He extended the use of the steam-jet to the cleaning of sewers, bridging his mechanical and medical knowledge in the service of the eradication of cholera in the metropolis; and in dealing with mine fires—notably bringing under control a fire known as the "burning waste of Clackmannan", which in 1851 had raged for more than 30 years over an area of , at the South Sauchie Colliery near Alloa. Gurney injected some 8M cubic feet of "chokedamp" (a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide) into the mine by means of his steam-jet to extinguish the combustion; and after three weeks, drove water into the mine as a spray from the steam-jet to bring the temperature down from to . It is reckoned that the value of property saved by the extinguishing of this fire was £200,000.