Area Around IOCL Filling Station Now Free From Potential Hazard: Fire Service DG

Bhubaneswar: A day after a massive blast in the CNG chamber inside a filling station near Raj Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, Director General, Fire Service, Satyajit Mohanty on Thursday said that the periphery of the filling station is free from any potential hazard.

Talking to the media, Mohanty said that as a tanker filled with LPG was near the CNG chamber, the area was sealed for the safety of the people. However, a team of technicians of the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) from Balasore arrived at the filling station late on Wednesday night with two containers and transferred the LPG to the two containers. As the LPG has been emptied from the tanker, the area can now be said free from the potential hazard.

Praising the efforts of the fire personnel, Mohanty said that as soon as the fire broke out, five fire brigade teams rushed to the spot and doused the flame within 10-12 minutes. “As there is an underground diesel and petrol chamber in the filling station premises, further delay would have triggered a major mishap,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Commissionerate Police began a suo motu investigation into the incident after a case was registered in the Capital Police Station last night.

Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi said that the police have registered a criminal case and have begun an investigation to ascertain the circumstances that led to the blast in the CNG chamber.

Talking to the media persons, Fire Officer Ramesh Majhi said as per rules, an inspection of the underground gas chambers is done every five years by filling nitrogen gas. The inspection in the CNG chamber was held for the last two days. “We suspect that the CNG chamber caught fire after coming in contact with oxygen,” he added.

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