Twentyeight accidents involving major fires and/or explosions, which have occurred across the world in tank farms storing flammable liquids, have been studied. The focus has been on determining, a) what were the distances between the tank which failed and the tank(s) which were damaged or could have been damaged due to fire/explosion in the former; b) what were the distances prescribed as safe by prevailing codes/standards/models between the concerned tanks, and c) whether the tanks were relocated in a safer way by the concerned industry after the accident. The study also identifies some of the codes, standards, and models which appear to provide more realistic safe distances for the given tank types/sizes. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.