Sharma, accompanied by ministers and officials and the Rajasthan ATS team, inspected the site at Balotra and held discussions with the refinery management.A four-member team has been set up to investigate the fire, which will include examining why the fire-extinguishing system was inoperable.
Officials say fire suppression system was not immediately deployed
The investigation team will also determine the cause of the incident. Officials briefed on the developments said the fire-suppression system, which was the first line of protection, was not immediately deployed.Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the petroleum ministry, said a team led by former MRPL managing director M Venkatesh has contacted Barmer to investigate the incident. “We can only tell you the cause and how long it will take to fix it once the report is filed,” she said.HPCL, which holds 74 per cent stake in the refinery with the state government holding 26 per cent, said: “Prima facie, leakage of hydrocarbons through valves or flanges in the heat exchanger circuit led to the fire.” It added that the financial and operational impact, if any, was being assessed but prima facie, the impact was not expected to be significant.The company said the fire was contained to a heat exchanger stack in the crude distillation unit section of the refinery.
