The fire has already been extinguished by firefighters, and “an immense layer of foam covers the place,” according to the official press
14ymedio, Havana, 15 June 2024 — “We are still waiting for the official reports of the disasters and accidents in the last five years,” complained a reader of Cubadebate this Friday, at the bottom of the announcement of the extinguishing of the fire in a fuel tank of the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant. The accident at the Matanzas power plant is the most recent in a list, from the explosion in the Saratoga hotel to the destruction of the Supertanker Base, about whose causes the Cuban authorities have maintained a strict silence.
The official story is that the latest fire has already been extinguished by the firefighters of Matanzas, Havana and Mayabeque. They claim that it “originated in one of the fuel tanks,” but they do not say what could have unleashed it. Ernesto Torres, the head of the firefighters in the city, limited himself to saying,”We are investigating the cause. There was a repair process on the ladder of that tank, necessary to access its own operation, and this fire arose.”
For his part, Duanys Moreno, the young man who called to report the fire, is suspicious, because such “dangerous” areas suffer accidents so often. “Several fires have happened in that area and it’s not normal. That area must be strictly monitored and millions of dollars had to be invested in the security and maintenance of that infrastructure,” says the young aeronautics fan, referring to the report of a fire in the vicinity of the Supertanker Base that the authorities ruled out as dangerous.
The burned tank could store 10,000 cubic meters of Cuban crude oil, but it has not been clarified how much fuel was lost
“Those tanks must be prepared to automatically put out any fire from the first moment. That the entire Matanzas fire department, Varadero Airport staff and support from other municipalities had to show up in the area is a sign that those crude oil deposits don’t have the ability to solve an unforeseen event. The entire industrial area of the province needs external support in the face of any incident due to the lack of logistics and equipment,” he says.
The burned tank could store 10,000 cubic meters of Cuban crude oil, but it has not been clarified how much fuel was lost even if they allude to a “considerable level.” “It was practically full,” a local radio station said this Friday. The Guiteras already “stably generates” its usual 260 megawatts of electricity, they pointed out, with the help of the “twin” tank that caught fire this Friday. Now, “an immense layer of foam covers the place.”
The press has avoided alluding to the history of accidents in Matanzas and has downplayed the severity of the latest incident. Torres admitted that it was a fire of “operational complexity” but of”regular” dimensions. “It takes time and strategy to be able to put it out,” he explained.
Luis Guzmán, head of the Cuban Fire Department, says that “so far it is not suspected that it was provoked (intentionally)” and admits that the fire “brought to mind some very difficult days of the past.”
This Saturday, the article about the fire had taken a back seat on the front page of Cubadebate, but readers continue their discussion. “The factor of human negligence” is a constant, they say. “The level of qualified strength in all branches of society has been lowered,” observes another. There are those who dare to speak of “the hand of the enemy,” which sends to the Island “sabotage groups, recruited by the capitalist intelligence operatives based in the embassies and all those who cooperate with the counterrevolution.”
“I do not rule out the possibility of sabotage at all, but we have become accustomed to blaming others. Also, look at the bad condition of our facilities and the difficulties with which we work,” reasoned another reader. Some wanted to lock up “the counterrevolutionaries” as was done during the October 1962 Missile Crisis “in the Sports City,” and send them to “Compulsory Work Farms” to avoid more “misdeeds.”
The fire in the Guiteras began between 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning, according to Televisión Cubana
The fire in the Guiteras began between 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning, according to Televisión Cubana. During the initial phase of the accident, a column of dense black smoke could be seen from several kilometers away, not far from the Matanzas Supertanker Base. The Ministry of Energy and Mines, quoted by the state press, stressed that the workers of the plant were evacuated.
This Friday, the Facebook profile of the official radio station Radio 26 speculated that the flames could have originated from the “maintenance work that was being carried out in the area.” For his part, Ruben Olmos, director of the plant, alleged that “any situation can ignite this fuel.”
The country’s energy situation couldn’t be worse, with eight units out of service due to breakdown, maintenance or lack of fuel (in the thermoelectric plants of Mariel, Santa Cruz, Renté, Felton, Nuevitas and Cienfuegos). This Friday there was a deficit of 972 megawatts (MW), one of the highest values recorded in recent weeks, although the day before it was even worse, with an impact of 1,270 MW.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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