IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Boundary Way, HEMEL HEMPSTEAD, HP2 7SS

Although most of the industrial buildings damaged during the explosion have been, or are, being repaired, and the most severely damaged ones have been demolished, some remain more or less as they were immediately after the explosion. This is the rear of one such building, viewed from Buncefield Lane, and the direction of the source of the explosion, across the car park of the now demolished Northgate Information Solutions building.

Damage typical to nearby offices.

View taken looking eastwards from Boundary Way, eleven weeks after the explosion on 11 December 2005. One small storage tank is standing but to the right of it are the remains of one of the burnt out larger tanks. The Northgate Information Solutions building, which was devastated by the explosion, was on the site on the left side of the view and has been demolished. Beyond the four concrete bollards the remains of a line of burnt out cars are still in place. For a summary of the event and its consequences the Wikipedia link is here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Hertfordshire_Oil_Storage_Terminal_fire

Buncefield Lane runs along side Buncefield Oil Storage Depot. Over 13 months after the fire. The undergrowth has been recently cleared. There is still visible damage to the upper parts of the trees. The road has recently been re-surfaced.

This is by the old Buncefield oil depot and looks suspiciously like the beginnings of another housing estate.

Three years and four months after the Buncefield Oil Depot explosion and Three Cherry Trees Lane remains closed to the east of its junction with Buncefield Lane. The oil tank that first exploded would have been in the compound enclosed with the Y-shaped fence posts.

I was amused by the degree of obscurity given by foliage to the road signs. Does anybody really care??

This photo complements the one on the EWS next door.

Rusting oil tanks, thirteen months after the fire.

Sixteen months after the explosion and fire the work of removing the debris goes on. The standing tank is No. 909 and to the left are the piled up rusting remains of one of the other tanks. What is remarkable is that the tree, despite being so close to the inferno, has survived and fresh greenery is beginning to appear. This photo was taken through the fence on Buncefield Lane which was closed to public access for about a year after the event.