Norway: Tunnel closed six days by ... cheese fire?

[Fairportfan]

Cheese fire causes traffic meltdown in Norway tunnel

A truckload of burning cheese has closed a road tunnel in Arctic Norway for the last six days.

Some 27 metric tons of flaming brown cheese (brunost), a Norwegian delicacy, blocked off a three-km (1.9 mile) tunnel near the northern coastal town of Narvik when it caught fire last Thursday. The fire was finally put out on Monday.

"This high concentration of fat and sugar is almost like petrol if it gets hot enough," said Viggo Berg, a policeman.

Brown cheese is made from whey, contains up to 30 percent fat and has a caramel taste.

"I didn't know that brown cheese burns so well," said Kjell Bjoern Vinje at the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

He added that in his 15 years in the administration, this was the first time cheese had caught fire on Norwegian roads.

Berg said that no one was injured in the fire, only one other vehicle was in the area at the time and that the accident had luckily happened close to one of the tunnel's exits.

The tunnel will closed for repairs for at least a week.

[Jabberwonky]

One can only pray that the other vehicle was loaded with tortilla chips...

[jwhouk]

Or crackers.

[Jabberwonky]

Big Ass (tm) canned hams...

[NOTDilbert]

Or rye toast with a side of gherkins - and one must crash a beer truck into the hot cheese in order to make proper Welsh Rarebit....

[Jabberwonky]

I'm glad it's almost lunch time.
I wonder whats on the menu...
Certainly something with cheese.

[DinkyInky]

Or crackers.

No, that would have been if it were a truckload of truckles of Wensleydale, Gromit.

[Fairportfan]

I wish i could afford Stilton.

[DinkyInky]

I wish i could afford Stilton.

No joke.

I do find it hilarious that Stilton can' t make it' s namesake cheese due to PDO, which is why Wensleydale Creamery is trying to get one, because currently anyone can make it, even if it is not using the same milk blends, etc.

Personally, having tasted both off- brand, and authentic Wensleydale, there are things I like about both. The true Wensleydale is sharp and honeyed, I can see it going well with a pie, and the fruits they used in the off- brands Autumn harvest made it a good pair with a textured whole grain cracker. I would LOVE to get the Wallace & Gromit labeled one for my wee one for kicks, but currently he is content to have good cheese. It' s the kind of stuff I don't mind "wasting" my money on, because quite frankly, his expression eating it while watching said flicks was too priceless.

[Fairportfan]

The two times i went to England for Fairport's Cropredy Festival (1990 and '92) the tour group i was with was booked into a London hotel for a couple days before heading to Oxford.

Every morning i left the hotel breakfast with a hunk of Stilton in one hand and an apple in the other, taking alternate bites...

[DinkyInky]

The two times i went to England for Fairport's Cropredy Festival (1990 and '92) the tour group i was with was booked into a London hotel for a couple days before heading to Oxford.

Every morning i left the hotel breakfast with a hunk of Stilton in one hand and an apple in the other, taking alternate bites...

I am thoroughly jealous now. I paid a fair penny recently for Autumn Harvest Wensleydale that I lucked out finding locally.

To have it in England? Heaven.

[scantrontb]

can you imagine the phone call to the insurance agent? ""um, yes I'd like to report a claim... yes my delivery truck caught fire, a total loss... no, the police report shows that it was not due to improper storage of any possible hazardous chemicals, there were none on board the truck... um, well cheese... yes... yes you heard me correctly, cheese... [sigh]... YES... it's That one you heard about on the telly... look, can you just stop laughing long enough to file my claim!? i need to get a new truck and, um, well... and some more cheese to finish my delivery quota...

[Mark N]

can you imagine the phone call to the insurance agent? ""um, yes I'd like to report a claim... yes my delivery truck caught fire, a total loss... no, the police report shows that it was not due to improper storage of any possible hazardous chemicals, there were none on board the truck... um, well cheese... yes... yes you heard me correctly, cheese... [sigh]... YES... it's That one you heard about on the telly... look, can you just stop laughing long enough to file my claim!? i need to get a new truck and, um, well... and some more cheese to finish my delivery quota...

It would be at that point that the owner of the truck would be thoroughly 'Cheesed Off'

(Drops a copy of Mystery Men in the pun jar)

[MerchManDan]

Oh gouda; here come the puns. Others may be fondue of all this cheez whiz-ardry, but I simply camembert it.

*drops a brick of white cheddar into the Pun Jar*

[Dave]

My friend, you clearly have a stiltoned sense of humor. You really should loosen up a bit, and I'm syr you would feel better. Pule yourself a beer, kick back and relax and enjoy the sights... Euryale and her sisters are due to arrive soon. Gorgons, oooh la!

[Fairportfan]

can you imagine the phone call to the insurance agent? ""um, yes I'd like to report a claim... yes my delivery truck caught fire, a total loss... no, the police report shows that it was not due to improper storage of any possible hazardous chemicals, there were none on board the truck... um, well cheese... yes... yes you heard me correctly, cheese... [sigh]... YES... it's That one you heard about on the telly... look, can you just stop laughing long enough to file my claim!? i need to get a new truck and, um, well... and some more cheese to finish my delivery quota...

Where's Bob Newhart when we need him?

[DinkyInky]

My friend, you clearly have a stiltoned sense of humor. You really should loosen up a bit, and I'm syr you would feel better. Pule yourself a beer, kick back and relax and enjoy the sights... Euryale and her sisters are due to arrive soon. Gorgons, oooh la!

Behold, the power of cheese.

*Puts in a copy of Rescue Rangers into the pun vault*

[alj_ws]

can you imagine the phone call to the insurance agent? ""um, yes I'd like to report a claim... yes my delivery truck caught fire, a total loss... no, the police report shows that it was not due to improper storage of any possible hazardous chemicals, there were none on board the truck... um, well cheese... yes... yes you heard me correctly, cheese... [sigh]... YES... it's That one you heard about on the telly... look, can you just stop laughing long enough to file my claim!? i need to get a new truck and, um, well... and some more cheese to finish my delivery quota...

There is also the question of smell.
I know from experience that a single loaf of hard cheese (munster) left in hot conditions can make a car unusable for a month and a lingering smell for a year.
The mind boggles on a full truckload which took fire. You probably need chemical warfare suit, including oxygen, to go in that tunnel.