WHITE HALL — A long-burning underground coal seam fire near Fairmont resurfaced last week, sending smoke and flames through a fissure in a White Hall parking lot and prompting a response from local firefighters.
The Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched June 23 to investigate smoke behind Winston’s Wheels and Tires, where crews discovered high surface temperatures and visible flames. The fire is believed to be connected to a coal seam fire that has smoldered underground for nearly a decade.
Firefighters recorded surface temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit — hot enough to melt lead — and pumped approximately 1,100 gallons of water into the fissure, followed by a layer of cooling foam, according to the department. Despite those efforts, smoke reappeared about 30 minutes later.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which responded alongside the fire department, confirmed the fire likely originated in the former Kuhn Mine No. 1. The now-defunct mine tapped into the extensive Pittsburgh coal seam, which stretches beneath 53 counties across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Underground coal fires are not uncommon in coal-producing regions such as West Virginia. A similar fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been burning since 1962. In Colorado, an underground fire in Boulder County was extinguished earlier this year after burning for nearly a century. Another fire in Preston County, West Virginia, near Newburg has been active since 2016.
State officials continue to monitor the situation in White Hall.
