Urta-Bulak, Soviet Union (now Uzbekistan). To put out a persistent fire in an oil and natural gas well, the Soviets opted for a drastic solution: an underground explosion (1,532 meters underground) of 10,000 tons of nuclear charge to block the pipeline. It worked (the explosion and the subsequent blockage of the pipeline…). The flame had reached a height of 70 meters, consuming 14 million cubic meters of natural gas every day. The fire lasted 1,064 days, or almost three years, and despite the rigorous extinguishing efforts, the fire’s momentum had not diminished (by conventional means).
