safety in China, as the industry recovers from the Penglai and Suizhou spills, as well as the explosion at Daya bay in Guangdong province. Last year two pipelines in Dalian exploded, sending thousands of tons of oil leaking into the sea and created a blaze that lasted for over 15 hours.
