ABSTRACT
Fires in mines may be initiated either due to piloted inition i.e. ignition from an external source of energy, these are called exogenous fires; or from spontaneous heating phenomenon of the fuel/material concerned, commonly known as Endogenous Fires. Most of the incidences of fires in recent years in mines in US and UK are of exogenous origin. A sizeable number of exogenous fires originate from conveyor belts. Most of these belt fires are caused from frictional heating. The fire detecting sensors may be both audio-visual automatic warning system, indicating occurrence of a fire. The automatic fire extinguishing systems are automatic water sprinkler or deluge type with water discharge rate not less than 0.25 gals. Use of fire resistant hydraulic fluids in mining equipment are becoming popular in recent times.
