Fire Engineer

We have innumerable precedents of the devastating damages occurred during lightning menace in almost all facets; be it human beings, buildings, sensitive electronic installations, power sector, flammable storage facilities and many more other. However data relating to the destructions caused in flammable storage facilities around the world due to lightning related phenomena is alone sufficient enough to enhance our concern over it. The data shows that lightning caused 150 out of 480 tank fires between years 1951 to 2003 ⁽¹⁾. This amounts to 31.25%, which is single largest cause for tank fires. Such concerns have resurfaced over the recent fire incident in a petroleum product storage terminal in eastern part of India.

⁽¹⁾ Henry Persson, Anders Lonnermark, Tank Fire Review of Fire incidents 1951–2003, SP REPORT 2004: 14, SP Swedish National Testing and Research Institute.