Swedish Firefighters Battle Tons Of Molten Sugar

An industrial fire in Sweden has resulted in thousands of tons of burning sugar spilling out into the countryside like lava, and the disaster is causing unforeseen problems for firefighters.

According to The Local, the blaze started three days ago at a Nordic Sugar factory in Sweden. The melted sugar stored in the facility has spilled out of the factory, and firefighters are working to keep the flow of the molten sugar contained. The company says it has been trying to remove as much of the unburned sugar from the factory as possible, but nearly 42,000 tons of sugar have already been lost.

"It's like lava," said emergency services spokesman Bert Åkerberg. "It's a very tricky situation, and we're also trying to save another sugar storage facility that has 15,000 tonnes. We reckon it could take five days to move it."

Firefighters have been building levees and small reservoirs to try to stem the flow of the molten sugar.

Åkerberg said the blaze was mostly contained and he did not think it was likely to take the second storage facility any time soon. He said the rivers of molten sugar were by far the most problematic part of the disaster.

"We're making reservoirs that the sugar can trickle into," he said. "We don't want it affecting the environment further.