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It's three years since the Buncefield blast destroyed homes and businesses in Hemel Hempstead.

It may seem incredible but people who were affected still haven't been given compensation and they are currently in the High Court, demanding that someone is held responsible.

Ian Silverstein

One of them is Ian Silverstein, whose house and life were left in ruins by the explosion.

In 2005 he lived in High Grange, which is now beyond repair, in Cherry Tree Lane, about 100 yards from the first tank that exploded.

He and his girlfriend were asleep in bed and about seven or eight minutes past six on the morning of Sunday, 11 December 2005, when the whole house basically just fell on top of them. Internal doors were taken out, every single window was blown out and the impact was so immense that even the roof was blown off.

Destruction

The destruction was just unbelievable, all his possessions, everything he had worked 15 years for were taken away from him, and since that time, the last three years of his life have also disappeared as he has spent all his time fighting for compensation.
The battle began as soon as the explosion concerned because, as Ian explained, he had a difficult time actually convincing people that he had been in the house at the time.

鈥淚 had a very tough job for weeks and months afterwards, actually convincing people that I was in the house鈥� he said.

鈥淧eople couldn鈥檛 believe that they were looking at a human being who was talking and standing up when they looked at the destruction that the explosion caused to my property.

Ian Silverstein in the ruins of his house

鈥淚t鈥檚 a write off, if it was a car you would expect the person to be dead in it and these were some of the initial battles that I faced, that people didn鈥檛 actually believe I was in the house.鈥�

Now, three years on, Ian is still battling for compensation and his house has been subject to further attack.

鈥淭he house has been looted 50 times and been subject to arson attacks鈥� he revealed.

鈥淚t was looted on the night of the explosion. I was told by the so-called police cordon that the property was protected, but I could see live TV crews broadcasting from my garden. But I wasn鈥檛 allowed back in my house for four days - for obvious safety risks.

鈥淲e all know that the explosion was extensive and a potential threat to people but it wasn鈥檛 being protected by the police and when I got back to the house, what had been left - furniture and audio visual things - had actually been stolen. And that continued for probably six to nine months until there was nothing left. Anything anybody could steal from the property had been stolen.

鈥淭here was an arson attack about eight weeks ago which has now completely taken out the floors and the roof.鈥�

Help

Despite this, Ian hasn鈥檛 even had a sniff of compensation in the past three years, or any acknowledgement or help from any other organisations.

鈥淣o, nothing at all鈥� he said.

鈥淓ven worse is [not] even [getting] the acceptance that it happened and the acceptance that it ruined my life and took away everything that I worked 15 years for.

鈥淚t took away my home, I was homeless, it took away my job and my confidence. But I haven鈥檛 even had an acknowledgement that someone was responsible, be it the legal system in this country, be it the government, the police, the fire brigade or St Albans Council who did nothing. When I phoned them up and said I was homeless they said they wouldn鈥檛 do anything for me 鈥撯�� I鈥檝e had nothing from anybody.

鈥淚 rented a place for a year in the belief that this would be resolved and it got to the point where I couldn鈥檛 afford to rent any more. I鈥檝e paid for everything, the legal costs, finding somewhere else to live and buying everything new because I had nothing. There鈥檚 an old saying about running away with the shirt on your back 鈥� I didn鈥檛 even have that. We ran out of the house to save our lives with nothing. I never got anything else from the house.听

鈥淓ven listening to myself I can鈥檛 believe it. I wake up every morning at 6.10 thinking this cannot be real, this is just the worst nightmare that I could ever, ever imagine to put upon anybody else 鈥� but it鈥檚 me. And everyday I absolutely cannot believe the situation I am in. I just cannot comprehend it.鈥�

On 11 December 2008, the third anniversary of the blast, a documentary 鈥淏uncefield: Three Years On is being released to highlight his story and expose what he calls the short comings of the organisations who have all ignored his situation since the explosion.

Legal fight

Victims of the explosion, which was the largest in Europe since the end of World War II, began their legal fight at the High Court for compensation in October.

Total UK and Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd admitted negligence by a duty supervisor but said this did not amount to civil or criminal liability.

The current hearing is set to last three months and homeowners, businesses and insurers hope it will decide who was liable for the blast.

The hearing will focus on what damage could have been reasonably foreseen and whether the operating company, Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd (HOSL), or Total UK Limited, which is a shareholder of HOSL along with Chevron Limited, was liable.