Cuba's Matanzas tank farm fire is raging on after flames spread to two more giant storage tanks, bringing the total ablaze to four and heightening firefighters’ battle to douse the fire this week.
Lightning struck the first tank at the Matanzas Supertanker Base east of Havana, sparking the blaze on Friday night. The fire and heat from the burning tank then ignited a second tank, causing an explosion which left more than 120 people injured and 17 missing on Saturday.
The second tank collapsed on Sunday after burning for 40 hours, suddenly releasing its fuel and exacerbating the fire. A third tank then burst into flames in a second massive blast on Monday and a plume of smoke initially obscured the tank and made it difficult for authorities to assess the situation.
"The risk that we had announced occurred and the fire that was in the second tank compromised the third tank, which is now on fire, functioning as an Olympic cauldron, like a stove, with very little visibility because there is a lot of smoke," governor of Matanzas, Mario Sabines Lorenzo, said in a statement carried by state media.
Firefighting chief Alexander Ávalos Jorge said during a press conference on Monday that the fire had “compromised” a fourth tank and it was difficult to determine how long it would now take to extinguish it.
Cuban officials have dispatched crop-dusting cranes and helicopters to drop water over the fire and Venezuela’s government has stepped in to help, dispatching a 5 000-gallons-per-minute (GPM) portable fire pump. Crews are also preparing earthen terraces to contain the fuel spills and prevent the further spread of the fire.
The US Embassy in Havana said it was standing by to provide humanitarian or technical assistance if needed.