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Sue Stainer and son Jack (10)

Buncefield: moving on

It was the biggest peacetime explosion in history, which caused extensive damage in Hemel Hempstead and further afield, but by some miracle no one died.

And it's maybe because of this that people may not realise the difficult year that local residents have had.

Sue Stainer lives in Barleycroft in Leverstock Green, with her husband, three children and pets. They were not seriously injured and their house wasn't completely destroyed, but the disruption to their lives caused by the 2005 explosion has been extensive.

One year on, she told us how her family had been affected, how she feels now and her hopes for the future.

You’re quite close to Buncefield aren't you?

Sue: Yes - I don’t think we appreciated how close we were until the explosion. There isn’t really anything between us and Buncefield apart from the dual carriageway. It did really feel like it was in the back garden!

So, at 6.01 on 11 December 2005, what were you doing?

Sue: I think like everybody else around here we were all fast asleep. At 6.00am in the winter it’s pitch black, it’s like the middle of the night still and literally we were woken from our beds by it.

So you’ve woken up – what’s your first thought?

Sue: Our first thought was that it could have been an aeroplane as it sounded very much like a jet engine, but within minutes I think we realised that it was Buncefield. By then the children were up so we were checking they were OK. We’ve got an elderly neighbour who lives on her own next door so we rang her straight away to reassure her and make sure she was OK too. Then it was just a case of waiting for the police to come round to tell us what we needed to do. Obviously we are very near so we were evacuated.

Did you notice any damage immediately?

Sue: No – luckily we didn’t. We checked the windows and the doors quickly before we left and everything seemed quite secure. It wasn’t until we came back the next day that we realised that we didn't have any broken glass but the frames had broken on the windows. They’d shaken loose so we had to have the windows re-fitted into the house and a new front door. It blew them out of alignment but didn’t break the glass which I think has been quite common in this area.

Was it just the windows?

Sue: No, what happened was - it was around Christmas time and we’d been putting lights up on the house and when we took them down after Christmas we realised there were cracks and also tiles missing off the roof. As the winter progressed we realised that more and more cracks were appearing and that’s when we contacted our insurance company. So in the end we did have to move out to have structural work done to the house.

In the first instance you were away for one night?

Sue: Yes – just one day really. We were quite lucky because we’ve got family in Watford and just went to them.

So, you came back the next day but didn't realise there were more problems immediately.

Sue: Yes – bearing in mind it probably wasn’t at the top of our agenda because it [Buncefield] was still burning and it was still very bad the next day. They still had this area cordoned off and they were advising people to still stay away from home because the firefighters still hadn’t gone in to put the fire out because they didn’t really know what they were up against. There was still a lot of police activity here and you weren’t allowed to use some of the roads in this area so it was all still very prominent the next day.

The next day you could see smoke and smell it for literally miles around so what was it like where you lived?

Sue: Well funnily enough I think because we were quite close we seemed to be in the bottom of this funnel effect so I think people a little bit further out did seem to suffer a little bit more than we did. Because it went up and across we were in that bit that went up. The only thing that seemed to affect us quite badly over the next couple of days was the foam that they put the fire out with. A lot of it was in the garden and in the road and things like that but it wasn’t too much of a hazard – we hope!

Was there a lot of disruption to your daily life that week?

Sue: There was – the schools were shut until Wednesday or Thursday because they sustained quite a lot of damage plus the emergency services were all dealing with the fire so they couldn't deal with it if there was an emergency at school. Job wise we hadn’t been affected but it did go on pretty much for the whole week, the disruption.

And there was media intrusion as well?!

Sue: Yes – we did have Sky TV on the green at the front – we’ve never been so popular!

Then, the cameras go, the firefighters go and you discover you’ve got damage to your house so what sort of year have you had?

Sue: [Laughs] Awful! It has been quite bad – I say it jokingly but it hasn’t been good! Once we had had the insurance company out who sent the surveyor out and the builders to look at the damage, they advised that moved out for six weeks to have the work done, which we chose to do during the summer holidays. We had a bit of backwards and forwards with the builders, but it did get all done in the end so hopefully touch wood it’s sorted out now.

But it was quite disruptive, we’ve got animals, we’ve got children and our jobs and we had to think of finding other accommodation - to go into a hotel or stay with family. It meant that we didn’t go on holiday this year - we didn’t want to book anything because we knew we’d have to move out. Also, my husband's self-employed and he had to take time off which was unpaid. It’s been really really disruptive.

So where did you go?

Sue: We were quite lucky in that we had a friend who had an empty house locally so we rented that off of them. That meant we could move out as a family with the animals and carry on with our jobs and things without it being too bad really.

So what happens about compensation?

Sue: Compensation wasn’t really our first thought but as time went on and we realised that we would have to move out and have a lot of work done to the property, we did contact Collins’ solicitors, who have obviously got quite a group of people doing a claim - and they were very helpful.

The claims that they’re processing for people are for things like loss of earnings, if you’re self employed, loss of value on your property which is going to be quite hard I think and the other thing is what it does to you emotionally, mentally and physically. They’ve kept us quite well informed and hopefully they’re looking to have the majority of payouts to people in the first quarter of next year – it’s only the really big claims that are going to take a really long time.

So have you had to pay out a lot up front?

Sue: Our house insurance was very good so we were covered for our buildings work. But we’ve had to pay the excess on things and obviously we’ve had loss of earnings and just the total disruption of taking time off work to move out and time off to move back in. It was just like having to move house when you didn’t want to move house. It was out of your hands, you didn’t have the choice.

You say you’ve lived here for seven years, I know it's difficult to say with hindsight after what’s happened, but were you worried before about your proximity to the terminal?

