Explosion at a Fuel Depot in Ukraine
A tank in a fuel depot next to an army base near the town of Vasylkiv, 30 km south west of Kiev, burst into flame on Monday evening resulting in explosions on Tuesday morning and a huge plume of smoke which covered the area. The blaze took 17 tanks, eight of which were said to have a capacity of 900 cubic metres (32,000 cu ft) each. Four people were killed and more than 10 others injured. The exact cause of the fire has yet to be determined. People in a 2km (1.24 miles) zone around the burning depot have been evacuated and a nearby munitions store is being cleared by military personnel.
The intensity of the fire has resulted in challenges in extinguishing the blaze and 200 firefighters have been working throughout the week to limit the spread. The last explosion occurred on Wednesday evening but, according to the press service of the State Service for Emergency Situations of Ukraine (SSES), it was an expected incident and all equipment and personnel were moved aside in time to prevent further casualties.
“We are working around the clock,” said Nikolai Chechetkin, Head of the State Service for Emergency Situations of Ukraine. “Apart from the main tanks within the fuel depot, there are many places where 40-60-ton tanks are still ablaze. That is why there is such heavy smoke. But the situation is under control. We have control over a third of the depot. There is no danger of further explosions,” he said, before adding: “We are carrying out regular air and soil monitoring and all figures are in the normal range.”
In a conflicting message the BBC reported that Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko had warned that harmful substances in the air over Vasylkiv exceeded maximum allowed levels and that he was urging residents with respiratory problems to limit their “exposure to the open air.”
In the absence of new incidents at the fuel depot, the SSES is expected to put out the fire by Thursday evening. Only after extinguishing the fire can an expert group enter the site to investigate the reason for the blaze.