Mine fire
Encyclopedia
Smoulder
Smouldering is the slow, low-temperature, flameless form of combustion, sustained by the heat evolved when oxygen directly attacks the surface of a condensed-phase fuel...
ing of a coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
deposit, often in a coal mine. Such fires have economic, social and ecological impacts. They are often started by lightning, grass, or forest fires, and are particularly insidious because they continue to smoulder underground after surface fires have been extinguished, sometimes for many years, before flaring up and restarting forest and brush fires nearby. They propagate in a creeping fashion along mine shafts and cracks in geologic structures.
Coal fires are a serious problem because hazards to health and safety and the environment include toxic fumes, reigniting grass, brush, or forest fires, and subsidence of surface infrastructure such as roads, pipelines, electric lines, bridge supports, buildings and homes. Whether started by humans or by natural causes, coal seam fires continue to burn for decades or even centuries until either the fuel source is exhausted; a permanent groundwater table is encountered; the depth of the burn becomes greater than the ground’s capacity to subside and vent; or humans intervene. Because they burn underground, coal seam fires are extremely difficult and costly to extinguish, and are unlikely to be suppressed by rainfall. There are strong similarities between coal fires and peat fires.
Internationally, thousands of underground coal fires are burning now. The problem is most acute in industrializing, coal-rich nations such as China. Global coal fire emission are estimated to include 40 tons of mercury going into the atmosphere annually, and three percent of the world's annual CO2 emissions.
Origins
Coal seam fires can be divided into near-surface fires, in which seams extend to the surface and the oxygen required for their ignition comes from the atmosphere, and fires in deep underground mines, where the oxygen comes from the ventilation.Mine fires may begin as a result of an industrial accident, generally involving a gas explosion. Historically, some mine fires were started when bootleg mining
Bootleg mining
SpanBootleg mining is illegal coal mining.The term originated around the 1920s, though the practice probably predates that. Generally, a bootleg mine is a small mine dug by a handful of men. Often this took place surrepetitiously on land owned by somebody else, such as a coal company...
was stopped by authorities, usually by blowing the mine up. Many recent mine fires have started from people burning trash in a landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
that was in proximity to abandoned coal mines, including the much publicized Centralia, Pennsylvania
Centralia, Pennsylvania
Centralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005, 9 in 2007, and 10 in 2010, as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962...
, fire, which has been burning since 1962. Of the hundreds of mine fires in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
burning today, most are found in the state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Some fires along coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
seams are natural occurrences. Some coals may self-ignite
Spontaneous combustion
Spontaneous combustion is the self-ignition of a mass, for example, a pile of oily rags. Allegedly, humans can also ignite and burn without an obvious cause; this phenomenon is known as spontaneous human combustion....
at temperatures as low as 40 °C (104 °F) for brown coal in the right conditions of moisture and grain size. The fire usually begins a few decimeters inside the coal at a depth in which the permeability of the coal allows the inflow of air but in which the ventilation does not remove the heat which is generated.
Two basic factors determine whether spontaneous combustion occurs or not, the ambient temperature and the grain size:
- The higher the ambient temperature, the faster the oxidation reactions and the greater the heat release inside the grain.
- The larger the grain, the harder it is for the heat arising on the inside to be dissipated to the outside, i.e., the faster the spontaneous combustion. The poor heat loss is because the porous or crushed material usually has low thermal conductivityThermal conductivityIn physics, thermal conductivity, k, is the property of a material's ability to conduct heat. It appears primarily in Fourier's Law for heat conduction....
; it acts like insulation.
Wildfire
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s (lightning-caused or others) can ignite the coal closer to the surface or entrance, and the smoulder
Smoulder
Smouldering is the slow, low-temperature, flameless form of combustion, sustained by the heat evolved when oxygen directly attacks the surface of a condensed-phase fuel...
ing fire can spread through the seam, creating subsidence that may open further seams to oxygen and spawn future wildfires when the fire breaks to the surface. Prehistoric clinker
Clinker (waste)
Clinker is a general name given to waste from industrial processes — particularly those that involve smelting metals, burning fossil fuels and using a blacksmith's forge which will usually result in a large buildup of clinker around the tuyère...
outcrops in the American West are the result of prehistoric coal fires that left a residue that resists erosion better than the matrix, leaving butte
Butte
A butte is a conspicuous isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; it is smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landform tables. In some regions, such as the north central and northwestern United States, the word is used for any hill...
s and mesa
Mesa
A mesa or table mountain is an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape....
