In 1895, lightning ignited a West Virginia gas well; flames soared 200 feet as crowds watched

Lightning ignited a massive West Virginia gas well, sending flames 200 feet into the sky (Image Credit: West Virginia Explorer) In 1895, a lightning strike turned an already uncontrollable natural gas well in West Virginia into a spectacular column of fire. The Big Moses gas well, located along Indian Creek in Tyler County, had become famous after drillers searching for oil instead struck an enormous underground supply of natural gas. According to West Virginia Explorer, the well produced gas with such extraordinary pressure that efforts to contain it repeatedly failed. When lightning ignited the escaping gas on June 14, 1895, flames reportedly rose 150 to 200 feet into the air and attracted crowds from the surrounding countryside. However, historical newspaper accounts cited by various sources reveal an important detail often lost in later retellings: the lightning-triggered fire itself lasted only about two hours before the force of the escaping gas blew it out.A giant gas discoveryThe story of Big Moses began in 1894, during a major oil and gas boom in Tyler County. Drillers were searching for oil on the Moses Spencer farm near Sistersville when they struck the well on September...