In 1903, my late grandfather was 3rd engineer on a coal burning steamer
carrying a cargo to Italy.
Throughout the voyage, he was in charge of damping down a fire burning in
the ship's bunkers; separated by a single bulkhead from the cargo of case
oil (paraffin in cans).
We can safely assume that he was correct in attributing it to spontaneous
combustion. No one on board would have been very happy with a fire-raiser!
I have seen several smoking stock piles of coal in a range of industrial
situations and countries. Often permanent hosing systems were in place.
Martin pearce
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: Spontaneous combustion in coal mining tips
> I remember tips at Poynton in Cheshire where I used to live in 1970s which
> were smoking through deep fissures. The mining ended in the 1930s, I
think.
> Certainly "natural" spontaneous combustion.
>
> Regards,
>
> Nigel Dibben
>
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