We're burning...

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sallycinnamon78

New Yorker
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
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Location
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4 miles down the road from where I currently live... SIXTY MILLION GALLONS of fuel, merrily burning away. Smoke several thousand feet high. This morning, we were told that the fires would go on for about 3 days - and that was just an estimate.

The noise of the explosion woke all 5 members of our household at 6am. Our cat went insane and still won't come out of hiding. The windows were rattling, the house shook like mad - I thought it was an earthquake. 2000 people have been evacuated so far. It looked like nuclear winter when I ventured out this morning, then it cleared up for a bit, and now it STINKS. There is soot everywhere.

I have a job interview in Hemel on Tuesday. I think it may be cancelled, you know.

Pics from the BBC: I'm sure as hell not going to try and venture out that way!
_41109342_okflames.jpg
 
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You live near there? Holy shit. I used to have relations in Mill Hill so when I went to see them I would fly in via Luton airport, typically.
 
Some parts of St Albans are really nice. I lived down the road in Welwyn Garden for a few years, and I have to say, it is the most boring place on earth.

Anyway. We're bloody lucky, quite frankly, that we only have 42 casuallties so far down here in Herts. Thank God it was a Sunday morning... the carnage of a weekday doesn't bear thinking about.:no:

I've tried to avoid the TV today.
 
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It's bizarre... the Fire Brigade released a statement a while back, stating that they can't tackle it until they know for a fact that they have enough foam. What on earth?! It's supposed to be "the biggest fire in peacetime Europe".

People in the Netherlands and France are saying they heard it, and there are loads of reports from people whowere 100 miles away, and reckon they felt it. Crazy! :ohmy:

The cat has just emerged from behing the freezer, poor thing!

Bad taste comment - it is still bloody freezing here, though! (You either laugh or you cry, I think - I've done both.)
 
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TThanks all.

Half the fires are out now, apparently - the Fire Brigade managed to start battling them this morning. Can't say I envy them.

It still looks like something out of War of the Worlds. The smoke's coming down now and heading south and west.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4520430.stm

Now, this guy lives in the thick of it. I thank God we're a few miles away. Poor people of Hemel. From the page: "We live about a quarter of a mile from Buncefield. We have lost two big windows blown from the house. 1 is lying on the grass outside, the whole front wall is damaged. Porch is blown out, front door blown in. we have been evacuated and refused permission to go back to the house. our house is open to the elements and anyone else and we do not know when we will be able to return. The insurance company are insisting on a structural survey before we return. Why does the news keep playing down the damage to residential property?"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4520672.stm
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I live about 15 miles away, the explosion woke me up, and the blast smashed a neighbours window.

I was talking to a tanker driver who was walking across the carpark at the depot when his tanker blew up behind him.
 
sallycinnamon78 said:
It's bizarre... the Fire Brigade released a statement a while back, stating that they can't tackle it until they know for a fact that they have enough foam. What on earth?! It's supposed to be "the biggest fire in peacetime Europe".

They couldnt start using the foam until the Environment agency gave them the all clear that it wouldn't get into groundwater supplies.
 
Ellay said:


They couldnt start using the foam until the Environment agency gave them the all clear that it wouldn't get into groundwater supplies.

I realise that... I didn't express myself too well there. It was more an 'what on earth' based on shock. I wouldn't moan about the Fire Brigade - they do an amazing job. As do all the emergency services; full of good and brave people.

Interesting that there were reports of hearing this explosion from Folkestone and Canterbury timed 06:09/06:10. The wind direction is right (NW) and the time delay of around 8 minutes is also right for the 100 mile distance.
 
It was quite incredible - my house backs onto a train line and I thought it was a train crash.

Apparantly because there was a lot of low cloud, it stopped the shock wave disipating into the atmosphere.
 
A ton of very dark cloud has appeared out of nowhere over the last half an hour, on one side of the sky - the view from the back is blue skies, the front is black. I know we're only a few miles away, but the smoke is supposedly blowing in the opposite direction. I hadn't even considered the mess if it starts raining. :ohmy:

My housemate works as a courier. The Hemel Hempstead depot is - well, was - in the same industrial area as the refinery.The Hemel drivers STILL have to work, and are 40 of them all going to be using our local depot. As we have another 35 locally, I don't expect to see my housemate until late evening at the earliest. He's been working since 5 am! :(

What both amuses AND scares me is that our region's official website didn't post anything about it until late this morning. Now that is just odd.

I would love to know why we're being told that the smoke isn't a real health risk. As someone who ran a regional BP training centre for a couple of years, I'm amazed to hear such nonsense.
 
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Be careful. They are saying people should stay in their house.

The fire keeps burning, and if it is going to rain in the next hours, there´s going to be an environmental disaster with all the smoke and gas and chemicals in the air. :(
 
Anyone else in the forum from this area? I hope everyone is ok.
4518026.stm
 

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Stay safe sally, the images of the black smoke is like something from the Matritx where man blackens the sky. Just horrible. :(
 
Where on earth have the Herts/Essex people from this forum gone? I've got to know a few Interferencers over the past year, some live very near me... I'm hoping they'll show up here sooner or later. I suspect everyone's just busy as hell and trying to sort stuff out, but I can't help worrying. Here's a :hug: for those who need it.

Thanks for the kind wishes. I'm just damn lucky that we are 5 miles away and not stuck in the middle of all this.

This might sound silly, but I bawled like a baby while reading about someone's pet dog who had gone deaf from the noise, and wouldn't eat, drink or sleep. The dog's owner couldn't get through to a vet, so is naturally getting very upset as their pet is catatonic.

It's all horrible. :(
 
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Out at last! Yay! The main tanks are out now... a few fires still burning, and reignition now and then, but the fire brigade are keeping a watchful eye. I hope everyone here is ok! TThanks again to those who've been so considerate and kind to us lot here.
 
Yes, thanks. It's good to be back in the land of the living! We were lucky in that we didn't get evacuated. It's a bit of a mess out there, to say the least!
 
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