Large Fire Breaks Out in Haifa Oil Refineries

Local Editor

A large fire broke out again at the oil refinery plant in the northern city of Haifa on Sunday afternoon, after firefighters managed to briefly quell the conflagration in the morning.

The blaze broke out in one fuel tank, and large contingencies of firefighters were at the scene to prevent it from spreading to nearby tanks, a firefighting spokesperson said. The fight may continue to rage until night, firefighters said.

"Israeli" police closed roads leading up to the area. Police said that there were no concerns that the fire would spread to nearby plants, and no casualties were reported.

"It is a very serious incident. Our main aim at the moment is to stop the fire spreading to other tanks that contain dangerous material," Haifa fire services spokesman Yoram Levy told the Ynet news site.

Levy said the tank held 1,000 cubic liters of gasoline and more than 40 firefighting teams were being sent to try and contain the blaze. Officials said a larger disaster was avoided as the tank, with a capacity of 10,000 cubic liters, was relatively empty.

According to Oil Refineries Ltd., which operate the site, the 12,000 cubic meter tank was only 10 percent full when the fire erupted. According to the firm's director, the cause of the blaze was still unknown.

The "Israeli" entity's regime authorities urged residents to avoid the area, and called on residents in nearby towns to stay indoors due to pollution from the fire.

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said the municipality had repeatedly warned the regime about the danger posed by the refinery and the area's massive ammonia storage tank, which had been threatened as targets by Hizbullah.

"We have repeatedly warned; we are tired of warning. This is just a small indication [of what could happen] but it is a wake-up call" to the "Israeli" regime, he told Army Radio.

On Sunday evening, dozens of Haifa residents held an impromptu protest calling for the facility to be relocated outside of the city.

Haifa was badly hit by brush fires last month. Some 60,000 residents were evacuated and dozens were injured from smoke inhalation.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team