. It is estimated that Australia's Burning Mountain
Burning Mountain
Burning Mountain, the common name for Mount Wingen, is a hill near Wingen, New South Wales, Australia, approximately north of Sydney just off the New England Highway. It takes its name from a smouldering coal seam running underground through the sandstone...
, the oldest known coal fire, has burned for 6,000 years.
Globally, thousands of inextinguishable mine fires are burning, especially in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where poverty, lack of government regulations and runaway development combine to create an environmental disaster. Modern strip mining exposes smoldering coal seams to the air, revitalizing the flames.
Rural Chinese in coal-bearing regions often dig coal for household use, abandoning the pits when they become unworkably deep, leaving highly combustible coal dust
Coal dust
Coal dust is a fine powdered form of coal, which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal.-Explosions:...
exposed to the air. Using satellite imagery
Satellite imagery
Satellite imagery consists of photographs of Earth or other planets made by means of artificial satellites.- History :The first images from space were taken on sub-orbital flights. The U.S-launched V-2 flight on October 24, 1946 took one image every 1.5 seconds...
to map China's coal fires resulted in the discovery of many previously unknown fires. The oldest coal fire in China is in Baijigou and is said to have been burning since the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
(before 1912).
Detection
Before attempting to extinguish a near-surface coal seam fire, its location and underground extent should be determined as precisely as possible. Besides studying the geographic, geologic and infrastructural context, information can be gained from direct measurements. These include:- Temperature measurements of the land surface, in fissures and boreholes, for example using pyrometers
- Gas measurements to characterize the fire ventilation system (amount and velocity) and the gas composition, so that the combustion reactions can be described
- Geophysical measurements on the ground and from airplanes and helicopters to establish the extent of conductivity or other underground parameters. For example, conductivity measurements map humidity changes near the fire; measuring the magnetism can determine changes in the magnetic characteristics of the adjacent rock caused by heat
- Remote sensing from aircraft and satellites. High resolution optical mapping, thermal imaging and hyperspectral data play a role. Underground coal fires of several hundred to over a thousand degrees Celsius may raise the surface temperature by only a few degrees. This order of magnitude is similar to the temperature difference between the sunlit and shadowed slopes of a slag heap or sand dune. Infrared detecting equipment is able to track the fire's location as the fire heats the ground on all sides of it. However, remote sensing techniques are unable to distinguish individual fires burning near one another and often lead to undercounting of actual fires. They may also have some difficulties distinguishing coal seam fires from forest fires.
Underground coal mines can be equipped with permanently installed sensor systems. These relay pressure, temperature, airflow and gas composition measurements to the safety monitoring personnel, giving them early warning of any problems.
Environmental impact
Besides destruction of the affected areas, coal fires often emit toxic gases, including carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
, carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
, sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide
Sulfur dioxide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is released by volcanoes and in various industrial processes. Since coal and petroleum often contain sulfur compounds, their combustion generates sulfur dioxide unless the sulfur compounds are removed before burning the fuel...
and methane. China's coal fires, which consume an estimated 20 – 200 million tons of coal a year, make up as much as 1 percent of the global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel
Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
s.
One of the most visible changes will be the effect of subsidence upon the landscape. Another local environmental effect, can include the presence of plants or animals that are aided by the coal fire. The prevalence of otherwise non-native plants can depend upon the fire's duration and the size of the affected area. For example, near a coal fire in Germany, many Mediterranean insects and spiders were identified in a region with cold winters, and it is believed raised ground temperatures above the fires permitted their survival.
Extinguishing coal fires
In order to thrive, a fire requires fuel and oxygen. Firefighting involves finding an appropriate methodology which addresses the interaction of these two factors for the specific fire in question. A fire can be isolated from its fuel source, for example through firebreaks or fireproof barriers. Many fires, particularly those on steep slopes, can be completely excavated. In the case of near-surface coal seam fires, the influx of oxygen in the air can be interrupted by covering the area or installing gas-tight barriers. Another possibility is to hinder the outflow of combustion gases so that the fire is quenched by its own exhaust fumes. Energy can be removed by cooling, usually by injecting large amounts of water. However, if any remaining dry coal absorbs water, the resulting heat of absorption can lead to re-ignition of a once-quenched fire as the area dries. Accordingly, more energy must be removed than the fire generates. In practice these methods are combined, and each case depends on the resources available. This is especially true for water, for example in arid regions, and for covering material, such as loessLoess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
or clay, to prevent contact with the atmosphere.
Extinguishing underground coal fires, which sometimes exceed temperatures of 540°C (1,000°F), is both highly dangerous and very expensive.
Near-surface coal seam fires are routinely extinguished in China following a standard method basically consisting of the following phases:
- Smoothing the surface above the fire with heavy equipment to make it fit for traffic.
- Drilling holes in the fire zone about 20 m apart down to the source of the fire, following a regular grid.
- Injecting water or mud in the boreholes long term, usually 1 to 2 years.
- Covering the entire area with an impermeable layer about 1 m thick, e.g., of loessLoessLoess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
. - Planting vegetation to the extent the climate allows.
Efforts are underway to refine this method, for example with additives to the quenching water or with alternative extinguishing agents.
Underground coal seam fires are customarily quenched by inertization through mine rescue personnel. Toward this end the affected area is isolated by dam constructions in the galleries. Then an inert gas, usually nitrogen, is introduced for a period of time, usually making use of available pipelines.
In 2004, the Chinese government claimed success in extinguishing a mine fire at a colliery near Urumqi
Ürümqi
Ürümqi , formerly Tihwa , is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the northwest of the country....
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
province that had been burning since 1874. However, a March 2008 Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine article quotes researcher Steven Q. Andrews as saying, "I decided to go to see how it was extinguished, and flames were visible and the entire thing was still burning.... They said it was put out, and who is to say otherwise?"
A jet engine unit, known as Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy
Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy
The Górniczy Agregat Gaśniczy is a jet engine inertisation unit developed for use in mines, controlling and suppressing coal seam fires and neutralising firedamp situations. The unit was designed in Poland in the 1970s, its name roughly translates as "Mine Fire Suppression Apparatus"...
(GAG), was developed in Poland and successfully utilised for fighting coal fires and displacing firedamp
Firedamp
Firedamp is a flammable gas found in coal mines. It is the name given to a number of flammable gases, especially methane. It is particularly commonly found in areas where the coal is bituminous...
in mines.
Current research and new developments in extinguishing fires
Time magazine reported in July 2010 that less expensive alternatives for extinguishing coal seam fires were beginning to reach the market, including special heat-resistant grouts and a fire-smothering nitrogen foam, with other innovative solutions on the way.Australia
- Burning MountainBurning MountainBurning Mountain, the common name for Mount Wingen, is a hill near Wingen, New South Wales, Australia, approximately north of Sydney just off the New England Highway. It takes its name from a smouldering coal seam running underground through the sandstone...
- a naturally occurring, slow combusting underground coal seam - Morwell, VictoriaMorwell, Victoria-Transport:The main form of transport in Morwell is the automobile. The Princes Freeway now bypasses the town to the south while the old Princes Highway which once passed through east-west through its centre is now Princes Drive and Commercial Road. The highway connects Morwell with other...
- the Great Morwell open cut mine caught fire in March 1902 and burned for over a month. It was extinguished by breaching the nearby Morwell River with explosives to flood the mine. The fire was found to have been caused by sabotage from incendiary deviceIncendiary deviceIncendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....
s. - Hazelwood Power Station - a 2 km coal face in the Hazelwood open cut mine was set alight by a bushfire in October 2006.
Canada
- Elkford, British ColumbiaElkford, British ColumbiaElkford is a small community in southeast British Columbia. It is nestled within the majestic Rocky Mountain range. Elkford is located 32 km North of the junction at Sparwood, on provincial Highway 43....
- Merritt, British ColumbiaMerritt, British ColumbiaMerritt is a city in the Nicola Valley of the south-central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Situated at the confluence of the Nicola and Coldwater rivers, it is the first major community encountered after travelling along Phase One of the Coquihalla Highway and acts as the gateway to all...
- Carmacks, YukonCarmacks, Yukon-History:The community consists of the Village of Carmacks and the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation and was named after George Washington Carmack, who found coal near Tantalus Butte in 1893. Carmack built a trading post and traded with locals near the present site of Carmacks and also started a...
- Smoking HillsSmoking HillsThe Smoking Hills are located on the east coast of Cape Bathurst in Canada's Northwest Territories, next to the Arctic Ocean and a small group of lakes. The cliffs were named by explorer John Franklin, who discovered them on his 1826 expeditions...
, Northwest Territories
China
In China, the world’s largest coal producerCoal power in China
The People's Republic of China is the largest consumer of coal in the world, and is about to become the largest user of coal-derived electricity, generating 1.95 trillion kilowatt-hours per year, or 68.7% of its electricity from coal as of 2006...
with an annual output around 2.5 billion tons, coal fires are a serious problem. It has been estimated that some 10-200 million tons of coal uselessly burn annually, and that the same amount again is made inaccessible to mining. Coal fires extend over a belt across the entire north China
North China
thumb|250px|Northern [[People's Republic of China]] region.Northern China or North China is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain....
, whereby over one hundred major fire areas are listed, each of which contains many individual fire zones. They are concentrated in the provinces of Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
, Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
and Ningxia
Ningxia
Ningxia, formerly transliterated as Ningsia, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Located in Northwest China, on the Loess Plateau, the Yellow River flows through this vast area of land. The Great Wall of China runs along its northeastern boundary...
. Beside losses from burned and inaccessible coal, these fires contribute to air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
and considerably increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions and have thereby become a problem which has gained international attention. But at the same time, some of the most intensive fire fighting activities worldwide are being undertaken in China. New quenching methods are being developed in a coal fire research project as part of a Sino-German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
coal fire research initiative.
Germany
In Planitz, now a part of the city of ZwickauZwickau
Zwickau in Germany, former seat of the government of the south-western region of the Free State of Saxony, belongs to an industrial and economical core region. Nowadays it is the capital city of the district of Zwickau...
, a coal seam that had been burning since 1476 could only be quenched in 1860. In Dudweiler
Dudweiler
Dudweiler is a borough of Saarbrücken, on the Sulzbach creek. In 977, Dudweiler was first mentioned in official documents of German Emperor Otto II as the location of a chapel .Dudweiler received town privileges on 12 September 1962....
(Saarland) a coal seam fire ignited around 1668 and is still burning today. This so-called Burning Mountain ("Brennender Berg
Brennender Berg
The Brennender Berg is a natural monument located in a deep and narrow gorge between Dudweiler and Sulzbach-Neuweiler in Saarland, Germany...
") soon became a tourist attraction and was even visited by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
. Also well-known is the so-called Stinksteinwand (stinking stone wall) in Schwalbenthal on the eastern slope of the Hoher Meißner
Hoher Meißner
Hoher Meissner is a mountain massif with a height of 753.6 m and is located in the Meissner Kaufunger nature park in Hesse, Germany.-Geography:...
, where several seams caught fire centuries ago after lignite coal mining ceased; combustion gas continues to reach the surface today.
India
In India, as of 2010, 68 fires were burning beneath a 58 square miles (150.2 km²) region of the Jhairia coalfield near Dhanbad.This region has been hit by the unique phenomenon of mine fires which started in 1916 and is rapidly destroying the only source of prime coking coal in the country. http://www.agencevu.com/stories/index.php?id=90&p=30
Indonesia
Coal and peat fires in Indonesia are often ignited by forest firesnear outcrop deposits at the surface. It is difficult to determine when a forest fire is started by a coal seam fire, or vice versa, in the absence of eye witnesses. The most common cause of forest fires and haze in Indonesia is intentional burning of forest to clear land for plantation crops of pulp wood, rubber and palm oil.
No accurate count of coal seam fires has been completed in Indonesia. Only a minuscule fraction of the country has been surveyed for coal fires. The best data available come from a study based on systematic, on-the-ground observation. In 1998, a total of 125 coal fires were located and mapped within a 2-kilometer strip either side of a 100-kilometer stretch of road north of Balikpapan to Samarinda in East Kalimantan, using hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment. Extrapolating this data to areas on Kalimantan and Sumatera underlain by known coal deposits, it was estimated that more than 250,000 coal seam fires may have been burning in Indonesia in 1998.
Coal seam fires are ignited in Indonesia by land clearing practices which use fire, often starting forest fires. In 1982-83 one of the largest forest fires in this century raged for several months through an estimated 5 million hectares of Borneo's tropical rainforests. A fire season usually occurs every 3–5 years, when the climate in parts of Indonesia becomes exceptionally dry from June to November due to the El Nino Southern Oscillation off the west coast of South America half a world away. Since 1982, fire has been a recurring feature on the Islands of Borneo and Sumatera, burning large areas in 1987, 1991, 1994, 1997–98, 2001 and 2004.
In October 2004 smoke from land clearing again covered substantial portions of Borneo and Sumatra, disrupting air travel, increasing hospital admissions, and extending to portions of Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia. Coal outcrops are so common in Indonesia it is virtually certain these fires ignited new coal seam fires.
New Zealand
- Burnett's Face, West CoastWest Coast, New ZealandThe West Coast is one of the administrative regions of New Zealand, located on the west coast of the South Island, and is one of the more remote and most sparsely populated areas of the country. It is made up of three districts: Buller, Grey and Westland...
- Strongman MineStrongman MineThe Strongman Mine was an underground coal mine north of Greymouth on the West Coast of New Zealand from 1938 to 2003.On 19 January 1967 a gas explosion in the mine killed 19 miners....
, West Coast - Wangaloa, OtagoOtagoOtago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
- Pike River MinePike River mineThe Pike River Mine is a coal mine operated by Pike River Coal north-northeast of Greymouth in the West Coast Region of New Zealand's South Island....
, West Coast - Millerton area, Stockton Mine, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand
Norway
In 1944 LongyearbyenLongyearbyen
Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard, Norway. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen...
Mine #2 on Svalbard
Svalbard
Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic, constituting the northernmost part of Norway. It is located north of mainland Europe, midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. The group of islands range from 74° to 81° north latitude , and from 10° to 35° east longitude. Spitsbergen is the...
was set alight by sailors from the Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
on its final sortie outside of Norwegian coastal waters. The mine continued to burn for 20 years, while some of the areas were subsequently mined from the reconstructed Mine #2b.
South Africa
- Transvaal and Delagoa Bay Collieries near Emalahleni (formerly known as WitbankWitbankWitbank , also known as eMalahleni is a city situated on the Highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa, within the eMalahleni Local Municipality. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for White Ridge and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wagon transport drivers rested...
), MpumalangaMpumalangaMpumalanga , is a province of South Africa. The name means east or literally "the place where the sun rises" in Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, north of KwaZulu-Natal and bordering Swaziland and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area...
has been burning since the mine was abandoned in 1953.
United States
Many coalfields in the USA are subject to spontaneous ignition. The federal Office of Surface MiningOffice of Surface Mining
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior...
(OSM) maintains a database (AMLIS), which in 1999 listed 150 fire zones. In mid-2010, according to OSM, more than 100 fires were burning beneath nine states, most of them in Colorado, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Utah and West Virginia. But geologists say many fires go unreported, so that the actual number of them is nearer to 200, across 21 states.
In Pennsylvania, 45 fire zones are known, the most famous being the fire in the Centralia
Centralia, Pennsylvania
Centralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005, 9 in 2007, and 10 in 2010, as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962...
mine in the hard coal region of Columbia County, which has been burning since 1962.
In Colorado, coal fires have arisen as a consequence of fluctuations in the groundwater level, which can increase the temperature of the coal up to 300°C, enough to cause it to spontaneously ignite.
The Powder River Basin
Powder River Basin
The Powder River Basin is a geologic region in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its coal deposits. The region supplies about 40 percent of coal in the United States. It is both a topographic drainage and geologic structural basin...
in Wyoming and Montana contains some 800 billion tons of brown coal, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Lewis and Clark Expedition
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, or ″Corps of Discovery Expedition" was the first transcontinental expedition to the Pacific Coast by the United States. Commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson and led by two Virginia-born veterans of Indian wars in the Ohio Valley, Meriwether Lewis and William...
(1804 to 1806) reported fires there. Fires have been a natural occurrence in this area for about three million years and have shaped the landscape. For example, an area about 4,000 square kilometers in size is covered with coal clinker, some of it in Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a United States National Park comprising three geographically separated areas of badlands in western North Dakota. The park was named for U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, in honor of his achievements in conservation as president and for the landscape's...
, where there is a spectacular view of fiery red coal clinker from Scoria Point.
- Laurel Run, PennsylvaniaLaurel Run, PennsylvaniaLaurel Run is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 723 at the 2000 census.Laurel Run is the site of a mine fire which started in 1915...
- New Castle, ColoradoNew Castle, ColoradoThe Town of New Castle is a Home Rule Municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,984 at the 2000 census.New Castle is the site of a mine fire that has been burning since 1899.-Geography:...
- New Straitsville, OhioNew Straitsville, OhioNew Straitsville is a village in Perry County, Ohio, United States. The population was 774 at the 2000 census.-History:New Straitsville was originally founded in 1870 as a coal mining town by the New Straitsville Mining Company. The town grew quickly and by 1880 the population was over 4000 people...
- San Toy, OhioSan Toy, OhioSan Toy is a ghost town in northeastern Monroe Township, Perry County, Ohio, United States. A flourishing community in the early 20th century, it was a mining town created by the Sunday Creek Coal Company.-History:...
- Sego, UtahSego, UtahSego is a ghost town in Grand County, Utah, United States. It lies in the narrow, winding Sego Canyon, in the Book Cliffs some north of Thompson Springs. Formerly an important eastern Utah coal mining town, Sego was inhabited about 1910–1955...
- Vanderbilt, PennsylvaniaVanderbilt, PennsylvaniaVanderbilt is a borough in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 553 at the 2000 census. The town is named for the railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt...
- Centralia, PennsylvaniaCentralia, PennsylvaniaCentralia is a borough and ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005, 9 in 2007, and 10 in 2010, as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962...
(Started by garbage fire in an abandoned mine shaft.)
See also
- DarvazaDarvazaDerweze is a Turkmenistan village of about 350 inhabitants, located in the middle of the Karakum desert, about 260 km north from Ashgabat....
(also known as "Gates of Hell"), a location in Turkmenistan with a burning natural gas deposit - Nothing but Trouble, 1991 cult film that takes place near a mine fire; partially influenced by the Centralia, Pennsylvania, mine fire
- Silent HillSilent Hill (film)Silent Hill is a 2006 horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary. The story is an adaptation of the Silent Hill series of survival horror video games created by Konami. The film, particularly its emotional, religious and aesthetic content as well as its creature design,...
, 2006 film that takes place in a town affected by a mine fire (based on a video gameSilent Hill (video game)Silent Hill is a survival horror video game for the PlayStation and the first installment in the Silent Hill series. Published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo group, the game was released in North America in January 1999, and in Japan and Europe later...
of the same name) - Underground coal gasificationUnderground Coal GasificationUnderground coal gasification is an industrial process, which converts coal into product gas. UCG is an in-situ gasification process carried out in non-mined coal seams using injection of oxidants, and bringing the product gas to surface through production wells drilled from the surface. The...
External links
- Encyclopedia of Earth: Coal fires
- Encyclopedia of Earth: Coalfire and remote sensing
- "Coal fires - A natural or man made hazard?" (site about coal mine fires from Anupma Prakash, of the Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks)