Fire chief blasts union over oil-blaze claims

A bitter war of words erupted tonight over claims that firefighters were “woefully prepared” to fight the Buncefield oil blast.

Hertfordshire fire chief Roy Wilsher reacted furiously to the Fire Brigades Union’s allegations as it was announced the inferno near Hemel Hempstead had been defeated after a 60-hour battle.

Praising his officers as “magnificent” he poured scorn on the FBU’s criticism and accused it of “pure opportunism”.

He said: “I’m disgusted that the FBU have sought to make political capital out of this incident and to mislead the public, when they should be applauding the actions of firefighters who have performed nothing less than a miracle.”

Fire chiefs said the last of the blazing oil tanks at the Hertfordshire site, engulfed on Sunday by a series of explosions, was extinguished at 5pm, although a number of small fires were still burning.

The FBU accused Hertfordshire Fire Authority of only being able to deal with minor oil fires and having almost no capacity to tackle the blaze with foam.

It called for a public inquiry into the fire.

The union cited criticism of the Hertfordshire brigade by inspectors in 1998 and said it had taken more than 24 hours after the fire began before there was enough foam for the fire to be attacked.

FBU spokesman Geoff Ellis claimed foam tanks on some fire engines were left unfilled to save money and the preparedness of the brigade to deal with oil fires was in stark contrast with that of those elsewhere in the country drafted in to help in recent days.

He said: “Hertfordshire Fire Authority was woefully prepared to deal with anything but the most minor oil fire. We would strongly support calls for a public inquiry and believe it is now inevitable.”

But Mr Wilsher said his officers had managed to put out more tank fires than ever before in peacetime Europe.

“The work of my firefighters and my officers has been magnificent. They have worked in extreme conditions, with extreme professionalism,” he said.

Attacking the claims in a press release by the union, he added: “I am stunned by the inaccuracy and venom of this release from the FBU.

“Their claims are utter nonsense and this is pure opportunism of the worst possible kind.”