12-12-2005, 12:55 PM
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#14 (permalink)
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Too Awesome for Aardvarks
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4520430.stm
Quote:
Depot fire crews 'to resume work'
The smoke plume could be seen for many miles
Fire crews tackling the blaze at a Hertfordshire oil depot may soon resume work after their efforts were halted, amid fears of a possible explosion.
Fires in 12 of the 20 tanks were put out within seven hours but crews left the site as a tank thought to hold an "extremely volatile" fuel was examined.
Police now say the tank is not as dangerous as first thought.
A huge plume of smoke continues to billow from the Buncefield depot, near Hemel Hempstead.
Explosions and fire at the site early on Sunday injured 42 people.
How the fire is being fought
Hertfordshire Fire Service chief Roy Wilsher said operations were halted at about 1500 GMT as he did not want a "human tragedy to go alongside the environmental tragedy we have already got".
Specialist oil industry firefighters are working alongside crews in conditions described as "very harsh".
Mr Wilsher has said he could not predict how long it would take to tackle the blaze, said to be the largest of its kind in the UK and Europe during peacetime.
Click here for a map of the area
Chief Constable Frank Whiteley told BBC Radio Five Live the fire service could return to the site on Monday evening.
"They're changing shifts over at the moment, they're also locating another water supply source and there are some logistics issues to sort out, but they will be back on site as soon as those issues are resolved," he said.
AERIAL IMAGE
What's what at the Buncefield storage depot
In detail
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, meanwhile, has told the Commons the government would provide support and assistance.
He said the explosion was thought to have been an accident but a full investigation would be carried out by the Health and Safety Executive in due course.
Mr Prescott said the emergency services and other agencies had acted with "speed, efficiency and dedication" and praised their "magnificent" response.
He said the plume of smoke was not toxic but is "certainly unpleasant and may affect people with lung conditions".
How the fire looked from space
In pictures
Mr Prescott said the government was working with agencies to get the most up-to-date information available about the implications for public health.
The Met Office said the heat from the fire had lifted the plume to a high altitude and that a north-easterly wind meant it now reached as far as Dorset.
The dry conditions mean there is no imminent danger of the rain becoming polluted.
Polluted rain could potentially prove toxic but due to the type of fuel stored at Buncefield and the foam used by fire crews, experts do not believe that such a situation would arise.
BBC forecaster Dan Corbett said the winds would remain north-easterly at about 5-10mph overnight.
Second phase
About 150 firefighters from 12 different services across England are at the site.
Before work stopped, Hertfordshire Fire Service said its operation to smother the fire with a foam blanket had been at a "critical phase".
"We were beginning work on the smaller tanks and moving on to the larger fires," a spokeswoman said.
The smothering operation could not begin until firefighters had gathered sufficient supplies of foam concentrate from around the country.
It involves six high-volume pumps and uses 32,000 litres of water per minute, much of it from a nearby lake.
Measures are being taken to stop pollution of the water table and river, with firefighters at the site trying to keep waste water in "bunded" or walled areas.
The Food Standards Agency said there currently appear to be no immediate concerns about contamination to crops or dairy herds.
It would, however, be studying results from the Health Protection Agency's environmental monitoring programme.
Schools closed
Police and council officials are to hold a public meeting with residents and business owners on Monday night.
Some 2,000 people are reported to have left the area after the blast damaged many homes and offices, shattering windows and blowing off doors.
A number of evacuees have now been able to return but residents have been advised to keep their windows and doors shut.
Depot fire still rages
In pictures
Dacorum Borough Council said it was placing 36 households in hotels on Monday night, up from 30 the previous day.
Oil firm Total, which operates the depot, has set up a telephone hotline - on 0870 400 0499 - to enable those whose properties have been damaged to log their details.
The M10 remains closed and police said they also temporarily closed the M1, which was disrupted for much of Sunday, in both directions between junctions 6 and 10.
Hundreds of schools in the Hemel Hempstead and St Albans areas are to remain closed on Tuesday.
One person admitted to Watford General Hospital in intensive care with respiratory problems has been stabilised. Another person in Hemel Hempstead Hospital was reported to be under observation.
Leaks denied
Police officers - including anti-terrorist detectives - are investigating the disaster, but say there is "nothing to suggest" it was anything other than an accident.
And a spokesman for Total denied there had been leaks in the run-up to the explosions.
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, including Heathrow and Luton.
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