The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1923-03-23
200 FIRES BURN
in COAL MEASURE
VAST COAL DEPOSITS SOUTH OF
MILES CITY ON FIRE FOR
HALF CENTURY
AS Fuel Burns Away Overlying Rock
Drops from 10 to IL Feet, Leaving
Deep Crevices; Blaze Breaks Out
to Surface in Places.

Two hundred fires, one of which
has been burning for more than a
half century, are eating their way
into the vast coal and Ignite beds
in southeastern Montana, accord
ing to Thomas Edison Smith, for
merly superintendent of the Bear
Creek coal mine and now commits
stoned by group of Miles City
men to examine and report upon
the coal resources of the Powder
river basin.
Smith declares that the largest Of
these fires is in great bed of coal
about seven miles northwest of Ash
land, in southeastern Rosebud coun-
ty. This fire, he reports, is burning
around three sides of tract one
half mile square, and the smoke,
steam, and heat waves arising from
the furnace beneath produce the eff
feet of burning cauldron in the
bowels of the earth.
''The origin of the fire was prob
ably spontaneous combustion" Mr..
Smith says. "The Ignite Goals ignite
easily, and this property is one of
the sources of danger in mines at
Sheridan, Wyoming. When fine coal
of this quality gets seven feet deep
or more it is apt to ignite, especially
If it is covered with snow. Along the
heads of rapidly cutting streams
where a thick bank of coal is expos
ed, the physical conditions are suit
able for the coal to ignite, especially
on the north and east side of the
gulches. 1t is found in nearly every
case that the coal is burned further
upstream, about one and half miles
on the north or east side of the
stream than on the other side"
The burning coal bed in the Ash
land district is sight worth travel
ing miles to see, declares Smith.
1.-THE coal bed which is on fire is ex-
posed in coulee nearby where it is
more than 20 feet thick. Where it is
burning the coal is nowhere under
less than los feet of cover and in one
place there is 165 feet of strata above
the burning coal. AS the fuel burns |
the everything rock falls down about
10 or IL feet, leaving great deep
crevices through which the hot rocks |
can be seen far below"
Mr.. Smith says he tossed sticks
down into some of these cracks and |
they caught fire almost instantly. |
These cracks remain in evidence for
years, and as they are about ten feet
apart and fairly straight, they give
the burned area the appearance of
field plowed with a gigantic pillow.
This particular bed, he adds, has been
burning, to the accurate knowledge
or residents, for more than fifty
years. "In the last AZ years the fire
has moved over a distance of a mile
and quarter. Since October, 1921,
the fire on the south side has moved
l64 feet, which is exceptionally ra-
p1d," declares Smith.
Commenting on this phase of the
situation, Mr.. Smith says: Gin the
past AZ years erosion of the burned
area has not progressed sufficiently
to expose the rocks beneath. AS much
of the burned area has the fused
rocks projecting above the surface, it
Is certain that they were burned ages
ago."
Reciting an experience, Mr.. Smith
says that nearby residents formerly
secured coal from bank on Cook
creek on Tongue river. A rancher one
day procured load of coal and left
his pick and shovel leaning against
he coal. When he returned several
lays later, the fire which had been
burning in behind the coal face bed
had broken through and burned the
handle out of his tools. THAT bed"
ne says, ''is no longer a source of
'uel and on cold days the steam aris-
ng from the fires below may be seen
Using above the ground"