How the 2008 fire changed Channel Tunnel history
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Work gets under way to repair the fire-damaged Channel Tunnel after the 2008 fire
The eery aftermath of the Channel Tunnel fire in 2008
Repairs to the tunnel were on a massive scale
Machinery at work after the Channel Tunnel fire of 2008
It was the second -
and worst - fire to hit the Channel Tunnel.
The damage done by the blaze was so bad it took
months before it reopened - and a repair bill of around £50
million.
It was on September 11 2008 when the blaze took hold.
It started aboard a flat-bed lorry on a freight train 12km from
the UK terminal at Cheriton. A smoke alarm inside the tunnel went
off and 34 people had to be evacuated from 30 vehicles aboard the
train.
A total of 30 firefighters, from stations at the Channel Tunnel,
Folkestone, Ashford and Deal and from France were drafted in.
The fire's intensity was such that in some parts, it completely
stripped away the tunnel lining back to the supporting steel
structures. At its height the heat reached 1,000 degrees.
The south running tunnel was reopened 30 hours after the fire,
but there was a restricted service for months after that, costing
Eurotunnel up to £100 million in lost revenue.
After a behind-closed-doors meeting to discuss the aftermath, a
source said: "It was described as worse than 1996 and would
possibly take longer to repair and reopen."
Cllr Bryan Cope, the chairman of the fire authority, registered
concerns there had now been three incidents in 12 years when the
original risk assessment, made at the time the tunnel opened,
suggested there would be one every thousand years.
The tunnel is now operating at full capacity.
Tuesday, May 05 2009
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