New Delhi: A field in Scotland’s Ayrshire is burning, with red-hot cavities on the ground showing a lava-like substance flowing underneath. A video shared on social media says local residents are worried and have been urged to stay away from the area.
Tom Paton, a local resident, took to Facebook to share details from Patna, East Ayrshire, along with a video and a couple of photographs that show the molten rock through a patch of charred grass. He called it the “burning field” and urged the authorities to intervene to avert any fatalities.
Though temperatures in the region have dropped to sub-zero levels, fumes continue to rise through cracks in the earth, suggesting that burning, molten rocks are present under the field now surrounded by charred rocks.
“It's concerning for wildlife and for people who go up there with their dogs because if you don't already know it's there then it isn't too obvious to see,” Paton was quoted as saying in a report by The Herald.
He also said the smell coming from the field is quite potent, though the actual hole in the ground is “well hidden until you're right on it”.
A report in The Sun, however, said “the site hasn't been cordoned off”, and that the phenomenon could have been “caused by a fire in a disused coal mine which has been burning for years”.
In his Facebook post, Paton said this has “been like this for at atleast three years” but nothing much has been done to extinguish the fire. Posting the details on January 17, he called for “media attention” so a fatality could be averted.
Paton said in his post the Scottish Coal Board had fenced the area with just two pieces of wire, which he said was not enough to prevent casualties.
Quoting a spokesperson for the local authority, The Sun reported that the East Ayrshire Council had ensured appropriate safety measures, including fencing around the area, but “unfortunately that has since been removed by unknown parties”.