[quote]AN underground fire beneath a dry lake bed in the Australian Outback has been burning on and off for months and has firefighters stumped.
Drivers have reported seeing smoke along the bed of Lake Woytchugga, near Wilcannia in far-western NSW, and firefighters, who put the fire out on an almost-weekly basis, are fed up with the eternal flame.
"We thought we had it out about a month ago and just in the last couple of days, with some wind, it's popped back up," incident controller Chris Favelle said.
Mr Favelle says he suspects organic material is fuelling the fire.
"There's a little bit of water way out in the middle, but it's basically dry, and along the edge, which would have once been the shore 1000 years ago, there's a build-up of organic matter, like sticks and leaves, a bit like peat."
The peat-like matter can burn for a long time, but what's baffling the Rural Fire Service is the way the fire dodges all attempts at snuffing it out.
"They get called once a day to put this fire out and they get there and there's nothing," Mr Favelle said.
"We've tried all sorts of things. We've tried flooding the area, we've tried digging it up, we've tried putting trenches around it, all to no avail. It keeps sneaking around our attempts to stop it."
He said there is no threat to the community from the fire, which is in a bare area.
Firefighters estimate it might cover a hectare underground, but say they have no real way of knowing the exact size of the fire.[/quote]
[url]http://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-firefighters-baffled-by-eternal-flame/story-fndo4eg9-1226535579650[/url]
I think they might just have to wait till the lake floods again...
Isn't it like hay packs, where if you leave a bunch of moist organic matter packed together tightly it heats up due to bacterial activity? Spraying water on it only helps create the fire in the long run. The thing you need to do is trying to get all moisture out.
[QUOTE=Clavus;38800093]Isn't it like hay packs, where if you leave a bunch of moist organic matter packed together tightly it heats up due to bacterial activity? Spraying water on it only helps create the fire in the long run. The thing you need to do is trying to get all moisture out.[/QUOTE]
Or flood it and cut off its oxygen source
If they can't put it out and there's no danger of it hurting anyone, just turn it into a tourist attraction like Burning Mountain
[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Mountain[/URL]
[QUOTE=Jack Bryce;38800223]If they can't put it out and there's no danger of it hurting anyone, just turn it into a tourist attraction like Burning Mountain
[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Mountain[/URL][/QUOTE]
except if the ground becomes unstable (alá centralia) then it could be a massive hazard.
It almost sounds like a coal-mine fire, that's for sure. That's actually what Silent Hill is inspired by, I can't remember the name of the town though. OH YEAH it's Centralia, truly a crazy place.
eternal fire
obviously the all might satan lives there
praise be to the bringer of light
[QUOTE=Stormcharger;38800332]eternal fire
obviously the all might satan lives there
praise be to the bringer of light[/QUOTE]
No. This is the door to hell-
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAdEjFwcSx8[/media]
the bringer of light has many portals to his lair
I don't think we should rule out mole people.
[QUOTE=Glorbo;38800348]No. This is the door to hell-
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAdEjFwcSx8[/media][/QUOTE]
That thing has always interested me, what is the origins of it?
[QUOTE=SoUl_ReApEr2;38800620]That thing has always interested me, what is the origins of it?[/QUOTE]
It's a huge Natural Gas deposit, Soviet Scientist attempted to extract it for industrial use, but their drilling caused the cavern to collapse and it began leaking. In order to avert an environmental catastrophe, they decided to burn it up so it cannot pollute the air. They lit it on fire and that fire still burns today.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;38812863]It's a huge Natural Gas deposit, Soviet Scientist attempted to extract it for industrial use, but their drilling caused the cavern to collapse and it began leaking. In order to avert an environmental catastrophe, they decided to burn it up so it cannot pollute the air. They lit it on fire and that fire still burns today.[/QUOTE]
Jeez sounds like something out of a disaster movie.
Spent a while trying to work out what a NSFW firefighter was
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