How a Retreating Army Caused One of The Worlds Worst Environmental Disasters | Plainly Difficult

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  • čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
  • Merry Christmas!!
    During the closing days of the Gulf War 1991, retreating Iraqi forces, deliberately set hundreds of oil fields on fire, creating one of the worst man made environmental disasters in history......
    It would become one big headachefor emergency and disaster managers!
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    Sources:
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    nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/2...
    2 registry.csd.disa.mil/registr...
    3
    core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33898...
    4
    ​​www.publichealth.va.gov/expos....
    5
    books.google.co.uk/books?id=z...
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    www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
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Komentáře • 689

  • @PlainlyDifficult
    @PlainlyDifficult  Před 6 měsíci +33

    Thanks for watching, check out me other bits!
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    • @LISTINGTOSTARBOARD
      @LISTINGTOSTARBOARD Před 6 měsíci

      EVIL WON WW2 😊

    • @B4D_5USHI
      @B4D_5USHI Před měsícem

      Just a little correction, the mig engines strapped to the tank weren’t just using air to blow out the fires, they were actually retrofitted as watercannons and shot both air and jets of water the wells. I believe it was a firefighting team from Hungary that put the machine together. It’s really cool and worth a video of its own I think.

  • @ivertranes2516
    @ivertranes2516 Před 6 měsíci +1527

    The level of toxins in the Kuwaiti air was grossly under-reported. In my ARNG unit, 30% came back with gulf war syndrome, and 15% had cancers within 2 years. Naturally, the VA denied everything.

    • @johndoerr8853
      @johndoerr8853 Před 6 měsíci

      They capitulated on the burn pits with Iraq and Afghanistan, but still deny everything when they can.

    • @tjroelsma
      @tjroelsma Před 6 měsíci +133

      Yes, but Dieselgate.......... (hint: you're not supposed to talk about things like this war crime or burst oil-pipes and instead focus on (foreign) car manufacturers, methane from cow dung etc. because corporations and the very rich profit hugely from wars).

    • @jasonvorhes765
      @jasonvorhes765 Před 6 měsíci +100

      When I served I meet a Vet like you. He described the burning oil as the most beautifully horrible thing he has ever seen. Fire jetting into the sky day and night, like a demonic light show, tall as a sky scraper. While treated more kindly by the VA, I believe he was dying of cancer when I met him.

    • @JakeCWolf
      @JakeCWolf Před 6 měsíci

      The VA is absolute travesty, too sacrifice so much for your country, to be maimed both mentally and physically, and then have an organization whose sole job it is to see to your after service welfare weasel there way out of everything they can and make you fight tooth and nail for every cent, disgusts me. I really, really hope other VA like entities aren't as bad in other country's militaries, but I have a feeling they are.

    • @MyHandelsMessiah
      @MyHandelsMessiah Před 6 měsíci +1

      Well make sure you don't vote for a Republican, they keep spending money on the defense budget (which specifically does NOT include the VA) and they vote against VA modernisation bills.

  • @thedevilinthecircuit1414
    @thedevilinthecircuit1414 Před 6 měsíci +1634

    Having been there in 1991 on the ground in the middle of all this, I can tell you the fires and the smoke were horrifyingly surreal. To be on the ground in the desert during the day with a black sky as far as one could see was like a bad hallucination. When we were told they would be burning for the next five years we thought it was pretty much the end of the world. The efforts by the oil companies that came in, invented novel ways to deal with it, and extinguished them in fairly short order were nothing less than heroic. GREAT vid as always, John.

    • @ohandanotheronebitesthedus6247
      @ohandanotheronebitesthedus6247 Před 6 měsíci +32

      And look how kuwait turned out compared to us, screwed over every time

    • @KD2HJP
      @KD2HJP Před 6 měsíci +98

      I'm 51 now. I was dissuaded from US military service by my mother, then life took over any control I had away from me.
      Later on, I was fortunate enough to work at US Customs that transitioned to CBP at JFK airport.
      Whenever I saw uniformed US service members returning to the US in my Customs hall, we stopped all processing, and expedited every single person.
      I cannot recall ever anyone who was on this LONG lines complaining that we delayed them, in fact often the hall would break out in applause or even people singing the National Anthem spontaneously.
      It was a minuscule gesture from a man who is still incredibly grateful for everything that is sacrificed for that sake of my security and well-being.
      As time progressed, many of those men and women in military dress switched uniforms to civilian federal law enforcement and worked with my agency. Some of the best people you could ever want watching your back, or as a friend
      Heros all

    • @moonlightalkemist
      @moonlightalkemist Před 6 měsíci +84

      I was there in the middle of it as well. Marine Corps infantry antitank gunner. Now I have serious breathing issues. VA 100% and daily oxygen as well as inhalers. The light was so weird, I haven't been able to accurately describe to others how ethereal the daylight hours were and just how black it got at night when away from the fires.

