Buncefield Disaster 20th Anniversary
11 December 2025
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Buncefield disaster. An explosion and fire that significantly shaped the future of the bulk storage and energy infrastructure sector. Since the incident, key improvements have been introduced within the sector and across other major hazard industries. Additionally, the role that industry plays in leading the process safety narrative has changed dramatically, with an improved working partnership between industry, regulator and trade unions resulting in a more collaborative approach to continuous improvement.
Early on Sunday 11th December 2005, a petrol storage tank was being filled from a pipeline at the Buncefield oil storage depot in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. The safety systems in place to shut off the supply of petrol to the tank to prevent overfilling failed to operate. The tank overfilled and petrol began to spill from the vents of the tank roof. The cascading petrol formed a flammable vapour cloud which, when ignited by a spark, caused a series of large explosions and subsequent fires. It took approximately thirty-two hours to extinguish the main blaze and much longer to extinguish all other fires at the site. Forty-three minor injuries were reported, and extensive damage was caused to surrounding commercial and domestic properties, as well as local environmental pollution from the use of fire-fighting foam and the loss of petrol and diesel from the storage tanks.
Two decades on, the incident remains a powerful reminder of the consequences of system failures and the importance of robust process safety, effective monitoring and strong safety culture. The anniversary is not only a moment to remember those affected, but also to reaffirm the industry’s ongoing responsibility to learn from past events and continually improve standards to prevent similar disasters in the future.
Read the full article by Peter Davidson, CEO, Tank Storage Association, which also includes key learnings and recommendations as well as the work undertaken by the InstMC Functional Safety SIG on the full safety lifecycle.
https://www.instmc.org/_userfiles/pages/files/news/tsa_article_buncefield_20_years_on_instmc_inclusion.docx
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