4/14/2017 Victoria'scoalfireposesararechallengeforfirefighting

Academic rigour, journalistic air

Victorias coal re poses a rare challenge forreghting

February 28, 2014 6.14am AEDT

Author

David Cliff
Professor of Occupational Health and
Safety in Mining, The University of
Queensland

Fireghters battling the blaze at an open-cut coal mine in Victorias Latrobe Valley, with Hazelwood
power station in the background. AAP Image/Incident Control Centre Hazelwood

VictoriasHazelwoodcoalmineisstillburning,nearlythreeweeksafteritstartedfromagrassfire
duringseverefireconditions.Policearecurrentlyinvestigatingtheoriginalfireforarson.Meanwhile
healthconcernscontinueforfirefightersandresidentsinthenearbytownofMorwell,withairquality
verypoorduetoparticulatesproducedinthefire.

Althoughrare,coalfirescanburnfordecadesthoughtheHazelwoodfirewillprobablynotlastthat
long,especiallygiventhecurrentfirefightingeffort.(ThelatestCountryFireAuthorityupdatesare
here.)

Butwhatdoesthecurrentfiretellusaboutourpreparationforpotentialfuturefires?

Coalfires:rare,butdangerous

TheMorwellOpenCutMineisalargebrowncoalmine,closetohomesandtheHazelwoodpower
station(whichiswhythefireisbeingreferredtobytheCountryFireAuthorityandothersasthe
Hazelwoodfire).ThesefactorsmeanthattheHazelwoodfireposesathreattosafetyofthecommunity
andenergysupplies.

Itisrareforacoalminefiretoposesuchasignificantthreat.TheJhariacoalfireinIndiahasbeen
burningsinceatleast1916andhascausedserioushealthproblemsandsubsidenceinnearbyvillages
andslums.

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4/14/2017 Victoria'scoalfireposesararechallengeforfirefighting

Anotherfirein2006attheHazelwoodminedidcauselossofgeneratingcapacitytothenearbypower
station.

Theriskofafireinanopencutcoalminedependsonseveralfactors.

Fireiscausedbythecombinationofthreeelements:afuelthatcanburn,
anairsupply,andtheheatgeneratedbythecombustionprocess.Coalis,
ofcourse,thefuel,whiletheatmospheresuppliestheair,andanycoal
reactingwithairwillgenerateheat.

MostcoalminedinAustraliaisblackcoal,whichisgeologicallyolder
andmuchlessreactivethanbrowncoal.

IntheHazelwoodsituationthecoalfirewasstartedbythegrassfire.The
coalseamatthismineisveryclosetothesurface,sotheheatfromthe
grassfirewouldeasilytransfertothecoalseam.

Iftheseamisfracturedandporous,theairwouldgetintothecoaland
thecoalwouldquicklydryouttoapointwhereitwillreactwiththeair,
untilthecoaltemperaturecouldincreasetoflamepointandburn.The
thicknessofthecoalseamalsomeantthattherewasalargemassofcoal
availabletocombust.

ItisveryraretogetacoalfireofthescalefoundatMorwell.Mostopen
cutcoalfiresinAustraliahavebeencausedbyunusualcircumstance, Trying to quench the re still burning at Hazelwood open-cut
mine. AAP Image/Incident Control Centre Hazelwood
suchastheintersectionoftheopencutminewitholdundergroundcoal
mineroadways,whichfacilitateairpathsintothecoalseam.Atthese
mines,thefireiscontrolledthroughpreventionbyisolatingtheundergroundareas,coveringthe
exposedtunnelstopreventairgettinginandonlyexposingsmallamountsofcoalatatimefor
mining.

Fightingfirewithmorethanwater

Treatmentofafireatacoalminedependsuponthesizeandlocationofthefireandtheavailable
resources.Ifthefiresaresmalltheycanbequenchedwithwater,coveredinfoamandtheoffending
areadugoutandremoved.

