HPCL Visakhapatnam Refinery Fire: Pitch Tank Blaze on 2 November 2026, No Casualties Reported, Residents Panic; Cause Not Established

What happened

On the night of Monday, 2 November 2026, a fire broke out at the pitch intermediate storage tank of the Visakh Refinery of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) at Malkapuram, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. HPCL said in a post on X that the fire was reported at around 10 pm, that its own Fire and Safety Team started the firefighting and emergency response at once, that the fire stayed within the pitch tank area and was brought under control within a short time, and that there were no casualties. It added that all units of the refinery were working safely (HPCL statement as carried by ETV Bharat, Business Line and ANI). Pitch is the dark, thick residue left after petrol, diesel and gas oils have been taken out of crude oil (Business Line). Checked on 3 November 2026 and again in the afternoon; the latest report we could open was updated at 10.27 am that day. The recheck adds that HPCL staff were moved to safety and power to the area was cut, and that one early report named a possible electrical trigger, which is unconfirmed.

People living nearby saw it and heard it. ETV Bharat reports that an eyewitness saw flames rising from the facility and that people were frightened, and another said the flames looked large and people moved away. Republic says locals ran out of their homes. Newsmeter reports that black smoke covered parts of Sriharipuram and Malkapuram, that residents first took the flames for routine burning at the refinery chimney, and that the panic began when the fire grew. The Malkapuram Circle Inspector said there were no casualties and no injuries, and appealed to people not to panic. The Revenue Divisional Officer, who visited the site, said the same and added that a small blast had been reported before the fire.

Where the reports agree, and where they do not

• Casualties: none, in every report we opened, from HPCL, the Circle Inspector and the Revenue Divisional Officer. No outlet we read reports an injury, including from smoke.
• Time: HPCL says around 10 pm on 2 November, and Republic, Business Line, ETV Bharat, Pratidin Time and ANI repeat it. Newsmeter puts the explosion at about 9.50 pm, while Deccan Chronicle and The News Minute say about 10.15 pm. YouTube news clips on the fire were uploaded from about 10.35 pm IST on 2 November. Some search listings had shown mid-day or afternoon stamps on 2 November for this fire, but we could not open any report that gives an earlier time, so we treat the time as around 10 pm and do not claim a minute. An earlier fire at this refinery, on 25 May 2021, broke out in the afternoon, so older reports can easily be mixed up with this one.
• Which unit and product: HPCL says the pitch intermediate storage tank. The Circle Inspector described it as sulphur pitch in the sulphur unit, a waste or bottom product (ETV Bharat, Pratidin Time). Newsmeter says a waste oil tank beneath the sulphur tanks in the tar pitch unit of the recently expanded project. A video description from India Today places it at the pitch tank area of the residue upgradation facility. We say a pitch storage tank and do not name the unit as fact.
• Blast: the Revenue Divisional Officer says a small blast came before the fire; Newsmeter calls it a massive explosion heard across the surrounding areas. HPCL’s statement does not mention a blast.
• Who fought the fire: HPCL says its own team did. The Circle Inspector said HPCL’s own fire tenders handled it and no outside help was needed. The Revenue Divisional Officer said the fire was put out with the plant’s equipment and equipment deployed by the Andhra Pradesh Fire Department. Newsmeter says teams from HPCL and neighbouring industries rushed to the spot. Deccan Chronicle quotes the Deputy Inspector of Factories as saying five HPCL fire tenders were deployed, and The News Minute says foam was used on the remaining fire and cooling started to stop it flaring up again. At 10.34 pm, Deccan Chronicle’s regional fire officer said fires were still burning at two places.
• How long it lasted: HPCL says it was brought under control within a short time. Newsmeter says the fire gradually subsided after midnight. The Revenue Divisional Officer says it was fully extinguished.
• Damage: HPCL says no unit was damaged (Business Line). The caption of a photograph on the same Business Line page says officials reported no casualties, though significant structural damage was reported, at the residue upgradation facility. We have not been able to reconcile these, and no damage assessment has been published.

