Fire Outbreak : Production continued at Mann Thanbayakan

Fire broke out at the Mann Thanbayakan Oil Refinery near Thanbayakan Village in Min Hla Township, Magway Region on Friday. It is learnt that the steam heating processes were conducted starting 5:00 PM on 22nd January for more storage and distribution of crude oil.

The bypass line gasket of two storage tanks have been decayed, causing gasket leakage and leading to the fire outbreak at around 6:30 am on January 23rd. 9 fire-fighting trucks from Minbu District and Min Hla Township along with 4 water trucks accompanied by staff and security force took part in fire extinguishing and it was totally put out at around 7:30 AM.

Investigation is underway and no injured was reported. The fire destroyed 350 garlands of  crude oil amounting to  2.1 million kyats. In the afternoon, Deputy Minister for Energy U Kyaw Naing Win, together with the departmental officials inspected the current factory operation processes of the facility.

   It is learnt that only the outer walls of the tanks were damaged and that no crude oil stored inside the steel tanks was lost. The two tanks involved in the fire will not be used for now, and production will continue using other crude oil storage tanks.

Only a small number of external pipelines were damaged, resulting in the loss of an estimated 350 gallons of residual crude oil inside the pipelines. Repair work on the damaged external pipelines is currently being carried out as quickly as possible. The Deputy Minister extended words of honour to those who participated in fire extinguishing works, gave necessary instructions and toured around the factory.