Nadia Al-Fawwaz Saudi Gazette ABHA — A fire that struck a gas station in Khamis Mushayt injured two workers before it was brought under control by the Civil Defense on Tuesday morning. The local Civil Defense operations room was contacted about the fire in the Al-Sharafiah District, Civil Defense spokesman for Asir Col. Muhammad Abdulraheem Al-Asimi said. Immediately, Civil Defense teams rushed to the scene. It was found that the fire had erupted in the gas station's underground fuel tank, covering an estimated area of 100 square meters. This resulted in the concrete cover of the tank caving in. The fire was extinguished and controlled in a short time before it spread to other parts of the station and adjacent shops. The accident injured two workers, an Indian and a Yemeni. They were carried by Civil Defense ambulances to Khamis Mushayt Civil Hospital suffering from burns. Preliminary investigations indicated that the fire was caused by sparks from welding work at the gas station to set up billboards. The sparks flew to the mouth of the fuel tank, despite the high wall separating the fuel tank from the rest of the gas station. The parts between the fuel tank mouth and the concrete structure containing the tank are usually saturated with fuel vapor. This led the concrete slab keeping the tank closed to cave in. The Civil Defense teams remained at the gas station in case of any emergency and to ensure the tanks were emptied of all fuel. Police and traffic police patrols and teams from the Saudi Electricity Company and Red Crescent were at the scene.
