On 5 December 1900 at approximately 11 pm, a fire broke out underground at the Greta Colliery, Hunter Valley. There were five miners in the colliery pit at the time. After numerous rescue attempts, it was decided that nothing more could be done to save the trapped men or control the fire, so the pit was sealed.

Despite reports the fire was intentionally lit, an investigation into the fire concluded in 1902 that there was insufficient evidence to justify that claim. It also concluded that the fire was caused by a naked light rather than the result of spontaneous combustion and that the five men entombed underground died from suffocation.