Coal seam fire near Fairmont shows no signs of going out
The incendiary simmering, instead, was coming from about 40 feet underground.
A coal seam fire that has plagued houses and businesses in the community of White Hall for nearly 10 years broke the surface again last week – with a cloud of blue smoke, flames that could be spied through a fissure and sulfur-tinged odor to the air.
The back corner of the parking lot of Winston's Wheels and Tires was hot to the touch as the subterranean fire continued to burn Thursday.
While the state Division of Environmental Protection is monitoring the fire, owners of the business, meanwhile, declined to comment upon the advice of their legal counsel.
The fire was believed to have originated in the former Kuhn Mine No. 1, according to DEP archives. The mine tapped into parts of the Pittsburgh coal seam, which lies beneath 53 counties in three Appalachian states.
DEP staffers were also present June 23 when the Pleasant Valley VFD answered the call.
Firefighters recorded a surface temperature of 700 degrees — hot enough to melt lead — the department said. The company sent 1,100 gallons of water through the fissure and covered the area with a cooling foam.
Smoke again became visible a half-hour later, the department said.
Underground fires are common in West Virginia and other coal-producing states
One such fire that sparked underground in Boulder County, Colo., was finally extinguished in January – after 100 years. Another fire in now-abandoned Centralia, Pa., has been burning since 1962.
A coal fire under the surface near Newburg in Preston County has been going since 2016.
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