Crews reduce area of fire at Washington County mine
EIGHTY-FOUR – A fire that initially encompassed at least 200 feet of the beltline at CONSOL’s Mine 84 in Washington County has been reduced to an area about 80 to 100 feet long. CONSOL’s public relations manager, Sandra Tolliver, said Thursday that mine-rescue crews fighting the fire have made progress.
“We have the fire area knocked back to 100 feet in length, or maybe 80 feet,” Tolliver said. “It’s a slow, steady progress. We want to make sure it is done meticulously.”
The mine fire was discovered Monday around 9:30 a.m. in the mineshaft containing the conveyer belt that carries the mined coal to the surface. About 100 miners at work at the time were evacuated safely from the mine, with no injuries and no extraordinary means needed.
Initially, about 400 of the mine’s 494 employees were laid off, but most are now back on the job, Tolliver said.
“They are doing support work, delivering supplies setting up the pipelines. We’re glad to have them here,” Tolliver said.
The state Department of Environmental Protection estimated that more than a million gallons of water were poured on the fire within the first 48 hours of the firefighting operation. Crews set up stationary spray units on one side of the fire while the mine rescue units fought it from the other side.
For a period of time Wednesday, water from a nearby stream was poured onto the fire from a 660-foot hole bored into the shaft. That process was stopped when the firefighting crews reached the bore hole location. A second hole closer to the center of the fire is being drilled. Most of the water being used to fight the fire is from the company’s metered line from the Pennsylvania-American Water Company.
“Situations like this come up from time to time because we are most often the source of water when people are fighting a major fire,” said Mary Ann Kelly of Pennsylvania-American. “This isn’t anything out of the ordinary for us.
Kelly said the company gets its water from the Monongahela River, so there is no problem with the increased need.
“We knew about the fire and we’d been in touch with 84 Mining officials to determine how we could best help,” Kelly said.
This is the first fire at the Amwell Township mine since it opened in the 1930s. The site is located 660 feet underground just off Route 40, about 35 miles northwest of Uniontown.
Once the fire is extinguished, the mine will remain idle until the cause of the fire is determined and the section of the mine affected by the fire is rebuilt. Heat from the fire has caused bolts in the roof supports to warp and give way, said CONSOL Vice President Tom Hoffman. He said the rescue crews have been hampered in their progress because they need to rebuild the roof as they move forward.
The company is working with the DEP, the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the United Mine Workers of America in developing the plan to fight the fire.