INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES FOR MINE FIRE PREPAREDNESS 

N IOSH - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory 

Michael J. Brnich 

Ronald S. Conti 

Launa G. Mallett 

Charles Vaught 

William J. Wiehagen 

Cyprus Twentymile Coal Company 

R. Lincoln Derick 
Presenter Bio 

Charles Vaught, Ph.D. 

Dr. Vaught was one of three directors of a multi-year U.S. Bureau of Mines project 

concerned with the development and field testing of short, valid simulations that 

teach and assess coal miners' grasp of critical health and safety skills. He has also 

served as the Principal Investigator on a series of projects intended to yield a 

general model of response activities in mine fires. This ongoing research is leading 

to the development of materials that can be used by mine safety trainers and others 

to prepare miners to cope effectively with such emergencies. 

Dr. Vaught, a former underground coal miner, is an MSHA approved instructor who 

also holds the OSHA 501 trainer certification. He has a B.A. from Kentucky 

Wesleyan College, an M.A. from Western Kentucky University and a Ph.D. in the 

sociology of organizations from the University of Kentucky. His memberships include 

the American Sociological Association, the National Mine Rescue Association 

(Associate), the Southern Sociological Society and the United States Mine Rescue 

Association. 
***INTRODUCTION 

During the past 15 years the number of reportable mine fires has declined. A 

decline in the number of reportable fires is a gross indicator that allows experts to 

say something about the underground coal industry generally: There has been some 

improvement in overall mine fire preparedness. However, such an indicator is less 

reliable as a predictor of readiness at any particular operation. An indication of fire 

fighting preparedness would have to be assessed from evidence gathered at the 

mine site. In other words, there are two levels from which to view the problem. On 

a general level, there has been significant improvement in the industry's fire 

response capabilities over the past two decades. Specifically, however, little data 

has been gathered on a site-by-site basis to determine what improvements might be 

made on a local level. These improvements would move beyond regulatory 

compliance. It is expected that this manuscript, based on work conducted at an 

underground coal mine in the western United States, will help to focus attention on 

some central concerns involving this critical issue. 

***BAC KGROU ND 

Industry efforts to provide better fire protection has undoubtedly played a part in 

the trend toward fewer reportable fires. Each incident that occurs now, however, 

may be dealt with by a group of individuals with little prior experience in dealing with 

fire. It beconies critical to first understand their capabilities and then to enhance 

them where necessary. 

The first aspect of an enhanced fire response capability involves hardware. Since 

timeliness is key to a successful first response, strict attention must be paid to the 

selection of appropriate sensors, depending upon where they are to be located 

underground. It is likely that more than one type could be utilized. Additionally, an 

operation should have a preventive maintenance schedule in place to insure that all 

detection and suppression devices work properly. Moreover, since early detection 

is of little value unless a quick response is mobilized, a mine ought to have an 

established warning and communication protocol that has been tested and refined 

as needed. 

Because water is the most practical extinguishing agent once a fire has passed 

its incipient phase, a well prepared operation will have adequate quantities and 

pressure as well as the means to deliver it to a fire site. Such a system, realistically, 

would include such items as large diameter supply lines, portable fire hydrants and 

high pressure hoses with suitable nozzles. Rather than the minimum 50 gallons per 

minute, this system should be capable of delivering hundreds of gallons per minute 

for sustained periods of time. The implication here is that some thought must be 

given to water reserves. 

Insofar as the task of detecting and extinguishing a fire may require the 

involvement of a complex system, current work at the Pittsburgh Research 
Laboratory is aimed at developing and testing formal fire preparedness audits. The 

chief advantage of such a strategy, using a carefully defined and preset protocol, is 

that any strengths and weaknesses of a site could be highlighted in some systematic 

way. In addition, there would be less chance that problem areas might go 

undiscovered and hence uncorrected. 

"The best facilities and equipment can never compensate for poor preparation" 

(Mitchell, 1990). There probably is no primary difference, during the incipient phase, 

between most fires that go unreported and one that results in a mine being sealed. 

It is simply that the latter either wasn't detected quickly enough or wasn't responded 

to properly. In order to achieve enhanced mine fire preparedness, mining companies 

will need to sharpen their strategy vis a vis available technology and equipment while 

investing increased time and effort in their human resources. If this is done, the 

number of reportable incidents will likely decline even further and there should be 

even less chance of another disaster or permanent mine sealing. 

