A fire at a shore-to-ship delivery pump at the Esso oil refinery in Port Dickson early today saw workers running for safety and flames shooting skywards visible from two kilometres away.  

The fire, which occurred at about 1am, was put out about three hours later and prevented from spreading to two oil refinery tanks and a nearby LPG bottling plant, said Negri Sembilan Fire and Rescue director Saadon Mokhtar.

He said foam was used to extinguish the burning nafta petroleum by the 32 firemen and 24 fire-fighters from Esso and Shell.

“Our 32 firemen, including the HazMat (hazardous materials) unit, were rushed to the location after we were summoned at 1.06am,” he said, adding that the fire was brought under control at 3.36am and extinguished at 4.17am.

Saadon said about 100 workers were on duty at the time of the fire and all of them were safe.

“Although the fire has been put out, we are keeping watch. There is no danger to nearby inhabitants. The HazMat unit is determining whether any chemical substance had triggered the fire,” he told Bernama.   

The cause of the fire and the damage were being determined, he said.

Many of the workers who fled their work stations were filling gas into cylinders at the time the fire broke out.

One of them, Kassim Bee Mohamad Kassim, 49, said she heard a loud mechanical noise and suddenly saw flames.

“It was 12.55am. We were at work when we heard the loud noise and a small explosion. Then we saw the (delivery) pump on fire. We ran out (of the plant),” she said.

Another worker, T Mallika, 54, said she and several fellow workers were filling gas cylinders when they spotted the fire and ran for their lives.

- Bernama