A devastating fire accident at the Port of Buchanan in Grand Bassa County has left a boat in ruins and one person seriously injured.
The boat, severely damaged in the blaze, was loaded with petroleum products scheduled for Maryland County in the Southeast. The economic impact of the accident, which yesterday halted work at the country's second-largest port, is currently unknown.
Eyewitnesses explained that if the firefighters’ response to the blaze, which started around 4:55 PM on Sunday, had not been swift, the damage would have been extensive, not only to the boat, which contained a significant amount of petroleum products, but also to the port's infrastructure. According to fire experts, petroleum fires, also known as class B fires, can be extinguished by foam, powder or carbon dioxide extinguishers — not water. Water contains oxygen and therefore will add to this kind of fire instead of subduing it. This explains why it took firefighters so long to control the fire in spite of the abundance of water at their disposal.
On the inner side of the secondary breakwater is a commercial quay, 334 meters long, with an available water depth of 9.5 meters below the chart datum. The access channel to the Port provides ships with a water depth of 11.5 meters below the chart datum and a channel width between the breakwaters of 210 meters.
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