So began the event that brought Hemel Hempstead to the attention of the world. This page contains some of the experiences of the people who witnessed this event and, more interestingly, some really cool pictures. Had anyone been seriously injured if might be distasteful to enjoy these pictures, but in this instance nobody died so hey, lets just marvel at the spectacle.
My name is Andy W. Smith and I am a jobbing technical author and copywriter living in Hemel and, as I've done a bit of journalism in my time, I decided to tell the story. As far as I am aware the pictures on this site are in the public domain as they are flying around the locals here like flies around a jammy doughnut. However, if I'm treading on any toes then I'm sorry and I'll take them down if you tell me to. Then again, hey, it's the biggest thing to happen to this town since Henry VIII visited in the year dot, so try not to be a big meanie! Okay?
The Bang!
When it came the bang woke everybody in the town and was said to have been heard in places as far afield as Oxford and London 30 to 40 miles away. One report said that it awoke someone in Norfolk 100 miles away, and it was even reported on the coast of Holland a very long way away indeed. Where I was, about two thirds of a mile from ground zero, it sounded like a clap of thunder—although perhaps more sustained—sounding as though it was in the loft right above my bedroom.
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These images look as though they were taken on the morning of the explosion when sunrise was 07.56. These must have been fairly early after the first blast as they look fairly dark and dawn was beginning to show about an hour after the blast.
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This image was probably taken on Hemel Hempstead industrial estate shortly after the first blast. Within minutes of the explosion the streets were thronging with people. The scene was more like a Monday morning rush hour, enough to cause you to have to wait to cross the road instead of just strolling across the deserted streets as you would normally at 6am on a Sunday morning. It seems if people had a sense of the possible danger of the flying debris from more explosions—at one point I saw a filing cabinet in the street next to a smashed in window—the fascination of the event was stronger than the sense of self preservation.
A report from someone who was working nightshift in a factory next to Buncefield described how his employers said 'just get out', so everybody went home with none of the usual standing in the car park and ticking names in the register. He described how, as he was driving away, he saw hundreds of people walking towards the danger zone from which he was fleeing. You might imagine a scene from movies such as Night of the Living Dead where the zombies approach, arms outstretched as they are summoned to their doom unable to resist.
It was only on my arrival home that it occurred to me that the filing cabinet was covered in frost and had been out all night. However, it was enough to break me out of the zombie trance and send me home to watch it on TV.
Sunday
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Throughout Sunday the 11th we watched with some fascination as the pall of smoke grew.
During the days that followed stories emerged of peoples' experiences of the explosion. People across town described how their beds, furniture and whole houses shook with the blast. It was later described as measuring 2.4 on the Richter scale.
Add your experiences to the British Geological Survey Questionairre on the effects of the earthquake here
When I woke up to the bang I was convinced that it was a lightning strike with a thunder clap right above my house. Seeing flames above the house opposite it seemed that the approaching sirens were attending the house in the next street that had caught fire.
My nephew, who was awake, described how he felt the tremor first, followed by the bang and looking out saw flames on the horizon and immediately thought that someone had finally nuked London. Just hold that thought—he really believed it was a possibility.
Other people described ornaments falling from shelves or furniture jumping about. Myself, I didn't notice any vibrations but I wonder if that is due to my being so close that the tremors surfaced further out, or perhaps I didn't sit up as I thought, and was actually thrown up out of bed.
During the day the damage started to emerge. People in the houses adjacent to the depot—yes there were houses quite close—had their windows and doors blown in, or off of their hinges. Buildings that were in a clear line from the biggest tank lost all of their windows, while other people found that door frames twisted so that they couldn't open their doors.
Fortunately my house was undamaged however, two doors from my house a neighbour's front window fell out, frame and all,the glass only breaking when it hit the ground. Was this an event that revealed some dodgy double-glazing installations?
Other reports from the news described how people in adjacent factories were blown off of their feet or off of their chairs. Some had to climb out of windows while tanker drives fled from the depot after the initial blast.
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As daylight broke the M1 was closed in both directions, more likely because of the risk of further explosions than from the smoke that hung in the air.
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Before long the smoke began to take on the appearance of something from a fantasy movie. You can just imagine the fires coming from the forge of Sauron where he is planning to conqour the world, or at least Hemel Hempstead.
