Pike River: Cooling operation underway

Mine workers deploy the GAG machine at the entrance to the Pike River mine. Photo / Supplied

An operation has begun to extinguish the fire coming from the vent shaft of the Pike River mine and cool the surrounding concrete pad.

Led by the New Zealand Fire Service and Rural Fire, it involves
pumping water up from a nearby creek to a holding tank above the vent. The water will then be pumped from the tank and directed onto the vent and pad.

"We must get access to the concrete pad to allow further assessments to be made on capping the vent" said Superintendent Gary Knowles.

"At present temperatures on the pad are reaching 150 degrees Celsius. The Fire Service advise us the maximum working temperature for staff to operate safely on the pad is 65 degrees Celsius.

"There is no access to the vent other than on foot or by helicopter, and neither option is open to us while the temperatures are so high."

But he stressed that even if the heat at the vent was reduced, it did not necessarily mean the fire burning inside the mine would be.

A metal cap had been built but could not yet safely be lowered due to the flames, he said.

He said capping the vent would increase the efficiency of the GAG unit, which is continuing to function after it was restarted at lunchtime following the replacement of two high pressure water hoses.

Parts were made up and brought from Christchurch, and workers were able to further seal the portal and increase the efficiency of the GAG - the Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy inertisation machine - which is pumping carbon dioxide into the West Coast mine.

The damaged hose fittings, which supply water to the GAG, had to be sent to Christchurch so engineers could make exact copies for the Polish-designed machine, said Superintendent Knowles.

The new hoses and fittings were trucked back to the mine overnight because they were too big and heavy to airlift, he said.

The GAG has been running since Wednesday in an attempt to extinguish the fire as efforts continue to retrieve the bodies of 29 men killed after a series of explosions in the coal mine, about 50km from Greymouth.

Once the fire is put out, the GAG machine will blow nitrogen down the shaft to try and cool the mine down.

- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF