Sheer panic: Shrewsbury gas explosion is remembered seven years on

It was just before 11.30am on January 3, 2010, when the tranquil morning air was broken by an earth-shattering bang.

The noise, heard by people across the town, had been an explosion which tore through 1 to 5 Bridge Street, destroying the building, and leaving the occupants either thrown from their home or trapped under debris.

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Sarah Pearse, Scott Godbold and Sam Devine-Turner and their friend Annie Davies all suffered serious burns in the explosion, while Kiley McDonnell, a pantomime actor who was also in the building, was paralysed from the waist down.

"It was just a scene of devastation, not one you are expecting to see. The fire had taken hold by that point, there was rubble, people everywhere, people trying to pull people out of the rubble."

Rob Corfield has been a fire officer for more than 20 years but the sight that greeted him and his colleagues when they arrived at the scene of the Shrewsbury gas explosion remains etched in his mind.

Mr Corfield was the officer in command of the response to the explosion, which was declared a major incident with support dispatched from emergency services across the country.

The officers on duty that Sunday morning did not need a call to know something had gone wrong, with the sound of the blast being heard across the town. Mr Corfield said: "We all heard it. I was sat in my office and I remember the crews were using the aerial ladder out in the yard for practice at the time. My whole office shook and there was a huge bang. I thought they had dropped a dummy on the roof so I was going to go out there and give them what for."

A crew immediately raced to the scene and arrived to see members of the public clambering over rubble to pull the survivors from the debris.

Mr Corfield said the immediate priority was to make sure the fire was out so that anyone trapped could be saved.

He said: "From our point of view we have a collapsed structure with fire so the first priority for us is to extinguish that fire, because if we don't then the injured people don't have any chance to survive.

"My concern was what had caused the explosion, we had cars crushed by walls, there was one person who was under a wall."

The fire team had the main blaze out within ten minutes and all the casualties were rescued within half an hour of their arrival, but their work continued for many hours with no certainty over how many people were under the rubble.

Mr Corfield said he is proud of the response of his team, whose work had helped to make sure no one died as a result of the explosion.

He said: "It was pretty much textbook if that makes sense. The response we had was good. The services all worked together."

The harrowing scenes resembled something from a war zone, not one of England's picturesque historic towns.

Members of the public ran dazed from the devastation, while others rushed to see if they could help, pulling victims from the rubble in an act that almost certainly saved the lives of those trapped.

The level of damage caused to the building makes it a miracle no one was killed.

Anthony Archambault, 39, a registered nurse, who lives in Castlefields, was next door waiting for breakfast in the Shrewsbury Hotel when the explosion happened.

He described the sheer panic which took hold in the wake of the disaster.

He said: "We had just sat down and ordered our breakfast when all of a sudden we heard this really loud rumbling sound, which seemed to ripple through the building, my initial thought was that it was an earthquake of some sort, but the rumbling seemed to carry on and on, it seemed like minutes but in reality probably only seconds had passed. Everyone immediately shot up from their seats, people were shouting 'what was that?'

"All of a sudden there was a tremendous smashing sound, everyone screamed out and there were shouts from the remaining customers thinking 'could it be a bomb?'. We didn't know if the building was going to collapse onto us, or if we should stay or exit the building.

"It was sheer immediate panic, my fight or flight system was in full flow, adrenalin pumping through my veins. I noticed one of the front windows was completely smashed, I heard one of the bar staff say 'call an ambulance', and someone shouted out, my heart immediately sank, I rushed forward to see if I could see anyone who needed assistance, but the bar staff ushered us all back towards the fire exit and out of the building."

Shrewsbury Councillor, Andrew Bannerman, was across town when he heard the explosion and said his thoughts immediately turned to a terrorist attack.

He said: "It was a huge bang. I remember the sound from the other side of town. I heard this great bang and I thought "that is a big noise" and wondering what it was.

"You think of all sorts of things, because years before the Castle had been attacked by the IRA and your thoughts immediately go in that direction."

Mr Archambault explained how the aftermath of the explosion had left walking wounded stumbling for help and people being pulled from the debris.

He said: "I tried to remain calm, and we exited the Shrewsbury hotel into the back alley, there was glass and debris everywhere, I was aware my legs were trembling. As we approached the bottom of Mardol, there was a large group of people all looking in shock and disbelief, a woman was on the top floor of a Mardol shop crying, behind a completely smashed pane of glass.

"I walked around to the front of the Shrewsbury hotel for a better look, two policemen were rushing into a collapsed building with smoke billowing out of it, and all of a sudden a huge flame ball billowed out of the building, with intense fierceness. I suddenly focused in on what was happening on the ground, some young people were walking towards me with debris in their hair, and blood dripping from their faces, in total shock.

"The loud wail of sirens and car alarms was now apparent, providing an eerie soundtrack to what was unfolding. I glanced towards where I had parked my car just moments ago, there was an older man being attended to by the paramedics, he was covered in small amount of rubble. It felt like a surreal action movie was unfolding right before my eyes.

"Some of the younger people with debris in their hair were being attended to by the paramedics; some were shouting for their friends to call their friends and relatives on their mobile phones, some were crying, all were in total shock.

"As I glanced back towards the car park it was clear all the cars including my own had all their windows blown out, and the chairs outside the hotel and umbrella were completely destroyed due to the damage from the flying debris. I remember the loud sirens wailing, and the crying of the walking wounded."

The aftermath of the explosion saw a payout for the 11 victims, although a Health and Safety Executive investigation concluded that no one was at fault for the explosion.

The report concluded: "The investigation identified a low pressure cast iron gas main, located within the footway in front of 1-5 Bridge Street which had fractured at a point approximately 1.5 metres from the property.

"A number of potential ignition sources were identified within the property."