Prepare for a mini science lesson...

I learned a whole lot about sulfur fires when I stumbled upon this video of a sulfur mound on fire in Worland, Wyoming.

Brandon Yule, Captain of the Worland Volunteer Fire Department shared this video on his YouTube channel in 2017.

He explained that this fire occurred when a sulfur mound ignited. While they were eventually able to put the fire out, there were several interesting aspects to this fire.

First, the deposits of sulfur that are mixed into the soil are leftover from the Texas Gulf Sulfur Plant that operated north of Worland in the 1950’s.

Second, if you watched the video with the volume on you may have noticed the beeps and Darth Vader like sounds. Burning sulfur creates sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas which has a very strong, choking odor and can be a danger to anyone nearby. To prevent injury the firefighters are wearing Self Contained Breathing Apparatuses.

This type of fire is not common, and thankfully the Worland Fire Department has Hazmat Technicians that have an understanding of how to effectively fight these rare fires.

Just take a look at how high some of these flames went.

YulePhoto via YouTube
YulePhoto via YouTube
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I couldn't find any specific details about how high this flame actually was but it looks to be more than 4 feet in height to me.

According to Yule's comments on his video, the fire was put out using a small amount of water, and it doesn't seem like there was any damage to remaining structures in the surrounding area.

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