Rural fire teams baffled by rare burning lake
Firefighters in far western New South Wales are frustrated by a bizarre blaze that has been burning on and off for weeks under a dry lake.
About two months ago crews were called out to Lake Woytchugga, about five to 10 kilometres west of Wilcannia.
Chris Favelle, who manages the Rural Fire Service's far west team, said the sight that greeted them was certainly curious.
"We just got a call to the lake and sent our brigade as we normally do and I think they were fairly perturbed to find that it appeared that the lake edge was on fire," he said.
Firefighters have tried digging up the hot ground and flooding it, but the smoke keeps coming back.
They suspect it could be being fuelled by ancient organic matter that just keeps smouldering...
