‘Apocalyptic’ blaze battle resumes as new blast fear recedes

FIRE crews resumed their battle at the scene of an “apocalyptic” blaze at an oil depot in southern England last night after fears of a fresh explosion receded.

Work to tackle the blaze had stopped earlier because of fears that the crews could be killed if a so far intact fuel tank blew up.

More than 150 firefighters had been battling since dawn to douse the blaze at Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, which began following a series of explosions at 6am on Sunday.

Roy Wilsher, chief fire officer of Hertfordshire Fire Service, said the fire was the largest of its kind seen in Europe in peacetime.

“We are in uncharted territory,” he said. “It looks like an apocalypse.”

Crews were using 32,000 litres of water per minute mixed with foam, trying to cover the blaze in a massive “blanket” to deny it oxygen and to cool the oil.

Wind was swirling the dense smoke and hampering their efforts.

The explosions at the fifth largest fuel distribution depot in Britain sparked some panic buying of petrol among motorists despite reassurances from the oil industry it had plans to deal with such an emergency.

Weather forecasters said the heavy pall of smoke hanging over the blast would soon disperse.

Health officials said they hoped the smoke would not cause widespread problems in Britain’s south-east, reporting “very low levels” of people presenting themselves or seeking advice.

Agriculture experts were assessing any possible effects the fall-out might have on fruit and vegetables and if it entered the digestive systems of farm animals.

Despite the scale of the blasts, only two people were seriously injured out of a total of 43 casualties.

One man who was standing 200 yards away from the site was in a stable condition at Watford General Hospital today while the second was discharged from Hemel Hempstead Hospital after being kept in overnight for observation.

Motorways in the region were closed due to fears of a blast from tank seven.

Schools and businesses were also closed. Schools within a 10-mile radius are set to stay closed and around 2,000 people living near the depot have been evacuated.

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