Incident Report

Subject:                     Investigation into what caused an explosion and major fire at one of the largest gas terminals in the UK.

Date of Email reporting Incident:   Fri 29/02/2008

Report Detail:

Gas terminal blaze investigated

View of the plume of smoke taken by student Emma James, 20

An investigation will begin later into what caused an explosion and major fire at one of the largest gas terminals in the UK.

Fire crews were called to the Bacton gas terminal in Norfolk at 1745 GMT on Thursday after fire broke out within the Shell UK site. An evacuation of the site was carried out and all 46 personnel were unhurt. The fire was put out within two hours. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will look into the cause of the fire. Police will also be involved in the investigation. Shell UK said the plant had been shut down safely.

Spokesman Don Paulino said: "I can reassure (people) that there is no threat to the local community. "We don't know the extent of the damage right now."

'Well-rehearsed plan'

The fire broke out in a water treatment plant at the Shell UK base on Paston Road at Bacton in North Norfolk. The terminal, operated by several energy companies, houses gas processing plants and the Interconnector system feeding gas between Britain and Europe. Richard Herrell from Norfolk Fire Service said the fire had been brought under control in a very quick time. "We have a well-rehearsed plan between the emergency services and this has been shown to work." More than 50 firefighters tackled the blaze. The National Grid said there had been no threat to the UK's gas supply.

Bacton terminal location

Anna Hollis, from a nearby holiday park, said: "Just after the fire broke out we could see flames and smoke shooting up into the air and the alarm was going off very loudly. "It was really alarming. We could see the fire was right in the centre of the terminal and there were helicopters flying all around. Patricia Myles, whose garden overlooks the terminal's site, said: "First we heard a bang and then I came out of the back and I walked along the track and all I could see was black smoke. "Once I got to the end of the lane there were flames shooting up 10ft or 20ft, maybe more, in the air and within about five or six minutes the flames went down and there was just a lot of black smoke. "But there was a lot of activity going on, with sirens and everyone running about there."