In the coldest place in the world, fire shouldn't burn naturally much due to the extremely low temperature. But that's what happened in the Oymyakin area, Russia, where human settlements have the lowest temperatures.
The temperature there can drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius. That means, only 7.7 degrees higher than the lowest temperature ever recorded in a place where there are no humans.
Even though the air was so cold, there were fires burning underground, beneath the layers of ice. A phenomenon sometimes referred to as 'zombie fire'.
The sign can be seen from the smoke that comes out non-stop from under the snow, not far from Oymayakon and the nearby village, Khara Tumul. What is the cause?
The fire that burns under the snow is fueled by abundant methane and peat gas. So when it's summer and the snow melts, the fire can spread and become a threat.
Zombie fire is a rare phenomenon that occurs in countries with extreme cold weather such as Canada and Russia. Experts say zombie fires will appear more often because of climate change.
That's because when temperatures rise due to global warming, the layer of permafrost melts and releases gases trapped in the ice so that the potential for fires to burn is even greater.
Recently, the forest fires in Yakutia where there is the Oymyakon area are getting worse. Such fires can burn peat that will continue to smolder for years, even under snow.
Zombie fire in the coldest place in the world is not a rare thing. "Such zombie fires are not very rare. I know there is a zombie fire burning for several years not far from here," said Semyon Sivtsev, a local resident.