Tarenni Colliery 1858, when the Primrose Colliery was owned by Morgan and Lewis, fumes of an engine boiler suffocated 14 men and boys, and 7 horses. According to HM Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries data, outside the Gwendraeth valley, Tarenni Colliery had the highest set of recorded incidents for coal damp and methane gas explosions. In total during its production lifetime, there were six outbursts in which three men lost their lives: one on 12 December 1914; two on 17 February 1941. On 1 November 1909, water from the abandoned Ynysgeinon pit caused the death of five miners at Tarenni No.2. On
Centralia mine fire who worked for the Department of Mines and Mineral Industries (DMMI), became concerned about the pit when he noticed holes in the walls and floor, as such mines often cut through older mines underneath. Segaritus informed Joseph Tighe, a Centralia councilman, that the pit would require filling with an incombustible material. The town council arranged for cleanup of the strip mine dump, but council minutes do not describe the proposed procedure. It is speculated that the process—setting it on fire—was not specified because state law prohibited dump fires. Nonetheless, the Centralia council set a date and hired five members of