Largeundergroundfiresareoftensealedinandtheareaisfilledwithinertgas.Ifpossible,andthe
topographyofthecoalseamsuitsit,theareamaybeflooded.

Opencutfiressimilarlydependuponsize,locationandaccess.

Oftenthefireconsistsofrelativelysmallamountsofsmoulderingcoalunderthesurface(suchas
BurningMountaininNewSouthWales,6,000yearsoldandconsideredtheoldestcoalfireinthe
world).Thiscanbetreatedbydrillingintotheareasandinjectingwithwater,foamsorotherwetting
andsuppressionagents.Theycanalsobetreatedbycompactingthesurfaceabovethecoalseamand
coveringthesurfacewithanimperviouslayertopreventairenteringtheseam.

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4/14/2017 Victoria'scoalfireposesararechallengeforfirefighting

WhyisMorwellsblazesohardtoputout?

LargescaleopencutfiressuchasatMorwellarefarmoredifficulttomanage.Thescaleofthefire
precludestheuseofmanyhightechsolutionsduetothelackofbulkmaterials.

Waterisusuallythefirstresorttoquenchtheactivefire.Additivescanbeusedinthewatertoenhance
itscapacitytoquenchthefire.

ThelocationofthefireatMorwellmakescloseaccessproblematicasthesmokeandfumesposea
significanthealthrisktothefirefighters(nottomentionotheremergencyworkerslikeparamedics,
alongwithlocalresidents).Thelogisticsofdealingwiththissizeoffirearequitestaggeringintermsof
people,machinery,waterandlengthoftime.

Thedangeristhatthevisiblefirewillbeextinguishedbuttheunderlyingcoalwillremainhot.Ifthis
isthecaseandaircangetintotheseam,thefirecanrekindle,days,monthsorevenyearsintothe
future.Thishasbeenobservedhereandoverseasonmanyoccasions.Browncoalhastobekeptmoist
topreventitspontaneouslycombusting.

Betterriskmanagement

Now,thereneedstobeareviewoffiremanagementplansattheHazelwoodmine.Clearlythemine
cantpreventarson,butitshouldbeabletopreventthecoalignitingandspreadingthroughthecoal
seam.

Wherethefireiscurrentlyburninghasnotbeenminedformanyyears.Theoretically,thiscouldhave
beenrehabilitatedandcapped,althoughthisisnotwithoutdifficulties.

Perhapsthesimplestsolutionistohavewatersuppliesintheabandonedareas.Whilewecant
controlwherethecoalisorwhatstartsafire,theminecanensureprecautionsareinplacetoprevent
futurefires.

Howdowestopthishappeningagain?

Itwouldbereasonableoftheregulatortoasktheminetodemonstratethatafirelikethecurrentone
cannotrecur.

Thepreviousfirein2006shouldhavetriggeredareviewofthesafetymanagementsystemin
accordancewiththerequirementsofAustralianStandardAS4804andtheOHSregulations.The
controlsbefore2006andimplementedasaresultofthateventareclearlynotadequate.

Adequatecontrolsmaywellbeveryexpensive.Considerationcouldbegiventoreshapingthebatters
andcappingwithaninertmaterialbeforerevegetationoccurs.

Controlsneedtobeeffective.Accesstothegrasslandcouldberestrictedwithbettersecurityand
inspections.Improvedfiredetectionsystemscouldbeinstalled,suchasareusedtodetectbushfires.
Improvedwaterreticulationsystemscouldbeinstalled.

Athoroughinvestigationshouldalsolookattheissueoftheinitialresponse.Whenwasthefirefirst
detected?Whatwastheearlyresponse?Whenwasitrealisedthattheminewasunderthreat?
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4/14/2017 Victoria'scoalfireposesararechallengeforfirefighting

Anyargumentaboutthecostofcontrolsmustrecognisethedirectandindirectcostsofthecurrent
incidenttoVictoriansandparticularlythelocalslivinginandaroundMorwell.

Fire Air pollution Latrobe Valley Hazelwood brown coal Health Morwell
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