ABSTRACT
Fire risk of a seam would depend not only on its intrinsic spontaneous heating characteristics but also of the thickness of the seam and its inclination. Fractured and crushed barrier/gateroad or, parting may entail higher incidences of spontaneous fires than those with rocky and consolidated ones. Geologically disturbed coal seams with more cracks and cleats as well as seams with high friability, would favour spontaneous heating. Incidences of spontaneous heating are more common during depillaring than the developing period. Spontaneous fire risk can be reduced to a great extent if the voids created from extraction are filled up with complete stowing. Spontaneous fire risks are aggravated by greater coal loss and accumulation of powdered coal due to method of mining and/or seam characteristics, and poor housekeeping/maintenance.
