Abstract
The objectives of this investigation are to develop safe practice guidelines that will minimize the chance of fires in underground fueling areas and to develop a low-cost, reliable, automatic fire protection system for underground fueling areas. The effort described covers the period from June 21, 1976, to September 30, 1977, and accomplished the following tasks: (1) preparation of data plan and data acquisition, mainly through visits to 16 mine sites and a literature survey; (2) analysis of the accumulated data, providing design inputs for evaluation of the fire problem, development of safe practice guidelines, and development of recommended design concepts for automatic fire protection systems; (3) preparation of safe practice guidelines for underground fueling areas; (4) preparation of recommended design concepts for automatic fire protection systems for underground fueling areas; (5) design and fabrication of a fire protection system for installation at Pine Creek Mine, Bishop, California; and (6) install the system and perform underground fire tests at Pine Creek Mine.