April 11, 2026 - Colorado mining officials have successfully put out a coal refuse fire that burned for 20 years.

Crews with the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety have been working to extinguish the fire at the Corley Mine site near Florence in the southern part of the state since May 2025.

The 1.5-acre pile containing roughly 82,000 cubic yards of coal waste, carbonaceous shale, and coal ash had been smoldering at temperatures between 120°F and 200°F, with some coal pockets reaching up to 1,000°F.

Crews with the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety have been working to extinguish the fire at the Corley Mine site in the southern part of the state since May 2025.

Photo: Colorado DNR

As part of excavation and fire suppression operations, crews quenched the burning material with water at five gallons per cubic yard, then mixed it equally with non-combustible material from on-site stockpiles.

The blended material was cooled below 90°F before being returned to the ground. The first phase concluded in November 2025 after treating approximately 164,800 cubic yards of material across a 9.5-acre area.

The second phase involved reshaping the landscape using GPS-guided equipment to move about 30,000 cubic yards of earth, creating natural drainage patterns and reducing erosion potential.

Workers also planted native vegetation to stabilize the reclaimed site and support ecological recovery.

Federal funding for legacy coal mining remediation paid for the project. No public roads, trails, or recreational areas were affected by the work.