By Tedong Rantayy
MIRI, June 18: A lorry tanker carrying 35 tonnes of liquid caustic soda caught fire on its way from Brunei to Bintulu this afternoon.
The incident, which occurred around midday, resulted in the lorry’s twelve tires catching fire.
The Batu Niah Fire Station received an emergency call about the blaze at approximately 12.30pm and a team of firefighters was swiftly despatched to the scene, led by station chief Rary Binji.
The operation to extinguish the fire began at 12.46pm and the fire was brought under control by 1.00pm.
According to Rary, upon arrival, the firefighters found the tanker’s trailer engulfed in flames.
Using two streams of water from 100-foot hoses, the firefighters targeted the burning tires to prevent the fire from spreading to the tanker’s caustic soda load.
Despite the severity of the fire, which had consumed approximately 80 per cent of the affected area, there were no reported injuries.
The driver who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, escaped unscathed.
No chemical leakage was reported, and the fire was fully extinguished without further incident.
The cause of the fire is being investigated. — DayakDaily