    • @Rondrent
      @Rondrent Před 6 měsíci +35

      My uncle was a tank driver and watched all this happen. He said it was the most surreal thing he ever saw

    • @newshodgepodge6329
      @newshodgepodge6329 Před 6 měsíci +13

      Always nice to hear a first person narrative.

  • @rachelblake2350
    @rachelblake2350 Před 6 měsíci +432

    Just a friendly reminder that Roger Deakins's cinematography during this sequence in Jarhead is some of the most stunning cinematography in film history.

    • @Corium1
      @Corium1 Před 6 měsíci +38

      the scene when they find out the war is over is amazing. the sky being pitch black and nothing but desert I think captures the desolation this even caused

    • @rachelblake2350
      @rachelblake2350 Před 6 měsíci +15

      @@Corium1 those shots where it's just their silhouettes against the dunes? Oh baby.

    • @christian.tisdale
      @christian.tisdale Před 5 měsíci +2

      Theres an older IMax film on CZcams called Fires Of Kuwait that is absolutely astounding as well, the cinematography is staggering. Very highly recommend a watch.

  • @bob_the_bomb4508
    @bob_the_bomb4508 Před 6 měsíci +257

    It was dark. Darker than night under that smoke. We worked clearing unexploded ordnance ahead of the firefighters who tended to nibble off the fires from the upwind side.
    One of my jobs included escorting journalists into the fires.
    “Take us somewhere dark” they would inevitably say
    “Oh, not that dark, our cameras don’t work properly…”
    Yet somehow the fires were strangely beautiful…though it did feel like being Dante on his trip through the Inferno…

  • @mapratt
    @mapratt Před 6 měsíci +173

    At age 75, the iconic oil fire fighter Red Adair went to Kuwait to help fight these fires. Thanks for covering this.

    • @colinbodnaryk7518
      @colinbodnaryk7518 Před 6 měsíci +4

      Safety boss was the real deal not red adair

    • @user-os7pm7fj7d
      @user-os7pm7fj7d Před 3 měsíci

      ​@@colinbodnaryk7518 it was Red Adair that came up with pretty much all the techniques all the companies used. Myron Kinley taught Red, and then literally everyone else learned from and copied him.

    • @davidpetersen566
      @davidpetersen566 Před 3 měsíci +1

      “i never have much problems with insurrence guys who call you and try to sell you a life insurrence, i tell them my name… and they just hang up the phone” red adair 😁😁

  • @BruceThornton-zs5th
    @BruceThornton-zs5th Před 6 měsíci +155

    I was there with the first Armored Division my battalion suffered between 20 and 30% from Gulf War syndrome roughly 15 to 20% had cancer within only a few years of the wars end in addition to being exposed to all the particulate matter from the oilfield fires we were also exposed to Sarin nerve agent when the engineers blew up an Ammunition Depot within 5 Mi of my battalions holding position I myself suffer from Whole Myriad of medical conditions which the VA refuses to admit but other civilian doctors have identified having been caused by accommodation of the oilfield fires and the nerve agent exposure

    • @billb7876
      @billb7876 Před 6 měsíci +7

      I was at Dhahran and the UK govt are equally dismissive of GW syndrome. Our defence minister Nick soams had shares in the company who made NAPs tablets?

    • @frankgrabasse4642
      @frankgrabasse4642 Před 6 měsíci +13

      And every time I check Republicans are blocking any bill that would provide aid to the troops.

    • @wtice4632
      @wtice4632 Před 5 měsíci +8

      ​@@frankgrabasse4642why are you lying?

    • @frankgrabasse4642
      @frankgrabasse4642 Před 5 měsíci

      Not lying, its a truth you dont like. Nut Gaetz in particular and republicans in general commonly block bills to help the troops or hold up promotions. Go look it up. @@wtice4632

    • @samhouston1288
      @samhouston1288 Před 4 měsíci +3

      @@wtice4632 Because truth hurts his cause.

  • @technick6418
    @technick6418 Před 6 měsíci +314

    I was a structural firefighter for several years. While I've been inside many burning buildings, and up close and personal to everything from burning cars to blazing venting propane tanks, the men who fought these oil well fires are a different breed. Nothing but respect from me for doing what is probably the most challenging job (along with wildland firefighters, who also have to work in extremely unpredictable and dangerous conditions) in the fire service.
    For anybody interested, several years ago The History Channel did a good job of explaining the basics of oil well firefighting. This documentary is still available here on CZcams:
    czcams.com/video/CmnpWxxCbVo/video.htmlsi=moElygZBiJd7m2b2

    • @eaglescout1984
      @eaglescout1984 Před 6 měsíci +4

      I remember watching that. It really is worth a watch. And as much hype as that jet engine got, it makes it clear most fires were put out in conventional ways.

    • @thing_under_the_stairs
      @thing_under_the_stairs Před 6 měsíci +2

      Cool, thanks for the link! I always wanted to be a firefighter like my grandfather and many others in my family, but I ended up too small, with bad eyes and lungs. I'm still not sure whether or not I'm glad for that, considering some of the things Gramps talked about in his later years, after a drink or five... Anyway, nothing but my deepest respect for the people doing this work, and especially under such extreme conditions.

