An underground inferno is pumping out clouds of black smoke as Anglo American works to extinguish a fire at its Grosvenor Coal Mine in Central Queensland.
Emergency services are closely monitoring the wind direction and have issued a warning to people to stay indoors and keep windows and doors closed.
The mine is on the outskirts of the township of Moranbah, which has a population of about 9,500.
Queensland Mines Rescue Team members worked through the night pumping nitrogen into the mine in an effort to starve the fire of oxygen.
The truck-mounted GAG unit, which has a modified jet engine, is being used to inject nitrogen into the mine while other workers attempt to seal the shafts.
Anglo American has confirmed the fire broke out at its mine around 6am on Saturday when methane gas ignited on the longwall coalface.
All workers at the mine, about 190km south-west of Mackay, were safely evacuated.
It is the same mine where five workers suffered extensive burns after a methane explosion in May 2020.
Environmental experts brought in
Environmental health specialists are at the scene and data from air-quality monitoring sensors are being used to understand potential impacts on public health.
In an updated statement on Sunday afternoon, Anglo American said the smoke was expected to continue for a number of days.
“Work has started to temporarily seal the mine from the surface, which is a critical step in stopping the smoke,” the company said.
“We are actively managing and monitoring the smoke released from the mine’s ventilation shafts and appreciate it may be causing concerns for Moranbah residents.”
The company’s priority was to safely extinguish the underground fire, which emergency response teams were managing from the surface.
“Due to the highly complex and evolving nature of this event, this will take time as we need to ensure the safety of all emergency teams undertaking this work.
“Our focus is ensuring a safe working environment for those assisting us with this response.
“Members of our senior leadership team have joined the local Moranbah response team to support the situation on the ground, to ensure we can respond as rapidly and effectively as possible to this evolving situation.”
