View Full Version : Oil Depot Blast near Hemel Hempstead
Hope anyone living nearby is safe and well[grouphug]
Live pictures on Sky news and ITV news etc.
christhear
11-12-2005, 13:25
Hi
I live 2-3 miles from the Depot. Was woken with the windows shaking slightly and then a massive BANG. (My son proclaimed the Bang to be louder than any thunder he had heard even in Florida.
We knew there was a big fire somewhere as all we could see from our bedroom window was an orange flickering sky.
Luckily the smoke is not coming in our direction. If you look out the front of our house you wouldn't know anything had ever happened. Looking out the rear window is another story - balck smoke everywhere.
My hardest job of the day will be keeping my son indoors.
LiesaAnna
11-12-2005, 13:41
sounds awful, hope everyones ok
How awful, keep safe everyone in that area
We live in Whitstable in Kent and the explosion woke me [:O]
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Mach 2
Hope anyone living nearby is safe and well[grouphug]
Live pictures on Sky news and ITV news etc.
[/quote]
I'm glad you posted this Julie, or we wouldn't have known anything about it!
We live a few miles away and, although I woke up very early this morning I'm not aware of hearing anything. My daughter was woken by a loud bang about 6 o'clock and, as she heard nothing else, she assumed she'd dreamt it and went back to sleep and didn't mention anything to us until I put on the tv just now.
We are about to set off to go to my in-laws, which means a journey up the M1 normally. Thanks to this post we can look for an alternative route as the M1 is closed.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by emm
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Mach 2
Hope anyone living nearby is safe and well[grouphug]
Live pictures on Sky news and ITV news etc.
[/quote]
I'm glad you posted this Julie, or we wouldn't have known anything about it!
We live a few miles away and, although I woke up very early this morning I'm not aware of hearing anything. My daughter was woken by a loud bang about 6 o'clock and, as she heard nothing else, she assumed she'd dreamt it and went back to sleep and didn't mention anything to us until I put on the tv just now.
We are about to set off to go to my in-laws, which means a journey up the M1 normally. Thanks to this post we can look for an alternative route as the M1 is closed.
[/quote]
Glad it helped!
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by christhear
Hi
I live 2-3 miles from the Depot. Was woken with the windows shaking slightly and then a massive BANG. (My son proclaimed the Bang to be louder than any thunder he had heard even in Florida.
We knew there was a big fire somewhere as all we could see from our bedroom window was an orange flickering sky.
Luckily the smoke is not coming in our direction. If you look out the front of our house you wouldn't know anything had ever happened. Looking out the rear window is another story - balck smoke everywhere.
My hardest job of the day will be keeping my son indoors.
[/quote]
How awful for you, stay safe and warm indoors[grouphug]
We also live a few miles from the blast and was woken by my vertical blinds in my bedroom being blown in,i always sleep with the window open a bit,i thought it was a bad storm but as there was no wind at all i went back to bed.Theres a darkish miserable cloud all around now,such a shame for the people who have been evacuated from their houses
sunseeker
11-12-2005, 17:57
the sun has gone here now, i live near gatwick. it looks like the cloud is heading south.
Dave
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by sunseeker
the sun has gone here now, i live near gatwick. it looks like the cloud is heading south.
Dave
[/quote]
They just showed a sat picture on the news and you could be right, it covers a huge area[msnsad]
christhear
11-12-2005, 18:53
It is amazing I am less than 3 miles from the depot and have nice blue skies, luckily the wind is blowing in the opposite direction to our house. Can see the smoke in the distance though from the back of my house. Sat watching as we had dinner.
The smoke reached us about 13:30, we are near Gravesend in Kent.
We heard this on the radio driving home from Gatwick. They were saying on the news about the smoke heading south and we then realised that it was not a black cloud we had overhead but smoke.
I was out playing golf and saw this dark cloud getting nearer but it was not like any cloud I had seen before. When I got back home my wife told me that on the news they had been saying it was the smoke cloud.
It was weird when you looked at the sun, a bit like thick fog high in the sky.
Ray&Sarah
12-12-2005, 01:32
Glad to hear you are all safe and sound, hope you got to your in-laws ok Emm.[msnsmile]
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Ray&Sarah
Glad to hear you are all safe and sound, hope you got to your in-laws ok Emm.[msnsmile]
[/quote]
Got there and back safely, thanks, using the long route round to avoid the M1.
We now have a clear starry night here, no sign of the smoke over our way at all. The schools in the area (a very wide area) are closed tomorrow because of the possible dangers from the smoke and the traffic congestion caused by the closure of the M1.
julieanne
12-12-2005, 12:41
Had some friends and family up here from St Albans and Hemel Hempstead for a family celebration this weekend.
They did not travel back as planned yesterday due to some roads being closed.
Some of them had left children (teenagers, not toddlers of course [msnwink]) at home and they had had quite an experience although thankfully all seems to be ok with all of their homes.
LiesaAnna
12-12-2005, 13:23
pleased to hear your friends kids are ok Julie, and everyone else, its awful!
pieman790
12-12-2005, 14:07
Saw the picture this morning in the paper which showed a view from the docklands in London and the fire/cloud in the distance.
Just glad that everybody is safe and well. How much damage is there to personal property?
djdigitald
12-12-2005, 16:28
Kaye heard it where we live and we are about 25mins away to the west of Hemel. Went out with the dog Sunday morning and the front of the house was all Black Smoke and the back was pure Fog. There was an acrid smell in the air though and the frost and fog could clear due to the smoke covering the sun.