A fire broke out on Monday night at Hungarian oil giant MOL's refinery in Százhalombatta. By Tuesday morning, the disaster management service had contained the fire, but firefighting operations were still ongoing after 9 a.m.
According to our colleague who was at the scene, by around 7:30 am, there was no smoke nor were flames visible in the vicinity of the refinery. However, those driving down the town's Olajmunkás Street were met with a pungent smell: a mixture of gasoline and sulfur.
After 9 a.m., the Disaster Management Agency reported that the firefighting operation was still ongoing, with nearly fifty professional firefighters and the facility's own firefighters using multiple water hoses to extinguish the fire. When the alarm was sounded, two mobile disaster management labs had arrived at the scene and have been continuously taking measurements since.
"The level of gases generated during combustion detected in the air did not reach the maximum permissible concentration limit," the Disaster Management Agency stated.
MOL called a press conference relating to the fire on Tuesday, where Krisztián Pulay, Director of Operations said that everything should be getting back to normal in the next few days. At the press conference, MOL also emphasized that there is no connection to the recent explosion at Lukoil's Romanian oil refinery and that no signs of external interference have been detected.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a social media post that he had consulted with the leaders of MOL and the Minister of Interior.
"Hungary's fuel supply is secure. As for the circumstances of the fire at the Százhalombatta oil refinery, we will be investigating the circumstances as thoroughly as possible", the Prime Minister said.
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