Fire fighters tackle depot inferno

A day after massive blasts ripped through an oil depot near Hemel Hempstead, fire fighters moved in to tackle the massive blazes.

Using high capacity pumps and thousands of gallons of foam, on Monday afternoon around half of the fires had been extinguished. However, on new concerns of an explosion risk in one tank holding "volatile fuel," fire crews were pulled back on Monday afternoon.

The blasts and fire have injured around 40 people, with two known to have been seriously injured after the explosions.

Fire crews, who worked through the night to cool nearby tanks, began blanketing the area in foam as a huge pall of smoke from the blaze continues to smother part of southern England.

However, such is the scale of the inferno that fire fighters have had to wait for additional supplies of the flame retardant foam additive to arrive from stocks held around the UK.

But crews worked through the night pouring tens of thousands of gallons of water on the seven unaffected tanks in the depot. Each tank can hold three million gallons of refined fuels such as diesel, petrol and aviation fuel. Twenty of the huge storage tanks are thought to have been damaged or destroyed by the blasts and the huge fire that ripped through the storage facility.

A temporary road has been constructed close to the seat of the fire to permit cranes and high capacity pumping equipment to be brought in to tackle the fires. But concerns over contaminated water escaping from the site have caused fears over further environmental damage.

Over 2,000 people are reported to have been evacuated from the adjacent area.

The blast, described as one of the largest peace time explosions in Europe, caused widespread structural damage to surrounding property.

The Buncefield Oil Storage Terminal is jointly operated by Total, Texaco and a number of other oil companies including BP and Shell.

A spokesperson for Total said: "Total UK recognises the outstanding work of the emergency services in handling this situation, and we are doing everything possible to assist them.

"Part of our effort has included the mobilisation yesterday of a team of advisors from Lindsey Oil Refinery to Hemel Hempstead. They are specialists in dealing with fire incidents in the oil industry.

"We are in contact with the local authorities to see what assistance we can provide to all those in the surrounding community who have been affected by this situation, including setting up a helpline for those who have suffered damage to their properties.

A helpline on 0870 400 0499 has been set up for enquiries and to report damage to properties.

(SP/KMcA)