Firefighters battle oil depot inferno

Firefighters today launched a bid to douse the inferno that erupted at an oil depot following a series of explosions.

Hertfordshire chief fire officer Roy Wilsher said 32,000 litres of water a minute were being used, with foam, to try to put out the flames.

But the sheer scale of the blaze at the Buncefield terminal, near Hemel Hempstead, meant that the battle to extinguish it was “uncharted territory” and there was no guarantee it would succeed.

Mr Wilsher said: “This is the largest fire of this kind that we in the UK and Europe have dealt with.

“We are not even sure how the thermal currents will affect the foam, it may just vaporise it.”