The Gulf War began on January 15, 1991 and ended on February 23, 1991. As Iraqi troops retreated from Kuwait, they left a horrendous legacy - they ignited 696 oil wells. Of these, 607 wells were left burning.

An estimated 5,000,000 barrels of crude oil burned daily. At its worst, the wells were emitting about 5,000 tons of smoke daily in a plume 800 miles long.

Over 10,000 non-military personnel from 40 countries and all continents except Antarctica supported the 200 firefighters who came from 10 countries including Canada, China, Great Britain, France, Hungary, Iran, Kuwait, Romania, the Soviet Union and the United States.

The firefighters used over 125,000 tons of equipment and supplies including 3,000 pieces of operating equipment (bulldozers, cranes, front-end loaders and light support vehicles).

About 90 miles (145 km) of existing oil pipelines were converted to move sea water from the Arabian Gulf to 312 lagoons constructed to help the firefighting effort.

Many methods were used to quell the blazes. Some teams used conventional oil-fire extinguishing techniques. The Americans used dynamite to blow out the fires. The Hungarian team recycled a Russian T34 tank to create a spectacular prototype called "Big Wind." They removed the gun turret and replaced it with jet engines from MIG-21 fighter planes. They injected water into the jet stream to blow the fires out.

The firefighting costs were estimated at $1.5 billion which was borne by the State of Kuwait.