UPDATE: Petrojam closes burnt section of refinery, launches investigation into fire
KINGSTON, Jamaica— Petrojam says it has taken a section of the Marcus Garvey Drive oil refinery offline as it continues investigation and damage assessment into a fire at the plant which occurred sometime after 7pm on Tuesday.
The state-owned entity said this measure was taken to ensure safety of its personnel and prevent further escalation.
“To ensure the safety of our personnel and prevent further escalation, the decision has been made to temporarily take the affected plant offline. The entity will now focus on conducting thorough assessments to determine the extent of the damage. Cooling down operations are currently underway to restore normalcy as soon as possible,” Petrojam said in a release.
“We understand the concern that this incident may raise for our valued customers and stakeholders. Petrojam maintains a substantial reserve of products that will ensure an uninterrupted supply to meet market demands. We remain committed to serving our customers with the same level of excellence they have come to expect from us,” the refinery added.
It confirmed that there were no injuries from the fire, but did not reveal the cause of the blaze.
Observer Online had received information earlier on Tuesday that firefighters were conducting cooling down operations at the oil refinery following reports that three heat exchangers caught fire.
Head of the Kingston Western Police Division, Michael Phipps, who was on scene to provide crowd control where necessary, told reporters, at the time of publication, that the fire from two of the exchangers were already extinguished and the firefighters were working on the third.
