The Ugly Face of Antarctica

All my posts till date have described the beautiful face of Antarctica, nature and the pleasant experiences we have had here. But things are not as rosy and as easy. This is the most remote and inhospitable place on earth. Life here is a daily struggle. When things go wrong, one does not have access to help from outside. The team members themselves have to handle the situation to the best of their capabilities or perish. This post is about the most dreaded and omnipresent threat in Antarctica- fire.

In the extremely dry, oxygen rich atmosphere here, fire can only be prevented and not put out. Even the most advanced fire fighting equipments will prove insufficient because by the time one gets to the fire, it would be a roaring inferno and cause destruction in quick time. The extremely windy conditions aid the spread of fire.

A cruel reminder of this was served to us a few days back when we received news that a fire had broken out at Progress- the Russian Antarctic Station at Larsemann Hills, close to the site of the proposed 2nd Indian Antarctic Station. The entire double storey living block was burnt down, leading to the loss on one life and 2 casualties. I am not aware of the cause of fire, but it could not be controlled in time and spread very fast. Their communication facilities were also destroyed in the fire. Hence they are totally cut off from the world. Personnel from the nearby Chinese Station, Zhongshan helped out the Russians. Since the flights have not yet resumed, the injured personnel cannot be evacuated nor can the dead person’s body be taken back till November. Special flights are being planned for evacuation. Had such a thing happened in the beginning of winters, they would have been stuck up for 6 months. This mishap has left everyone at Maitri in a state of shock as this can very well happen here.

It because of this omnipresent danger that most modern stations consist of blocks widely separated from each other. This prevents the entire station from getting burnt down in case of fire. The Progress station also probably consists of blocks. Hence their food and medical equipment were spared.