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By DYLAN MARTINEZ
The Daily Telegraph (England)
LONDON — Fire crews resumed attempts yesterday to put out one of Europe’s biggest industrial blazes, an inferno at a fuel depot north of London.
Firefighters sprayed foam combined with 32,000 litres of water per minute to tackle the giant fire, which broke out shortly before dawn on Sunday as a wave of explosions ripped through the Buncefield depot at Hemel Hempstead.
Police said the blasts, which blew out windows and doors from nearby houses, appeared to be an accident.
Firefighters said they had extinguished 12 of the 20 storage tanks ablaze at the depot before halting their work due to concerns one tank may contain a highly volatile fuel that could set off further explosions.
Crews resumed their work after aerial pictures showed which parts of the site were safe to enter.
Companies, including some of Britain’s biggest, face disruption as a result of the enormous fire at the oil depot, which holds about 5per cent of the country’s fuel stocks.
Although crude oil prices have so far appeared unaffected, traders continue to keep an eye on the blaze.
The fire, which injured 43 people, triggered a spate of panic buying of petrol by motorists, who feared rising prices amid disrupted supplies, despite swift assurances from fuel retailers that they were in no danger of being affected.
Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesman urged motorists to avoid panic buying of petrol.
''There may be short-term local difficulties but nothing people should panic about in any way,’' he said today, adding: ''There will be no long-term shortage of fuel as a result of this fire.’'
Police were preparing to re-open England’s nearby main north-south motorway, the M1, which was closed because of fears of more blasts.
The area immediately around the depot was a charred wasteland of burned-out cars, shattered trees and scorched grass as a result of the blasts.
A huge plume of thick, black smoke rose higher than 3000m as it drifted southwest. Contrary to initial fears, there was no indication it was either highly toxic or falling to ground level.
''It appears to be mostly particulates [soot],’' Michael Clarke, from the independent Health Protection Agency, said. ''We have no reports so far of elevated levels at ground level.’'
The blasts, heard up to 160km away, initially raised fears of a possible repeat of London’s suicide bombings in July.