“It was a very risky job. The outer steel plate of the tank had turned red with temperatures inside the tank rising up of 1,000 degrees Centigrade. There was a danger of the tank bursting into fragments, and I had instructed my fire fighting team, who were here for hours together, what all to do to ensure their own safety first. Thank God! We managed to bring down the temperature with constant jets of seawater,” said A J Maheshwari, head of the fire brigade at Kandla Port Trust.

He said but for the sea, which was very near to the oil jetty, dousing the flame would have been a Herculean task. He said the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained and the Baroda-based deputy controller of explosive had already arrived here for investigation. He said, permission for storage of inflammable cargo at the tank farm was given by this agency only.

Meanwhile, sources said that when the dousing efforts did not bring the desired result and the outer plate of the tank turned red hot, fire department officials, fearing an explosion, called for the immediate evacuation of the population from the area. Sources said the biggest threat was from tank number 18, which was only 15 meters away from the burning tank and filled with 1,600 tonne of methanol. But after 21 hours, with constant spraying from six consecutive platforms, the fire was put out.