Refinery team work swiftly to extinguish fire

Thursday, 13 November 2008

A fire in the main crude unit of Engen's Refinery in Durban which broke out at 00:20 last night has been extinguished. The all clear was sounded at 03:10.

Engen wishes to assure the families of refinery employees that no injuries were sustained by anyone during the incident and its containment. There is also no danger to the community in the immediate vicinity of the refinery.

The area has been secured and investigations are underway to pinpoint the cause of the fire, cost of damage and when the refinery will be back in operation.

The fire was put out by Engen Refinery's internal fire fighting facility. Engen would like to express its gratitude to the eThekwini Emergency Services who were on standby to offer assistance.

"We have our specialist teams on the ground and will be giving updated reports on the investigations and developments in the days ahead. The refinery's environmental team is carrying out regular air sampling and these samples will be sent to specialised laboratories for analysis," says Willem Oosthuizen, General Manager of Enref.

Engen would like to thank the environmental and health authorities, as well as the local community for their help and co-operation during the incident. The refinery management is keeping in close contact with the Community Liaison Forum during this time.

Currently Engen has adequate fuel stocks so there will be no immediate impact on consumers, however, contingencies plans are in place to ensure the security of supply during the shutdown.