Firefighters battle oil tank fire early Sunday morning

An oil tank fire near Centerville brought 11 firefighting units and 30 firefighters on the scene Sunday morning.
Both Centerville and Franklin fire departments were dispatched at 2:45 a.m. to the Hilcorp Facility on Exxon Lane off La. 317, Franklin Fire Chief Chuck Bourgeois said.
Upon arrival the first units reported a major tank fire and requested a second alarm to bring additional units from Patterson Fire Department, Chitimacha Fire Protection District and St. Mary Parish Fire District 11.
Centerville Assistant Fire Chief Alan Pillaro said that due to the remoteness, additional units were necessary to provide water supply and firefighting foam. It took some time to get all the resources on-site to start the extinguishment, he said.
The delay gave the time for the oil in the tank to heat up, hindering operations. Pillaro said the fire required more than 30,000 gallons of water and 350 gallons of firefighting foam to finally extinguish the fire.
The fire was brought under control at 5:07 a.m. Units remained on scene until 7 a.m. to monitor the situation.
Investigation revealed that personnel were cleaning out a pipeline and the by-products of the cleaning process were being transferred into portable storage tanks. As personnel attempted to start a pump, vapors from the open top storage tank were ignited resulting in a flash fire that eventually consumed the portable tank and the pumping trailer.
Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from damaging three other storage tanks that were nearby. The damage is estimated at $100,000.00.
There were no injuries. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and Louisiana State Police HazMat teams were notified and there was no environmental damage reported. Acadian Ambulance provided a stand-by unit for the duration of the incident.