7:26pm UK, Sunday December 11, 2005

The Fire Service has gathered resources from round the country to mount an attack on the blaze at the fuel depot in Hemel Hempstead.

Fire personnel and hundreds of thousands of litres of foam have arrived in Hertfordshire for the operation.

180 blast fuel depot explosion Hemel Hempstead

Crews prepare to mount an attack on the fire

Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher said they were working with experts from the oil industry to draw up a plan of action.

He said: "We needed more resources and foam before we could mount an attack.

"These have come from places as far away as Humberside and Lancashire.

"We need enough foam to sustain the attack because if we put some on and then stop and the fire reignites then we will have wasted the resources."

He said around 150 firefighters were tackling the blaze in stages, starting with the smaller fires and finishing with the major blaze.

He said they would use millions of litres of foam and water, pumping at a rate of 25,000 litres a minute.

The fire crews will use water drawn from as far away as the Grand Union canal - two miles away.

He said the fire, which is leaping hundreds of feet into the sky, is likely to burn for at least another 24 hours.