    • @marvindebot3264
      @marvindebot3264 Před 6 měsíci +1

      Yeah, the step-up method ain't going to work on a wellfire, LOL.

    • @niceguyniko
      @niceguyniko Před 6 měsíci

      You are a gentleman and a scholar

  • @robertpyrosthenes1092
    @robertpyrosthenes1092 Před 6 měsíci +62

    Thank you for this video. I'm the last survivor of my team. I was working at the phone center, where US troops went to call home, for three months. It was set up at a Y in the highway north of Kuwaite City. We were almost completely surrounded by burning oil wells and got hit by the plume from Khamisiya, Iraqi chemical weapons depot, when it was burned.

    • @user-ou9qd9no5n
      @user-ou9qd9no5n Před 4 měsíci +2

      So, russian propaganda "Iraqi don't have mass destruction weapons" is a lie

  • @paulkelly660
    @paulkelly660 Před 6 měsíci +61

    The fires were horrific, you could not really describe to anyone what it was like. Certain things in life, have to be seen to be believed! I was part of a civil British team, sent in to clear mines and ordnance from Kuwaiti areas. The oil well firefighters did an absolutely sterling job, hats off to them. Later a presentation was made of belt buckles, reportedly made from the brass in the destroyed wells. Still have mine today, although the belt is long gone as it seemed to have shrunk?

    • @SATX_09
      @SATX_09 Před 5 měsíci

      That crazy I never even considered how dangerous this was. How is your pulmonary health? Did you have any problems? Btw.. I have a few shrunken belts also it must be a bad batch or something with the leather... LoL😉

  • @my12spoonswithrose43
    @my12spoonswithrose43 Před 6 měsíci +105

    A guy with an amazing story by the name of Red Adair had a huge hand in putting out the fires. He & his team worked so hard to cap them. There is a story about how it was done & its great reading.

    • @JCWren
      @JCWren Před 6 měsíci +12

      "Within weeks, Adair had the equipment he needed to complete the job. The Red Adair Company capped more than one hundred wells. His crews were among twenty-seven teams from sixteen countries called in to fight the fires. The crews' efforts put out about seven hundred Kuwaiti fires." Over his career he put out more than 2000 oilwell fires. There's a 15 minute video on a channel called "Entirely Safe" about him. Plenty of other ones also.

    • @TR-rz1xt
      @TR-rz1xt Před 6 měsíci +1

      Isn't he the one with Ginger Rogers? ;)

    • @keithmills778
      @keithmills778 Před 6 měsíci +5

      @@JCWrenAdding to your comment, the jet engine on a tank chassis belonged to a Hungarian team, and other American companies on the ground included Boots & Coots, Bechtel, and Wild Well Control. The company that ended up putting out the largest number of well fires was the Canadian company Safety Boss, even though they were the fourth team to arrive in Kuwait. Wikipedia’s article on the Kuwait fires puts the total number of fires at 600, with 180 put out by Safety Boss.

    • @thing_under_the_stairs
      @thing_under_the_stairs Před 6 měsíci +4

      @@keithmills778 Leave it to the Canadians to do things quietly, efficiently, and safely, with little acknowledgement.

    • @SampsonGG
      @SampsonGG Před 4 měsíci

      @@keithmills778 Safety Boss capped those 180 wells in 200 days. Almost one well per day. Absolutely incredible work

  • @SALSALTHEMAN
    @SALSALTHEMAN Před 6 měsíci +36

    My dad was one of the ones putting the fires out and resisting Iraq. He doesn’t talk about the war much but said that it was a literal hell

  • @SK22000
    @SK22000 Před 6 měsíci +44

    I attended a Hazardous Materiel mitigation conference in Kuwait City in 2008, they still had oily waste in the sands to the Northwest of the city that everyone breathed in every time they was a sandstorm.

    • @billb7876
      @billb7876 Před 6 měsíci +2

      I was in Oman in 92 and the beaches looked fine but when you walked in the sand you got black oily feet. BUT hey ho nature sorted itself out no worries.

    • @SK22000
      @SK22000 Před 6 měsíci +1

      @@billb7876 definitely the vibe I got in Kuwait too, they put Biohazard in the sand too like that’s just fine and dandy

  • @wrenshepherd2388
    @wrenshepherd2388 Před 6 měsíci +48

    We grew up being friends with a family from Kuwait, and I knew they had moved to Canada to avoid violence, but the conflict all started before I was even born. This has taught me so much

  • @CsendesMark
    @CsendesMark Před 6 měsíci +25

    11:24 - "Well one Team"
    Well, the Hungarian "Big Wind" which might did kill the fire on 9 wells, but the Big Wind were tasked with the most difficult fires of all.
    Big Wind is still in service, ready to be sent basically anywhere in the World.

    • @whatevernamegoeshere3644
      @whatevernamegoeshere3644 Před 4 měsíci +1

      Honestly big wind is like a fever dream and it would make for a long video on its own

  • @baksatibi
    @baksatibi Před 6 měsíci +20

    11:22 This equipment is called Big Wind, built by Hungarians and it's still in service. It actually blows a lot of water at the fire, it's not just the air pressure that puts out the fire.

