Explosion In Hemel Hempstead

[Tony-Bones]

I'm back...... sorry for the time information delay, there has been a stream of people from the south of Hemel that i know in my house... then came their mum and gran and grandad.......... imagine the scene... anyway those that have still got windows are allowed home by the police, and the rest now fully lagered up are going back whatever...... plus i now own one who lost the plot................. and is to ****** to go anywhere  . i have been very lucky to miss all the smoke (so far) but it's very disturbing to shut the curtains to hide the 'glow' from the fire.....

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Tony

Glad to hear you are OK. Sounds just like you, refugee station set up and doing what you can to help.

I just thank *** that no one was killed.

And i must add...... In truth i still have not seen the cat  and despite all the previous posts, i am now worried....

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As for the cat I am sure the little fokker will be hiding somewhere and will appear in due course.

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Thanks mate.... indeed it has been a 'lifes event' today.... even more so for the kids.

When the 'Blast' hit the house both me and the wife........ well me! was up like a shot.. something's wrong!.... you know what i mean?..... anyway went back to bed.... and i still had that nagging thought?... what was that 'Bang?'..... looked up and down the gardens nothing was on fire...then i just had to get up 'Sunday' 6.10 stumbled down the stairs looking for a cat to kick, then saw the news....

My point is this 6.45 i walked the dog and Charlotte (12) came with me.. once at the park the full extent of the fire and smoke was visible and she began to cry I explained that whatever has happened is not our fault and these powerful images you will never see again, this is a once in a life time event........then she said something that even made my eyes well up..

'WHY!'do these things only happen at Christmas....

'Earth quake.. tidal wave'..... so with an arm around her shoulder looking at a tower of flames and a column of smoke 1000's of feet in the air i answered.

.

.

.

'For us to whiteness'

.

.

.

This image will last forever in your mind and 'will' Charlotte make you world wise!

[javadude]

I used to work at Lindsey Oil Refinery in Humberside (Total/Fina). It has a pipeline down to the Buncefield depot. Leaks and fires were a regular occurence, eg once every couple of weeks, but they were usually very small and very quickly dealt with. The first time the sirens went off after I arrived I wanted to hide under a desk but everyone else carried on as usual. When you've got so much pipework, valves etc then a leak is inevitable. The process units are unbelievably complex. Everyone was extremely safety concious though, they had their own fire engine and ambulance, everyone had fire fighting training, even office workers, the control rooms were blast proof etc. Site staff were trained in using BA equipment and doing stuff like making an arch in a flaming fall so that a bloke could get to a valve to shut off a pipe. Sounds scary but they had a notice on the gate showing how long since an incident serious enough to cause lost processing time and it was usually months, once I think it was two years.

[Jiberjaber]

WOW leaks and fires being a regular occurance, sounds like an accident waiting to happen or very lax maintenance / operations!!! :o

I worked at teh Philips refinary in Teesside for a year and we had not one single incident like that...!

[Diapason]

You know, despite the fact that I've never met him, and wouldn't recognise him if I passed him on the street, as soon as I heard about this explosion I thought "I hope Tony's okay". And I'm glad that you are!

I hope the cat returns soon,

Si

[javadude]

Hmmm I suppose some of the sirens were just drills. Perhaps they were more trigger happy with the siren if there was a slight leak too. I only ever heard the very bad thing "community siren" as part of drill at least. That was the "run away" siren pointed at the nearest villages.

[lexicon]

Our head office is about 200yds from the Buncefield depot, or I should say, it was.

The building is destroyed and we are in turmoil today.

I'm 200 miles away, but we are doing all possible to keep everything together - this could easily take the company down for good.

Luckily those in the building at the time (24 hr operation) were not hurt, just shaken having been blown across the room.

It's amazing how few casualties there have been - thank *** it didn't happen in the middle of a work day.

[Tony-Bones]

You know, despite the fact that I've never met him, and wouldn't recognise him if I passed him on the street, as soon as I heard about this explosion I thought "I hope Tony's okay". And I'm glad that you are!

I hope the cat returns soon,

Si

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Oh wow... that's a very generous comment 'Thank You'.

Speaking to people today it's amazing how vast the blast wave was.... miles and miles away doors blown open/off. Considering this was the biggest explosion since the war i feel we all have been really lucky.

Obviously my heart go out to those injured and i wish a speedy recovery.

