Police Still Investigating Losses Due To Tank Fire At Pertamina Oil Refinery Cilacap

Head of the Public Relations Division of the National Police Public Relations Division, Kombes Ahmad Ramadhan (Photo: Police Public Relations)

JAKARTA - The police are still investigating the cause of the fire of Tank 36T-102 in the area of PT Pertamina International Refinery (KPI) Unit Cilacap some time ago.

Head of the Public Information Section (Kabagpenum) of the Public Relations Division of the Police Kombes Ahmad Ramadhan said that his party was also still conducting an investigation regarding the losses caused by the incident.

"While the investigation is still on, (the loss) will of course take time to audit. We will inform you later, that there were clearly no casualties," Ramadhan told the media crew in Jakarta, Monday, November 15.

Ramdahan said that based on a temporary investigation, his party was investigating the alleged cause of the fire because it was struck by lightning. This is based on CCTV footage showing the presence of two flashes of lightning.

Ramadhan said this was from witness statements and CCTV footage at the scene. Central Java Police investigators have examined six witnesses, consisting of one witness from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and five Pertamina external witnesses who were at the location.

"So for now, Central Java police investigators suspect that the cause of the fire according to witness statements and from CCTV instructions is induction due to lightning strikes," he said. Area Manager of Communication, Relations and CSR of PT KPI Cilacap Unit Cecep Supriyatna said Pertamina openly supports and respects the process of investigation and investigation carried out by the authorities.

"We are certainly ready to assist the authorities in this process to completion by providing the necessary information and data. To ascertain the cause of the incident, we will wait for the results of the investigation," he said.

As reported, the fire in Tank 36 T-102 that occurred on Saturday, November 13 at 19.10 WIB, was successfully extinguished at 23.05 WIB by deploying a High Capacity Foam Monitor, while the surrounding tanks were also cooled with water sprinklers to prevent it from spreading. fire.

However, the foam that isolated Tank 36 T-102 was opened, causing another fire to occur. After optimal efforts were made, the fire in the tank containing the Pertalite component was successfully extinguished on Sunday, November 14 at 07.45 WIB, and was declared safe at 09.15 WIB.