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July 12th, 2013 
NOT a single local firefighter was on deck when a Caltex terminal in Sydney sprung a leak, and politicians and unions say it’s lucky no one was killed.
Firefighters were still mopping up at Banksmeadow, near Port Botany, on Friday night after 130,000 litres of fuel escaped from the terminal early in the morning.
A NSW Fire and Rescue spokesman told AAP local residents had been allowed to return to their homes, but clean-up work would continue until early Saturday.
The spill has prompted scorching criticism of the NSW government’s cost-cutting policy of rolling fire station closures.
Botany Mayor Ben Keneally said it was a miracle a major incident had been avoided.
“When you have millions of litres of fuel stored, anything can happen,” he told reporters.
“Petrol is a volatile liquid and it can go off with a small spark.”
The fuel escaped from the terminal at Banksmeadow after a valve malfunction about 1.30am (AEST).
A retaining wall managed to contain the petrol that gushed from a tank containing a total of two million litres of unleaded fuel.
The local fire station at Botany – which was only 3km away – had been closed at 6pm the night before, with its workers directed to fill vacancies at Campsie, 15km away.
Mick Nairn, from the Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU), said two trucks arrived at the scene from Matraville and Maroubra after about 10 minutes.
“Fires can always be responded to from stations further away (but) time costs lives – no doubt about it,” he told reporters.
“The decision to close any fire station is very dangerous. The government and the fire brigade can’t predict where the fires and spills are going to be.”
Mr Nairn warned local knowledge was also lost in the process.
“Botany Fire Station regularly conduct drills at Caltex, so they have a much better idea of the layout and the procedures with the staff down there.”
Two Caltex workers carrying out maintenance at the time of the spill were doused with fuel and taken to hospital.
But Mr Keneally said it was lucky no one was killed.
“We’ve all seen the tragic events that occurred in Canada last week when a large amount of fuel ignited,” he said.
An oil train came off its tracks and exploded into a huge fireball, destroying the centre of the town of Lac-Megantic and killing up to 50 people.
A suburb like Botany, with its concentration of petrochemical and chemical plants plus the airport and port, had a high amount of risk, Mr Keneally added.
“If you add an extra five minutes to the response time, you add untrained resources to the response time, you are heightening the risk …
“This is an area of heightened risk and therefore an area that requires 24/7 staffing.”
The NSW opposition, the FBEU and Mr Keneally are calling on the government to reverse its policy of temporary closures.
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