Karlino oil eruption
Blowout preventer from the Daszewo - 1 drill hole, now kept at Oil Museum at Bóbrka, Krosno County
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| Date | December 9, 1980 – January 8, 1981 |
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| Location | Karlino, Poland |
| Non-fatal injuries | 1 soldier |
| Property damage |
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The Karlino oil eruption was an oil well blowout that took place on December 9, 1980, near Karlino, a town located in Pomerania in northern Poland, near the Baltic Sea coast. The eruption and the fire that followed it put an end to the hope of Poland becoming a "second Kuwait". It took more than a month for Polish, Soviet and Hungarian firefighters to completely extinguish the fire. The eruption was the result of an extensive search for underground oil deposits that took place in the area in 1980.
In 1980, the town of Karlino became a symbol of Polish hopes for a "new Kuwait" because of the discovery of oil deposits surrounding the town. At that time Poland was in a severe economic crisis, foreign debt was mounting, and both the Communist authorities and the nation hoped to be able to sell oil from Karlino to the West and pay off the debt with the proceeds. The oil deposits took on a symbolic role as a further sign of a better future, after the election of John Paul II and the creation of Solidarity. Among disappointed officials who visited the site after the fire were First Secretary of the Communist Party Stanisław Kania and Solidarity chairman Lech Wałęsa.
At 5:30 p.m. on December 9, 1980, in a 2800-m deep drill hole designated Daszewo - 1, located in the village of Krzywoploty (4.5 kilometers from Karlino), a giant eruption of oil and natural gas took place. Soon afterwards, a fire broke out, with flames reaching up to 130 m. The temperature of the burning mix of gas and oil reached 900°C, and in spite of sub-zero temperatures, leaves appeared on frozen trees nearby. During the night of December 9/10, four workers were burned and had to be taken to hospital in Białogard. Eighteen teams of firefighters arrived at the site, and nearby households were evacuated. The Szczecin-bound lanes of the main East - West National Route Number 6 (Droga Krajowa nr 6) adjacent to the fire were closed. Workers' equipment and shacks were destroyed. Oil pressure reached 560 atmospheres, and the fire was visible from several km away. At that time, it was one of the biggest oil eruptions in the history of Europe.
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Wikipedia