An attempt to divert lava

[Bob Orts]

The situation in Iceland wouldn't work on the BI. They used water that was freezing to fracture the lava enabling it to penetrate deep into the flow, cooling it from bottom to top. Pouring plain seawater on the flow would just crust the surface creating lava tubes, which would speed the spread not stop, it. They wanted to keep the lava out of the harbor and were willing to sacrifice everything else, homes, roads, buildings, etc just so long as the harbor was saved.