Blaze puts future of deep mine on the line

Ninety two miners at Daw Mill colliery in Warwickshire were hauled to safety after the fire started on Friday afternoon.

Fourteen more miners, trained in firefighting, remained for three hours at the end of an 8km (5m) tunnel to battle the blaze, but were forced back by its severity.

Parent company Coalfield Resources has starved the fire of oxygen, but yesterday said the most severe coal mine fire for decades continues to burn about 540 metres underground.

The mine was already earmarked for closure and the company warned the blaze puts its future “seriously in doubt”.

Daw Mill employs 650 staff and Coalfield Resources said it would be three to six months before it could be re-opened.

The Doncaster-based company, previously called UK Coal, said it is business as normal at its other deep and surface mines, which include Kellingley in West Yorkshire.

“This fire is on a scale not seen for decades,” said Kevin McCullough, chief executive of subsidiary UK Coal. The company is working with the Department of Energy and Climate Change, and warned the blaze could threaten its viability.

Mr McCullough said: “Our other mines are economically viable but the company as a whole won’t be viable if the cost burden from a fire at Daw Mill has to be shouldered by the company alone.”