The Hospital Hill Fire was a fire at an oil drilling rig that took place on 27 October 1908 at Hospital Hill, about half a mile from the town of Roma, Queensland, Australia. It took 45 days to put out the fire.
On 27 October 1908 oil exploration drilling continued at the Mineral Oil Company's No.2 bore.[1] Just after 9am, whilst drilling at a depth of 1,128 metres below ground, water started coming up from the borehead. The presence of bubbles in the water showed that gas was present. Within a few minutes, "there was a shattering roar and a terrible volume of gas burst from the hole; a dark vapour billowed around the spouting gas".[1]
There was immediate concern that the gas would ignite from the fire under the boiler which was about 20 yards away. Mr Taylor, the manager of the rig, refused to endanger the lives of his men by attempting to extinguish the fire and ordered his workers to retreat. Then at 9:15am the gas inevitably ignited into a huge column of flame. The explosion was described as being like "the discharge of a cannon" and could be heard in town (half-a-mile away).
Newspaper articles reported the fire to have been between 40–50 feet (12–15 metres) high. It generated so much heat it was impossible to stand within 200 feet (61 metres) of the flame. Grass in a paddock over 90 metres away was scorched. The expensive drilling equipment over the borehead was destroyed by the intense heat. The derrick "crumbled up like a piece of tissue paper" in the flames.
At night, the flames at the bore lit up the surrounding area, with the glow seen up to 60 kilometres away. In 2008 Roma Regional Council's Deputy Mayor, Councillor Tom Hartley reminisced that he remembered his grandfather saying you could read a newspaper at night from up to 6–7 miles away because of the gas fire on Hospital Hill.[2]
Although the fire at the borehead was not a direct threat to the town of Roma, there was a fear that a nearby gasometer, which stored the town's supply of gas, would ignite. When gasometers are full, excess gas must be allowed to escape as a safety measure. The Roma gasometer was full and the excess gas was venting only 250 feet from the fire. If the venting gas came into contact with the flames it would have ignited and caused the entire gasometer to explode. Decisive action was needed to avoid an explosion which would have caused inestimable damage the town. Roma's Mayor, Alderman Care, ordered that the excess gas from the gasometer be pumped into the town mains, and allowed to escape in Arthur Street.
The gas fire continued to burn for 45 days. The Brisbane Courier reported that the resumption of boring had begun on or about 15 December.[3] News of this sensation spread throughout Australia and caused a tourism boom in Roma, as people came far and wide to marvel at the fire, to see this "Wonderful Outburst of Nature".[4] One report states that visitors came from as far away as New Zealand. Roma Town Council asked the Railway Department to run special excursion trains. An article published in The Western Star suggests there was a bit of controversy, when over 250 people from Charleville (269 Kilometres W of Roma) wanted to purchase excursion tickets to Roma. Many thought the tickets would cost between 12 shillings and six pence to 15 shillings, but were "disappointed" to find out they were £1.
Extinguishingedit
There were several aborted attempts to extinguish the flames. Eventual success was thanks to Mr Schooley, Manager of the Intercolonial Boring Company. Mr Schooley designed a special iron hood, approximately 8 feet (2.4 metres) tall and 6 feet square (1.8 metres), with a tall chimney at the top and a pipe at the side both fitted with valves, and a flange around the bottom. The hood was built in Brisbane then transported to Roma. The hood was lifted over the bore head on cables then lowered into position. The flange was covered with dirt and rocks to prevent gas escaping and oxygen entering at the bottom of the hood. The valves in the chimney and pipe were then slowly closed, starving the fire of oxygen until it was extinguished. The whole operation took several hours and was conducted during a series of thunderstorms.
Galleryedit
Image of the fire that burnt for 45 days
Extinguishing the fire using "Mr Schooley's hood"
View of Roma taken from Hospital Hill, 1899
External linksedit
Referencesedit
^ abWatson, Les and Ellen (1965). . Roma: L. and E. Watson. p. 94. Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
^. Get Media. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
^"The Brisbane Courier. MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1908". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 14 December 1908. p. 4. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
^"The Brisbane Courier". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 3 November 1908. p. 4. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
Attributionedit
This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Roma's Towering Inferno (25 October 2012) by Myles Sinnamon published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence, accessed on 3 August 2017.
