“Coal fires require a lot of water to put out” a CFA spokeswoman...

“Coal fires require a lot of water to put out” a CFA spokeswoman said.

Contrary to the Company's recent comments, the fire and water damage to the very important R&D facility at Bacchus Marsh does not sound 'minor' to me. The firefighters were there for hours hosing the facility with what I imagine would have been thousands of litres of water. The Company may want to release an update on the real extent of the damage, as officially described by the fire department, and how long this is going to set things back given the work at BM is key to their success in India.

Good on the brave firefighters for getting this under control.

TONNES of coal have been engulfed by flames after a coal chamber caught fire in Victoria’s west this morning.

About 120 tonnes of brown coal is currently on fire in Maddingley with Ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police also in attendance.

A CFA spokeswoman said the fire will take hours to extinguish.

“It will take forever to extinguish because it’s brown coal that is burning,” she said.

“It will be a disgusting, dirty and horrible job to put out the fire”.

Firefighters were alerted to the fire on the Rowsley Station Road industrial park at about 6.30am this morning.

Fire crews are using a breathing apparatus to fight the fire that is expected burn long into the night.

“Coal fires require a lot of water to put out” a CFA spokeswoman said.

Firefighters have managed to contain the blaze however a CFA spokeswoman said one of the hoppers is fully involved with fire.

“The conveyor belt has also caught fire,” she said.

The CFA confirmed air monitoring is being conducted on site while no smoke warning is needed as the fire has been contained.

Originally published as Huge coal fire burning in state’s west

http://www.news.com.au/national/vic...t/news-story/90198c4b31f07e6456829de8c257177c