A fire that has broken out in a Warwickshire coal mine could burn for months, according to reports.
UK Coal revealed Monday that a fire had broken out at a depth of 540m in the Daw Mill Colliery, which was already at risk of closure. Now the BBC is reporting that the fire could last for months. The coal mine’s future has been put at serious risk.
The fire broke out in the tailgate of a coal face around 8km from the bottom of the main shaft at around 15.30 on Friday. Ninety-two underground workers were safely evacuated, with a specialised team of 14 staying behind to fight the fire. They were also evacuated later in the evening, and operators then switched off ventilation to the mine in an attempt to starve the fire of oxygen.
In a press release, Kevin McCullough, chief executive for UK Coal, stressed how large a fire this was.
This fire is on a scale not seen for decades. I want to thank everyone in the mine that day for their professionalism and commitment.
From the mine workers that fought the fire initially to the mine management team that evacuated all workers safely — everyone played their part. The suddenness of the fire and its ferocity is something we train for and hope never to see, so the safe evacuation of over 100 miners is something the whole team can be proud of.
According to UK Coal, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has conducted regular inspections of the mine. The latest inspection took place just two days before the fire broke out. The HSE is already investigating the cause.
Carbon monoxide levels in the mine rose from 7 parts per million (ppm) to more than 10,000ppm in the four hours after the fire broke out. However, “there is no risk or impact from the incident to residents living close to the site,” UK Coal said.
Andre Mackintosh, a UK Coal representative, told the BBC:
When we go back in to inspect, as soon as you put ventilation back it’s like returning to a barbeque, the potential for it to reignite is quite huge. It could be a very long time till we can get in.
There is now the real prospect of losing at least 650 jobs at the Colliery. McCullough said this blaze is far worse than the last one on this scale in the UK, which happened 20 years ago at Grimethorpe Colliery and ultimately led to that mine’s closure.
The Grimethorpe Colliery’s brass band, the inspiration for the 1996 film Brassed Off, has continued playing since the fire that closed the pit.
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