January 01, 1970
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The Hospital Hill Fire was a fire at an oil drilling rig that took place on 27 October 1908 at Hospital Hill about half a mile from the town of Roma Queensland Australia It took 45 days to put out the fire Contents 1 Events 2 Extinguishing 3 Gallery 4 External links 5 References 5 1 AttributionEvents editOn 27 October 1908 oil exploration drilling continued at the Mineral Oil Company s No 2 bore 1 Just after 9am whilst drilling at a depth of 1 128 metres below ground water started coming up from the borehead The presence of bubbles in the water showed that gas was present Within a few minutes there was a shattering roar and a terrible volume of gas burst from the hole a dark vapour billowed around the spouting gas 1 There was immediate concern that the gas would ignite from the fire under the boiler which was about 20 yards away Mr Taylor the manager of the rig refused to endanger the lives of his men by attempting to extinguish the fire and ordered his workers to retreat Then at 9 15am the gas inevitably ignited into a huge column of flame The explosion was described as being like the discharge of a cannon and could be heard in town half a mile away Newspaper articles reported the fire to have been between 40 50 feet 12 15 metres high It generated so much heat it was impossible to stand within 200 feet 61 metres of the flame Grass in a paddock over 90 metres away was scorched The expensive drilling equipment over the borehead was destroyed by the intense heat The derrick crumbled up like a piece of tissue paper in the flames At night the flames at the bore lit up the surrounding area with the glow seen up to 60 kilometres away In 2008 Roma Regional Council s Deputy Mayor Councillor Tom Hartley reminisced that he remembered his grandfather saying you could read a newspaper at night from up to 6 7 miles away because of the gas fire on Hospital Hill 2 Although the fire at the borehead was not a direct threat to the town of Roma there was a fear that a nearby gasometer which stored the town s supply of gas would ignite When gasometers are full excess gas must be allowed to escape as a safety measure The Roma gasometer was full and the excess gas was venting only 250 feet from the fire If the venting gas came into contact with the flames it would have ignited and caused the entire gasometer to explode Decisive action was needed to avoid an explosion which would have caused inestimable damage the town Roma s Mayor Alderman Care ordered that the excess gas from the gasometer be pumped into the town mains and allowed to escape in Arthur Street The gas fire continued to burn for 45 days The Brisbane Courier reported that the resumption of boring had begun on or about 15 December 3 News of this sensation spread throughout Australia and caused a tourism boom in Roma as people came far and wide to marvel at the fire to see this Wonderful Outburst of Nature 4 One report states that visitors came from as far away as New Zealand Roma Town Council asked the Railway Department to run special excursion trains An article published in The Western Star suggests there was a bit of controversy when over 250 people from Charleville 269 Kilometres W of Roma wanted to purchase excursion tickets to Roma Many thought the tickets would cost between 12 shillings and six pence to 15 shillings but were disappointed to find out they were 1 Extinguishing editThere were several aborted attempts to extinguish the flames Eventual success was thanks to Mr Schooley Manager of the Intercolonial Boring Company Mr Schooley designed a special iron hood approximately 8 feet 2 4 metres tall and 6 feet square 1 8 metres with a tall chimney at the top and a pipe at the side both fitted with valves and a flange around the bottom The hood was built in Brisbane then transported to Roma The hood was lifted over the bore head on cables then lowered into position The flange was covered with dirt and rocks to prevent gas escaping and oxygen entering at the bottom of the hood The valves in the chimney and pipe were then slowly closed starving the fire of oxygen until it was extinguished The whole operation took several hours and was conducted during a series of thunderstorms Gallery edit nbsp Image of the fire that burnt for 45 days nbsp Extinguishing the fire using Mr Schooley s hood nbsp View of Roma taken from Hospital Hill 1899External links editSantos Food and Fire Festival Roma WalksReferences edit a b Watson Les and Ellen 1965 The Roma story exciting story of a famous oil town Roma L and E Watson p 94 Archived from the original on 12 July 2010 Retrieved 4 January 2013 Get Farming Australia Food and Fire Fest Get Media Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 4 January 2013 The Brisbane Courier MONDAY DECEMBER 14 1908 The Brisbane Courier National Library of Australia 14 December 1908 p 4 Retrieved 4 January 2013 The Brisbane Courier The Brisbane Courier National Library of Australia 3 November 1908 p 4 Retrieved 4 January 2013 Attribution edit nbsp This Wikipedia article incorporates text from Roma s Towering Inferno 25 October 2012 by Myles Sinnamon published by the State Library of Queensland under CC BY licence accessed on 3 August 2017 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hospital Hill fire amp oldid 1216965103, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
