UK oil depot inferno extinguished

Firefighters last night won their three-day battle to extinguish the immense Buncefield oil depot inferno, but health experts warned that the risk to public health was not over.

Thick ground-level soot which could cause people breathing difficulties is expected to build up over the next few days, as the dense plume of smoke and toxins which has spread across the south-east of England falls to earth.

There were angry calls for a public inquiry into the explosions that started the blaze, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and into why the emergency services were unpractised for such a large fire.

Financial experts said that insurance claims from homeowners and businesses whose properties were destroyed in the first explosions - which measured 2.4 on the Richter scale, equivalent to a small earthquake - could run into the "hundreds of millions" of pounds.

The Fire Brigades Union said Hertfordshire Fire Authority had been "woefully prepared to deal with all but the most minor oil fire".

The county's chief fire officer, Roy Wilsher said his officers had been "magnificent" but admitted they had never prepared to tackle such an "apocalyptic" blaze.

"All previous experience had been on one tank [of oil]," he said, adding: "I think with any incident of this kind there will undoubtedly be some lessons to be learned."

The 58-hour operation to extinguish fires in 20 oil tanks, which began shortly after 6am on Sunday morning local time and had to be stopped several times for fear that personnel would be killed by exploding drums, ended at 4.45pm yesterday.

With the smothering of the last and largest tank on site, the "infamous tank 12", 650 firefighters from 17 services across the country had deployed 15m litres of water and a quarter of a million litres of foam concentrate.

A small number will remain at the scene for several days, cooling the area to ensure that tanks do not reignite.

Several spoke of their fear of the unknown as they arrived on Sunday morning at what would become the largest peacetime blaze in Europe.

"It was a complete fireball. It does not compare to anything I have ever seen," said Jon Smith, station commander at Hemel Hempstead. "In the early stages we did not actually know what was involved."

Inside the terminal, which used to store 16 million litres of fuel, a number of small fires away from the tanks burned on.

Crushed cars lay beside the scorched shells of abandoned offices ripped apart in the blasts.

Several businessmen were able to return to the nearby industrial estate to inspect damage to their premises.

Some residents evacuated from the exclusion zone around Buncefield were allowed to return with police escorts.

They were advised to wipe up dust or soot left by the fire, throw away unwrapped food and re-wash clothes left out on a line.

Insurance claims could run into the "hundreds of millions" of pounds, predicted Geoff Miller, an analyst with Bridgewell Securities in London.

Conservative Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning called for a public inquiry into the fire and questioned why town planners had allowed homes to be built progressively closer to the depot since its construction in the 1960s.

It was important to consider "whether in the 21st century this sort of depot should be anywhere near residents' homes", he said.

The Health and Safety Executive will hold a full investigation, the findings of which will be made public.

Fire services minister Jim Fitzpatrick said it was too early to say whether or not there would be a public inquiry into the fire.

"We were lucky," said a spokesman for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance Service. "If it had happened in the week there would have been devastation. This is a bustling industrial estate with workers passing through all day and children running around. I don't like to imagine it."

Health experts tried to reassure the public that there would be no long-term health repercussions.

Professor Warren Lenney, of the British Lung Foundation, said "nasty toxic substances" in the "horrible atmosphere" created by the smoke could cause short-term irritation and coughing, particularly to asthma sufferers and the elderly.

But he said that few people had been exposed to high-density smoke and thought it unlikely that cancer-causing toxins such as carbon monoxide would be an issue.

Air samples taken on Monday were "very reassuring", according to Dr Jane Halpin, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire's director of public health.

Tests for asbestos in the smoke were "clear and negative".

About 200 schools within a 10-mile radius of Buncefield remained closed yesterday because of possible dangers to children from smoke particles.

All but those closest to the depot were expected to reopen today, however.

Residents nearby were still advised to stay indoors where possible and keep their windows shut.

Firefighters said that concrete bunds (containers) around the oil tanks had stopped the toxic run-off of foam, water and oil from poisoning the local water table.

French oil firm Total S.A., which operates the depot, again denied that there had been leaks in the run-up to the explosions - considered by chemical engineers to be the likeliest cause.

Richard Howitt, Labour MEP for the eastern region, said that Buncefield owners Total and Texaco had some "very difficult questions to answer".

- INDEPENDENT