Old Kuhn mine causes Rt. 250 brush fire

By Kim Freda, WBOY-TV Assignment Editor

  

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's office of Abandoned Mine Lands and the federal Office of Surface Mining is investigating an underground coal mine fire that ignited a brush fire off of Route 250 in Marion County.

Flames were reported along the road Tuesday, Nov. 18, along with heavy smoke, according to Marion County 911. An engineer from the DEP's AML office met with the landowner and determined there was smoke but not an open flame from the mine. There is not an immediate threat of a ground collapse, although the AML will quickly address the fire to eliminate the smoke, said DEP Spokeswoman Kelley Gillenwater.

The smoke appears to be from the former Kuhn Mine which was operated by Virginia and Pittsburgh Coal and Coke and was mined prior to 1977 when the Federal Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was passed.

Preliminary estimates indicate the fire is at least 300 feet by 50 feet wide, Gillenwater said. While the exact depth is unknown, engineers estimate that the average is approximately 30 feet from the surface to the top of the coal seam, said Gillenwater.

The actual coal seam the fire is in could stretch for miles, Gillenwater said.  The AML engineer is working with an environmental consultant and property owner to determine the exact extent and location of the fire. Once that is determined, crews will have to access the coal seam where the fire is located, said Gillenwater. Crews would have to extinguish the fire, backfill the area and put in a clay seal on both sides to prevent oxygen from getting into the seam to fuel the fire, which could be burning in other areas of the seam.

The fire has likely been burning for years, Gillenwater said, although there is no way to know for sure. While other areas of the coal seam could be actively burning, the AML's focus is to identify the extent of the fire along U.S. Route 250 so smoke can be eliminated from the multiple homes and businesses in the area.