    • @CsendesMark
      @CsendesMark Před 6 měsíci +3

      Also nice to know, that Big Wind were used to fight the fire at the most difficult fires.

  • @thethirdman225
    @thethirdman225 Před 6 měsíci +5

    The Iraqis also began dumpling oil into the Persian Gulf, apparently in an attempt to prevent a possible landing on the Kuwaiti coast. The manifolds that were the source of this were eventually blown up by smart weapons from F-111 and F-117 aircraft.

  • @Philfluffer
    @Philfluffer Před 6 měsíci +9

    The "scorched earth" policy is exactly what the name implies. Everything is burnt, energy sources, food, communications, and transport amongst many everything else.

    • @billb7876
      @billb7876 Před 6 měsíci

      That is what the WEF and the Gullible warming criminals are doing now. Controlling the food chain by culling animals, banning beef and lamb and filling fields full of useless solar panels

  • @JohnnyAngel8
    @JohnnyAngel8 Před 6 měsíci +14

    I remember that Paul Neal "Red" Adair, a famous oil well firefighter was brought in to extinguish the fires. He was 75 years old at the time.

  • @faenethlorhalien
    @faenethlorhalien Před 6 měsíci +22

    I remember this on the news back in '91, one of the most shocking images of my early teens.

  • @Seph491
    @Seph491 Před 6 měsíci +31

    Thank you for covering some Desert Storm related history. My dad was an A-10 Warthog mechanic in the 2951st Combat Logistics Support Squadron who handled Aircraft Battle Damage Repair during Desert Storm so it's a subject that I've always had an interest in. I was born shortly after the war ended so most of my experience has been tales from my dad growing up. If you cover more about the war I'd definitely be interested in watching.

  • @Echowhiskeyone
    @Echowhiskeyone Před 6 měsíci +25

    I was a college student at that time. Somehow, I got in front of a camera for an interview during a Troop Support March, I had friends over there. The short interview was on my thoughts of oil being dumped and the fires. I would have to go watch the recordings again for what I said, but basically saying Saddam has little care for the environment or his own people.

  • @ThePolerbearproducts
    @ThePolerbearproducts Před 6 měsíci +5

    My dad was in the Air Force during this time. He helped fight some of these fires.

  • @planetfox890
    @planetfox890 Před 6 měsíci +15

    I've watched every one of your videos and loved it, particularly because you've covered my favorite reactor accident (SL-1) and my favorite orphaned source accident (Goiania); but there's two accidents you haven't covered yet that I would love to see:
    *The Byford Dolphin Accident: Explosive decompression of a diving bell attached to an off-shore oil platform. Three divers were killed instantly when the lipids in their blood instantly congealed and blocked their arteries, and a fourth diver was basically turned inside-out. Guts EVERYWHERE, it was horrible.
    *The Andreyeva Bay Nuclear Accident: An old Soviet graveyard for naval reactors. Spent fuel was kept in a building that was basically coming apart at the seams. Features of the infamous Building #5 include a leaking roof, leaking spent fuel pool, the escape of hundreds of tons of radioactive water into the bay, a few criticality accidents, and a seaman plunging into a pool of said radioactive water to rescue a colleague. Basically everything you DON'T WANT going on in a building full of high level waste. The waste was eventually relocated to Mayak, so that's a nice tie-in to one of your older videos.

  • @magicpyroninja
    @magicpyroninja Před 6 měsíci +13

    That thick black smoke that you see coming off of those fires is incredibly rich in unburned fuel causing a problem in and of itself and helping to spread fires

  • @rickyfinn2763
    @rickyfinn2763 Před 6 měsíci +8

    The father of my first girlfriend when I was young, was a guy responsible for programming the software for the "Big Wind" machines, adapted air craft engines aboard tanks blasting water. Super interesting

  • @alwaysrecycles365
    @alwaysrecycles365 Před 6 měsíci +8

    A good family friend has suffered lifelong respiratory problems as result of exposure to this. His struggle to get help from VA became known to my parents and they, being much older and retired, we're thankfully able to help him pay for doctors outside VA. He had been an amazing and supportive friend to them when they had health struggles so it was very appropriate to return the favor.

    • @bunk95
      @bunk95 Před 6 měsíci

      Respiratory problems are fictional. You/others think and act like untrue and someone specific has them?

    • @bunk95
      @bunk95 Před 6 měsíci

      @@alwaysrecycles365 im your owner. You may have learn how to market abuse, torture and killing in this way in [school].
      Do you want to discuss methods of abuse, torture and killing that are lied about with the fiction you shared?

    • @CatManOfTaste
      @CatManOfTaste Před 5 měsíci

      @@bunk95monkey smoking a cigar

  • @wallywallyoxenford
    @wallywallyoxenford Před 6 měsíci +10

    LOVE when plainly cites his sources as he talks tbh. it's refreshing and interesting

  • @gwenna1161
    @gwenna1161 Před 6 měsíci +5

    Oiled a few uniforms under those clouds. Stood on the flat bed of my 915 and did a panno one night and counted 56 flames through the clouds.

