Firefighters close to putting out British oil depot fire

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD – Around 150 firefighters toiling all night at a massive fuel depot fire near London were close to extinguishing the blaze, with only three of the 20 tanks still burning, police said yesterday.

“There’s real optimism the fire will be extinguished today (Tuesday)” at the depot, near Hemel Hempstead, 40 kilometres northwest of London, Hertfordshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Robert Beckley said. “It’s hard to be definite on this but speaking to my colleagues in the fire service, one or two would stake their salaries that it could potentially be out by lunchtime, but I wouldn’t want to hold them to that,” Beckley told BBC Radio.A spokeswoman for his department said earlier that only three of the 20 tanks that had caught fire before dawn on Sunday were still burning.”It has been a demanding night but real progress now looks to have been made,” she said.Fire crews pulled back from the blaze briefly at one point overnight when a tank suffered a “structural failure” which was thought to pose a risk to other tanks nearby, the spokeswoman said.The “cooling patrols” had been successful and crews were this morning concentrating on extinguishing the final three tanks.”Despite the still spectacular emissions coming from the site, the public can be reassured that the fire remains under control,” the spokeswoman said.Police believe the fire started accidentally but need to complete their investigation.- Nampa-AFP”It’s hard to be definite on this but speaking to my colleagues in the fire service, one or two would stake their salaries that it could potentially be out by lunchtime, but I wouldn’t want to hold them to that,” Beckley told BBC Radio.A spokeswoman for his department said earlier that only three of the 20 tanks that had caught fire before dawn on Sunday were still burning.”It has been a demanding night but real progress now looks to have been made,” she said.Fire crews pulled back from the blaze briefly at one point overnight when a tank suffered a “structural failure” which was thought to pose a risk to other tanks nearby, the spokeswoman said.The “cooling patrols” had been successful and crews were this morning concentrating on extinguishing the final three tanks.”Despite the still spectacular emissions coming from the site, the public can be reassured that the fire remains under control,” the spokeswoman said.Police believe the fire started accidentally but need to complete their investigation.- Nampa-AFP