“Burning Mountain: The Australian Fire That Has Burned for Over 6,000 Years”

Jakarta –

This world has a number of eternal flames scattered in various countries. Some examples are the blue fire in the crater of Mount Ijen, East Java and the blue fire in Iceland.

Speaking of eternal flames, our neighboring country Australia also has fires that have been burning for thousands of years. The fire is called Burning Mountain.

When explorers discovered Burning Mountain in the 18th century, they mistook it for a volcano. However, apparently it is coal that smolders for thousands of years and is known to have never been extinguished.

At Least 6 Thousand Years

Located in New South Wales, Australia, scientists believe the embers of Burning Mountain have been burning for at least 6,000 years. Some opinions actually judge longer than this.

The location of the fire is about 30 meters or 98 feet below Mount Wingen. Not coincidentally, the word wingen in the local Wonaruah aboriginal language means fire.

Its location in the ground, does not allow the fire to be seen or even known its size. However, the smoke rising from the mountain became proof of its existence.

“No one knows the size of the fire under Burning Mountain,” Guillermo Rein, professor of fire science at Imperial College London, told Science Alert, quoted from IFL Science.

According to Rein, the size of Burning Mountain can only be estimated. “The possibility is a ball measuring 5-10 meters or 16-32 feet in diameter, with a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 Fahrenheit),” he said.

The fires raging there were fueled by piles of coal beneath the mountain. As with a lump of coal turning white in a fireplace, fire without a flame creeps through the coal at a rate of about 1 meter per year.

Estimating the age of the fire is done by measuring the path of the fire which spans about 4 miles or 6.5 kilometers and its rate of burning. Even so, the fact is that no one knows when this fire started.

Moreover, how the Burning Mountain’s fire started, no one knows. Almost certainly, the cause is not human. Lightning strikes and brush fires were assessed as the most likely causes.

Professor Rein also wrote a blog post explaining his visit to Burning Mountain. He explained that the heat coming out of it left about 50 meters of the area around the top of the hill, devoid of any vegetation.

He also noted that coal burning underground is also found elsewhere in the world, mainly China, India and the United States.

For example, the mine fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania was started accidentally in 1962 at an abandoned coal mine. Despite efforts to put an end to the fire, it is estimated that the flames will persist for another 250 years.

The Burning Mountain can be glimpsed if you visit the Burning Mountain Nature Reserve. The location is less than four hours’ drive from Sydney. However, make sure if you visit Burning Mountain, don’t light a cigarette.

Watch Video “Utilizing Natural Fire To Roast Corn and Fish, Pamekasan“

(nah/pal)