Effects
Oil well fires can cause the loss of millions of barrels of crude oil per day. 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 economic losses.
Smoke from burnt crude oil contains many chemicals, including sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, soot, benzopyrene, Poly aromatic hydrocarbons, and dioxins. Exposure to oil well fires is commonly cited as a cause of the Gulf War Syndrome, however, studies have indicated that the firemen who capped the wells did not report any of the symptoms suffered by the soldiers.
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1904 fire at a Bibi-Eibat oil well.
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A Burmese oil well on fire, ca. 1905
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Two wells on fire, Santa Fe Springs, California, 1928
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Steel cap used to cap burning oil well in Santa Fe Springs, California, 1928
Read more about this topic: Oil Well Fire
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