A lightning strike ignited a fire on the roof of a crude oil storage tank at Thai Oil Public Company Limited’s refinery in Chonburi’s Si Racha district on Monday afternoon, sending black smoke into the sky and alarming nearby residents before the company’s fire team brought the blaze under control within a short time.
The strike hit the lid of the storage tank at approximately 4:30 p.m. during a period of heavy rain, according to several news sources. Witnesses in the area reported hearing a sharp crack before smoke and flames appeared rising from the top of the large tank. Black smoke was visible from surrounding communities, prompting concern among residents living near the industrial zone in Thung Sukhla Sub-district.
Dark smoke rises from the roof of a crude oil storage tank at Thai Oil’s Sriracha refinery in Si Racha, Chonburi, after a lightning strike on May 4, 2026. The fire was contained with no injuries reported Photo Courtesy Nation Thailand
Thai Oil’s on-site fire response team mobilized immediately, deploying foam to suppress the blaze and prevent it from spreading to adjacent tanks. Local disaster prevention and mitigation officials also rushed to the scene to assist. The fire was fully extinguished within a short time, and crews then applied cooling water to the tank surface to guard against any reignition.
In an official statement issued the same evening, Thai Oil confirmed the incident and said there were no injuries and no impact on the surrounding community or environment. The company added that the tank’s structural integrity was not compromised and that production operations were continuing as normal.
Despite the quick containment, authorities are not treating the incident as closed. The refinery’s operator said it would coordinate with the Pollution Control Department to monitor air quality in surrounding communities for any lingering smoke or odor. Police and engineering experts are also expected to inspect the refinery’s lightning protection system to determine why it may not have performed as intended when the strike occurred.
Thai Oil Public Company Limited operates one of Thailand’s largest refineries at its Sriracha facility, with a crude processing capacity of 275,000 barrels per day. The plant is a subsidiary of PTT, the state-owned national energy company, and is a critical node in the country’s fuel supply chain. The refinery, which has operated since 1964, sits within a dense concentration of petrochemical and industrial infrastructure along Chonburi’s eastern seaboard — a corridor that serves as the backbone of Thailand’s energy sector.
Thailand’s wet season, which brings frequent afternoon thunderstorms to the eastern seaboard, raises the risk of lightning incidents at industrial sites across the region. Fires at petroleum storage facilities, even those quickly contained, carry risks that extend well beyond the immediate area. Crude oil tanks store large volumes of flammable material, and a surface fire that spreads between adjacent tanks can escalate rapidly. The foam suppression system deployed by Thai Oil’s team is standard industry practice for this type of incident, and its swift use appears to have been the decisive factor in preventing the situation from becoming significantly worse.
No evacuation of nearby communities was ordered, and officials said there was no indication of any environmental contamination from the incident.
