SJ_Skyline

Need to get a structural engineer to come round and check that there has been no structural damage. We can't see anything but we'd rather make sure nothing has happened seeing as they're better trained than us at spotting these things!

hedgehog

Usually if the windows are still intact you'll not have any serious damage in my limited experience. Anyone I know who has been blown up has found that the most common signs are usually that the ceilings "lift". I suppose the blast behaves a bit like inflating a giant beach ball in your room and the first thing that moves is the ceiling. Take a look around the edges of your ceiling where it meets the wall and see if anything has moved.

Explosions seem to blow out in a very strange way. I remember hearing a huge bang while I was about 7 miles from Belfast. It seemed like something really close had gone up. In the end it was a car bomb in front of the old Midland Hotel in Belfast and although it rocked parts of the countryside some miles away it did almost no damage at all to the Hotel apart from a few windows. I think this explains why sometimes the damage is not as extensive as you might expect from the bang.

v5 man

iTrader: (4)

As has already been mentioned by Swen6 + Swiss Tony, I was supposed to be there at that oil depot today to carry out a fire alarm service/test

At 0600 ish this morning I was awoken in High Wycombe by a huge BOOM.
My dog started growling and I sat upright with eyes wide open trying to figure it all out.
I woke my wife up and asked her, but she hadn`t heard it. She then tried to reassure me that it was probably the central heating coming on
At 0700 I got a text from my work collegue informing me that we wouldnt be going to the oil depot, and telling me to check BBC1!!!!!!!

**** me, I know I was safely in bed when it exploded, but 3 hours later I coulda been seriously hurt!!!



Cliff

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

That's a close call Cliff!!! I slept through it too and only woke up at 12

Is anyone elses tv reception screwed up Here in High Wycombe the tv reception is very poor today and the light outside is very odd I'm probably 25-30 miles away as the crow flys.

EP82

I would assume the dense smog is affecting your tele signal. It's warming to know there were only a few people at the depot it could of been alot worse :\

Paulo P

iTrader: (42)

Really, I'm quite suprised. I expected there to be a serious loss of life there.

EP82

As with everything these days the majority of it will probably automated, i would guess there was a few engineers on site looking after things.

I wonder how many staff are present on a week day?!

v5 man

iTrader: (4)

3 hours later and there would have been 2 fire alarm engineers on site too!!

scoob_babe

Eveything seems to be ok, the pictures are still in the same place and no, there are no gaps between wall and ceiling join so we're going to be ok. We're also in a valley with a lot of buildings between us to absorb the shock but better safe than sorry seeing how much we pay on insurance . We'll just wait a few more days as the Industrial Estate is quite large and there are a lot of buildings with a far greater need than us and our neighbours.

Just waiting for news on the manager's teleconference as to what will happen at work tomorrow and if the police lift the cordon so we can actually get into the building.

106rallye

I think the main thing apart from how much staff could have been at the plant is that the site backs on to a busy industrial estate, Dixons head office, 3COM, Golden West as a few examples, I think there will be a lot of people who suddenly realise how lucky they were when they return to work to find not much left, there are unconfirmed reports that some of the closer buildings have been flattened

It doesn't really bare thinking about

Andy

little-ginge

Woke up by a huge boom followed by a loud squeak - where we live there are houses in a large square formation and it verberated around.. thought I had been dreaming till I felt the cat hit the bed after her rocket impression to the ceiling!!

We live about 30-35 miles away and I can just make out the plume of smoke through the mist over the hills.. and the big black cloud which is accompanying it is heading our way..

Glad to hear no fatalities .. must have been an awful and terrifying experience for those at work in the refinery this morning.

Lum

I'm in Aylesbury and I've only just got up and heard about this.

Can't even see the smoke, but I think the wall without a window in it is in the way.

My hire car has an empty tank and I was hoping to fill it up today for a long trek up north. Guess that won't be happening now.

Nicks VR4

I use to work there as a Stock Auditor many years ago

Nevetas

Northgate IS head Office no longer exsists. Unsuprisingly the website no longer works.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

We're about 40 miles away in Farnborough; the noise woke us up this morning, and this is now the view from the window looking north:



It took a while before I realised that it only looked like thunder in one direction. The rest of the sky is clear and blue.

Swen6

From the TV picture Waverly the alchol and spirits place, which was, yes was next door is just a shell, the place is gutted!!!


Also anyone see the male reporter, it was for BBC or SKY news, was just about to give his report to the studio from Whitehall when he paused and said sorry he's just heard an Explosion from behind him, carried on with his report. The explosion was the fuel depot. 30miles!!!

scoob_babe

There is a fellow scoobynetter who works at Waverley - thanks Swen, I've just made the connection as to what that building was.

Swen6

Your most welcome, i never realised how many of us there are in Hemel, how the hell do i never see anyone

Lum

Is that the same Northgate that provides the software for most camera partnerships?

SJ_Skyline

Not all of us drive scoobies

Simon C

I was at work in Welwyn Garden, I was fast asleep and didn't hear a thing. From my house in Hatfield, I can't even see the smoke.

pslewis

Well, I had a bang and fell out of bed ........... this morning ::

Pete

SJ_Skyline

My God!! I never knew you had it in you!

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

The question is: Did Mrs Lewis?

Sorry Pete!

Nevetas

Yes indeed it is. 700 people without an office

Chip

Dreamer

Chip

rr_ww

Your stupidity, knows no real limits does it


If you believe the Sky or News 24. The whole world is ending! Its a large explosion of course. But thankfully its an accident and no ones been killed. Panic buyers are basically idiots. Its a Total site, so BP and Shell and Texaco and Esso will not be affected in ANY way. But I did see that a bakery had its windows blown out, so I better get down to Asda and stock up on Pies as there might be a shortage

Other facts I acertained this morning

* 11Million Troops are in the area to stop looting
* 34K Fire personnel are in the area
* The flood waters are rising
* Cars and Vans have been destroyed
* Witnesses are all Heros who rescued some Kittens from the Fireball that's engulfed most of the UK
* The "Black Rain" we will get over the next couple fodays isn't harmful, but we think it might be, so you'll need to wear lead lined clothes
* The Media WISH this was a TERRORIST attack

unclebuck

It might be. Would the government admit it if it was?

Anyway, no need to worry - Prescott to the rescue.

I feel safer already. He probably went to loot the pie shop whose windows were blown out.

Dannfire

Im a Retained FireFighter in Welwyn Garden City and i expect to go there later tonight, there are 22 tanks well alight and 7 being cooled....no firefighting action is being taken at this time.....and that is the truth!!!.....

pslewis

The Firemen must be REALLY pissed off .... having to ACTUALLY do something useful!!

Rather than telling Mrs Brown where to position her Smoke Detectors .......

I guess all their second businesses are suffering - now that they are doing the job they are paid for .... har har har har

Pete