At 1:45 pm shift foreman noticed some smoldering/smoke coming out of the upper west corner of outside coal stockpile. It was inside the pile about 15-20 foot. Loaders were called to dig-it-out within 30 minutes, but they were un-successful. At 4:00 they finally hit the hot spot and were able to extinguish the smoldering coal out by smothering it on the ground.