Why Is the Door to Hell Still Burning?
The short answer
It keeps burning because the ground keeps feeding it gas. Putting the fire out would let that gas escape raw. Over 20 years, raw methane heats the planet about 30 times more than the same methane burned. So letting it burn is the better of two bad options.
The Door to Hell is the Darvaza gas crater, a pit about 70 m (230 ft) across in the Karakum Desert of Turkmenistan. Satellite images show it has burned since early 1988.
Why putting it out is worse
The fire is fed from below. Gas rises into the crater from the rock underneath, possibly from several underground sources rather than one reservoir. Blow the flame out and the gas keeps coming.
That gas is mostly methane. Over 20 years, one kilogram of methane traps about 81 times as much heat as one kilogram of carbon dioxide. Burning the methane turns each kilogram into about 2.75 kg of carbon dioxide. Divide 81 by 2.75 and raw gas comes out about 30 times worse than burned gas. Over 100 years the gap is about 10 times.
Burning doesn't catch all of it. Satellites spotted 44 plumes of raw methane leaking from the crater between 2020 and 2025.
When it started
Nobody has found the paperwork. The story goes that Soviet drillers hit a gas pocket, the ground collapsed under the rig, and the gas was lit so it would burn itself out. The popular year is 1971. Turkmengaz, the state gas company, says 1963. A Landsat image shows the crater already open in October 1972.
The fire came later. Landsat shows the crater dark on 20 September 1987 and burning on 27 February 1988. The satellite heat images only go back to 1984, so an earlier fire that went out can't be ruled out. The Soviet Union ended in December 1991. The fire didn't.
Is it finally going out?
President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov ordered it gone in 2010 and again in 2022. In 2025 Turkmengaz said new wells near the crater were drawing off gas, and that the fire had shrunk to less than a third of its strength. A 2026 satellite study also sees the flames fading, slowly from around 2018 to 2019 and faster after summer 2023. But it found no clear link between the size of the fire and the methane leaking out. The wells may cut the gas that burns, but not the gas that leaks raw.
In its 2025 report, Turkmengaz said the flames could now be seen only close up. The latest records, from 2025, describe a fire that is smaller but still burning.
Key numbers
| What | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Width of the crater | about 70 m (230 ft) | EGU General Assembly 2025 abstract |
| Year the crater formed | 1963 or 1971, disputed | Valverde et al. 2026, Geophysical Research Letters |
| Date a Landsat image already shows the crater open | 25 October 1972 (Landsat 1) | Valverde et al. preprint, EarthArXiv 2026 |
| Last satellite image with no fire | 20 September 1987 | Valverde et al. preprint, EarthArXiv 2026 |
| First satellite image with fire | 27 February 1988 | Valverde et al. preprint, EarthArXiv 2026 |
| Heat trapped by 1 kg of methane compared with 1 kg of carbon dioxide, over 20 years | 81.2 times | IPCC AR6 WG1 Chapter 7 data |
| Raw gas compared with burned gas, over 20 years | about 30 times (81.2 ÷ 2.75) | Our arithmetic from IPCC AR6 WG1 Chapter 7 data |
| Raw gas compared with burned gas, over 100 years | about 10 times (27.9 ÷ 2.75) | Our arithmetic from IPCC AR6 WG1 Chapter 7 data |
| Raw methane plumes seen leaking from the crater, 2020 to 2025 | 44 | Valverde et al. 2026, Geophysical Research Letters |
| Second order to find a way to put it out | January 2022 | Turkmen oil and gas ministry, 2022 order |
| First person to explore the crater | George Kourounis, November 2013 | Guinness World Records |
| Drop in the fire's strength, as reported by Turkmengaz | more than 3 times | Turkmengaz at TESC 2025 |
What the film simplifies
- The film's "about thirty times" holds over 20 years, which the film shows only as text on screen. Over 100 years it is about 10 times, and the math assumes the gas burns completely, which at Darvaza much of it doesn't.
- In the film the engineer lights the gas right after the collapse. The 2026 satellite study says it was lit years later, and no record says how long anyone expected it to burn.
- The rig that falls in is Mash, the drilling rig from our long film about the deepest hole. The real rig and its fall are known only from the story, with no record from the time.
- Satellites first see fire in 1988, but their heat images only start in 1984, so an earlier fire that went out can't be ruled out.
- "Down to a third" is what officials say, and they credit the new wells. The 2026 satellite study sees the fire fading too, but found no clear link between the size of the fire and the methane that leaks.
