SIX YEARS FIRE

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 97, 15 December 1931, Page 2

SIX YEARS FIRE

RAGING "IN COALMINE , SINCE 1925 A fire in a Spitzbe'r'gen coal-riiirie, belonjging to a Swedish concern, has been burning for six years. In 1910 the Swedish State occupied a stretch .of the Spitzbergen shore where large coal deposits ha4 been discovered. A moderp ? haribour, a hospital, barracks for the 'q.pnq u > puu 's.iaqro/A. and the "Sveagruvan" mine was theri opened. .For many years coal wa| sent to Sweden, uiitil, in 1925, the mine caught ,fire. Despite . the most deterrpined efforts it was found inhpossible to extinguish the outbreak; all work had to be dis'continued, and the workmen were employed. to bloclf up .every .outlet frppi the mine-so as to prevent air getting in. At last the whole staff of workers was disbanded and only two watchmen were left to ^protect the machinery, the port and the buildings. In 1928, the mine was sold to a private concern. A few days ago a Swedish mining experf, having visited the mine, returned ffom Spitzbergen and told the Press that the fire was still faging. He ex'plained that the real difficulty was that the coal beds sometimes ended in the open air on th'e hillside) where bijg hpaps of boulders concealed the entrances. Judging from the steam leaking out from the mine, it now seems as if, the fire was dyingv out, but it may still last for some -years yet. The leaders of the ent'erprise say that only parts of the coal layers- have been destroye'd, and that ihe mine will yield a rich output when once work can be begun again.