Explosion in Colindale
Just before noon today there was an enormous bang. We're all a bit jumpy given the recent attacks in Paris I think, and when we realised it wasn't right nearby, my coworkers and I all raced to the window. I caught a photo of the rapidly disappearing aftermath - the black smoke whipping away on the wind.
It turned out to be a gas cylinder or something on a nearby building site. I tweeted the photo, and it got some retweets. Eventually, I was contacted by the Evening Standard. Their journo asked to use my image - I said yes - and also asked me for some background. I thought I would amuse myself by ironically recounting the incident in the voice of an ordinary member of the public. They pretty much published what I said verbatim which I wasn't expecting, but hey ho.
It was a tar boiler, which explains all the black smoke. Here is an entry about the incident on the London Fire Brigade website:
"Four fire engines and 21 firefighters were called to a fire on a building site on Lanacre Avenue in Colindale this morning.
The fire affected a five storey building under construction and a tar boiler at roof level was destroyed in the blaze. One propane cylinder exploded before the Brigade arrived and a second propane cylinder was cooled by firefighters.
The Brigade was called at 1157 and the fire was under control by 1308. Crews from Hendon, Stanmore and Finchley fire stations are at the scene. The cause of the fire is under investigation."
