Fires break out and die out. But there are places on Earth that burn - or smolder - incessantly.
1. Smoking Hills, Canada
Captain John McClure's Arctic Expedition, which was sent in search of the missing Franklin Expedition, saw smoke on the horizon in the 1850s. They were sure they had found the lost, and were very surprised when they found a smoldering hellish landscape instead of a camp on Cape Bathurst. The hills are smoking, as they are composed of a mixture of shale and pyrite with coal and sulfur. The rock is weathered, the minerals are ignited, and this has been happening for centuries.
2. Gate to hell, Turkmenistan
In fact, this place is called Darvaza crater. The Turkmen landmark was formed during the Soviet era. The team investigated the site for natural gas. At one point, the soil engulfed the drilling rig and a huge karst sinkhole opened up. The gas crater was deliberately set on fire to burn out the toxic gases.
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3. Baba Gurgur, Iraq
The "eternal flame" has been burning near the Iraqi city of Kirkuk for thousands of years. The ancient fire-worshipers living in this area sent pregnant women here to pray for the birth of sons. The place is possibly mentioned in the works of Herodotus and even in the Bible.
4. Centralia, USA
In 1962, firefighters set fire to the landfill here. The problem was that there was an abandoned coal mine under the landfill, and this part of the United States is rich in coal. Firefighters failed to extinguish the fire before it got to the coal seam. More than 50 years have passed, and the flame is still burning, and attempts to extinguish it have not been successful. There is enough coal in this area to keep the fire going for another 250 years.