The fire has been described as the largest fire in Europe since W.W.II. However, there was a major oil refinery fire in Milford Haven in 1983, and a chemical plant went up in Flixborough in 1974, so how it compared to those, I suppose only the fire brigade can say, and they said this was bigger. Way to go Hemel!
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It's not entirely clear when the above image was taken but judging by the size of the fire it was probably some time during Sunday, possibly not long after day break when the Police had not yet managed to exclude people from the area around the fire. It may have been taken later but judging by the size of the fire it looks fairly early on.
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As the day progressed a layer of smoke collected in the air above South Hertfordshire, North London and nearby counties. The explanation was the same given for the reason that the sound of the explosion was heard over such large distances. On the night of the 10th/11th, and the day that followed, Southern England was affected by an inversion, a meteorological phenomena where a layer of warm air sits above cold air below. This means that sound is reflected back towards the ground (see Wikipedia for a full explanation). The inversion also trapped the smoke from the fire causing a thick blanket to hang in the air. This is the phenomenon that used to cause smog for days on end in large cities before we started cleaning up polution emissions.
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This image was probably taken on the Sunday evening. It was a full 24 hours before the Fire Service could muster enough foam to begin the assault on the fire.
Monday
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This image was probably taken on the Monday, once the Fire Service had started to attack the fire, as there seems to be some evidence of fire fighting in the area around the large container to the left, but this may just be charring so it may be the day before. Notice that you can also see the enclosure, or bund, around the fuel tank designed to contain fuel if it should leak out of the tank itself.
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Image copyright © MSI Photography 2005 |
This image is a little confusing as it is clearly inside the cordon, as the police were not allowing people within half a mile of the depot, but it looks as though the fire was still burning quite fiercely. Either someone snuck through the cordon before the fire was completely out or it was taken on the night of the bang.
Tuesday
By Tuesday the fires were coming under control and most were out by the end of the day. There was an incident, I think on the Tuesday night, where the large tank went up again but hey, a fireman has gotta be able to have a cigarette when he wants one!
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This image (taken from the east) gives an impression of the scale of fire that could have developed. The Buncefield Oil Depot site is actually split into about four separate areas, each operated by a different company. You can also see how close some buildings, bottom right, are now built right up to the depot. When the site was originally built there was a clear space of about 400m around the site so that it was separated from the Maylands Avenue Industrial Estate to the west and the M1 to the east. In the last few years that space has been built up so that factories and warehouses have their grounds backing onto the site. The roundabout in the bottom corner is a recent addition giving a clue to plans for possible future development.
From the linked streetmap you can see that the fire was confined to the top left corner (north west) of the site. The tank on the north side of Cherry Tree Lane is the infamous tank 12 that was probably the biggest one to go up and the one that woke everybody within a ten mile radius.
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This image (from the north west) shows tank 12 on the left with Cherry Tree Lane running diagonally up the centre.
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From the north with Cherry Tree Lane at the bottom.
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This is from the west, with Cherry Tree Lane across the top left corner. This shot and those that follow show the insane bravery of the firemen attending. One might assume that the remaining tanks still contain large amounts of explosive fuel!
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As Tuesday wore on small fires were still breaking out or re-igniting.
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And apparently even the infamous tank 12 re-ignited at the end of the day.
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Ex-hedgerows along Cherry Tree Lane.
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December sunset - red sky at night, Hemel's alight.
Aftermath
Apparently the cleanup is going to take a while.
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Many people's jobs have temporarily moved away from Hemel Hempstead. According to local newspapers some firms are saying that if Buncefield is reopened they will move their businesses away permanently.
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This is the Buncefield Roundabout (taken from the west from a position above J8 of the M1) with the depot off to the right and Hemel town centre in the direction off the top of the picture. Reports said that the Fire Service were drawing water from the Grand Union Canal which is probably three miles away. In fact they used a small reservoir off the top of this picture but had plans to use the canal if they needed more water. Some of the aerial pictures and the map show large concrete ponds around the depot that are supposed to provide water during a fire. We can only assume that they were not really up to the job!
If you spot an image here that you took, or if you have anything to add, let me know and I'll give you a mention in return for it's use.
If you need some documentation work, a website, technical writing, copywriting or anything in words or pictures, follow the link below to my main web site.
Thanks for reading...
Visits since January 01 2006