Now anyone with a fondness for cheese knows that it can be somewhat, shall we say, binding. Well, I, for one, had no idea the Norwegians make a goat cheese capable of blocking a roadway tunnel… for six days.

The cheese in question, Brunost, is a Norwegian delicacy, made from the whey from making traditional goat cheese. It can contain up to 30% fat, plus milk sugars, and is described as being “slightly salty and surprisingly sweet,” according to the website Nordic Nibbler. It is also, apparently, quite flammable.

That’s right, flammable. When you are talking 27 metric tons of flaming Brunost 300 feet inside a roadway tunnel, well, um, anyone got any French bread and fondue forks?

The truck was in the tunnel when the driver realized the cargo had caught fire. He was forced to abandon it before reaching the end of the tunnel, and then the toxic fumes from the smoldering cheese kept firefighters from even attempting to put the fire out for several days.

“I didn’t know that brown cheese burns so well,” commented Kjell Bjoern Vinje, an official with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration.

The Remains of the Truck

Related articles

• Goat cheese lorry shuts down tunnel in Norway after catching fire (metro.co.uk)
• Truckload of goat cheese catches fire – burns for five days! (dvorak.org)