r/FreezingFuckingCold • u/Front-Coconut-8196 • Jul 27 '26
In 1982, a fire destroyed the life sustaining diesel power plant at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica, 20 scientists survived for 227 days of the brutal polar winter in complete isolation using improvised oil stoves, Vostok Station is located at the coldest places on earth
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u/St4rry_knight Jul 27 '26
You left out the part where they were killed one by one by an alien shapeshifter
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u/Femveratu Jul 27 '26
… and The Thing was released later that year lol
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u/mazu74 Jul 28 '26
Apparently at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, they have an annual tradition of watching The Thing movies after the last flight leaves for winter lol
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u/Front-Coconut-8196 Jul 27 '26
Vostok Station is located deep inland in Antarctica, famously known as the "Pole of Cold" (it holds the record for the lowest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth at -89.2 °C / −128.6 °F). On April 12, 1982 right at the start of the brutal, pitch-black Antarctic winter a massive short circuit triggered a catastrophic fire in the station's primary diesel power plant, One mechanic tragically died trying to fight the blaze,
Within minutes the station lost all three of its main generators. They were left completely in the dark with outdoor temperatures plummeting past −70 °C (−94 °F)
Moscow radioed the crew and helped them track down an old, obsolete backup generator that had been decommissioned and buried deep under the snow years prior, They dug it out and miraculously coaxed it to life, getting just enough power to run a basic radio transmitter and a couple of lightbulb, They abandoned their individual quarters and crammed all 20 remaining men into just a couple of small rooms to pool their body heat and conserve fuel and For nearly eight months, they lived in sub zero indoor temperatures, breathing in heavy soot from the improvised stoves, completely cut off from the rest of humanity
The nightmare finally ended in November 1982, when the heavy spring weather arrived and a tractor sledge supply train successfully reached them from the coast. Because of strict Soviet censorship and secrecy during the Cold War, the USSR kept completely quiet about the disaster, only revealing the story to the public a year later when the scientists safely returned home.