The Sulaymaniyah fuel fire at a storage yard in the Tanjaro industrial area was not caused by a drone attack, officials said Tuesday.
The province’s Civil Defense Directorate confirmed that investigators had ruled out a drone strike as the cause of the major blaze. However, authorities said they were still examining the precise circumstances that triggered the fire.
Brigadier Ari Mohammed Ali, head of the Sulaymaniyah Civil Defense Directorate, provided the details during a news conference. He said preliminary findings pointed toward failures to comply with safety requirements and procedures.
According to Ali, investigators had not yet reached a final determination about the fire’s exact cause. Nevertheless, the initial assessment identified inadequate adherence to safety measures as the most likely primary factor.
The affected storage yard contained more than three million liters of petroleum products when the fire broke out. The stored materials included gasoline and gas oil, according to the Civil Defense Directorate.
Authorities estimated the financial losses resulting from the incident at approximately $3 million. The directorate did not provide a separate breakdown of the reported losses.
The fire occurred at a fuel storage facility in the Tanjaro industrial area of Sulaymaniyah. Despite the scale of the blaze, officials said the flames remained limited to a single storage yard.
The Civil Defense Directorate did not report the fire spreading to other yards or facilities within the industrial area. As a result, the damage remained concentrated at the location where the incident began.
The incident also caused injuries among workers at the site. Eighteen workers sustained injuries during the fire, according to the provincial Civil Defense Directorate.
One of the injured workers remained in critical condition after suffering extensive burns. Officials said burns covered approximately 90 percent of the worker’s body.
Civil Defense personnel also suffered injuries while responding to the emergency. Four members of the Civil Defense service sustained injuries during the operation.
Those injured included two officers and two other staff members. The directorate did not provide additional information about the severity of their injuries.
Sulaymaniyah fuel fire investigations therefore remain focused on determining the exact circumstances surrounding the incident. Officials have ruled out a drone attack while continuing to examine potential safety failures.
Brigadier Ari Mohammed Ali emphasized that the preliminary findings do not constitute a final conclusion. Instead, investigators continue to assess the circumstances and procedures surrounding the storage yard.
Meanwhile, the volume of petroleum products stored at the site increased the scale of the incident. The facility held more than three million liters of gasoline and gas oil when the fire occurred.
Despite the substantial quantity of fuel involved, authorities said the blaze remained confined to one yard. The Civil Defense Directorate did not report damage extending beyond that specific storage location.
The reported financial losses reached approximately $3 million. However, officials did not provide further details regarding the property, equipment or fuel losses included in that estimate.
The fire also placed emergency responders at risk as they worked to manage the incident. Four Civil Defense personnel suffered injuries during their response, including two officers and two staff members.
Sulaymaniyah fuel fire officials have not attributed the incident to an external attack. Instead, the preliminary investigation has identified possible violations of established safety rules and procedures.
Authorities have not yet announced a final finding on the cause. Further investigative work will determine the circumstances that led to the fire at the Tanjaro storage yard.
For now, officials have confirmed that the incident remained limited to one fuel storage yard. They have also reported 18 injured workers, one critically injured, alongside four injured Civil Defense personnel.
