A large scale fire, which broke out at the oil refinery of Viva Energy near Geelong, was finally extinguished after burning through the night and it is likely that the reason behind the fire was mechanical equipment failure.
The Fire Rescue Victoria team received the alarm just before 11 pm on Wednesday after several reports about explosions and flames.
The fire was put out in the middle of Thursday afternoon with the help of 50 firefighters, ten trucks and a boat sent there.
There were no casualties amongst about fifty employees who worked in the area during the fire.
FRV deputy commissioner Michelle Cowling in her interview mentioned that the fire had started due to the leakage of some kind of gas because of the breakdown of a valve of mechanical equipment.
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Then the gas caught fire due to several ignition points present in the refinery.
Fuel supply concerns
The fire hit the refinery’s motor gasoline unit, which is called the mogas plant on site. This unit is responsible for making high octane fuels like gasoline.
The Corio facility is one of only two refineries still in operation in Australia. It provides about half of Victoria’s fuel and about 10% of the country’s total fuel supply.
“Before the fire, we were operating at 100% capacity, but now we have gone back to our minimum rates,” said Scott Wyatt, the CEO of Viva Energy.
“It is going to impact our gasoline output, and even our aviation gasoline might be affected, while we have already reduced our diesel and jet fuel output,” he added.
“It’s really bad timing,” said Chris Bowen, Australia’s energy minister. “It’s not good news for Geelong,” he said on News Breakfast.
“This highlights just how precarious our fuel security has become here in Australia,” said Stretch Kontelj, mayor of Geelong. The Victoria Police will conduct an investigation into what caused the fire.