***STUDY SETTING AND COOPERATIVE WORK 

The cooperating mine uses continuous and longwall mining to extract the Wadge 

seam, a high-volatile C bituminous coal. The operation is a slope mine that utilizes 

diesel jeeps and trucks as the major mode of transportation. It has a work force of 

225 employees and mines 4,350,000 t per year. The mine experiences air slack, a 

process in which the coal disintegrates due to rapid changes in mine conditions (air 

movement and temperature changes). These rapid changes cause the surface 

moisture of the coal to evaporate more rapidly than the interior moisture 

replacement, causing the coal to fracture and disintegrate. As a result, the roof and 

ribs of the entire mine are wire nieshed and bolted. In addition to having the floors 

of all belt drive areas cemented, the roof and ribs in the main drive area are also 

gunnited, and washed down frequently. The mine's haulage system consists of 11 

km of 137 and 152 cm rubber belting. On longwall panels, ,the mine uses 3 entries 

and a bleeder system. CO sensors are used for fire monitoring. An automatic 

sprinkler system, with signal feeds back to a surface mine monitoring control room, 

is used for fire suppression at belt drives. The coal at this mine is susceptible to 

spontaneous combustion. 

The researchers and company management agreed to cooperate and collaborate 

on a project to enhance underground mine fire preparedness. The goal of this effort 

was to develop and evaluate innovative strategies to teach and measure important 

components of fire response readiness. The components include fire prevention, 

detection, warning alarm systems, suppression systems, fire fighting procedures and 

equipment, evacuation and escape. These elements are traditionally assessed in 

terms of compliance with federal and/or state mandatory safety regulations or 

guidelines imposed by other authorities (company safety policies, insurance 

company standards, etc.). This research effort moved well beyond such existing 

practices. For any mine site, the absence of violations does not necessarily imply 
the absence of risk, nor reduced risk. Furthermore, compliance with fire prevention 

and response regulations does little to insure the best and most cost-effective use 

of available technology in preventing, detecting, responding to, or escaping 

underground mine fires. 

This collaborative research sought to offer empirical insight to several important 

questions concerning fire preparedness. These questions are all aimed at either 

preventing fires from occurring, or preventing fires that do occur from causing 

disastrous consequences: (a) What does it mean to be "prepared" to respond to fire 

underground. How does one measure this response capability within the context of 

everyday work life? (b) What objective measures might be useful in an ongoing 

assessment of the technology in place to detect and respond to underground fires? 

This research effort involves a series of tasks that are being performed over a two 

and one-half year period. The outcomes of this work will offer greater perspective 

on the types of prudent business practices that can markedly and measurably 

enhance workers' readiness to respond effectively to incipient fires within 

underground coal mines. The goal is not to eliminate all fire risks. An essential 

element of this research is the concept of fire risk assessment, which combines 

aspects of hazard evaluation with frequency and severity analysis. Hazard 

evaluation involves identifying conditions, equipment and procedures which could 

cause a fire or contribute to a fire's growth and spread. Frequency and severity 

analysis entails estimating the likelihood of a fire occurring and the probable 

magnitude of resulting losses. Together, the activities produce cost-effective risk 

reduction strategies. 

Fire risk analysis and hazard evaluation: This task built upon field data collected 

by the Bureau of Mines at the cooperator's site over a two year period (1 992-94). 

The result of this task was a set of fire scenarios forming the basis of a fire risk 

assessment. During a risk assessment, hazards are evaluated in terms of the 

likelihood that a problem may occur and the damage it would cause if such an event 

did occur. Adequate mine fire preparedness requires considering all of the possible 

fires that could occur. Some fires, however, are more likely than others at a given 

mine and some would result in greater damage than would others. These differences 

are identified by conducting a risk analysis. The outcome of the analysis can be used 

to target resources at the types of fires that are most likely andlor most destructive. 

Fires which are very likely to happen and would do considerable damage to people 

and property should be targeted for immediate remediation and/or plans should be 

made for effective response if remediation isn't possible. Potential fires that are less 

likely or that would have less severe consequences are identified for attention after 

the more serious situations have been addressed. 