  • @Beautifulclouds60
    @Beautifulclouds60 Před 6 měsíci +20

    Thank-you for this John. I remember being 8 months pregnant with my first child when I was watching this stuff on TV beginning in January of 1991. I was heartbroken to know another war had broken out. What made it worse for me was the motivating factor was greed and money. So much unnecessary pain and suffering.

    • @gordontaylor2815
      @gordontaylor2815 Před 6 měsíci +4

      The world in general, and Iraq in particular, is a much better place without Saddam in power. Unlike the abject failure in Afghanistan, Iraq today is a reasonably stable and functional democratic state - the efforts both in the early 90s and 20 years later were NOT in vain!

    • @Avellania
      @Avellania Před 6 měsíci +1

      I'm the same age as your kid and my parents felt the same as you did.

    • @minedgravy380
      @minedgravy380 Před 6 měsíci

      might want to look into how saddam got power@@gordontaylor2815

    • @billb7876
      @billb7876 Před 6 měsíci

      I was sent out there when my wife was 6 months pregnant, I got back 10 days before he was born. (he was late lol)

    • @mostnoob5507
      @mostnoob5507 Před 6 měsíci

      @@gordontaylor2815iraq is democratic state ? i want to know what you smoke dude

  • @JonathanAGarrett
    @JonathanAGarrett Před 6 měsíci +51

    Werner Herzog made a great documentary on the Kuwait oil field fires called Lessons of Darkness. The scale of the fires and oil lakes is truly astounding.

    • @Cbd_7ohm
      @Cbd_7ohm Před 6 měsíci +3

      That guy is everywhere, even the boondocks cartoon lol.

    • @jonchowe
      @jonchowe Před 6 měsíci

      Came here to post this. Weirdly it was the film I randomly saw that got me into Herzog!

    • @DavidCowie2022
      @DavidCowie2022 Před 6 měsíci +1

      "Lessons of Darkness" can be found on CZcams.

  • @gamingwithlacks
    @gamingwithlacks Před 6 měsíci +66

    Y'know, I totally would listen to a Plainly Difficult explaining the Gulf War. Might need to make it a 45 minute super-episode tho!

    • @Invisibleman7
      @Invisibleman7 Před 6 měsíci +3

      Agreed

    • @TrickiVicBB71
      @TrickiVicBB71 Před 6 měsíci +4

      Operations Room with its sister channel Intel Report has done a few videos about the 1st Gulf War.
      Now they are doing a mutli-part breakdown of the 2nd one.

    • @billb7876
      @billb7876 Před 6 měsíci

      Would it not be better asking folk who were there ?

    • @hedgeearthridge6807
      @hedgeearthridge6807 Před 2 měsíci +1

      ​​@@billb7876 You need both, people like John to explain the overview and people who were there to talk about the details. People at an event only see a part of it and hear a part of the information, they're not a complete source and can even be wrong. For example people who were at the parade when JFK was assassinated initially thought the gunshots were just firecrackers or cars backfiring.

  • @justinreinstein3025
    @justinreinstein3025 Před 6 měsíci +21

    I remember hearing about this monstrosity in real time. Right after the Exxon Valdez spill had been all over the news, to release it into the ocean - it was intentionally the worst thing he could think to do.

    • @whatabouttheearth
      @whatabouttheearth Před 4 měsíci

      From a tactical mindset it was smart. Because it was meant to blind US pilots and misdirect heat seeking missiles.

    • @pretzelbomb6105
      @pretzelbomb6105 Před 4 měsíci +2

      @@whatabouttheearthAs always, from a tactical standpoint the environment is acceptable collateral damage.

  • @skeetrix5577
    @skeetrix5577 Před 6 měsíci +40

    oh, you done did it now John! I'm so happy your covering this-coming from a family of fire personnel Ive always been intrigued by this one. it's incredible how they eventually put them out -i won't spoil it but I'm glad your bringing this story to your audience. merry Christmas John, thanks for making my year better!

  • @SewardWriter
    @SewardWriter Před 6 měsíci +7

    I remember this. It was awful, but oddly beautiful. Some burning wells were rigged with explosions that claimed all oxygen just long enough to kill the flames. Way back when, there was a great documentary on the topic. It was in IMAX and its round-screened sibling for a while.

  • @josephpatterson4042
    @josephpatterson4042 Před 6 měsíci +9

    I Remember being fascinated watching the news reports about this as an 8 year old. Always thought it was dumb that they didn't remove Sadam from power then when it was solidly justified rather than 11+ years later on flimsy justifications

  • @EldritchFyre
    @EldritchFyre Před 6 měsíci +17

    Thanks again for such fine content!... If you're interested in research topics - The US northeast, specifically Pennsylvania, powered a large chunk of the Industrial Revolution and a good portion of the world from coal mining... and therefore had a lot of memorable industrial disasters due to greed, carelessness, and just the inherent dangers of the work. Couple searches you may want to look into for content would be the Darr mine disaster, Mammoth mine explosion, Knox mine disaster, the Avondale mine disaster, the mine fire under Centralia.... and as an aside, there was a regional pollution issue that's still going on, in the town of Hazleton PA called the Tranguch gasoline spill. Have a lovely holiday season!

