Sometimes it is said truth is stranger than fiction! Last night at approximately 730pm that appeared to be true for those living in the Shenfield and Hutton area. Mr T had just returned home from work, the bath was running for the kids and nothing untoward appeared to be happening. Then out of nowhere there was an enormous bang, the house shook and none of us could explain what had just happened! It wasn’t the boiler, Hpops dancing or Imp and Pixie dropping something expensive!
We checked the house, wasn’t us and none of our immediate neighbours appeared to be the source either. We couldn’t smell smoke or see flames and so there was no obvious source! Neighbours gathered outside, after a few minutes we could hear sirens. We checked on those who may be alone and scared but were still none the wiser. A friend had called 101 and they didn’t seem to know what the cause of the explosion was either. They had sent police and fire services out to investigate but no-one seemed to know what was going on. There was apparently no obvious signs of damage or disruption from the source and so the whole thing was rather confusing.
What did strike me was the sense of community that evolved from the situation -maybe fleetingly but even so it was there. Neighbours checked on one another. People went to explore to see if the area was safe and fed back information to each other. We allowed the kids to go out on their bikes with us and they were all a bit shaken by the noise and wanted to see for themselves that there was nothing to worry about! Several people wearing pyjamas and dressing gowns were peering outside or looking around for an explanation. There was a brief feeling of being part of the secret seven as we explored with our neighbours areas that suddenly, in the dark seemed to take on a more mysterious air as we searched for the cause of the loud noise.
The official line is that it was a fire that someone had added petrol to causing the explosion although it seemed a lot louder and more dramatic than that! Indeed my own personal favourite conspiracy theory is that it was a jet being tested by the armed forces causing a sonic boom. The truth is no-one yet seems to know for sure – the police helicopter was out again this morning, presumably flying over the area to see if they can see any damage. Earlier reports that it was a sub-station going pop seem to have come to nothing, so we will have to await more information. Insert spooky music here and remember that the truth it out there!
