A substantial fire broke out at the Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Assam’s Golaghat district on Monday evening, causing widespread alarm. The refinery’s fire and safety personnel have now successfully brought the blaze under control, with no casualties reported.
The fire, which originated in the Hydrocracker unit of NRL, was met with swift action from the refinery’s fire and safety department. Emergency crews and fire tenders were immediately dispatched to the scene to combat the fire and secure the area.
General Manager (HR) of NRL, Kajal Saikia, confirmed that the situation had been stabilized. “Our fire and safety department personnel immediately engaged in work to douse the flame,” said Saikia. “Now the fire is under control, and there is no report of any casualty in the incident.”
NRL is currently investigating the cause of the fire. Saikia explained that the affected Hydrocracker unit was in a post-startup stabilization phase when a section of it caught fire. The Numaligarh refinery had been shut down for maintenance since the last week of March and had only begun gradually resuming operations since May 15.
The Numaligarh refinery, a subsidiary of Oil India Ltd., is a key player in Assam’s oil industry. The implications of this fire on its operations are yet to be determined.