    • @thing_under_the_stairs
      @thing_under_the_stairs Před 6 měsíci

      I'm pretty sure he's covered at least a couple of these already, like Centralia, and a few mine and dam collapses.

  • @BeardedKemosabe
    @BeardedKemosabe Před 6 měsíci +8

    Being someone who grew up as this was going on with the war report and stuff. This is one of the strongest memories I have of that war. It was everywhere at the time it seemed like.

  • @simiratzi
    @simiratzi Před 3 měsíci +2

    There is a report of an Austrian mountaineer who got into a extraordinary heavy thunderstorm in the Himalayas.
    one of his comrades died that day.
    He fount out that the storm was charged by the burning fields .

  • @psyxypher3881
    @psyxypher3881 Před 6 měsíci +9

    You know for a fact that the MIC still cries itself to sleep at night thinking of all that perfectly good oil that got wasted.

  • @bialek.online
    @bialek.online Před 6 měsíci +12

    the "if i cant have it no one can" type of person

    • @whatabouttheearth
      @whatabouttheearth Před 4 měsíci +1

      From a tactical mindset it was smart. Because it was meant to blind US pilots and misdirect heat seeking missiles. It's an asymmetric warfare technique, they go high tech, you go low tech.

  • @SteamCheese1
    @SteamCheese1 Před 6 měsíci +3

    Even to this day, these pictures haunt me and make me so angry. I wasn't there, but my father was. After that deployment, he was never the same. He became agitated, easy to annoy, depressed and sickly. He served until 2012 and did multiple tours into the Middle East. I myself served as a mechanic for armored vehicles but was mostly stationed in Germany. After seeing what happened to my family members who had served and how they've been treated by my former government, I called quits and packed my shit. I stayed in Germany permanently, and it's been the best decision I have ever made.

  • @MarkJoseph81
    @MarkJoseph81 Před 6 měsíci +18

    I'm surprised you didn't mention the blast method they used to extinguish some of the fires. I forget exactly what they used, but I remember some method of blasting/explosive they used to snuff out the blaze.
    Then, the problem was how to stop the gushing oil... that was a whole other hurdle to overcome.

    • @jerrymiller9039
      @jerrymiller9039 Před 6 měsíci

      CEV it had a 165 mm HE round

    • @crazyleyland5106
      @crazyleyland5106 Před 6 měsíci +2

      They sometimes exploded a device on a boom which was extended over the blazing well - a Stinger.

    • @eightysea3780
      @eightysea3780 Před 6 měsíci

      10:56

    • @MarkJoseph81
      @MarkJoseph81 Před 6 měsíci

      @@crazyleyland5106 That's what I'm saying.

  • @kellieb8865
    @kellieb8865 Před 6 měsíci +2

    "Just blow it out like a candle" not an option I would have thought of to put out an oil well fire...

  • @kalimouser9385
    @kalimouser9385 Před 6 měsíci

    Wow, people are so crazy!!!
    The logic that led to this being carried out is insane... tragic
    These vids are so awesome, I love how much detail is packed in so concisely. Gives a really good starting point for further inquiry. Good research skills make good informative video

  • @nekomasteryoutube3232
    @nekomasteryoutube3232 Před 6 měsíci +12

    As far as I know, the environmental disaster is not over.
    Kuwait still has lakes/ponds of oil sitting around contaminating the local area's.

  • @bjornkeizers
    @bjornkeizers Před 6 měsíci +8

    I remember watching it when on CNN when it happened. It was wild seeing things like that; the Gulf War was the first real conflict that you could see 'happening live on CNN'. Complete with cool night vision footage of strikes. Prior to that, everything tended to come heavily delayed, heavily filtered. It was very visceral seeing it happening live. Little did I know that Iraq would still be in the news due to conflicts nearly 30 years later.

    • @billb7876
      @billb7876 Před 6 měsíci

      And CNN lied through their teeth as per MSM today. They spouted off about air raids in Dhahran and at the time there was none lol. Pure fabrication (Yes I was there)

  • @RCAvhstape
    @RCAvhstape Před 6 měsíci +14

    I remember a show on one of the cable channels, Discovery maybe, where they sent a camera crew in with the fire fighters and showed them blowing fires out using explosives and some of the other methods. It was pretty fascinating stuff. I was in the area when this happened and remember the smog being so thick it blocked out the sun at high noon. Fortunately I never had any health effects that I know of from it. A lot of troops complain about it, but the troops got to go home when the shooting stopped. People need to remember that war zones are also where people live, and I feel bad for the Kuwaiti and Saudi civilians living downwind from the fires. I saw shepherds tending their flocks, people who spend most of their lives outdoors, breathing that crap.

