Fuel worth Rs 1 cr up in flames

Huge quantity of fuel worth nearly Rs one crore went up in flames in a fire that broke out at the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) depot wagons in the Inland Container Deport premises next to Desur Railway Station at Desur village in Belagavi taluk on Saturday.

Two train wagons, one filled with petrol and another with diesel, caught fire. Each tank contained nearly 65,000 litres of fuel. However, there were no casualties in the accident. The fire and emergency services from Belagavi and Khanapur taluks immediately rushed to the spot and doused the fire after a four-hour fight.
According to sources, the fire broke at around 8 am in the second tank from the tail end of the rail rake when the field staff  were unloading fuel from the rail tanks. Within no time, the entire tank was engulfed in fire. The blaze was so intense that the fire also spread to one of the adjacent tanks that contained diesel.

The efforts of the emergency personnel who used water and foam to put out the fire had no impact, but they succeeded in controlling the fire from spreading to other tanks. The BPCL officials could not detach the tanks on fire as they were connected to each other. The fire was brought to control at around 11.45 am only after the fuel in the two tanks on fire got exhausted.

The fire accident also affected train services on the Hubballi-Miraj rail route for half-an-hour. Although the rail services resumed later, several trains, including the Rani Channamma Express, ran late.

Speaking to Deccan Herald Deputy Manager (in charge) Milind Rangate said the fire broke out at around 8 am when the staff were unloading the fuel consignment. Two rail wagons were gutted in the accident. The officials are yet to ascertain the quantum of loss while a team from Mumbai will conduct an investigation into the fire accident.