Fire scare at petrol pump near school

Vadodara: A major fire broke out at a petrol pump of a private company near Bright Day School on Vasna-Bhayli Road on Thursday evening. However, due to quick thinking by the petrol pump staff, a major accident was averted.
The fire broke out when decantation of a tanker was taking place at Essar petrol pump on Vasna-Bhayli Road. According to fire department sources, there must have been a minor leakage in the pipe connecting the underground fuel tank and the tanker and either due to static current or tanker’s ignition, the fire could have been sparked.

Eye-witnesses said that several vehicles were present at the petrol pump when the incident took place and it could have led to a major blast had petrol pump attendants not extinguished the fire using fire hydrant. Meanwhile, fire brigade also reached the spot and after dousing the fire which had spread to the tanker’s tyres, they quickly moved the tanker away from the petrol pump. The Vadodara Fire and Emergency Services rushed five tenders at the spot sensing the seriousness of the situation.

Firemen filled the mouth of the underground fuel tank with sand and continued pouring water over it to cool the surface. Later the paver blocks around the tank were also removed to spray water over it. The owner of the petrol pump was taken to a private hospital as he received minor burn injuries while trying to extinguish the fire.

“It was negligence on the part of the company owning the petrol pump. According to the rules, operations of petrol pump have to be suspended when decantation is taking place which was not so here. If the fire had spread, the entire pump would have been destroyed,” said Parth Brahmbhatt, station fire officer, Vadiwadi fire station.