  • @claireway-6545
    @claireway-6545 Před 6 měsíci +6

    Thanks John, for all your videos. They are something i look forward to when relaxing at the weekend. Wishing you and yours a great Christmas and New Year from a dull and grey Reading, down the M4. 😊

  • @chomp7927
    @chomp7927 Před 6 měsíci +4

    For those interested there's an IMAX documentary about this that shows all of these methods as they were used. Had it as a tape as a kid, some real interesting shit. Called Fires of Kuwait (1992)

  • @jaykace5160
    @jaykace5160 Před 6 měsíci +10

    Happy Saturday and a merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and of course, thanks plainly difficult for the amazing Saturday morning content!

  • @raph1774
    @raph1774 Před 5 měsíci +1

    I remember hearing about most of this as it was happening... however it was (until now) just "something that apparently happened somewhere". The amount of context and definition that you (via this video) have just provided to me, is huge. Also, I've grown fond of your "dodgy cartoons".

  • @blue_jm
    @blue_jm Před 6 měsíci

    Merry Christmas and thanks for all the content this year!

  • @markh.6687
    @markh.6687 Před 5 měsíci +3

    "We defeated our Imperialist enemies!" -- Iraqi Information Minister

  • @loganmeline9233
    @loganmeline9233 Před 6 měsíci

    My man comes through with the second vid!Merry Christmas to me! Best channel IMHP.

  • @amaccama3267
    @amaccama3267 Před 6 měsíci

    Merry Christmas John. Thanks for all your hard work this year.

  • @marctiedemann6856
    @marctiedemann6856 Před 6 měsíci +8

    At 00:30 I think you meant to say STS-37. STS-132 was also flown by Atlantis, but happened in 2010.

  • @randyhavener1851
    @randyhavener1851 Před 6 měsíci

    Thank You John!! Have a Merry, Merry Christmas!!!

  • @kevinknight287
    @kevinknight287 Před 6 měsíci

    good video! Focusing on different stories has been great! Keep up the awesome work and happy holidays!

  • @Screamblade_
    @Screamblade_ Před 6 měsíci

    Always with the interesting topics! Thank you

  • @WendysCove
    @WendysCove Před 6 měsíci +2

    🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉Merry Christmas John. Brilliant as usual.🎉🎉🎉

  • @ceebee
    @ceebee Před 6 měsíci +3

    I cannot recommend the IMAX film Fires of Kuwait enough. It's an incredible first hand view of the destruction and efforts of people from all over the world.

  • @swoop2
    @swoop2 Před 6 měsíci +2

    I inadvertently listened all the way through mr music's play out, very well done i must say

  • @the_kombinator
    @the_kombinator Před 5 měsíci +2

    What a waste of fuel.

  • @_dh
    @_dh Před 6 měsíci

    Man that synth at the end was really nice. I enjoy the complexity.

  • @ruthstevens8805
    @ruthstevens8805 Před 6 měsíci

    Thank you for your always interesting work. Merry xmas and a happy New Year.

  • @Merennulli
    @Merennulli Před 6 měsíci +7

    I remember watching this as a kid and being impressed by the methods they were using to put out the fires. I later went on to study petroleum engineering and we did talk about the fittings used in closing off the gushing wells. (I changed majors a couple years in, so I'm not a petro engineer, just 1/3 trained as one.)

  • @joshjones3408
    @joshjones3408 Před 4 měsíci +1

    Bud your really good cause you've done a video on everything thang I like... cause i remember this very well....an would trade center bombing in the parking garage....the early 90 started out pretty wild all a cross the bord ....👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

  • @reachandler3655
    @reachandler3655 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Another great video, thank you.

  • @timslager5966
    @timslager5966 Před 6 měsíci

    Well done John and Merry Christmas 🎅

  • @Pico-hq7ws
    @Pico-hq7ws Před 6 měsíci

    Merry Christmas Dave

  • @marvindebot3264
    @marvindebot3264 Před 6 měsíci +3

    Red Adair's last hurrah. This would have taken three times as long without his skill and knowledge. The man was a ledgend.

    • @colinbodnaryk7518
      @colinbodnaryk7518 Před 6 měsíci

      Please look into safety boss. They put out the most wells in Kuwait. 160 of 600 if i remember correctly

  • @SpankyK
    @SpankyK Před 6 měsíci +1

    Merry Christmas John! 🎄🎁⛄🎅🏻

  • @thewelfairshop4164
    @thewelfairshop4164 Před 6 měsíci

    Good to see your not lying about the weather anymore.

  • @imchris5000
    @imchris5000 Před 6 měsíci

    this deserves a part 2 that covers the extinguishing of the fires and capping of the wells

  • @SuperMAZ007
    @SuperMAZ007 Před 6 měsíci +6

    I went to first class when the oil fires raged. I remember from the news hearing about it. It was for it's time one of the worst environmental catastrophes made by man. The Exxon Valdez disaster would be number two.

