In July of 2004, a stolen car was lit on fire on the abandoned mine lands near Olyphant, above the former workings of the Dolph Colliery. In some manner this fire spread to two veins of coal, the Dumnore No 2 and No 3. By November of 2004, trenches were dug 50′ deep in an attempt to contain the fire, along with many boreholes to track its location. However, the fire was not contained at that time, requiring significant further work to contain the fire. In 2007, significant work was performed through an $8.7 million effort to dig a 3,200 foot long trench, moving 1.3 million cubic yards of material. The mine fire is contained, but is still burning. Large scale plans to completely excavate the site at significant cost are underway as of 2021.
Sources:
The Times-Tribune, Jan 22, 2006, Pages A1 and A6
The Times-Tribune, Oct 05, 2007, Pages A4