Following the explosion at the Buncefield Oil Depot at Hemel Hemsptead, the Bishop of St Albans said, "My prayers and thoughts are with the injured and with the emergency services who are continuing to fight the fire and support the many hundreds of people whose lives have been affected by this explosion. My colleagues in the parishes of Hemel Hempstead are focussed on providing spiritual and practical help to the community who will no doubt be in shock but grateful that more people were not injured. In addition chaplains have been supporting the Police, the Fire Service and the local hospitals as they continue to work in the area."
The depot lies on the edge of the Parish of Adeyfield in Hemel Hempstead. The parish priest, The Revd Dave Middlebrook said, "Everyone in the area was very clearly shaken by the events of today, and I suspect that for many the shock will come out over the next few days. For those who have suffered damage to their homes they feel in some way 'violated'. For those who have had their places of work destroyed they feel fearful about the their future employment and security. For those who have began to make connections with what might have been had the incident happened on a busy working day, in daytime hours, there is a realisation of the potential horror that could have occurred. All these aspects add together to make a community in shock, but one that is strong and determined to help and support one another at this difficult time.
"At the end of a long, and surreal day, having been woken by the explosion at 6am, I thank God that the casualties and damage was actually so light in such a potentially terrible incident. Throughout the day we could look out of one window in our house and see beautiful clear blue sky, and out of the other it was pitch black - however in a way it felt that the clear blue bright sky was driving away the dark black cloud - an image that I know will stay with me from today.
"I have received a number of phone calls from people in Hemel, the surrounding area, and as far afield as Chalfont St Peter, Bucks, offering accommodation if there are people sleeping on church hall floors, or other temporary accommodation. Mainly these phone calls have come from church members from across the denominations. Thankfully everyone who has been evacuated has accommodation with family or friends but again a wonderful testimony to the generosity and community spirit generated by this disaster."
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The Bishop of St Albans is the Bishop for the Diocese of St Albans, which is the Church of England in Herts, Beds, Luton and part of Barnet.
Additional material is available here: www.stalbans.anglican.org/news/2005/bpexplosion.htm