Firefighters from the KWWK (Kuwait Wild Well Killers) attempt to kill an oil fire in the Rumaila field by guiding a "stinger" that will pump drilling mud into the damaged well. A "stinger" is a tapered pipe on the end of a long steel boom controlled by a bulldozer. Drilling mud, under high pressure, is pumped through the stinger into the well, stopping the flow of oil and gas. A sudden wind shift after a sandstorm caused the oil to blow back on the workers and equipment, causing a very dangerous situation because the oil and gas could have easily ignited. The Rumaila field is one of Iraq's biggest oil fields with five billion barrels in reserve. Many of the wells are 10,000 feet deep and produce huge volumes of oil and gas under tremendous pressure, which makes capping them very difficult and dangerous. This well is of relatively low volume. Rumaila is also spelled Rumeilah. .