The people involved in this activity should be knowledgeable about the area of the 

mine that is being assessed. At the cooperating mine, fire brigade members are 

conducting a fire risk assessment of ,the entire property. Some examples of areas 
that have been selected for analysis include: a section, the main haulage areas, the 

underground shop area, and an outside fuel storage area. Large areas that were 

selected were subdivided into smaller parts and then later combined to yield overall 

results. One way the areas were chosen for inclusion was to ask the brigade 

menibers where they thought a fire would cause the most problems. They then 

conducted an analysis of each "problem" area they identified. Combining these 

results will provided information about the hazards in the larger area. 

All of the possible fire hazards that existed in the area selected for study were 

identified. This was accomplished by determining all of the sources of ignition in the 

study area. The attached form called "Potential Fires" helped organize the ignition 

sources. Across the top of the form are labels for general types of fire, such as 

electrical and frictional. Under each general label, raters listed all of the specific 

sources of ignition of this type that could be found in the geographic area being 

analyzed. For example, under the label electrical items such as power centers and 

fan motors were listed. Under frictional someone identified sources like belt rollers 

or the belt on a motor. The items were made as specific as possible. 

Potential Fires 

1. Mine Section or Area 

Planned 

2. Date 

While there might be many ways of assessing risk, recent literature suggests 

using the two concepts of probability of occurrence and severity of effects (DeVaul, 

1992; Hau, 1993). For each .fire hazard identified, a judgement needs to be made 

about the probability of a fire being caused by that ignition source and the severity 

of the consequences if such a fire did happen. The attached "Fire Hazard Risk 

SponCom Machinery Electrical Frictional Other 1. 
Matrix" was used to record a risk rating for each fire hazard in the terms high, 

medium, and low. To use the assessment several concepts must be understood: 

Hazard - any situation that has fire potential; probability - likelihood that the 

particular hazard will result in a fire at this location; Severity - an estimation of how 

serious the potential problem might be in terms of harm to people andlor damage to 

property. 

It should be kept in mind that secondary incidents can occur as a result of the 

initial incident. For example, a small fire on the surface at an underground coal mine 

may cause electric power interruption to one mine fan in a multiple fan ventilation 

system. This may, in turn, cause major changes in ventilation underground and 

result in accumulations of methane in areas of the mine where it commonly is not 

found. An explosion hazard would now exist. Secondary incidents were also 

considered during the rating process. 

Fire Hazard Risk Matrix 

1. Hazard: 

2. Potential Location(s): 

NOTES: 

RISK ANAL YSlS 

3. Mine Section or Area 

4. Date 

Probability 

HlGH 

MEDIUM 

LOW 

LOW 

Severity 

MEDIUM HIGH 
In summary, to assess risk, the fire brigade raters: a) identified a source of 

ignition; b) determined whether the probability was high, medium, or low that the 

source would1 actually cause a fire; and c) determined if the seriousness to life, 

property, and the environment of such a fire would be high, medium, or low. Using 

this model, those hazards deemed to have the greatest probability for occurring and 

the greatest severity to the operation were considered as highlhigh risk hazards. 

They would be the first priority for future training, mitigation, andlor response 

preparation efforts. 

One way the raters organized their findings was to first take all of the completed 

"Fire Hazard Risk Matrix" forms and order them from highlhigh risk to low/low risk. 

They then put the ordered forms in a notebook. As a hazard was addressed, the 

corresponding form would be moved to the back of the notebook and the focus then 

turned to the hazard on the next page. Once they have worked through the entire 

book, they will have addressed all of the identified hazards. 

Development and field test of a fire prevention checklist: The checklist 

encompasses conditions, procedures and equipment that have been frequently 

identified as having been the primary or contributing causes of underground coal 

mine fires. These include welding and cutting procedures and equipment, faulty 

electrical systems, spontaneous combustion, unsafe accumulations of combustibles, 

and improperly installed or inadequately maintained mechanical equipment 

(misaligned belts, faulty slippage and sequencing switches, stuck idlers, overheated 

compressors, diesel equipment, etc.). The table of contents is reproduced here, 

along with a sample of the questions asked about the first topic -- Water supply: 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Watersupply ............................................................... 3 

Hosesandnozzles .......................................................... 9 

Foam fire fighting equipment ................................................ 11 

Fireextinguishers .......................................................... 14 

Fire Carslhouseslsafety trailers ............................................... 18 

