On Tuesday, firefighters successfully extinguished what authorities described as the worst fire in Cuban history, which over the course of five days had destroyed 40% of the island’s main fuel storage facility and resulted in extensive power outages.
According to Reuters witnesses, the raging flames that tore through a four-tank section of the Matanzas super tanker port had subsided and the area’s massive plumes of thick black smoke were now mostly grey instead of black.
Cuba’s main port for importing fuel and crude oil is Matanzas. The primary fuels used to produce electricity on the island are Cuban heavy crude, fuel oil, and diesel, all of which are kept in ten enormous tanks in Matanzas.
On Friday night, lightning struck one fuel storage tank. Despite the efforts of local firefighters assisted by more than 100 Mexican and Venezuelan reinforcements, the fire spread to a second by Sunday and consumed the four-tank area on Monday.
On the steaming outskirts of the tragedy, firefighter Rafael Perez Garriga told Reuters that he was concerned about how the fire would affect the country’s power supply.
‘Things are going to get more challenging. Because electricity affects everything, if the thermoelectric plants receive that oil, the entire world will be affected ‘ he said.
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