GIFF JOHNSON
Late Friday night, two vehicles drove through a significant diesel fuel spill on the main road by the MEC tank farm, and seconds later their engines began to smoke, the occupants pulled over and jumped out, and the cars burst into flames.
The two vehicles were both destroyed by fire beyond further use. There were no injuries.They burned across the street from MEC’s huge bulk fuel storage facility.
The fire department came and ultimately doused the fires.
Clean up crews worked over night and were still cleaning up the main road area during the day Saturday. The main road was blocked off from Friday night into Saturday afternoon, with traffic diverted onto the Delap Dock around Tobolar and by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Commerce.
MIPD officials confirmed that both vehicles were driving past the MEC power plant/tank farm late on Friday night and “ran over a spilled diesel fuel from MEC on the main road.”
At that late night hour, with little illumination on the road in that location, the diesel spill on the road may have looked like water, since this area floods during heavy rainfalls.
As they drove past the power plant, “both vehicles started to have smoke coming out from the engines,” Deputy Police Commissioner Vincent Tani told the Journal. “The drivers of both vehicles pulled over and got off. Then both vehicles’ engines caught on fire.”
They pulled off by the Delap Dock Stevedore container yard entrance across from the MEC bulk fuel tank farm.
Staff from the MEC and the MIPD fire division were able to put the fire out but the vehicle engines were damaged from the fire. Police confirmed there were no injuries.
The Journal requested information from MEC about the incident but did not receive a response to its questions.
EPA General Manager Moriana Phillip called the situation “a serious incident” that appeared directly related to a fuel leak from MEC.
“This situation raises significant concerns regarding public safety, environmental protection, and operational practices,” she said.
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