Local Emergency
http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news/4575168.Breaking_news__Ambulance_explodes_at_St_Helier_Hospital/
So, what I saw today, was a very, very slow approach to St Helier - there's a major junction just down the road from the hospital, which is on one of the err... 6? major roads that meet at the roundabout. Bus has to go straight past the hospital - very handy. As we got closer, there were flashing lights, road full of emergency vehicles, the bus stop parked up... a lot of mostly dried up puddles in the road. A lot of emergency response staff - but that's normal as the ambulance crews are always taking a fag break after making a delivery to the hospital. No great panic tho, no smoke, so I wasn't worried.
Until we drew up level with the hospital. There's the main block, large imposing white lego-thing, with a eing on either side. The wings are connected with upper-story bridges. The emergency ambulance port is on the right-hand side of the main building, this incident is on the left-hnad side. What I saw looked fresh out of a war report, the twisted, blackened remains of just about enough structure to call it a vehicle. Bigger than a car, absolutely destroyed. There was something else in front of it to, that did look like a burnt-out car. This was directly under the bridge between the wings of the hospital. The left-hand wing, away from the main building, looked badly burnt too, lots of smoke and broken windows.
Being the climate that we live in, my assumption was "Terrorist attack". On a major London hospital. My local hospital. Ohhh boy. The place you depend on for aid in the event of a disaster, like, for instance, a terrorist attack. My head started swimming, I couldn't breathe, and I started crying - then clamped down VERY FIRMLY and said NO I SHALL NOT PANIC. NO. then the bus caught the smell of the fire, and my resolve wavered, but again I said NO. And made myself breathe very slowly, very calmly, a little in and a long gentle release. and again. all the way home. I did not panic.
Coming home and having found photos, it makes more sense. http://www.flickr.com/photos/28303988@N06/3878963968/in/set-72157622207974032/ I was seeing the burnt out bonnet of the ambulance and the metal frame behind, smoke damage from the vehicle. Its complete destruction being due to the oxygen tank on board.
Now the question remains - was this accidental or deliberate? Was it parked under the bridge for maximum damage?
I'm gonna go eat chocolate now, cos I gotta be in that wing in 3 weeks for blood tests.
So, what I saw today, was a very, very slow approach to St Helier - there's a major junction just down the road from the hospital, which is on one of the err... 6? major roads that meet at the roundabout. Bus has to go straight past the hospital - very handy. As we got closer, there were flashing lights, road full of emergency vehicles, the bus stop parked up... a lot of mostly dried up puddles in the road. A lot of emergency response staff - but that's normal as the ambulance crews are always taking a fag break after making a delivery to the hospital. No great panic tho, no smoke, so I wasn't worried.
Until we drew up level with the hospital. There's the main block, large imposing white lego-thing, with a eing on either side. The wings are connected with upper-story bridges. The emergency ambulance port is on the right-hand side of the main building, this incident is on the left-hnad side. What I saw looked fresh out of a war report, the twisted, blackened remains of just about enough structure to call it a vehicle. Bigger than a car, absolutely destroyed. There was something else in front of it to, that did look like a burnt-out car. This was directly under the bridge between the wings of the hospital. The left-hand wing, away from the main building, looked badly burnt too, lots of smoke and broken windows.
Being the climate that we live in, my assumption was "Terrorist attack". On a major London hospital. My local hospital. Ohhh boy. The place you depend on for aid in the event of a disaster, like, for instance, a terrorist attack. My head started swimming, I couldn't breathe, and I started crying - then clamped down VERY FIRMLY and said NO I SHALL NOT PANIC. NO. then the bus caught the smell of the fire, and my resolve wavered, but again I said NO. And made myself breathe very slowly, very calmly, a little in and a long gentle release. and again. all the way home. I did not panic.
Coming home and having found photos, it makes more sense. http://www.flickr.com/photos/28303988@N06/3878963968/in/set-72157622207974032/ I was seeing the burnt out bonnet of the ambulance and the metal frame behind, smoke damage from the vehicle. Its complete destruction being due to the oxygen tank on board.
Now the question remains - was this accidental or deliberate? Was it parked under the bridge for maximum damage?
I'm gonna go eat chocolate now, cos I gotta be in that wing in 3 weeks for blood tests.