Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC

Sounds.

Hello and thank you for downloading the podcast of Witness History from the BBC World Service with me Simon Watts.

Today I'm taking you back 30 years to one of the biggest man-made environmental disasters of all time.

The man responsible was the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who ordered his army to set fire to the oil wells in Kuwait after he was

defeated in the first Gulf War. About 25% of the Kuwaiti oil fields are covered by

black smoke. Other facilities being system of the of a scorched earth policy by the Iraqi forces.

In all, the Iraqis sabotaged about 700 wells, causing billions of dollars of financial and environmental damage.

A change in the wind brought the smoke from the fires over Kuwait City on Tuesday,

bringing darkness followed by torrential rain.

In the north of the country the deluge reduced visibility

to about 10 yards with burning oil wells shooting vast columns of flame across

the desert in the rainy gloom. The rains flooded the streets of Kuwait City.

It was the latest in a series of strange storms here.

To tackle the disaster, the Emir of Kuwait

hired the best firefighters in the world, including the legendary

Texan Red Adair.

...