Sue Stainer and son Jack (10) outside their house

Sue: No we weren’t really. You don’t expect anything like this to happen even in this day and age where there’s terrorism. You think "oh well, we’re half a mile from Buncefield if anything happened there it wouldn’t affect us" so I think it’s a bit of naivety. I don’t think we realised, nobody realised the scale of a large explosion, and what impact it would have. Obviously they were saying it’s the biggest explosion in peace time history but until it happens you don’t know how bad it’s going to be and how people are affected by it.

So what do you think of the investigation and its initial results?

Sue: It HAS been very slow. Obviously they are now going to pay out compensation on the grounds that they [Buncefield] aren’t really putting their hands up and saying we are liable. They are not saying this part of the company is liable for this and we’re going to pay you 'x' amount. But they are still going to go along with taking people’s claims and paying compensation.

We’ve been to a few local meetings and obviously what has come to light is that they they didn’t have safety measures that worked. From where the tanks were being filled it never showed up that that tank was filling and filling and filling. I know that they are saying that it was to do with the weather – the cold weather capped the fumes down to the ground and that’s what caused the problem. The fumes couldn’t go up and they didn’t disperse. But I feel that because it seems that the safety aspects didn't work, I think people should be paid compensation.

No one knows what’s going to happen to the site now, but how do you feel about living here at the moment?

Sue: I feel quite safe in that I hope that nothing like this will happen again. I think sometimes things have to happen, so that people learn from them and hopefully they will implement better safety measures so that it won’t happen again. But I think you’ve always got that worry in the back of your mind – any little noise at night has you jumping out of bed still and you’re quite nervy. The sound of helicopters as well, because there were really prominent helicopters over the top of Buncefield when it happened and every time a helicopter hovers over there you think "oh god what’s the matter now?"

I think it has definitely brought it more to the forefront of your mind whereas over a year ago I don’t think I would have even thought about it. I’d drive past it quite often but I didn't ever think about what if anything happened – and now you do.

If you decided you did want to go, do you think you’d have a problem selling the house? Is it something that you worry about?

Sue: Before Buncefield, in general on this estate, the properties sold very very quickly. I don’t know, I think in general with the intrest rate going up there’s probably going to be a slump in properties selling but I don’t really know if I can pass comment on that. I haven’t got any clue about whether properties are still selling or whether they’re selling for less.

What would you like to see happen now to stop it happening again?

Sue: I think they’ve learned from the problems that they’ve had and through the accident I just hope to have stricter regulations. I think that it’s still going to stay there. Maybe it won’t ever work at full capacity again because they’ve had to demolish a lot of it but there is a main pipeline from here to Heathrow that carries aviation fuel so I can’t see that it’s going to be something that they will move.

I think a lot of the problem is that when Buncefield was built there wasn’t the amount of buildings that there are around here now and really, if it’s going to stay, then I think the local authority shouldn’t allow anymore buildings to be built near to it. Obviously that would stop a lot of the worry. There are a lot of work units and factories over there and offices that had to be demolished and I really wonder whether they should be rebuilt.

How do you feel now a year on?

Sue: I don't know, it is a hard question. I think you've only got to get up on a frosty morning and it does bring it back to you - the flames were absolutely huge and felt like they were at the bottom of the back garden. It was a very, very frightening experience but I think a year on we are moving on but it is slow.

We’ve had to think about it all year anyway – but it’s been particularly bad the last couple of weeks because we know it’s coming up to the anniversary. I think in general it can make you feel quite poorly – you don’t sleep properly, and our daughter has suffered really badly from sleep problems. I think it’s quite common to feel like you’re suffering from post traumatic stress.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

But you're pleased that the year is behind you and the house is sorted out?

Sue: Yes - I think quiet a few times this year we've said we can't wait for this year to finish and I think that's the thing. We need to get over the first anniversary and start next year afresh and hopefully things will improve. There was the disruption of having to have work done on the property, but at least now we've had it done, we're back in the house, none of us have been seriously injured, apart from feeling a bit of post-traumatic stress symptoms, so we do need to maybe move forwards now.

Are there any support groups?

Sue: Yes - if you access the Internet there are still groups that offer counselling. We found the Mayor's Trust to be very helpful in all different types of things like whether you need help in claiming back your excess, so in general there is help there if you want it. The oil companies are trying to help people through it as well, we've had newsletters throughout the year where they've tried to keep us updated with things they are doing and there's been a local group set up with occasional meetings for people to go to. I think as long as you did know how to access the help, then the help was there.

What have you learned about yourself this year?

Sue: I think as a family it does maybe pull you together. You had to work together because it affected all of us. I think maybe sometimes if one person's in an accident, you can't always appreciate what they've gone through, but when you're affected as a family and as a community I think you're more sympathetic to others because you do understand what they've gone through, because you've gone through it yourselfÌý

I think you do look back and thank your lucky stars - I still can't believe that nobody was killed. When you're here and your house is shaking like you're in the middle of an earthquake and flames are 100 foot high behind your house, I think your first instinct is that people have been seriously injured or killed and I still can't believe to this day that nobody was. So I think it does make you thankful for other things to be honest. You look and you think, well it has been a bad year but we are all OK and I think that's the good thing really.ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý

How do you think it’s affected the community - has it brought you together or was it always a strong community?

Sue: I think here in Leverstock Green it's quite a community village. On the morning that it happened there was quite an eerie feeling really. It was still dark, there was thick frost on the ground, but people were outside just in their dressing gowns and slippers, checking that all their neighbours and everybody were OK. It's always been quite a strong community but I think it's probably made it a little bit stronger. People a year down the line who don't live in the area tend to forget that it ever happened but the people who live here in Leverstock Green I'm sure think it was like yesterday.