Explosion in UK

[Messiah 2]

Chief fire fighter for the area is describing the explosion and incident the largest in Europe since peace time began. Apparently the explosion could be felt as far away as the Netherlands

BBC News:

Quote[/b] ]A fire is continuing to blaze at a fuel depot in Hertfordshire after a series of large explosions sent black smoke drifting across south-east England.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has visited the scene of the blasts which injured 43 people, two seriously.

A fire chief described the incident at the Buncefield fuel depot near Hemel Hempstead, after 0600 GMT, as possibly the largest in peacetime Europe.

The fire, which police believe was an accident, could burn for another day.

About 2,000 people living near the site have been evacuated, while police have advised others to keep their windows and doors closed because of fumes.

Map of explosion area

Map of the blast area

Amateur footage

By nightfall a police cordon remained around the site.

Thick clouds of smoke are continuing to spread to the south-east and south-west of the site.

One person is in Watford General Hospital in intensive care with respiratory problems. Another person is in Hemel Hempstead Hospital being kept under observation.

The other 41 people were treated for minor injuries and discharged.

Witnesses said another two explosions followed the first at 0626 GMT and 0627 GMT at the site near junction 8 of the M1.

A security worker at the depot, Troy Woodland, described what happened.

"I sat down and all of a sudden there was a huge orange light and a massive explosion which blew the doors through and knocked me off my chair, and the ceiling fell in," he told the BBC.

Further explosions

In total, 20 petrol tanks were involved, each said to hold three million gallons of fuel.

Your experiences from the blast zone

In pictures

A police investigation into the incident has begun, including investigations by anti-terrorist police.

But Chief Con Whiteley said there was "nothing to suggest anything other than an accident".

On his visit to the site Mr Prescott praised the response and offered government help but was told the emergency services were able to cope.

Hertfordshire's Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher said: "This is possibly the largest incident of its kind in peacetime Europe."

Fire chiefs are consulting oil industry experts about using millions of litres of foam to quell the blaze.

But Mr Wilsher said they needed to know they had enough foam before they began.

The BBC's Gavin Hewitt said about 100 firefighters were waiting to attack the blaze.

Meanwhile samples of smoke are being taken to determine the long term effects of exposure, if any, according to Dr Jane Halpin, director of Hertfordshire Public Health.

Policeman wearing gas mask

The smoke is spreading over southern England

She said: "However, what I would restate is that those people who are most at risk are those people who have inhaled the smoke."

Tanker driver Paul Turner said he ran for his life after the explosion lifted him off his feet.

"I just saw this great big ball of fire come up from behind the building. It was about 50 metres wide," he told the BBC.

"Then there was the loudest explosion I have ever heard in my life. I got up, turned around and ran to my car and sped out of there as fast as I could."

Many houses have been damaged, with some reporting feeling effects from the explosion as far away as Oxfordshire - while it was heard in a number of counties and even France and the Netherlands.

School closures

Eye witnesses reported buckled front doors, cracked walls and blown-out windows.

Of the 2,000 people evacuated 290 people have gone to a leisure centre while 50 others have been offered bed and breakfast accommodation.

The M1 is closed both ways between junctions 6a and 12 and may remain shut on Monday.

HAVE YOUR SAY

We heard an explosion and the whole house shook

Anil Taank, Northwood, Middlesex

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The M10 motorway is closed in both directions between junction 1 and junction 7 as well as some arterial roads in Hemel Hempstead.

Motorists have been told not to go "anywhere near the M1 from the M25 upwards".

Hertfordshire police said about 70 schools in the Hemel Hempstead and St Albans areas would also be closed on Monday.

At Heathrow airport some flights were forced to delay landing because of smoke, but Luton airport was operating as usual.

The Buncefield depot is a major distribution terminal operated by Total and part-owned by Texaco, storing oil, petrol as well as kerosene which supplies airports across the region, including Heathrow and Luton.

The country's fifth largest fuel distribution depot, it is also used by BP, Shell and British Pipeline.

Police said there was no indication the explosion would cause fuel shortages and warned against panic-buying.

A spokesman for Total said: "We are doing everything we can to support the emergency services and to bring the situation under control."

A spokesman for the Department for Trade and Industry said it was too early to say what the effect would be on fuel supply but oil companies were getting oil from other parts of the south east and across the UK.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said it would be investigating the incident.

Some pictures:

[wildo 0]

christ looking at that sat pic the smoke clouds HUGE! thank god i live to the left of it all :P

didnt they say on the news it could incite athsma in some people? or in unborn children (i.e. pregnant mothers)?

dont know if i heard correctly, but

Wildo

[LoTekK 0]

Oh my god! That is insane!

Do they know what caused the blast?

Quote[/b] ]20 petrol tanks were involved, each said to hold three million gallons of fuel

[xawery 0]

The police are assuming it was an industrial accident.

