Smoke from Sunday's Buncefield fire continues to travel with clouds over much of SE England.

FIRE UPDATE: SMOKE STILL CARRIED IN CLOUDS OVER LONDON
13 December 2005

One day after officials warned the soot in the atmosphere could pose health risks as rain brought particulate pollution out of the sky, dark streaks were still visible in the London sky, and clouds were carrying contaminants from the most massive peacetime fire in Europe's history.

A number of developments color ongoing news reports about the fire. While police had said the multiple explosions and fire at the fuel depot likely constituted an industrial accident, a number of theories persist about the cause, and the fire's raging heat has made it difficult for firefighters or investigators to approach, much less assess the scene.

The inferno reportedly erupted from an explosion that occurred at about 6:03 GMT, Sunday morning. The massive blaze eventually spread to 20 containment units, collectively storing 60 million gallons of fuel. Several further explosions resulted from the fire in the early hours of the evolving disaster.

Among the fuels feeding the blaze are said to be diesel, kerosene and unleaded gasoline. It has been classed as the biggest industrial fire peacetime Europe has ever seen. The heat was so intense, firefighters on scene chose a strategy of containment, opting not to attempt to fight the fire for 24 hours.

Several pipelines feeding into the storage facility were shut down, in hopes of preventing the fire from spreading, preventing damage to the pipelines, and preventing the loss of more fuel stocks. One theory regarding the possible cause for the fire has to do with possible failure in the technical functioning of one of the fuel pipelines feeding into the fuel depot.

Officials had warned that London and the fire's smokeshed across southern England could be blanketed with a new toxic cloud Monday night, as the fire had been burning unabated for 36 hours.

Police are now said to be keeping an "open mind" as to the cause of the blast. Official statements indicate the timing of the explosion appears to indicate it was not a terrorist plot, because it occurred at the time when the least people were likely to be hurt. Beyond that, there is no clear evidence as to what may have been the trigger for the fire. [s]

STORY UPDATE:
BUNCEFIELD FIRE LIKELY CAUSED WHEN PETROL (GASOLINE) BEING POURED INTO TANK OVERFLOWED, SPARKED
9 May 2006

New report suggests mechanical failure caused gauge reading fuel levels in one tank to "stick", leading to workers filling the tank to be unaware it would shortly overflow. Fuel kept being poured into the tank, allegedly until it somehow caught a spark, causing a massive explosion and the largest fire in Europe since the Second World War. [Full Story]