Detectionsystems ......................................................... 21 

Suppressionsystems ....................................................... 26 

Combustible materials ...................................................... 28 

Housekeeping ............................................................. 31 

Evacuationplans .......................................................... 32 

Responderstofire ......................................................... 32 

Firebrigades .............................................................. 34 

Minerescue ............................................................... 35 

Specialized equipment ...................................................... 36 

Appendix A.- Example 1 of a cuttinglwelding permit .............................. 38 

Appendix 6.- Example 2 of a cuttinglwelding permit.. ............................ 39 

Appendix C.- Example of a beltline inspection checklist .......................... 40 
Water Supply 

Is there a map of the water system? Yes - No -. 

Where is the location of the map? 

Who is the contact person?- 

When was the last time that the map was updated? - 

Availability of mine water supply: Unlimited supply - Reservoir - 

Other source - 

Approximate gallons: 

Do you have water cars? Yes - No - 

If yes, what is the total number of water cars 

Approximate gallons: 

Quality of underground water: Caustic Acidic PH level . 

Hardness mgAiter (200 is normal for drinking water) 

Total dissolved Solids (TDS) mg/liter. (higher than sea water) 

The fire prevention checklist also contains a number of tables, dealing with various 

hardware components. The tables are filled out by those performing the survey. A 

listing is provided below, along with the table dealing with conveyor belts: 

TABLES 

Main water lines ............................................... 5 

Branchwaterlines ............................................. 6 

FireNoules ................................................... 9 

Firehose .................................................... 10 

Throw distance - solid stream ................................... I1 

Type of fire fighting foam generators on site ....................... 12 

Foam concentrate ............................................. 13 

Fire extinguishers underground ................................. 15 

Fire extinguishers surface ...................................... 16 

Firesensors .................................................. 22 

Suppression systems .......................................... 26 

Waterlances ................................................. 26 

Conveyorbelt ................................................ 29 

Combustible materials stored or used underground ................. 30 
Belts 

If you utilize conveyor belting, please complete the following table on conveyor 

belt. 

The task of risk assessment is an on-going activity. Any time the work 

environment changes personnel at the cooperating site plans to ensure the risk 

assessment will be updated and the priorities re-evaluated. 

CONVEYOR BELT 

Using the development and testing of this site-specific information system as a 

base, researchers are generating a set of procedures and guidelines for teaching 

and measuring fire preparedness within the underground work force (the idea of "fire 

preparedness" includes components involving prevention, detection, suppression, 

evacuation and escape). These procedures and guidelines will include the following: 

(a) A set of mine emergency (fire preparedness) training protocols applicable for new 

hires. This instructional plan would include descriptions (a set of activities) and 

schedules for introducing new miners to fire prevention, detection, suppression and 

evacuation systems. The period for these performance based, activity oriented, 

training procedures is within the first two to three years of underground employment. 

(b) A set of mine emergency (fire preparedness) testing protocols applicable for 

experienced miners. 

LOCATION 

BELT CHARACTERISTICS 

TYPE WIDTH, 

INCHES 

THICKNESS, 

INCHES 

MSHA 

NUMBER 

LENGTH, 

MILES 
Peripheral to this effort, a set of practical questions and applied problems will also 

be developed. The purpose is to periodically check and refresh miners' knowledge 

and skills of site specific fire emergency protocols, fire suppression technologies, 

and fire warning systems. These situational questions and problems might be used 

by face bosses, safety representatives, mine management, or government 

inspectors for teaching and reinforcing fire prevention and suppression 

concepts/values within the work force. Any risk assessment will be most useful to 

mine personnel if ,they never consider it finished. Instead, it should always be thought 

of as a draft document that needs to be up-dated as things change. 

1. DeVaul, R. E. (1992). "Emergency Response Plan Formulation and 

Implementation." Proceedings: Twenty-Third Annual Institute on Mininq Health, 

Safety and Research, pp. 67-74. 

2. Hau, M. L. (1 993). "Coordinating Your Facility's Emergency Response." M. L. 

Hau & Assoc., Inc., Port Clinton, OH, 17 pp. 

3. Mitchell, D. W. Mine Fires: Prevention, Detection, Fighting. Maclean Hunter, 

Chicago, IL, 1990, 198 pp.