Huge fire at refinery near Tehran extinguished after 20 hours — report

A massive fire that broke out at an oil refinery near Iran’s capital and sent a huge plume of black smoke into the sky over Tehran has been extinguished after more than 20 hours, a news agency reports.

The semi-official ISNA agency quotes the country’s deputy oil minister, Alireza Sadeghabadi as saying the blaze was first fully contained and then finally put out.

“The courageous actions by firefighters … led to the complete extinguishing of the fire and prevented the flames from spreading to other nearby tanks,” says Sadeghabadi, thanking the fire department.

The fire erupted at the state-owned Tondgooyan Petrochemical Co. to the south of Tehran last night. The Oil Ministry’s SHANA news agency says it was caused by a leak in two waste tanks at the facility. Authorities initially suggested the flames affected a liquified petroleum gas pipeline at the refinery.

Jalal Maleki, spokesman for the Tehran Fire Department, tells state TV that 10 fire department stations, including 60 heavy operating vehicles and more than 180 firefighters, took part in the operation to battle the blaze.