That is not so unusual for underground coal fires. They can be all but impossible to put out. It has been a phenomenon basically forever [0]. I assume a lot of the modern ones are linked to mining activity, but they do turn up naturally from time to time.

I would advise people not to build on top of a known coal seam fire.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal-seam_fire

There is a fossil fuel shutdown denial phenomenon. Companies want to keep making profits and consumers want cheap energy. It's not very surprising.