    • @seanworkman431
      @seanworkman431 Před 6 měsíci +1

      The amount of nuclear testing up to the 1970's raised the background radiation levels worldwide, one of the reasons, in my opinion, that so many children these days have allergies to almost anything. Chernobyl was a big man made disaster also. The 'Three Gorges Dam' will be on to watch for in the future.

  • @van3158
    @van3158 Před 6 měsíci +2

    I also loved Three Kings. I used to watch it on R&R in Iraq.

  • @StephenCole1916
    @StephenCole1916 Před 6 měsíci

    Your outro music has very Phillip Glass vibes, awesome work!

  • @misterflibble6601
    @misterflibble6601 Před 6 měsíci +3

    It's Incredible the magnitude of a disaster one madman can create. This is one historical event that can't be ignored so it will *_never_* be repeated

  • @brennanbanks6406
    @brennanbanks6406 Před 2 měsíci

    I'm born and raised in pittsburgh so that was a pleasant surprise to see this at the end of the video

  • @Eric_Hutton.1980
    @Eric_Hutton.1980 Před 6 měsíci +7

    I remember seeing them on the News at night at the end of the First Gulf War.

  • @thetruth1862
    @thetruth1862 Před 6 měsíci +1

    I remember watching this as a teenager and thinking if there is a hell , its that place.

  • @ImWearingPantsNow
    @ImWearingPantsNow Před 6 měsíci +1

    "Three Kings" is a great movie, although possibly severly under-rated. I have watched it many times, but now I want to watch it again... 🤔🤔
    Oh, and another great video, good sir!

  • @ryanroberts1104
    @ryanroberts1104 Před 6 měsíci

    This is one of the first major things I can remember seeing on the news. With Peter Jennings narrating the whole thing!

  • @abpsd73
    @abpsd73 Před 6 měsíci +1

    Canadian company Safety Boss extinguished and capped close to 1/3 of the Kuwait well fires.

  • @hedgeearthridge6807
    @hedgeearthridge6807 Před 2 měsíci +1

    Desert Storm is considered one of the most masterful military strategic operations in human history, up there next to Operation Overlord. It was like the entire Earth was swallowing up the Iraqi forces. And the later elimination of Saddam and his son Udey was like an enormous weight was taken off mankind's shoulders. It's just terrible what price we had to pay to do it, Coalition combat losses were amazingly light but the nerve agent and oil fire exposure made up for it.

  • @Damien.D
    @Damien.D Před 6 měsíci +1

    I was 6-7 years old and still remember this stupid war and the images of the burning oil wells.
    Such a waste of a precious resources deeply saddened me.
    The sidenote about the firefighting jet tank is a bit moire optimistic : the contraption was soviet-made, using soviet jet engines and tank chassis, and was lended by a former soviet republic to the USA to help a NATO ally to save worldwide oil supply. Troubles can bring the world together.

  • @spencerhaabs
    @spencerhaabs Před 5 měsíci +1

    I would not be surprised if that’s what Hell looks like

  • @railgap
    @railgap Před 6 měsíci +1

    The Imax film about this is 100% worth the price of admission. "Fires of Kuwait" if I am not mistaken. You have to see it on a ginormous screen, seriously, it really intensifies the scale of the disaster, and of the extinction/management effort.

  • @49kittypretty1
    @49kittypretty1 Před 6 měsíci

    I thought that Red Adair put them out. Nice video!

  • @laratheplanespotter
    @laratheplanespotter Před 6 měsíci

    Not very far from 1M. Well done, John.

  • @Youcanttouchmyhandle
    @Youcanttouchmyhandle Před 6 měsíci

    Good Evening from Australia
    8:00pm EADT
    Sunday 24 December 2023
    Thank you Plainly Difficult You Tube Channel foe covering this
    #worldpeace

  • @LostDeadSoul
    @LostDeadSoul Před 6 měsíci

    Amazing that every disaster is the worst man made disaster. It never ceases

  • @filanfyretracker
    @filanfyretracker Před 6 měsíci +1

    I remember hearing they had to bring teams in from Texas for this as that is where the most experienced well fire fighters were at the time. Or at least a company with the most experienced crews.

  • @billiondollardan
    @billiondollardan Před 6 měsíci

    I remember this being all over the news when i was a kid. They showed crews going in with exposives to put them out

  • @MarianneKat
    @MarianneKat Před 6 měsíci +3

    I remember when this unfolded. War is so wasteful. 😢

  • @TheSlowDude
    @TheSlowDude Před 6 měsíci

    Thanks again

  • @billybagsnatcher
    @billybagsnatcher Před 6 měsíci +1

    Looking forward to the Year 7 vid!

  • @laurendisney
    @laurendisney Před 6 měsíci +1

    I wasn't paying attention because I too was a stupid toddler, but my dad was in the US Navy and actually was in this war. It was very early in his career and I've never actually asked about how involved his ship was, but it's on his cruise jackets.

  • @Barot8
    @Barot8 Před 6 měsíci

    Very well presented.