When the project is finished, the excavation team will have moved 182,000 cubic yards of material, which is about 72,000 pickup-truck loads of coal, rock and dirt.

It turns out they’ve also been stomping on a smoldering, 100-year-old coal fire, three stories underground — and a source of sparks that have ignited wildfires above ground.

Underground coal fire burning near Boulder for 100 years is now out by: Ashley Michels. Posted: Jan 14, 2025 / 04:08 PM MST. Updated: Jan 14, 2025 / 09:57 PM MST. by: Ashley Michels.

Crews have begun a long-awaited project to extinguish a coal seam fire that has been burning underground on Marshall Mesa, south of Boulder, Colorado, for over a century.. The fire, a remnant of ...