Remarkably, or maybe not as I consumed lots of wine last night as per usual, I didn't hear this explosion, which is 2 miles from my house. I have been watching the massive plume of smoke from my living room window at the same time as the TV is showing it. A friend rang to check I was ok at 8 am and that was the first I'd heard. I'd be cr@p in an emergency. Everyone could have been evacuated form Hemel and me and my dog would just have slept through it!
Everyone has been evacuated Ruthie,the BBC have just said that everyone has been accounted for apart from one mad woman with a dog ,a ducati and a little Minnie! Butch
You jest but actually it could quite easily have happened! Since I moved to Hemel it's reminded me of that Shaun of the Dead movie. There are some real weird types who live here. I have visions of going out one day to see the entire place only populated by zombies. And my highly trained, guard doberman slept through it too. Animal instinct? Pah!
The explosion woke me and the missus at 0600 and we live 10 miles away. Got called out to Luton Airport at 0730 for a call out to see huge clouds of smoke billowing 10/15,000 ft into the air and the smell of diesel in the air. Thankfully the wind direction did'nt bring it our way,pity the poor sods under neath it . One old boy had his roof blown off. Thoughts must go to the Fireperson having to tackle such a firefight there are 50/60 huge tanks in the complex. Hopefully it looks like it may be under control as the smoke has decrease and change colour,all ways a good sign,that coming from an old firefighter like meself. 4D
Stuck offshore watching the drama unfold on Sky News.
I am sure there is a FINA pipeline at that site, hopefully all the shutdown and blowdown valves have kicked in to stop the flow and will not be feeding the fire.
The intense heat will make it difficult for the firefighters and more often than not a fire of this magnitude will be allowed to burn itself out with the emergency services restricted to boundry cooling of other sites and vessels to prevent them igniting.
Good news so far seems to be that casualty numbers are minimal which is always good to hear, especially so close to the festive season.
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