Fire On Petroleum Bulk Storage Tank

A huge fire and explosion involving two units of bulk storage tanks took place on 17th August 2008 at a terminal located at the south of Malaysia. The bulk storage tanks are used for the storage of petroleum products for export. Tank 1 which contains unleaded gasoline (ULG) was reported to be on fire at about 6.40 pm on Sunday, 17th August 2008. DOSH's headquarter office received report of the accident from DOSH's Johor office on 18th August 2008 and immediately fetched the Forensic Engineering Division and Major Hazard Division officers to the location of the accident. At about 7.15 pm, 18th August 2008, the fire spread to Tank 2 (Naphta) which was located beside Tank 1 due to heavy wind and ensuing flame. (refer figure 1)

Initial investigation revealed that the fire started from Tank 1. Source of fire is still under investigation by the Fire and Rescue Department. DOSH's Forensic Engineering Division together with the state officers investigation teams frequently visited the accident scene and observed that many parts inside tanks 5 and 7 sustained failures especially the internal floating roof(IFR). Design failure of IFR is one of the focus of the investigation.