SHARJAH, 19 August 2007 — Sharjah closed Port Khalid yesterday after an inferno erupted on Friday night at a lubricants warehouse.
Lt. Gen. Saif Al-Shaafar, undersecretary at the Ministry of Interior, told the media that the fire was under control by yesterday afternoon. The reason for the fire, which brought heavy loss, is unknown. He said that three firefighters were taken to Sharjah’s Kuwaiti Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. No casualties were reported.
Firefighters, armed forces and civil defense personnel from Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al-Ain and Ajman were called in to battle the blaze.
The fire, which started at around 11.20 p.m. on Friday, is believed to have started from a small factory in an adjacent industrial area and spread to a depot of Emirates Lube Oil Company in the port. Police responded by cordoning off the area around the depot and sealed all entry points on the Creek.
“We were able stop the fire from spreading to other oil storage areas, which may cause huge casualties,” said a police source that did not want to be identified.
Sharjah Civil Defense sources said that sand was also used to help extinguish the blaze at a warehouse of Emirates Lube Oil Company used to store oil and furnace materials.
“The whole plant of the company has been gutted while the fire spread to surrounding areas,” said the source.
Al-Shaafar said that six tons of foam was brought in using tugboats from Abu Dhabi Civil Defense.
“All the tugboats available at the port were being used to spray water on smoldering oil tanks and oil-storage areas close to flames. Two large oil reservoirs and hundreds of barrels of oil products caught fire,” said Al-Shaafar, who added that no damage was reported to facilities owned by the port or by vessels, which were moved out of the area after the fire broke out.
Maj. Jumaa Al-Leem, Sharjah police spokesman, told Reuters it was still unclear when shipping would resume at Port Khalid.
Port Khalid handles the majority of its general cargo traffic and has a 13-berth deepwater harbor. It is one of the most advanced ports in the region. Many UAE-based importers favor Port Khalid to ship their cargo because of its modern storage facilities, including refrigerated storage facilities that can handle up to 5,000 tons.
“The fire was so huge. We’ve never seen any fire like this. We live opposite of the creek and we have been witnessing the huge fire since late night. There were explosions. Flames reached at a height of 150 to 200 meters,” said Aseel Abdul Kareem, an eyewitness.
“I slept around 11 p.m. on Friday. When I woke up on Saturday morning, the entire sky was covered with thick black smoke and there were military helicopters over the disaster scene,” said Robin Abraham, another eyewitness.
“The fire is over, but now the major concern is pollution. A thick powdercoat of burnt ash has descended across the Creek; it may cause health hazards,” said Abdul Azeez, a resident of the area.
Statement from Sharjah police said that the Zulal Water Station was closed temporarily to avoid any contamination of drinking water.
Immediately after the central operations received the fire report on Friday, police evacuated the port of workers and employees and disconnected the electricity.
