Daily Times

JAKARTA: A massive fire broke out at the Balongan refinery in West Java, run by state oil firm Pertamina, at 00:45 local time on Monday (17:45 GMT Sunday) Indonesian state oil company Pertamina said.

Firefighters in Indonesia are working to put out a massive fire that has broken out at one of the country’s largest oil refineries.

Reported by local media, The fire started just after midnight, while Pertamina said in a statement it broke out during bad weather. It was conducting “oil flow control” to prevent any further spread. “The cause of the fire is unknown, but during the incident there was heavy rain and lightning,”. “We are securing the location at the moment, since the fire is still going. We can’t examine the scene yet, cooling down needed to be conducted first by Pertamina,” he said.

According to the Television footage, a massive fire broke out overnight a massive column of black smoke rising from the site, which is about 225km east of the capital Jakarta and At least five people are injured and around 950 nearby residents have been evacuated to safety. A handful of people have been reported missing. The cause of the fire remains unclear.

TV footage and videos on social media showing  the fire still raging on Monday morning  rising high above the refinery and huge flames engulfing the 125,000 barrels per day facility located in West Java province of Indonesia.

According to a Reuters report. One nearby resident told local news outlet Metro TV.

“We smelled a strong fuel scent first, so strong that my nose hurt, while we heard lightning strikes,”.

Meanwhile, Pertamina spokesman Ifki Sukarya said five people were being treated in hospital for serious burns with another 15 with minor burns.The injured are both nearby residents, and No Pertamina staff were hurt. The fire was concentrated in the refinery’s storage units, and had no impact on the processing plant.

Balongan, one of Pertamina’s biggest refineries in Indonesia, processes crude oil from the Duri and Minas fields in Riau province and supplies fuel to Jakarta and the western regions of Java island.

West Java police will be involved in the investigation into the cause of the fire, police spokesman Erdi Chaniago told Reuters.

Mamit Setiawan, executive director of think tank Energy Watch said Pertamina’s Cilacap refinery in Central Java should be able to help meet any supply shortage in the short term, but repairs could take months depending on the damage,  “I hope Pertamina maintains a good quick response, both in fire mitigation and in fuel supply to the community,” .