Firefighters in Vilnius on Thursday continued battling a fire that broke out nearly a day earlier at a gas filling station, where several tank cars and a nearby reservoir caught fire. Authorities reduced the danger zone around the site as the threat diminished.
Residents are now barred from approaching closer than 350 meters to the fire, down from a 1-kilometer exclusion zone set on Wednesday, according to the Fire and Rescue Department.
“On Thursday morning, the rescue operations commander decided to reduce the danger zone to 350 meters,” department spokesman Dainius Gurevičius told BNS. “Traffic restrictions remain on Baltosios Vokės Street, but Kirtimų Street has reopened – in other words, the bypass route.”
Overnight, firefighters continued cooling nearby reservoirs to prevent further ignition, Gurevičius said. Flames persist in the burning tank cars and one gas reservoir, though the blaze has weakened compared to when it first broke out.
“Firefighters are constantly closing discovered reservoir valves. We hope to find the ‘golden valve’ that, once shut, would not only reduce but stop the gas flow,” he said. The fire has not yet been localised.
The Vilnius City municipality declared a localised emergency on Baltosios Vokės Street, while the Vilnius District municipality announced an emergency in the adjacent Pagiriai eldership.
The fire began Wednesday morning when eight tank cars ignited, followed by one stationary reservoir, authorities said. One worker was injured and taken to a hospital.
Oil company Orlen Lietuva confirmed to BNS that the tank cars that caught fire and exploded belonged to the company. The incident occurred on land owned by Jozita in the Baltoji Vokė area.
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