MINOS Project and Baltimore the new Centralia
“Aging infrastructure”. Gas. Underground fire. History. Collapse. Expense. Danger. Perfect confluence of revelatory forces. Interesting to see what bubbles and boils up.
This is total speculation – an interesting alternative to the mainstream story. No “proof”, just evaluation of the interesting coincidences amongst evidence.
PROJECT MINOS is run by Fermilab and Brookhaven Natl Labs as part of their “ion gun” weapons research…MINOS is an energy beam weapon (DEW) that can fire through solid material without requiring a LASER-bored superheated tunnel. Is it conceivable that there is more at play, increasingly, in the ‘underground fires’ than merely age and chance.
Mysterious underground fires since 1922. Eight in past decade or so. Getting worse.
BG&E utility. Underground right-of-way. Terra-cotta pipes. Over 700 miles.
HOWEVER, Terra-cotta does not burn. So the basis of the entire story is total baloney. Are these phyres being allowed to happen or even caused (with the caused phyres hiding amidst the chaos).
Georgetown Washington DC similar issues recently.
Transcript
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0:05
BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL IS SET TO
0:06
HAVE A MEETING TOMORROW ON
0:09
UNDERGROUND INFRASTRUCTURE
0:09
SAFETY. THE AGENDA SAYS IT'S TO
0:11
DISCUSS THE CITY'S UNDERGROUND
0:13
CONDUIT SYSTEM IN RESPONSE TO
0:15
RECENT UNDERGROUND FIRES. MANY
0:16
IN THE PUBLIC ARE WONDERING WHY
0:18
THESE FIRES KEEP HAPPENING, AND
0:19
WHO WILL PREVENT THEM FROM
0:20
STARTING. REPORTER HAYES GARDNER
0:22
FROM OUR MEDIA PARTNER, THE
0:23
BALTIMORE BANNER, JOINS US IN
0:24
STUDIO. HAYES, THANKS SO MUCH
0:26
FOR BEING HERE. GREAT REPORTING.
0:27
WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT IN THE
0:28
BREAK. I THINK THE MOST LOGICAL
0:30
QUESTION IS, AS YOU REPORT,
0:32
THESE FIRES HAVE BEEN HAPPENING
0:33
FOR A CENTURY. I THINK 1922 YOU.
0:35
>> SAID THAT'S CORRECT.
0:35
>> WAS THE FIRST TIME WHICH
0:37
FASCINATED ME. BUT THE PACE OF
0:40
THESE, THESE THINGS HAPPENING
0:40
SEEM TO BE PICKING UP. AND WHAT
0:43
IS THE CITY AND BGE BLAMING THIS
0:45
ON?
0:45
>> SURE. SO THANKS FOR HAVING
0:46
ME. THERE'S BEEN EIGHT OF THESE
0:49
FIRES THAT HAVE EXPLODED A
0:51
MANHOLE IN THE LAST COUPLE OF
0:52
YEARS, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY A
0:53
PROBLEM, AND IT'S NOT QUITE
0:55
OBVIOUS WHAT HAS CAUSED THIS.
0:57
THE MOST RECENT ONE, I SHOULD
0:58
SAY, THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ONE
1:00
LAST YEAR ON CHARLES STREET, THE
1:03
SO BGE SAID THEY STRONGLY,
1:05
STRONGLY SUSPECT THAT TRENCHING
1:09
BY THE CITY NEARBY CAUSED THIS
1:09
OLD CONDUIT MADE A TERRACOTTA TO
1:11
COLLAPSE, WHICH THEN EVENTUALLY
1:13
CAUSED THE FIRE. THE CITY SAYS
1:14
THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED, SO
1:15
THEY OBVIOUSLY DISAGREE. THERE.
1:17
AND THE CITY HAS HIRED A THIRD
1:19
PARTY INVESTIGATOR TO DIG INTO
1:21
THAT. AND NOW THAT ANOTHER ONE
1:22
HAPPENED A COUPLE WEEKS AGO,
1:27
THAT CONSULTANTS ARE ALSO GOING
1:27
TO TRY TO INVESTIGATE WHAT
1:28
HAPPENED TO THIS PAST ONE. BUT
1:29
IT'S HARD TO SAY. AND IT'S
1:29
KIND OF A MESS.
