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Did you know that the Storm King Mountain Fire was caused by a Mine Fire?
Many people are not aware that the Stom King Mountain fire was caused by a "Mine Fire". While this type of fire is not common, and requires your local geology to include mines... having a game plan and the awareness of this type of fire may prove helpful, depending on where your jurisdiction is located.
Fires are burning within underground coal seams around the world, sending tons of soot, toxic vapors and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, polluting ground water and leading to mine subsidence as the coal is consumed. In the United States a fire in an underground coal seam in Colorado sparked a blaze that scorched more than 12,000 acres of forest, destroyed two dozen homes, and threatened the resort town of Glenwood Springs. The underground coal seam that ignited the fire has been burning for about 100 years - it was also responsible for the infamous 1994 Storm King Mountain fire that killed 14 firefighters.
Many mine fires are started by people burning trash where the coal seam or an abandoned coal mine is close to the surface. The fire spreads into the remaining coal pillars and tunnels and draws air down from the mine shafts and surface subsidence depressions to keep it burning. Smoke and noxious fumes such as carbon monoxide are released to the atmosphere through tension separations that develop within the ground surface, killing vegetation and creating serious health hazards. As the coal left from the past mining operations burns, the mine void can collapse, damaging building and streets above.
According to the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM), Abandoned Mine Land Inventory System (AMLIS), in 2005 there were 141 underground mine fires in 11 states (OSMRE.gov, 2005). This is considered to be an underestimate for the actual number of fires nationwide.
Within the OSM Appalachian Regional Office, the Division of Federal Reclamation Program addresses mine fire and coal refuse fire related emergencies within the states of Michigan, Maryland, and Georgia and within the Commonwealths of Kentucky and Pennsylvania. These projects range from burning coal refuse piles that threaten to ignite forest fires to underground mines fires that can burn beneath buildings, roadways and grounds releasing deadly gases and leading to mine subsidence. Abatement methods range from complete excavation and quenching with water (where practicable and affordable) to the use of specialty foaming cements and fire fighting foams that are injected into the fire through boreholes drilled from the ground surface. The intent of the injection is to isolate the fire with a barrier of foaming cement followed by the extinguishment of the fire by using a fire fighting foam. Other techniques that may be used include the use of liquid nitrogen to extinguish the fire by the rapid removal of heat.
Eastern Kentucky Mine Fire. The smoke is coming from underground haulage ways, exposed by surface mining. (source, Geology of Coal Fires: Case Studies from Around the World, The Geological Society of America.
Road Subsidence and venting of mine fire in Centralia, PA source(http://www.myspace.com/centralia_mine_fire)
Centralia warning sign (source: http://forgottenpa.blogspot.com/2007/08/centralia-71407.html)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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I'd heard of Centralia before, but not the Storm King Mountain fire. It still amazes me that these fires have been burning for so long.
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Permalink Reply by Aaron Mandel on
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Actually your wronge. I'm a wildland firefighter in colorado and have met Eric Hipke (last man over the ridge) and John McLean (author of fire on the Mnt.) and the fire was caused by a lightning. There is a fire that is still burning near there but it is the coal seam fire ( have worked on it when it flared up in 07) but this is a different fire. If you would like to learn more about this fire let me know.
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Permalink Reply by Rachel on
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I read the book Fire on the Mountain. It opened my eyes to a fire I had never heard of. I was not even born when this happened. I beleive it was started by the lightning. The coal seem may have fueled the fire, but lightning was the original cause.
By the way,Mike-did you get the idea from my blog? Just wondering!
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Permalink Reply by 10ym4ugkyzp4d on
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First, it was not the Storm King Montain Fire it was the South Canyon Fire, it burned Storm King Mountain. Second, it was caused by dry lighting.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Howard on
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As mentioned above, the South Canyon fire was caused by lightening. It burned for almost a week before significant resources were available as the western slope of Colorado was experiencing a number of fires at the same time and resources were pretty stretched (including a fire that was burning homes over near Paonia,) The firefighters died on a shoulder of Storm King Mountain.
In 2002, the Coal Seam Fire started across the river from the area burned in the South Canyon Fire. Ironic but the Coal Seam fire actually started in South Canyon. The South Canyon fire got its name from the name of the exit on I-70 where the initial Responders accessed the fire.
I recall that the Coal Seam Fire was actually bigger than the South Canyon fire. When it blew across the interstate, it burned the area adjacent to the South Canyon fire burn area and destroyed a number of homes in Glenwood Springs. It finally lost steam up on the flat tops above Glenwood. There have been numerous attempts to try and extinguish the coal seam without any luck so far.
As is typically the case in Colorado, a short wind event (less than a day) with very dry fuels and steep terrain caused the blow up. Without the high winds, both may have been minor fires.
I worked both fires. Lots of lessons learned between the first one and the second one.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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Actually, I read about it in a geology article in conjunction with volunteer work with a loacal college geology department.
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Permalink Reply by Dennis chaney on
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I am a firefighter and lived within miles of this fire when it happened. You are correct, it was caused by lightning. The Coal Seam fire happened a few years after Storm King.
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