At least seven people were killed Monday morning after a “superfog” of smoke from south Louisiana marsh fires and dense fog caused multiple massive car crashes involving a total of 158 vehicles, authorities said.
Twenty-five people were injured and the number of fatalities may increase as first responders continue to clear the crash scenes and search for victims, Louisiana State Police said in a statement Monday evening.
Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a call for blood donors and asked for prayers “for those hurt and killed.”
Their slow organic decomposition process brings a kind of a non-efficient fuel. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peat Thus in swamps fire can linger for a very long time.
Peat has a high carbon content and can burn under low moisture conditions. Once ignited by the presence of a heat source (e.g., a wildfire penetrating the subsurface), it smoulders. These smouldering fires can burn undetected for very long periods of time (months, years, and even centuries) propagating in a creeping fashion through the underground peat layer.