On the 28th of May 1929 in the Moreni area, a big disaster occured. On the Tuicani Plateau was oil well No.160 RA well ,property of the Romanian-American Society.When drillings were at about 1460 metres the gas force reached its maximum.At this time the chisel reached the oil bearing bed and the force of gas blow the derrick in the air 400 metres away. Because of sparks the well burst into flames.The flames grew and grew reaching 100 metres in high. By using the pumps, a great water dam was made.The heat from the flames was so great that the teams couldn't get closer than 300 metres. By chance, there was no victim. According to the specialists the damages was over 100 million lei. In the next day the column of fire was 60-70 metres in high and a whole region it was lightened. It was very well seen from Ploiesti ( 50 km away ) or even Chitila ( 85 km away ). Many birds around the area didn't migrate that year and trees remained green. The well burn for two and a half years and in this time the lost amount of oil was huge and many tryings to put the fire down has ended with no effect. Never had a fire burned so long and so hard as Romania's Moreni No. 160 RA . A ferocious blaze that flamed for over two years and lit the skies for as far as seventy miles, the Moreni No. 160 RA had already claimed the lives of fourteen men by the time Romanian oil executives agreed to the innovative approach proposed by maverick firefighter, Myron Kinley. In 1931, when Myron went to Romania to put out a fire which had raged for two years, his fame became international. Every new fire was a new problem. In Romania, the caved-in well had made a crater 250 ft. wide and 65 ft. deep filled with small ground fires and a tangled web of melted pipeline. It took Kinley six months to lick the fire. American engineer Myron Kinley receive after the fire ended, a 50 thousands dollars, a fortune for that time. In September 1931 the Great Fire ended by itself but still wenton slowly untill 4th of November.
Historical photos of 160 RA eruption.
160 RA Moreni Sud site.
A crater is still visible even today
Carbonized ground in black and red.
Burned rocks and ground after exposure at high temperature for 850 days.
A crater still remains after more then 70 years.
The bell used to capture eruption