For those who are worried 'Tigger the cat is home' as of this afternoon :D All his fur is facing the wrong way and he has a permanent expression on his face like a 'shag doll' I have given him his favorite meal..... some of my Kebab and he is currently fast asleep giving it some 'purrrrs'

Lastly...... this smoke smells

[Monster-Mat]

thats not an explosion....and its certainly not an oil fire........

pah

[Tony-Bones]

thats not an explosion....and its certainly not an oil fire........

pah

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Sorry.... let me try again... 'Small pop in Hemel with a slight grass fire' There was no damage done to any of the houses blown down and non of the 150 members of the rescue services at the scene said they would attend.

Fox news suggested using a 'Damp cloth' to smother the oil fire.....

Duncan Biscuit says..... 'We here in the States' have these 'Grass fires' on a regular basis, but for training purposes we prefer to practice for them in another Country.

Humor over...

Mat unlike most you can respect the feel of a 'blast wave' like most in Hemel i went from sleep to three feet and landed with an :duh:

Impressive feeling and sound, never forgotten, but coward i my be i never want to hear.... or see this again.

If that yesterday sounded and looks like real War.. I 'Solute' you all.

[Monster-Mat]

........... the feel of a 'blast wave' like most in Hemel i went from sleep to three feet and landed with an  :duh:

Impressive feeling and sound, never forgotten,

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i normally generate the blast waves....causing explosions is very much fun

by the way...i was avin a larf

Edited December 12, 2005 by Monster-Mat

[Tony-Bones]

........... the feel of a 'blast wave' like most in Hemel i went from sleep to three feet and landed with an  :duh:

Impressive feeling and sound, never forgotten,

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i normally generate the blast waves....causing explosions is very much fun

by the way...i was avin a larf

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I know mate..... no one died and there is a need to 'smile' .... as intended in my reply.

Tell me this?...... i felt the power from that blast, and my arse needed 'three stitches'... honestly Mat how on earth can any Soldier train to a level that controls the fear felt by any aggressive weapon 'Blast' what 'Instinct' do you deny that allows you the Soldier to continue..!

[Monster-Mat]

most will not deal with blast the same as i do, my job is explosives, demolition mines etc etc.

battlefield blast is different to prepared blast, if you follow, when we blow up bridges etc were no further than 500meters away......

when a munition pops by your head...its a diffeent kind of blast...its out of the blue, and generally doesnt involve High explosive like mines or demolition explosives do..........

theres nothing better than the smell of Plastic explosive in the morning......

this is fun

Edited December 12, 2005 by Monster-Mat

[peter026]

theres nothing better than the smell of Plastic explosive in the morning......

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Umm Marzipan. :D or has the smell changed since I was in

[Monster-Mat]

theres nothing better than the smell of Plastic explosive in the morning......

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Umm Marzipan. :D or has the smell changed since I was in

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nope....still the same peter

now its called PE-4

[Tony-Bones]

most will not deal with blast the same as i do, my job is explosives, demolition mines etc etc.

battlefield blast is different to prepared blast, if you follow, when we blow up bridges etc were no further than 500meters away......

when a munition pops by your head...its a diffeent kind of blast...its out of the blue, and generally doesnt involve High explosive like  mines or demolition explosives do..........

theres nothing better than the smell of Plastic explosive in the morning......

this is fun

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Explosives, Demolition i can understand...... Monster, Driffty..... same maths!

'Pants' to that munition by your head lark!...... It takes a War.. a Terrorist event or an Explosion like this to make people realize how the Forces go up front and face this on our behalf.... Some reading this may think '*****' whats this got to do with any war?..... directly 'nothing'...... 'indirectly' everything! (Think!)

I feel proud off all you Boys and Girls..... and i wouldn't do your job for any amount of money...... (stitches hurt)

[Monster-Mat]

most will not deal with blast the same as i do, my job is explosives, demolition mines etc etc.

battlefield blast is different to prepared blast, if you follow, when we blow up bridges etc were no further than 500meters away......

when a munition pops by your head...its a diffeent kind of blast...its out of the blue, and generally doesnt involve High explosive like  mines or demolition explosives do..........

theres nothing better than the smell of Plastic explosive in the morning......

this is fun

←

Explosives, Demolition i can understand...... Monster, Driffty..... same maths!

'Pants' to that munition by your head lark!...... It takes a War.. a Terrorist event or an Explosion like this to make people realize how the Forces go up front and face this on our behalf.... Some reading this may think '*****' whats this got to do with any war?..... directly 'nothing'...... 'indirectly' everything! (Think!)

