The
Kuwaiti oil fires were caused by
Iraqi
military forces setting fire to a reported 605 to 732
oil wells along with an unspecified number of oil filled low-lying areas, such as oil lakes and fire
trenches, as part of a
scorched earth policy while retreating from
Kuwait in 1991 due to the advances of
Coalition military forces in the
Persian Gulf War. The fires were started in January and February 1991, and the first
well fires were extinguished in early April 1991, with the last well capped on November 6, 1991.