Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32157618

Includes a photo from the London Eye showing the area of electricity
black-out.

The fire doesn't appear to be in a reused bit of the Kingsway tram
tunnel, but it could well be adjacent to it.

It's certainly well away from the (former) deep-level Kingsway telephone
exchange.

The road is very much still closed - lots of traffic disruption and
re-routed buses.

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

This is going to be like one of those coal fires.

There is one going on in a place called Centralia in Pennsylvania:

"The Centralia mine fire is a coal seam fire that has been burning underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States since at least May 27, 1962." - Wikipedia.

In future we'll have this:

"The Kingsway fire is a cable-run fire that has been burning underneath the borough of Westminster, London, since at least April 1st, 2015."

There are other, bigger coal-seam fires. China has a few massive ones, I think.

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

On 02/04/2015 12:40, Offramp wrote:
This is going to be like one of those coal fires.

There is one going on in a place called Centralia in Pennsylvania:

"The Centralia mine fire is a coal seam fire that has been burning underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States since at least May 27, 1962." - Wikipedia.

In future we'll have this:

"The Kingsway fire is a cable-run fire that has been burning underneath the borough of Westminster, London, since at least April 1st, 2015."

There are other, bigger coal-seam fires. China has a few massive ones, I think.


Ha - I like it!

How about Brennender Berg in Saarland which has been alight since 1688!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennender_Berg

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

So the simplest method for extinguishing the Kingsway Brewery Molasses Cable-Run Fire would be as follows:

Smoothing the surface above the fire with heavy equipment to make it fit for traffic.
Drilling holes in the fire zone about 20m apart down to the source of the fire, following a regular grid.
Injecting water or mud in the boreholes long term, usually 1 to 2 years.
Covering the entire area with an impermeable layer about 1m thick, e.g., of loess (ie dust).
Planting vegetation, for example cactuses, palm trees, rafflesia.

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

On Thu, 02 Apr 2015 16:13:39 +0100, Mizter T
wrote:

How about Brennender Berg in Saarland which has been alight since 1688!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennender_Berg

Fantastic. I'd never heard of such an attraction... Something of
Father Ted's "Very Dark Caves" about that one!

Richard.

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

On 02/04/2015 11:27, Mizter T wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32157618


The fire is now out - extinguished at around 10am this morning (Good
Friday):
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/10153936.html

It was being fed by escaping gas, the supply of which has now been isolated.

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

In message , at 13:03:30 on Fri, 3 Apr 2015,
Mizter T remarked:

On 02/04/2015 11:27, Mizter T wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32157618


The fire is now out - extinguished at around 10am this morning (Good
Friday):
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/10153936.html

It was being fed by escaping gas, the supply of which has now been isolated.

Two days to switch the gas supply off. That beats 3hrs to evacuate the
average broken down train.
--
Roland Perry

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

On Friday, 3 April 2015 13:03:31 UTC+1, Mizter T wrote:
On 02/04/2015 11:27, Mizter T wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32157618


The fire is now out - extinguished at around 10am this morning (Good
Friday):
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/10153936.html

It was being fed by escaping gas, the supply of which has now been isolated.

Now all that's left to do is plant the cactus bulbs.

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 13:03:30 on Fri, 3 Apr 2015,
Mizter T remarked:

On 02/04/2015 11:27, Mizter T wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-32157618


The fire is now out - extinguished at around 10am this morning (Good
Friday):
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/10153936.html

It was being fed by escaping gas, the supply of which has now been
isolated.

Two days to switch the gas supply off. That beats 3hrs to evacuate the
average broken down train.
--
Roland Perry


I don't know the details, and I doubt you do, but:

1. Escaping gas is a lot safer if it is burning than if it is not: the
linked article refers to this.

2. Waiting until a long bank holiday weekend to shut the gas off may well
have been part of a plan because the article suggests a large number of
buildings are affected. If this is the case restoring the supplies is likely
to be a non-trivial operation. Some years ago the gas network in Worthing
was accidently flooded with nitrogen. It was the middle of winter and it
took several months to restore the supplies.

--
DAS

Wednesday's Kingsway subterranean cable fire still burning
 

Well I heard, from someone who works on Great Queen Street (Derek Jacobi Boulevard), that the fire is still burning, and businesses around Kingsway are still without electricity.
It's a good job that most businesses don't have, or aren't reliant upon computers to function normally. Otherwise they'd be ****ed!