What residents say about warning

Newsmeter reports that residents alleged the refinery management did not sound the emergency sirens, which left people in nearby localities anxious and confused. We have not seen HPCL or the authorities answer this. Deccan Chronicle (10.34 pm, 2 November) and The News Minute (3.39 am, 3 November) report that HPCL’s own employees were moved to a safer place as a precaution and that power to the affected area was cut. That is about plant staff, not residents. A short Hindi video description from Aaj Tak says an alarm sounded and a residential area was evacuated, but no written report we opened mentions any evacuation of residents, and we do not state that one took place. Newsmeter adds that the management of the Indian Oil Corporation terminal next to the refinery took precautionary measures.

What is not known

• What caused the blast and the fire. HPCL has not stated a cause. Deccan Chronicle (10.34 pm, 2 November) says preliminary reports suggested an overhead electrical line might have triggered the fire; that is one early, unconfirmed report, and The News Minute and Oneindia say the cause is not established.
• How much pitch the tank held, how long the fire burned, and how much damage it did.
• Whether the sirens sounded, whether any residents were asked to leave their homes, and whether anyone needed medical care for smoke.
• What the smoke contained and whether any air quality readings were taken in Malkapuram and Sriharipuram.
• Who will carry out the enquiry. The Revenue Divisional Officer said an enquiry into industrial safety would be held under the safety norms; South First (10.27 am) adds that it will look at technical factors, the tank’s maintenance records and the safety systems (one outlet). No panel, deadline or finding has been reported.

The refinery has burned before

This is not the first fire at the Visakh Refinery. A cooling-tower fire on the evening of 23 August 2013 killed two people and injured 37 (Business Today, PTI). On 25 May 2021, a fire broke out in a crude processing unit; no one was hurt (The News Minute, Deccan Chronicle). Our Visakhapatnam safety guide lists the city’s industrial risks and emergency numbers. We have no earlier case study of a refinery fire in Visakhapatnam, but you can read about a fire and blast in Alluri Sitarama Raju district and the boiler explosion at a pharma unit in Sri City, both in Andhra Pradesh, and about the smoke that residents faced near plastic scrap fires in Surat.

What the incident teaches

A fire at a refinery or fuel depot is seen by the whole neighbourhood within minutes, long before anyone has the facts. The flames lit up the sky, the smoke drifted over homes, and people did not know whether to stay or run. That gap is where panic grows. Three questions matter for anyone living near such a site: how will I be told, who decides whether I should leave, and where do I go. In this case the reports do not tell us whether those questions had clear answers on the night, and residents say the sirens were not heard. Our guide on fire alarm and mass notification systems explains how a plant can warn its neighbours, and the reader guide on smoke from a nearby fire explains how to decide your next step from local instructions.

Safety steps if you live near a refinery or fuel storage

These are general practices, not a finding about what happened in Malkapuram.

• Learn what flames and smoke at the site can mean. Routine flaring at a chimney is normal and is not an alarm. A sudden bang, a fire at ground level or thick black smoke is not. If you are unsure, assume it is real.
• Do not go closer. Do not walk or drive towards the fence to look or to film, and do not stop vehicles on the approach roads; fire engines and ambulances need that space. If there is a blast, a second one can follow.
• If smoke is drifting over your area and no one has told you to leave, go indoors, close doors and windows, switch off fans and air conditioners that pull in outside air, and keep children, the elderly and anyone with asthma or heart trouble inside. Move to a room on the side away from the smoke. A wet cloth does not stop fumes, so do not rely on it to walk through smoke.
• Leave only on a clear instruction from the police, the fire service, the district administration or an official loudspeaker announcement, and go the way you are told. If you must move on your own because of burning eyes or throat, difficulty breathing, or fire heading your way, move across or against the wind, away from the site, and do it calmly.
• Keep a small bag ready with identity papers, medicines, a phone charger and some cash, and agree a meeting point with your family. No official shelter or evacuation point was named in the reports we opened; ask your ward office or the district control room which one serves your area.
• Call 112 or the fire service on 101 for a fire, and 108 for an ambulance. Which number to call is explained in our guide to emergency numbers, and what to say in our fire brigade number guide.
• Ask the plant and the authorities for answers. Residents have the right to ask how the plant will warn them, whether sirens are tested, and whether the community has a drill. Our guide to chemical industry safety lists the rules plants are expected to follow.
• Check video before you share it. Fire videos are often old. A fact-check published in November 2025 found that a 2021 video was being shared online as a recent fire at HPCL Visakhapatnam. Share only clips from named news outlets and check the date.