I feel proud off all you Boys and Girls..... and i wouldn't do your job for any amount of money...... (stitches hurt)

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its a job.....its sometimes fun, often *****

Blowing things up....is fun, when its ****** it down with rain at 03:30 am in the middle of a forest in germany....or hanging underneath a Motorway bridge attatching the explosive belts...in the snow and sleet then thats crap

Edited December 12, 2005 by Monster-Mat

[Cous3]

Yup....Big thanks to the boys & girls in the armed forces, we really don't know how lucky we are to have them there for us!

When I was a kid growing up in London in the early 70's, there was quite a bit of terrorist activity going on........We heard two or three bombs go off, the sound is always the same so it seems, a loud dull thud.

Move forward to present day...........Again I have heard that sound, at Ealing a couple of years ago, and before that Shepards Bush........then on 7th July I was in central London. Sods law, normally I avoid it like the plague, but was on a 2 day Mass Decom course, first day was fine, second day it all kicked off and I ended up walking from Hyde Park Corner to Southwark. Had my opo's giving me a run down of what was going on, then again that sound (Russell Square bus)......Shivers run down my spine, mobiles go down.

That noise the other morning was very similar, and I'm what 20 miles away!

For those who live/work around that area you may be interested in the following. Herts Fire Rescue Service plan to close 2 of the fire stations that attended this incident.........It's called "modenisation".......think NHS and you can see where this is going??

I'm glad Tony is well and I hope the people of Hemel get the help they deserve, not what the government thinks they deserve.

Keith

[Tony-Bones]

most will not deal with blast the same as i do, my job is explosives, demolition mines etc etc.

battlefield blast is different to prepared blast, if you follow, when we blow up bridges etc were no further than 500meters away......

when a munition pops by your head...its a diffeent kind of blast...its out of the blue, and generally doesnt involve High explosive like  mines or demolition explosives do..........

theres nothing better than the smell of Plastic explosive in the morning......

this is fun

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Explosives, Demolition i can understand...... Monster, Driffty..... same maths!

'Pants' to that munition by your head lark!...... It takes a War.. a Terrorist event or an Explosion like this to make people realize how the Forces go up front and face this on our behalf.... Some reading this may think '*****' whats this got to do with any war?..... directly 'nothing'...... 'indirectly' everything! (Think!)

I feel proud off all you Boys and Girls..... and i wouldn't do your job for any amount of money...... (stitches hurt)

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its a job.....its sometimes fun, often *****

Blowing things up....is fun, when its ****** it down with rain at 03:30 am in the middle of a forest in germany....or hanging underneath a Motorway bridge attatching the explosive belts...in the snow and sleet then thats crap

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Is time to 'Stop' moaning about my job i feel.... Frustrated as i am my life is not at risk...... i have always respected the forces because i could not do the job..... you, Soldier, Ahmet Police, my wife Nurse, and many others here that have the strength to do the jobs you do i respect that! ........

Oh and Mat?...... Buncefield...... you was only meant to 'Blow the Bloody Doors Off'

[Monster-Mat]

most will not deal with blast the same as i do, my job is explosives, demolition mines etc etc.

battlefield blast is different to prepared blast, if you follow, when we blow up bridges etc were no further than 500meters away......

when a munition pops by your head...its a diffeent kind of blast...its out of the blue, and generally doesnt involve High explosive like  mines or demolition explosives do..........

theres nothing better than the smell of Plastic explosive in the morning......

this is fun

←

Explosives, Demolition i can understand...... Monster, Driffty..... same maths!

'Pants' to that munition by your head lark!...... It takes a War.. a Terrorist event or an Explosion like this to make people realize how the Forces go up front and face this on our behalf.... Some reading this may think '*****' whats this got to do with any war?..... directly 'nothing'...... 'indirectly' everything! (Think!)

I feel proud off all you Boys and Girls..... and i wouldn't do your job for any amount of money...... (stitches hurt)

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its a job.....its sometimes fun, often *****

Blowing things up....is fun, when its ****** it down with rain at 03:30 am in the middle of a forest in germany....or hanging underneath a Motorway bridge attatching the explosive belts...in the snow and sleet then thats crap

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Is time to 'Stop' moaning about my job i feel.... Frustrated as i am my life is not at risk...... i have always respected the forces because i could not do the job..... you, Soldier, Ahmet Police, my wife Nurse, and many others here that have the strength to do the jobs you do i respect that! ........

Oh and Mat?...... Buncefield...... you was only meant to 'Blow the Bloody Doors Off'

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shussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssshhhh....