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Being from West Virginia and having worked in the coal mines I have a little knowledge about mine fires. Fires are rare. The usual result is explosions of the methane gas in the mines. The mines have large ventilation fans to remove the gas and to provide a safe working environment (in a coal mine? ha!). The miners have a 5 to 15 rule. Keep the methane content out of the 5 to 15% range and it will not explode, but only burn. (The correct range is 5.13 to 14.97%, but 5 to 15 is easier to remember). I was in a small mine explosion and that is one of the reasons why I am not a coal mole. The secret to extinguish a fire is to deprive it of oxygen. The ventilation fans are shut off and the portals are sealed. It usually will be a year before the mine is reentered. Temperature monitors tell you how things are going in the mine. The problems come from mines that are near other mines. The mining activity can cause fractures to connect the mines and permit oxygen to enter. Also using the long wall mining method, wherein all coal pillars are removed and the mine is allowed to collapse as you mine in a retreating fashion. The collapse of the mine naturally fractures the overburdon and air can enter to feed a fire. As a sideline the longwall mehod can cause your house to turn into a split lever over night if it is above the mining operation. Mines in Applachia have an underground water problem. Large pumps are required to remove the mine water. Shutting down the pumps will permit the mine to fill up with water and eventually drown the fire. Remember the dozen or so miners who were trapped in a mine in Pennsylvania where, due to a surveying error cut into an abandoned mine that was full of water. Fortunately they were all rescued. I digress. Bottom line: Mine (or tunnel) fires are hard to extinguish and will take a considerable time before it can be reentered. Everything possible is done in the mining industry to prevent underground fires, but as the saying goes, S - - - Happens.
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