This work deals with the preparation and characterization of fly ash (FA) supported aqueous three-phase foams containing N-2 for coal spontaneous combustion prevention and control. Uniform and dense three-phase foams featuring FA contents between 20 wt.% and 33 wt.% are prepared in batch mode using a home-made foam generating column with an internal Venturi tube. The effect of FA on the foamability, static and dynamic stability of the three-phase foams is discussed. Compared with two phase foams, the FA supported three-phase foams manifest higher static and dynamic stability, which increases with the FA content. Base on the excellent static and dynamic stability, a structure model to attach FA particles at the N-2-water interfaces of the three-phase foams was proposed to elucidate the observed behaviors. The as prepared FA supported three-phase foams, exhibiting excellent coal fire extinguishing characteristic, can be used as a promising fire extinguishing material, especially for preventing the large coal area spontaneous combustion or extinguishing fire in high and unknown locations in goaf. (C) 2014 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.