KOTA KINABALU: A fuel tank belonging to ARL Power Sdn Bhd in Melawa, Sepanggar caught fire yesterday.
It is believed that the started from one of the fuel tanks inside the substation around noon.
It was reported that an explosion was also heard as the fire threatened to spread to nearby fuel tankers.
A spokesperson for the Fire and Rescue Department operation centre yesterday said the department received information about the incident at 12.23pm.
“A total of five fire engines from Sembulan and Lintas were deployed to the scene where the first fire engine arrived at 12.46pm.
“The fire was put under control around 1.20pm and the whole operation ended by 2pm,” said the spokesperson who added that the operation also involved the Petronas and Navy firefighters from Sepanggar.
No casualties were reported in the incident and the cause of the fire and total loss are still under investigation.
Meanwhile, Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), in a statement yesterday said, the fire incident would not impact on the generating capacity of electricity supply in Sabah as the company would try to reduce the impact of power outages to its minimum.
The ARL power station is said to have a generating capacity of 33 MW (Megawatt) and is one of the power stations that supplies electricity to the Sabah Grid system.
It is believed that yesterday’s fire caused about RM200,000 losses to the company as 88,634 litres of MM4 fuel were burned.