Mar 12, 2013 2 min read

Consol Energy’s Blacksville No. 2 Mine in southern Greene County and northern West Virginia was safely evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a fire apparently broke out underground.

Consol spokeswoman Lynn Seay said smoke was detected about 2 p.m. coming from the mine’s Orndoff air shaft in Wayne Township.

All 121 day shift workers underground at the time were evacuated without injury through the mine’s Kuhntown portal, also in Greene County and about a mile away from the Orndoff shaft, she said.

MSHA personnel were at the mine Tuesday doing inspection work and issued an order shutting down a section of the mine because of unsafe conditions, said Amy Louviere, spokeswoman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

A mine rescue team entered the mine late Tuesday afternoon but was forced to withdraw because of thick smoke and heat, she said. The rescue team exited the mine safely, and all members were accounted for by about 5:15 p.m.

As of late Tuesday, the cause of the fire was unknown, Louviere said.

MSHA’s mine emergency operations unit was at the mine with monitoring equipment and gas analysis equipment. Louviere said a meeting was being held late Tuesday to determine a course of action.

Consol said it notified federal and state mine officials about the incident and is working with them to determine the origin of the smoke and develop and implement a safe remediation plan. No personnel will re-enter the mine until it is determined it is safe to do so, the company said.

The mine’s major surface operations are in Wana, W.Va., and the mine is considered a West Virginia mine though it mines coal and has a portal in Greene County. The mine employs about 650 miners, who are represented by the United Mine Workers of America, and produced about 3.2 million tons of coal last year.

Consol said it had informed mine employees the afternoon and midnight shifts had been canceled. It was unknown when mine operations might resume, the company said.