[soul_assassin 1750]

thats some crazy shit but there should have been some advanced emergency systems which should prevent any "industrial" accidents from happening. Im putting my money on sabotage.

[Messiah 2]

Depends on the nature of the incident - there are many many many possible causes, malfunctions, system error, human error, plane crash of all things (Stanstead airport is 10miles away)

i'd say keep an open mind for now - sabotage is pretty unlikely due to the high security that surrounds these places, but i guess you never know.

the smoke cloud is due to drift over where i live (oxford) soon - im hundreds of miles away

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

The smoke clouds made for some impressive viewing

[D.murphy man 0]

thank god im on the happy shore line south wales. I seen some the damage it did to houses a mile away from the blast on the news. It took doors off their hinges put threw every window on every house.

Its amazing that no one was killed!

[Messiah 2]

one guy caught up in it all, said the blast ripped a 10ft by 20ft steel fire door off its hinges and threw it towards him

[tankieboy 0]

All, get down...

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

did any1 get hurt?

I saw the news yesterday, where the police announce they dont know yet.

[Messiah 2]

40 or so injured, 2 seriously, none killed

oxford last night smelt like a chemicle lab - rather bizarre given our distance

[D.murphy man 0]

well the last casuality of the explosion has now been discharged from hospital. Now there fighting the blaze but apprently there not even sure if the foam there pouring on the fire is even doing any thing. It appears the fires so hot that its just evaporating the foam and water their puting on it. Theres been reports of foam falling from the smoke cloud into peoples gardens miles away from the fire.

[Messiah 2]

they didnt start fighting the fire till this morning - 100 fire fighters sitting around doing nothing...

has to be hard in a situation like this... like we saw in Iraq back in 91, oil fires arent exactly simple to put out - in this case, they've been waiting for a day to get all the foam into the area before they attempted to fight the fire - but at best its going to be a case of containing the fire, and keeping it away from the unexploded fuel:

Quote[/b] ]Crews have been working through the night to contain the blaze, maintaining a curtain of water between the flames and seven unexploded fuel tanks, each thought to hold three million gallons of fuel.

and worryingly:

Quote[/b] ]"This is the largest fire of this kind that we in the UK and Europe have dealt with. We are not even sure how the thermal currents will affect the foam; it may just vaporise it."

new picture of a vehicle thrown from the depot in the explosion:

London today, looking reminisent of the victorian era during the great smog.

M1 motorway, one of the busiest roads in britain, empty

[Thunderbird 0]

Indeed, looks like to the clouds that covered the whole iraqi desert during the iraqi retreat from Kuwait in 1991...

I hope the wind would be friendly with the british cities around...

Regards

TB84

[Messiah 2]

apparently it will be today - the winds are blowing south, sending the smoke to France

(sorry, but anglo/french rivalry is infamous - i find it funny we're sending our polution across the channel)

[D.murphy man 0]

apparently it will be today - the winds are blowing south, sending the smoke to France

(sorry, but anglo/french rivalry is infamous - i find it funny we're sending our polution across the channel)

[Thunderbird 0]

Quote[/b] ]apparently it will be today - the winds are blowing south, sending the smoke to France

(sorry, but anglo/french rivalry is infamous - i find it funny we're sending our polution across the channel)

Those brits are ready for everything to win...

There's no risk, though, the british smoke isn't quite strong to reach the french coasts.

:-D

Regards

TB84

[Greg147 0]

Jesus, I live about 40mins drive away from there and I didn't even know it happened until today.

Hard to believe I didn't notice. Especially if someone felt in in Holland

[sanctuary 19]

That's a miracle none has been killed considering the power of the explosions and the fire intensity.

Let's hope it will continue like this and that the firemen will stop this fire without too many difficulties.

[Messiah 2]

indeed, although at 12 midday GMT the firefighters only had 4 hours worth of foam left (at 32,000 litres a minute being put onto the fire).

they've exstinguished the smaller outlying fires, but the main one burns on.

[Wolfy 0]

you could see the smoke really clearly from the M40 yesterday. the sky downwind from it was black but upwind was clear blue skies. apparently the blast almost broke a friends door who lives about 15 miles away. thankfully theres no smoke in south london.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

apparently it will be today - the winds are blowing south, sending the smoke to France

(sorry, but anglo/french rivalry is infamous - i find it funny we're sending our polution across the channel)

better your smoke than the smell of your british cuisine!

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]apparently it will be today - the winds are blowing south, sending the smoke to France

I think that laughter will fire back once lawsuits are filed for compensation

The extent of pollution and harm done to health will be next that will be discussed. It´s not only flames, it´s an environment desaster with huge effects on the ecosystem, including the pollution of millions of litrs of water in the soil and toxic effects of the "fallout". Total will be sued to death for this one.

[Messiah 2]

its not just total... i think BP, Texaco, British Pipeline and Total all have co ownership of the site... the environment ministry 'claim' that it's not a highly toxic cloud and the effects to the environment will be minimal