In Tuapse, it took almost five days to put out a fire at the marine terminal

There are “oil” rains in the city, and oil slicks in the sea. Authorities do not close schools and report almost no air pollution situation

The fire at the marine terminal in Tuapse lasted almost five days. By the morning of April 24, the operational headquarters of the Krasnodar region reported that firefighters managed to localize the fire and eliminate open burning. Work to completely extinguish the fire continues, the operational headquarters added, and involves 276 people and 77 pieces of equipment.

Update: On the evening of April 24, the Governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Veniamin Kondratyev, announced that the fire on the territory of the sea terminal in Tuapse had been completely extinguished. “We constantly monitor the state of the sea area near Tuapse. Rospotrebnadzor regularly takes air samples to check for harmful substances. Until the situation improves, I ask all residents and visitors to follow the recommendations of experts and take precautions,” he added.

The oil terminal in the port of Tuapse caught fire on the night of April 20 after a Ukrainian drone strike. After the attack , the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that the target of the drones was the Tuapse oil refinery, which forms a single production complex with a marine terminal.

Due to a strong fire in the city, air quality deteriorated sharply and “oil” rains fell. Residents of Tuapse published photographs of pets covered in soot and black puddles on the streets.

Rospotrebnadzor specialists, according to the authorities, began monitoring air quality “in the residential area” on April 20. The operational headquarters stated that the department did not detect any excess concentration of harmful substances. Rospotrebnadzor itself published a memo “for citizens in the fire zone.” Residents were urged not to open windows and try not to leave the house, and if necessary, use masks and respirators outside.

Despite the fact that the authorities promised to carry out measurements “three times a day” on the first day of the fire, they published the next monitoring results only on April 22 after the “oil” rains. The operational headquarters stated that, as of the evening of April 21, in the air in the area of ​​the Grozneft, Sortirovka and Zvezdny microdistricts, as well as part of the Central District, they found that the permissible concentrations of benzene, xylene and soot were “two to three times higher.” “The situation will return to normal once the fire extinguishing is completed,” officials added.

Since then, the authorities have not published new data. But on April 24, they reported that in the center of Tuapse, “cleaning up the streets from the consequences of a fire at the oil complex” had begun. Separately, officials emphasized that the work is carried out “without the use of chemicals, so as not to harm the environment.” How city services will remove traces of burnt oil, which require solvents, is unclear, Important Stories note .

Local residents, as the Agency wrote , complained that the authorities reported practically nothing about the situation and did not cancel classes in schools. For example, one of the residents of Tuapse showed a photo showing a child’s hands covered in black dots: “Do you think it’s possible to transfer the children remotely for now?” - she wrote. In three schools in the city, the local education department said , students may not attend classes “at the request of their parents.” At the same time, two kindergartens and one school remain closed in the city, which ceased operation after the previous drone attack on the city on April 16. The Red Square shopping center, which is located about three kilometers from the port, is also closed.

The inappropriate publication of the Tuapse Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office caused separate indignation and ridicule , including from Z-bloggers . On April 22, the department reported that employees “took part in greening the city.” In published photographs, prosecutors stood near flower beds with planted trees against a background of black smoke. These photos were later deleted.

In the second half of April, the Ukrainian Armed Forces twice attacked the port of Tuapse, on the territory of which there is an oil refinery, which forms a single production complex with a marine terminal. After a drone attack on the night of April 16, the terminal also caught fire; the fire was completely extinguished only on the eve of a new attack.

After the first wave of attacks in the city, an oil spill was discovered in the Tuapse River , as well as in the Black Sea near the port. To prevent further spread of pollution, the authorities installed booms and special devices for collecting oil products. However, on April 24, amid heavy rains, oil products “overflowed” through the barriers and ended up in the water area and on the seashore.

When cleaning up the fuel oil, the Tuapse administration covered the city beach with fresh pebbles, environmentalists monitoring the situation in the city told Important Stories. The publication’s interlocutors said that in this way the authorities “hid” traces of fuel oil, which local residents still notice near the water.