Traces of fuel vapour remain in affected area after Shell Bukom fire

Dylan Loh Channel NewsAsia 1 Oct 11;

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) says traces of fuel vapour remain in the affected area, two days after the blaze at Shell's Pulau Bukom oil refinery was extinguished on Thursday after a 32-hour battle.

The oil giant and authorities are monitoring the situation, and a fresh batch of firefighters was sent to the island on Saturday morning.

Giving an update, Shell said foaming operations are continuing at parts of the incident site, with damage confined to the vicinity of the pump house.

It added other facilities and units are not affected and only essential operating personnel are on the island.

Shell said it's too early to assess how much the fire will cost the company.

It said efforts are ongoing to bring the situation back to normal at the refinery, the company's biggest.

The company does not expect any shutdown units to be restarted until a thorough investigation has been conducted and safety is assured.

The Ministry of Manpower has stepped in to investigate the cause of the fire.

Shell said it deeply regrets the incident and is talking to customers to address product supply and minimise any potential impact on them.

- CNA/ir

Fuel vapour remains after blaze: SCDF
Today Online 2 Oct 11 04:46 AM
SINGAPORE - The Singapore Civil Defence Force says traces of fuel vapour remain in the affected area after the blaze at Shell's Pulau Bukom oil refinery was extinguished on Thursday after a 32-hour battle.

The oil giant and the authorities are monitoring the situation, and a fresh batch of firefighters was sent to the island yesterday morning.

Giving an update, Shell said foaming operations are continuing at parts of the site, with damage contained to the pump-house's vicinity.

It added that other facilities and units are not affected and only essential operating personnel are on the island.

Shell said it was too early to assess how much the fire will cost the company, adding that efforts are in progress to bring the situation back to normal at the refinery - its largest. It does not expect any shut-down units to be restarted until a thorough probe has been conducted and safety is assured.

The Manpower Ministry has stepped in to investigate the cause of the fire. Dylan Loh

Traces of fuel vapour in Pulau Bukom: SCDF
Tan Dawn Wei Straits Times 2 Oct 11;

Even though the fire at the Shell refinery on Pulau Bukom has been fully extinguished, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is still continuing foaming operations as there are still traces of fuel vapour in the affected areas.

It relieved its fire fighters on Saturday morning and sent in a new crew. About 100 fire fighters, 13 fire engines and 21 support vehicles remain on the island.

Shell said only essential operating personnel are left on the island. Damage was contained to the vicinity of the pump house and other facilities in Bukom are unaffected by the fire, which started on Wednesday.

Shell said it deeply regrets the incident and is talking to its customers about how to minimise the impact of the supply of products to them.