On November 25, a fire broke out involving a fuel tanker truck on Nguyen Van Linh Street (HCMC) heading towards National Highway 1.

According to witnesses, the car leaked fuel and caught fire. Seeing this, passersby shouted and warned the driver to pull over to the side of the road.

Upon receiving the news, the authorities arrived at the scene and began extinguishing the fire. Although the damage was not too severe, the fire still injured the driver while approaching the fire to extinguish it.

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Authorities practice handling fuel tanker incidents

Previously, on May 16, a gasoline tanker traveling on National Highway 14 from Gia Lai to Kon Tum suddenly had a tire blowout and caught fire. The fire then spread to other areas. Fortunately, there was no gasoline left in the tanker at that time, so the estimated damage was only about 20 million VND.

A notable fire involving a fuel tanker occurred on February 3 in Nha Be District (HCMC). Accordingly, the tanker carrying 23,000 liters of gasoline was parked on the roadside when it suddenly caught fire. The fire then spread to 3 nearby houses due to fuel leaking from the tanker truck and spreading around.

People used mini fire extinguishers to put out the fire but failed. It took the fire department nearly an hour to control the fire. The incident burned down many properties in 3 houses and partially burned the tanker truck.

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Fire prevention force recommends that units need to practice tanker fire and explosion situations.

According to the representative of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department, fuel tankers have different characteristics compared to vehicles carrying other types of goods. For example, when changing direction or braking suddenly, if the vehicle is full of fuel, the fuel may expand, making it unsafe to transport. Meanwhile, if the vehicle is carrying too little fuel compared to its capacity, it can also cause an unsafe situation.

Therefore, the representative of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department recommends that operators and tanker truck drivers must strictly follow the procedures and regulations when operating this special type of vehicle.

Accordingly, there must be regulations, prohibition signs, signs, and instructions according to fire prevention standards. Fuel trucks must have the symbol and warning "NO FIRE" according to the regulations stated in Circular No. 149/2020/TT-BCA.

Management units, vehicle owners and drivers need to ensure that the electrical system, fuel and equipment on the vehicle do not generate sparks...

Vehicles must also be equipped with fire-fighting equipment as prescribed, such as at least 2 portable fire extinguishers (4kg or more), pliers, fire-proof flashlights, hammers, etc. Vehicles with a load capacity of 5 tons or more must be equipped with at least 3 fire extinguishers.

The representative of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department also stated that the engine of the fuel tanker must be isolated from the cargo compartment by non-flammable materials or a buffer chamber. The exhaust pipe of the engine must also be carefully covered to ensure safety against fire and explosion.

Tank trucks must also have grounding chains to convert all electrical charges into electric current, transmitted to the ground to neutralize the electricity, avoiding fire and explosion.