A fire in an oil refinery in Erbil, capital of autonomous Kurdistan, on June 13, 2024 in Iraq
AFP PHOTO / Safin HAMID
The fire, the cause of which remains unknown for the time being, started on Wednesday evening from a “major crude oil reservoir”, before reaching a second neighboring refinery on a road southwest of Erbil, capital of Kurdistan autonomous (north), according to civil defense.
In the middle of the night, the mobilized firefighters tried to extinguish the flames which caused immense plumes of black smoke.
Twenty hours later, “the fire has been 100% contained and there is no longer any danger for the surrounding refineries”, announced the spokesperson for Civil Defense in Erbil, Chakhouan Saïd, at a press conference. adding that the intervention mobilized 150 firefighters.
He said 14 of them were injured, two of whom are in “critical condition.”
Asked about the legal status of the refinery, he was unable to say whether it had the appropriate permits, but he acknowledged that it did not meet “any of the safety standards” imposed by civil defense.
Four fire trucks were set on fire, said Erbil Governor Omid Khoshnaw, estimating that the losses suffered by the refinery where the fire started amounted to nearly eight million dollars.
“Until now, we do not know what the causes are,” stressed the governor, estimating that it could be “probably an electrical short circuit”. The main tank that burned contained more than 5,000 tons of fuel, he said.
The fire affected a total of four fuel tanks in two refineries, according to civil defense.
With the rise in temperatures in Iraq, the country accustomed to scorching summers has experienced several fires in recent weeks which have affected shopping centers, warehouses and even hospitals.
Iraq is regularly the scene of fires, often due to non-compliance with safety standards, particularly in the construction and transport sectors.
Despite immense hydrocarbon wealth, the country suffers from decaying infrastructure, ravaged by decades of conflict and poor public management tinged with corruption.
In December 2023, at least 14 people died in a fire affecting a building which housed university accommodation reserved for students and professors in Kurdistan.
Three months earlier, around a hundred people died in a fire which broke out during a wedding in a village hall in Qaraqosh (north).
The second largest exporting country in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iraq produces on average four million barrels of crude per day.
With its reserves – 145 billion barrels of proven oil reserves – it could continue to exploit black gold at the same yield for another 96 years, according to the World Bank.
