"People do not need to worry about the fire at the Pertamina oil refinery. It is under control now," Pertamina Balikpapan area manager, communication, relations, and CSR, Ely Chandra Warinangin, informed on Friday.
Efforts to extinguish the fire were carried out using a static extinguisher and four fire trucks, he said. The fire was extinguished around 11 a.m. local time, he said.
The fire that occurred in the area of the Balikpapan City refinery development master plan (RDMP) is currently undergoing a cooling process, he said.
"Currently, the cooling process is in progress, and the location of the fire is still within the refinery's perimeter," he added.
The fire was quickly brought under control by local firefighters who managed to prevent it from spreading to other parts, he informed.
Warinangin assured that the PT Pertamina oil refinery in Balikpapan city is currently safe and can still operate.
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He asked the public not to panic and remain calm since the fire had been successfully controlled and the cooling process was carried out.
Meanwhile, a resident living in the ring one area of the RDMP, Mustafa, said that he heard a rumbling sound before seeing fire and smoke rising from the location of the fire.
"Before we saw the fire and black smoke from the RDMP location, we first heard a rumbling sound," he said.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, since it is still in the development process and the results of the investigation are awaited, Warinangin said.
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Translator: Novi Abdi, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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