Storage tank blaze burns on into fifth day near Port of Santos, disturbing port activity

Sao Paulo: Five days in and the fire was still raging in two tanks at a tank storage facility in Alemoa near the Port of Santos, Brazil on Monday.

Nobody has been killed or injured in the blaze which broke out on Thursday but there has been disruption to port activity and to everyday life for people living near Latin America’s biggest port as traffic was disrupted over the Easter weekend.

The fire department in Santos in the state of Sao Paulo, said that more than 100 firefighters were fighting the flames at two storage tanks in a facility owned by Ultracargo, one of Brazil’s largest liquid bulk storage companies.

Fuels, chemicals, vegetable oils, ethanol and corrosive products are stored at the site.

Six tanks have caught fire since the blaze started, but only two remain afire. Firefighters said there was little they could do to extinguish the flames before all the fuel was consumed. Instead, they were focusing on dousing nearby tanks to keep the fire from spreading.

The extent of losses to the port operations has yet to be estimated and it’s not yet known what caused the fire.

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras said late on Monday fire poses no threat to gasoline or ethanol supplies as the Ultracargo terminal does not move petroleum.

It’s not yet known what caused the fire.