Not many people are aware that massive uncontrollable fires rage beneath the surface of Colorado. These underground fires tend to be associated with Colorado’s mining past, with an estimated two dozen active coal fires burning underground in the New Castle area of Garfield County, alone.

These underground fires are able to keep burning due to continuous fuel – massive subterranean coal seams, for example – and once they’re started – naturally or otherwise – they’re extremely difficult to stop. They’re able to cause surface land to collapse or sink as fuel turns to ash, but they’re also able to start fires on the surface via flames and heat coming up from cracks in the ground or the consumption of tree roots that travel upward.

Per a recent CBS News report penned by Spencer Wilson, there’s a hidden underground coal fire that’s been burning near Meeker, Colorado since the 1930s in the abandoned Black Diamond Mine and it’s recently prompted emergency wildfire prevention efforts as temperatures resulting from the blaze have climbed from around 150 degrees Fahrenheit to close to 800 degrees in some places.

Fractures in the ground are what’s venting this heat and the fear is that these extremely hot temperatures could cause surface-level brush to ignite. In order to prevent a surface-level fire from sparking, an emergency effort is underway that will mean clearing about 1.5 acres of nearby surface vegetation coupled with fire breaks being constructed and better access into the area getting established.

Based on Google Maps data, it appears as if this underground fire is roughly 1.5 miles northwest of downtown Meeker, though it isn’t noted exactly where this underground fire burns.

This is just one example of how Colorado’s underground fires continue to pose a risk to the public that often goes unseen and rarely gets much coverage.

Find the full in-depth report from CBS News on the topic here.

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