Oil well fire

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The Kuwaiti oil well fire is a popular example of an oil well fire

Oil well fires are oil gushers that have caught on fire, and burn uncontrollably.

1 Extinguishing the fires
2 Effects
3 Famous fires
4 References
5 See also

[edit] Extinguishing the fires

Oil well fires are more difficult to extinguish than regular fires due to the enormous fuel supply for the fire. Firefighters who are specially trained to deal with oil fires are usually hired to put out oil fires. There are several techniques used to put out oil well fires, which vary by resources available and the characteristics of the fire itself.

Techniques include:^[1]

Dousing with huge amounts of water
Raising the plume- Inserting one metal casing 30 to 40 feet high over the well head (thus raising the flame above the ground). Liquid nitrogen or water is then forced in at the bottom to reduce the oxygen supply and put out the fire.
Drill relief wells to redirect the oil and make the fire smaller (and easier to extinguish with water).
Using a jet engine to direct high pressure water and air over the well.
Using dynamite to 'blow out' the fire by using the surrounding oxygen. [citation needed]
Dry Chemical(mainly Purple K) can be used on small well fires such as those in refineries.

Special vehicles called "Athey wagons" as well as the typical bulldozer protected by corrugated steel sheeting are normally used in the process.^[2]

[edit] Effects

Oil well fires can cause the loss of millions of barrels of crude oil per day.^[3] Combined with the ecological problems caused by the large amounts of smoke and unburnt petroleum falling back to earth, oil well fires such as those seen in Kuwait can cause enormous economical losses.

Smoke from burnt crude oil contains many chemicals, including sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, soot, benzopyrene, Poly aromatic hydrocarbons, and dioxins. ^[4] Exposure to oil well fires is commonly cited as a cause of the Gulf War Syndrome, however, studies have indicated that the firefighters who capped the wells did not report any of the symptoms suffered by the soldiers. ^[5]