The methods of fire risk assessment in its early phase employed so far used to take into account only the temperature of the heating of coal. The research works reported so far in this field have been conducted at ambient temperatures, without considering the rock mass primary temperature occurring in a particular coal seam and neglecting the depth of coal seams. The method for the determination of the composition of gases emitted from coal samples, employed in the study presented here, takes into account the effect of rock mass pressure, and therefore the depth of the coal seam, as well as the temperature typical for the rock mass in a particular coal mine. In the paper the results of the experimental research on the effects of the primary temperature of a coal seam on the content of gases emitted from coal, performed with the use of a specially designed experimental stand are presented. The method may be useful in developing fire hazard predictions for longwalls with residual coal in goafs. The relations between the self-ignition characteristics as well as selected physical properties of coal samples and carbon monoxide emission were also given. The research results proved that the accurate fire hazard assessment requires considering other than just self-heating of coal causes of carbon monoxide emission, including the rock mass primary temperature, which is expected to improve the existing methods of fire risk assessment in coal mines and post-mining areas.
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