You may not want to light a match near the Condamine River in Queensland, Australia or you might catch fire.
Jeremy Buckingham, an Australian MP for the Green Party, uploaded a video to his Facebook page showing him on a boat in the middle of the river, lighting the surface of the water on fire as what appears to be methane gas bubbles up from the depths.
The exact moment Buckingham lights his lighter above a gas seep, a section of river immediately caught on fire forcing Buckingham to jump to the other side of the boat – while using an appropriate expletive anyone would use if a wall of flames was about to engulf you.
“Unbelievable, a river on fire,” said Buckingham wide eyed.
In the video, Buckingham blames nearby coal seam gas (CSG) fracking for the phenomenon and warns against expanding fracking in other parts of Australia.
“This is the future of Australia if we do not stop the frackers who want to spread across all states and territories and do this to your community, to your environment,” said Buckingham.
According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation News, the methane gas seeps were discovered in 2012.
A 2013 scientific analysis investigation by Norwest Corporation was launched after the discovery and the report concluded that there were several possible reasons why methane gas seeps formed in the river.
Natural events like droughts and flooding could cause these gas bubbles to form but the report also indicated fracking and water bore drilling are also possible culprits.
Origin Energy, the company using CSG fracking nearby the river, says they are monitoring the methane seeps but that they don’t pose any risk to the local environment or to public safety.
In a company statement they said “We understand that this can be worrying, however, the seeps pose no risk to the environment, or to public safety, providing people show common sense and act responsibly around them.”