Norway goat cheese fire closes tunnelAbout 27 tonnes of caramelised brown goat cheese -- a delicacy known as Brunost -- caught light as it was being driven through the Brattli Tunnel at Tysfjord, northern Norway, last week.
The fire raged for five days and smouldering toxic gases were slowing the recovery operation, officials said.
The tunnel -- which is said to be badly damaged -- is likely to remain closed for several weeks, they added.
"We can't go in until it's safe," geologist Viggo Aronsen told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.
Between this incident and the 1999 Mont Blanc Tunnel fire (started by a truck carrying flour and margarine), all comestibles are starting to look combustible!
All comestibles are combustable, that's why we eat them. They oxidize readily and so are easy for us oxygen-breathers to extract energy from.
I knew that cheese as gjetost (pronounces something like "gay toast") when I visited Norway in the 70s. And yes, it sometimes produces smouldering toxic gases when oxidized.
When it's made with cow milk only it's Brunost (Norwegian for Whey Cheese), when it's made with both cow and goat's milk it's Gejtost ("YAY toast"). It's pretty tasty cheese.
"It's pretty tasty cheese."
I believe you misspelled "nasty".
I wouldn't call it either. The Brunost I was served in the Jotunheimen wasn't sharp enough to be "nasty", but the taste was strange enough that I wouldn't exactly call it "tasty". Something like an off-kilter Monterrey Jack.
The tunnels in Norway are incredible. They go on for miles and miles, all over the damn country. I'd like to know how many billions of their oil money they've spent on tunnels.
It's a slightly freaky experience to drive at highway speed for 20+ minutes underground, dimly aware there are huge mountains over you.
Yeah. Especially if you're on a bicycle. :-D
GOAT cheeSE tunnel fire.
You really had to get both hands on the story to make that stretch of a reference.
The Norwegian media hasn't mentioned this at all. Even after it became known to the population through Facebook, they've pretended this didn't happen. Goat cheese fire was an inside job!