Boom Town.

On a frosty, Sunday morning, the 11th December 2005, something happened that put Hemel Hempstead firmly on the map - while nearly blowing it off!

At 6.01 a.m. the first and largest of several explosions occurred at the Buncefield Oil Storage Depot. It measured 2.4 on the Richter Scale and the resulting shock wave was apparently heard - and felt as far away as the Netherlands. Windows were blown in up to 20 miles away while structural damage occurred to buildings over a 5 mile radius. 43 people were injured, 2 seriously, there were no fatalities.

It has always been said that had the blast been during the week, rather than an early Sunday morning, it would have been a very different story. Here are a few anecdotal examples from friends that support that supposition:

The depot is on the edge of the main industrial area where several large industrial units and offices blocks were so badly damaged they had to be demolished.

Many building had all the glass blown in to open plan offices, that could have been full of workers.

Loft hatches were blown open in thousands of properties, many falling or left swinging on hinges.

Roof tiles and chimney pots were dislodged, crashing to the ground.

People described a whooshing sound, followed by a wall of pressure and then a boom.

Most astonishing of all was recounted by a friend who was driving south on the M1 a few hundred yards from Buncefield, in a Land-Rover Discovery, at the time of the blast. The vehicle was lifted from the middle lane of the motorway and landed on the hard shoulder. It doesn't bear imagining the carnage if it had happened during the rush hour.

As for me, just a couple of miles away, well, I was woken, not by the blast, but half an hour later by a friend phoning to ask if I was OK. They live 20 miles away and had been woken and could see the plume of smoke. Imagine, the most momentous event and I slept through it!!! My little cottage had been cocooned by the woodland surrounding it, unlike houses further along the lane that sustained extensive damage including cracked walls and broken windows.

The lane that borders the Buncefield site is still closed. Part of the depot still looks like a war zone with dead trees and piles of rubble, while other areas have been redeveloped - a little too close for comfort to the remaining storage tanks, in my opinion.

Thankfully there is nothing more sinister that the setting sun in this image.