According to witnesses who spoke to Reuters, the roaring flames that tore through a four-tank section of the Matanzas supertanker port had subsided, and the area’s ominous towering plumes of dense black smoke were now primarily gray instead of black.
The main port for the importation of fuel and crude oil into Cuba is Matanzas. The main source of electricity on the island comes from 10 enormous tanks in Matanzas that are filled with heating oil, diesel, and Cuban heavy oil.
On Friday night, lightning struck a petrol tank. Despite the efforts of the local firefighters, who were assisted by more than 100 Mexican and Venezuelan reinforcements, the fire spread to a second by Sunday and enveloped the area by four tanks on Monday.
Firefighter Rafael Perez Garriga told Reuters on the brink of the disaster he feared the blaze would affect the country’s electricity supply.
“The situation is getting more difficult. If the thermoelectric plants are powered by this oil, the whole world will be affected, it’s electricity and it affects everything,” he saidThe communist-run country, which is under heavy US sanctions, is all but bankrupt. Frequent power cuts and shortages of petrol and other goods had already led to a tense situation with isolated local protests in July after the historic unrest last summer.
On Tuesday, more helicopters joined efforts to extinguish the blaze, along with two fireboats and heavy firefighting equipment sent by Mexico.
“Due to the conditions, we haven’t been able to enter the impact area yet. It’s burning and we can’t risk our lives for now,” Perez said around noon.
Later in the day, firefighters entered the area for the first time and sprayed foam and water on the still-smoldering remains.
