"Latest Pictures". posted by Richard Seymour

An oil depot explodes:

Three large explosions have rocked a fuel depot near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire shooting flames hundreds of feet into the sky.
Police say there are 36 casualties, with four people seriously hurt.

The first blast happened at 0603 GMT at the Buncefield fuel depot, close to junction 8 of the M1 motorway and was heard more than 100 miles away.

The fire, which police believe was caused by an accident, could last days with more explosions expected.

And the rolling news on BBC News 24 has a large strapline reading 'Latest Pictures', with a split-screen showing a police conference and lots of rather glamorous pictures of mass destruction. Scores of eyewitnesses eagerly sharing their often rather banal impressions with viewers. So, with the great pall of black smoke probably set to encircle the M25, does anyone know how long it takes to put one of these damned things out? Iraqis must know. Kellog, Brown & Root must know. It's just that residents of Hemel Hempstead will have to breathe toxic soup for some time, while any farmland nearby may have oil, soot, sulphur and possibly acid rain depositions to deal with. The Guardian reports that it will take "days" to get the blaze under control, which is probably accurate if "days" is interpreted as broadly as possible. At any rate, it's a Tory constituency so there's a big opportunity for David Cameron to once more demonstrate his 'green' credentials by showing up on a bicycle with an unctuous grin plastered all over his plump upper class countenance. I can't help feeling, however, that this oil economy is not the bargain it was reckoned to be.