MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Santos port four-day fire raging; efforts concentrated in stopping flames from spreading

Firefighters said there was little they could do to extinguish the flames before most of the fuel was consumed.

A fire at a fuel storage facility near Brazil's largest port Santos entered its fourth day on Sunday as 110 firefighters worked to stop the flames from spreading further, the local fire department said.

 Six fuel tanks (with three million liters) run by Ultracargo, owned by Brazil's Grupo Ultra, were hit since the blaze started on Thursday morning, sending a column of thick black smoke into the air. Two of them were still burning late on Sunday, the fire department and Ultracargo said.

Firefighters said there was little they could do to extinguish the flames before most of the fuel was consumed. Instead, they were focusing on dousing nearby tanks to keep the fire from spreading.

Trucks carrying soybeans and other commodities were still able to deliver their goods via a second entrance, a spokeswoman for the Santos port said. She added that only two of the port's docks were out of service due to the fire, while the other 53 were operating normally.

With the temperatures of the neighboring tanks soaring to 800 C (1,471 F), much of the water directed at the fire is turning to steam, Santos fire department spokesman Capt. Marcos Palumbo said.

Besides water pumped from the harbor, firefighters are spraying the flames with chilled foam.

The surrounding industrial complex, comprising around 40 tanks of fuel and chemicals, has been completely evacuated. Eighteen people have been treated for injuries and one of them, a firefighter, remains hospitalized, the Santos city government said.

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.