the galleries. Then an inert gas, usually nitrogen, is introduced, usually making use of available pipelines. In 2004, the Chinese government claimed success in extinguishing a mine fire at a colliery near Urumqi in China's Xinjiang province that had been burning since 1874. However, a March 2008 Time magazine article quotes researcher Steven Q. Andrews as saying, "I decided to go to see how it was extinguished, and flames were visible and the entire thing was still burning. ... They said it was put out, and who is to say otherwise?" A jet engine unit, known as Gorniczy Agregat Gasniczy (GAG), was developed in Poland and successfully used for fighting coal fires and displacing firedamp in mines. Current research and new developments in extinguishing fires Time magazine reported in July 2010 that less expensive alternatives for extinguishing coal-seam fires were beginning to reach the market, including heat-resistant grouts and a fire-smothering nitrogen foam, with other innovative solutions on the way. List of mine fires Some of the more notable mine fires around the world are listed below. Australia Burning Mountain – a naturally occurring, slow-combusting underground coal seam Hill End Colliery fire – a coal-seam fire at Cessnock, New South Wales, that burned from, at latest, August 1930 to probably as late as June 1949. Blair Athol coal mine – a mine, near Clermont, Queensland, that has been the site of a number of fires, one of which burned underground for 54 years. Morwell, Victoria – the Great Morwell open cut mine caught fire in March 1902 and burned for over a month. It was extinguished by breaching the nearby Morwell River with explosives to flood the mine. The fire was found to have been caused by sabotage from incendiary devices. Hazelwood Power Station – a 2 km coal face in the Hazelwood open cut mine was set alight by a bushfire in October 2006 and again in February 2014. Thousands of residents were affected by the fire at the Hazelwood coal mine in 2014 which burned for 45 days sending smoke across the community of Morwell in Victoria. Government advised the vulnerable groups of people in South Morwell to relocate temporarily due to the danger of PM2.5 particulate matter. In May 2020 the Hazelwood Power Corporation was fined $1.56 million for occupational health and safety breaches associated with the fire. Canada Elkford, British Columbia Merritt, British Columbia Carmacks, Yukon