Comment by MathMonkeyMan
8 hours ago
When an oil well goes off, high explosives can be used to extinguish it. Maybe this is the same principle.
8 hours ago
When an oil well goes off, high explosives can be used to extinguish it. Maybe this is the same principle.
Paul Neal "Red" Adair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Adair
More modern techniques are less violent. I understand one heavily used in Kuwait was to place a ~10 meter hollow pipe above the blown out well so the flame could be displaced from the well head, then injecting water or nitrogen at the base of the pipe to put out the fire.