The fire that broke out in Cuba's Matanzas oil facility on August 5 has finally been extinguished after having burned through half of Cuba's largest oil depot. The fuel storage site has been significantly impacted following the five-day fire which officials fear might impact Cuba's ability to produce electricity across the Island.

On Tuesday, the Interior Ministry head of transport, Rolando Vecino, appeared on TV and announced that the fire has been extinguished at the facility. However, the official did not offer details regarding the estimated quantity of fuel remaining.

“Today we have managed to control the fire,” said Vecino while at the scene.

How did the fire start?

It is suspected that lightning struck a storage tank during a thunderstorm, leading to a spark reaction with the oil, which in turn spread to a second tank, leading to a series of explosions.

“The mission of the day is to keep the third tank cold,” in hopes of preventing the flames from spreading into more of the site, provincial Gov. Mario Sabines said.

The facility, having eight huge storage tanks in total, hold oil that is used for fuelling electricity generation.

Most of the fuel held in the tank where the fire initially started was believed to have been consumed, officials said.

1 firefighter dead, several go missing

Authorities found a body at the scene which they later identified as 60-year-old firefighter Juan Carlos Santana. Officials stated that a group of 14 firefighters had gone missing while trying to fight the flames, and one firefighter lost his life in the incident.

A total of 125 people were treated for injuries, including five that officials said were in critical condition, and 4,946 people had been evacuated.

Specialized firefighter teams have been called in from Mexico and Venezuela, as they began arriving with their equipment on Saturday, bringing along helicopters and specialized chemicals for fighting oil fire.

The Cuban President, Miguel Diaz-Canel, expressed his gratitude to Mexico, Venezuela, Russia, Nicaragua, Argentina, and Chile for their offers of help.

Results of the fire

On Monday afternoon, a large plant that supplied power to the western part of the island had to be shut down because of the fires, according to the government-run power company in Cuba, which led to reports of blackouts.

Speaking to Reuters near the scene of the fire, Rafael Perez Garriga, first responder said that “The situation is going to be more difficult” following the impacts on electricity, adding that “If the thermoelectric plants are supplied with that oil [previously stored at Matanzas], we are going to have the whole world affected, it is electricity and it affects everything.” 

Under strict unilateral US sanctions, Cuba frequently has fuel shortages and outages in some areas. 

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