A miner accidentally left a carbide lamp hanging from a timber support, which caught fire.

When it was noticed after work resumed the following week, attempts were made to block off its air supply by pouring sand in the area and filling the openings of the mine with concrete.

[1] Over the years, the Laurel Run site became known as 'the burning mountain' because of smoke vented from a number of fissures leading to the abandoned underground works.

In September 1962, a number of residents of the nearby community of Laurel Run were forced to abandon their homes due to subsidence (due to removal[clarification needed] of the mine's pillars in the area) and fumes from the mine fire.

Flood arrived at the area of the Laurel Run mine fire and called upon the Appalachian Regional Commission to aid in containing it.

[2] By 1964, local plant life was dying out and residents of Laurel Run were experiencing adverse symptoms such as headaches.

[2] On March 19, 1964, the Defense Materials, Manufacturing and Infrastructure Standing Committee announced a $1,000,000 cleanup project for the Laurel Run area.

[2] Meanwhile, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development relocated 850 residents who lived over the mine fire.

The area of the fire that was below Georgetown was controlled by blocking off the tunnels in the vicinity, robbing it of the necessary oxygen to continue burning.

[7] The setting of the novel Whispers from the Ashes is based on the community of Laurel Run in the early 1960s, when the residents were forced to evacuate.

[1] Due to the geographical features of the area, the mine fire is only able to spread to the northeast, northwest, and southwest.