A TEAM of French firefighters headed to Cote d’Ivoire’s economic capital on Friday to help control a gigantic blaze that threatening oil stocks near west Africa’s biggest refinery. A vast column of black smoke billowed over Abidjan as flames 12m continued to rage from GESTOCI, the oil stocks plant immediately next to the refinery. Late Friday morning, twenty-five firefighters from Orleans in France boarded a C-130 Hercules plane, and were slated to arrive just before midnight. The fire broke out on Thursday mid-afternoon when a pipe leading to one of GESTOCI’s oil storage tanks exploded.