Mine fires due to spontaneous heating are an inherent but serious problem in the coal mines across the globe. Past research studies have proposed many classification schemes for categorization of coal seams with respect to their spontaneous heating susceptibility. This paper presents application of an empirical approach for classification of coal seams based on their proneness to spontaneous heating. In this research work, twenty nine coal samples of varying ranks belonging to both high and low susceptibility to spontaneous heating have been collected from all the major coalfields of India. Using moisture, volatile matter, ash and crossing point temperature of the coal samples as the parameters, principal component analysis has been applied to classify the coal seams into three different categories. This classification will be useful for the planners and field engineers for taking ameliorative measures in advance for preventing the occurrence of mine fires. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.