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For 40 minutes, a small hole in the ground projected uncontrollable flames 12 feet before stopping. Images of the orange-red flames and the heat of the fire were incorporated in the minds of those who attended the scene.
The hole opened on private property in Midway, Arkansas, nearly a month ago, September 17, and yet investigators are still in jeopardy. People quickly proposed theories about the causes of the sudden explosion: was there space debris, meteorites, perhaps a gas leak?
Until now, none of the guesses has turned out to be correct, said Baxter County Judge Mickey Pendergrass at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He also ruled out another wild explanation – Satan.
PHOTO OF FIERY BUBBLE WHO IS STRETCHING THE 65 FEET IN AIR STUNS INTERNET
"With regard to spiritual Satan, we have dismissed him, he has not risen to put his fork in the ground and to blow that hole," Pendergrass joked.
Donald Tucker, chief of the Midway Fire Protection District, said the hole was acting "like a chimney", pointing out that it is particularly suspect that the fire has finally stopped.
"He was sucking air from a lower altitude … Anyway, he burned his fuel and went out," he told the newspaper.
The hole did not open suddenly. It has been around for at least 10 years, according to a landscaper.
"It's kind of like an old groundhog hole, a burrow or an armadillo," Pendergrass explained. "But it's been a long time."
Geologists scanned the hole with a camera and determined that it was probably created by an animal as it spread horizontally before intercepting a nearby drainage ditch, according to a report from the Arkansas Geological Survey.
The Black Hills Energy gas company, which was asked to help inspect the site, confirmed that it had found no public service leaks or fuel lines in the area.
The Arkansas Environmental Quality Department also examined several underground fuel storage tanks at Midway to make sure they were sealed.
"According to the inspections carried out by the ADEQ, none of these tanks apparently contributed to the fire," said the agency in a statement to the agency. Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
MONSTER'S WONDERFUL SEA COVERED WITH FUR ON THE BEACH: & # 39; MIGHT IT BE AN OLD CREATURE? & # 39;
Investigators plan to send soil samples from the burned hole to a laboratory in hopes of being able to identify the cause of the explosion.
"The soil samples should eliminate any possibility of penetration of gasoline or any other element into the hole or contamination of migrating groundwater, such as gasoline," said Ty Johnson of the Geological Survey.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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