- The Devil, his door, his lawn, the knock and the snowy ending are cartoon. State TV showed the president driving a rally car to the crater; the circles around the rim are drawn. No record says the fire has gone out.
At a glance
Runtime 1 minute 4 seconds · Topics: Methane, Greenhouse gases, Natural gas, Satellite imaging · Captions on YouTube · Full script below
Test yourself
Why would blowing out the fire make things worse for the climate?
Answer
The gas keeps rising from the ground, so it would escape raw. Over 20 years, raw methane heats the planet about 30 times more than the carbon dioxide made by burning it.
Over 20 years, 1 kg of methane traps about 81 times as much heat as 1 kg of carbon dioxide, and burning 1 kg of methane makes about 2.75 kg of carbon dioxide. About how many times worse is leaking the gas than burning it?
Answer
81 divided by 2.75 is about 29.5, so about 30 times worse.
The first satellite image with flames is from February 1988. Does that prove nobody lit the crater in 1971?
Answer
No. The satellite heat images only start in 1984, so a fire that burned and went out before then can't be ruled out. The images show only that no lasting fire was seen from 1984 until late 1987.
The script
The Devil: WHO LEFT THE DOOR OPEN?
Host: The Door to Hell. Burning for decades.
The Devil: I'm heating the whole desert!
Rocket: Close a door? Two weeks. Tops.
The Devil: That's what THEY said.
Host: The story goes: a Soviet rig fell in, and gas poured out.
Engineer: Light it! It'll burn itself out!
Host: Nobody can find the paperwork.
Host: The legend says 1971. Satellites first see fire in 1988.
Host: Then the Soviet Union ended.
The Devil: The fire didn't.
Rocket: Amateurs. Watch this.
The Devil: Genius. The fire's out. The gas isn't.
Host: It's plugged into the ground. And raw, that gas heats the planet about thirty times more than burned.
Rocket: So the fire is the GOOD option?
Host: The president ordered it gone. Twice.
Host: Rumors said he was dead. Then TV showed him rally driving right here.
The Devil: On my lawn!
Rocket: Respect.
Host: One guy in a silver suit rappelled down and knocked.
The Devil: I pretended I wasn't home. He took my bacteria.
Host: Officials say new wells steal the gas, and the fire's down to a third.
Rocket: Told you. Two weeks.
The Devil: Who closed the door?
Sources
- Darvaza formed in 1963 or 1971; Landsat dates the start of the fire to late 1987 or early 1988; 44 methane plumes detected from 2020 to 2025; a gradual decline in flaring with no clear link to methane emissions.Valverde et al. 2026, Geophysical Research Letters
- Crater open on 25 October 1972; last image without flaring 20 September 1987, first with flaring 27 February 1988; no thermal coverage before 1984; gas lit years after the collapse; gas primarily methane, possibly from multiple subsurface sources; decline began around 2018 to 2019 and sped up after summer 2023; wells may cut gas flared but not gas vented.Valverde et al. preprint, EarthArXiv 2026
- Methane GWP20 81.2 and GWP100 27.9.IPCC AR6 WG1 Chapter 7 data
- The crater measured approximately 70 m in diameter.EGU General Assembly 2025 abstract
- The story of the drilling rig going underground and the gas being lit, believing the fire would die down over time.Turkmen oil and gas ministry, 2022 story
- Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov instructed officials in January 2022 to find a way to extinguish the fire.Turkmen oil and gas ministry, 2022 order
- In 2010 the president visited the crater and ordered local authorities to look for ways to get rid of it.Reuters, 2010
- After rumors of his death, state TV in 2019 showed the president driving a rally car to the crater; the government said he was on vacation.Reuters via Euronews, 2019
- Kourounis descended on a rope in a heat reflective suit, collected samples and found bacteria; no old incident reports could be found; the common legend says 1971.National Geographic, 2014
- George Kourounis, November 2013, first person to explore the Darvaza crater, in an insulated aluminium suit and Kevlar harness.Guinness World Records
- New high flow wells near the crater; combustion intensity fell by more than 3 times; burning now noticed only in the immediate vicinity.Turkmengaz at TESC 2025
- Turkmengaz says the crater formed in a drilling accident and has been burning since 1963, and gas continues to feed it.Oil and Gas Turkmenistan, 2025
- The Soviet Union ended on 25 December 1991.US State Department, Office of the Historian