1:30
>> YEAH. WELL, IT SEEMS LIKE A
1:30
BIG BLAME GAME GOING ON HERE
1:32
NOW. BALTIMORE OWNS THIS
1:33
CONDUIT. IT CHARGES TENANTS, BUT
1:35
RECENTLY, BGE AND THE CITY
1:37
REACHED A DEAL THAT GAVE MORE
1:39
RESPONSIBILITY TO BGE. TELL US
1:41
ABOUT THE DEAL AND HOW THIS IS
1:44
ACTUALLY IMPACTING THE
1:44
MAINTENANCE AND TRYING TO STOP
1:45
THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.
1:46
>> SURE. SO BGE, MANY YEARS AGO
1:49
TRIED TO BUY THE CONDUIT SYSTEM,
1:49
WHICH ISN'T RARE, AND OTHER
1:51
CITIES THE UTILITY OWNS THAT
1:54
THAT THAT CONDUIT. BUT THAT DEAL
1:55
DIDN'T DIDN'T WORK OUT. AND A
1:56
COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, THE CITY
1:58
MADE A NEW AGREEMENT WITH BGE.
2:03
THAT THE CITY KEPT OWNERSHIP OF
2:03
THE CONDUIT AND IS STILL IN
2:04
CHARGE OF MAINTENANCE. BUT BGE
2:05
NOW HAS A LARGER RESPONSIBILITY
2:07
FOR DOING MUCH OF THE CAPITAL
2:09
IMPROVEMENT. SO THERE'S KIND OF
2:11
A LIKE THEY'RE BOTH THEY'RE BOTH
2:13
EACH RESPONSIBLE FOR PARTS OF
2:15
THIS. IT'S A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
2:16
THE CITY STILL OWNS AND THE CITY
2:17
HAS SAID THAT THEY HAVE A BIG
2:20
RESPONSIBILITY TO PREVENT THESE
2:21
THINGS FROM HAPPENING, BUT THEY
2:23
ALSO ACKNOWLEDGE THERE ARE THESE
2:25
UTILITIES, INCLUDING
2:26
TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANIES,
2:27
PLUS BGE, THAT OPERATE IN THE
2:28
CONDUIT. AND THEY'RE ALSO
2:30
RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAFETY OF
2:31
THOSE CABLES.
2:32
>> YEAH. NOW THIS IS ALL A MESS.
2:33
QUICKLY, BEFORE WE GO. TO THE
2:35
INFRASTRUCTURE, AGE IS A NOTABLE
2:36
ISSUE. YOU REPORT THAT 80% IS
2:38
MADE OF TERRACOTTA OR ORANGE BUG
2:40
OR BIRD, AND MANY OF IT HAS
2:42
BEEN, AS YOU PUT IT, A BAND-AID
2:44
OVER THE YEARS. KIND OF LIKE
2:45
PUTTING THAT WE JUST TALKED
2:47
ABOUT A BAND-AID OVER A GASH.
2:49
EXPLAIN MORE OF THAT FOR OUR
2:49
VIEWERS.
2:51
>> SURE. SO IT'S DATES TO THE
2:52
1890s, EARLY 19th CENTURY. SO
2:53
IT'S A VERY OLD TERRACOTTA.
2:55
BACK THEN, THEY CONSIDERED
2:57
MAKING THE PIPES OUT OF TREATED
2:58
WOOD. SO THANKFULLY THEY PICKED
3:00
TERRACOTTA INSTEAD, I GUESS. BUT
3:01
IT'S SO OLD THAT IT'S NOT IN
3:03
GREAT SHAPE. AND WHEN THINGS GO
3:04
WRONG, THEY FIX IT AND THEY
3:05
UPDATE IT WITH PVC PIPE. A MORE
3:08
MODERN SOLUTION. BUT IT'S A
3:09
IT'S OVER 700 MILES. AND SO
3:11
WHEN IT'S FIXED IT'S IT'S
3:13
MODERNIZED. BUT A LOT OF IT IS
3:14
STILL OLD. AND THAT CAN PRESENT
3:16
PROBLEMS.
3:16
>> WELL, IT'S GOING TO MAKE FOR
3:17
QUITE THE MEETING TOMORROW.
3:18
HAYES GARDNER WITH THE BALTIMORE
3:19
BANNER. THANK YOU SO MUCH.
3:21
EXCELLENT REPORTING. ALL RIGHT.
3:22
WELL, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HIS
3:24
STORY AND THE OTHER INDEPENDENT
Engineering firm to determine cause 23 Jul 2025
34 fires in past ten years, with 5x-10x spikes in 2018 and 2024.
