Chris Ablitt: About the Author
Senior Risk Engineer, TWI

On 11 December 2005, fuel at the Buncefield storage ter- minal near London exploded. The incident and immediate aftermath were described in the March-April 2006 edition of IJ. The investigation into the disaster began at the end of January. Three progress reports have since been published. The first progress report dealt with the response to the incident, and the second with the environmental impact of the explosion.

On Sunday morning 11 December 2005, fuel at the Buncefield storage terminal located about 45km (28 miles) north-west of central London exploded, starting fires that have been described as the biggest of their kind in peacetime Europe, Fig.1. The terminal is a major hub on the UK's oil pipeline network and is the primary aviation fuel source for London's Gatwick, Heathrow and Luton airports.