Abstract: Coalfield fires are major disasters that cause environmental damage, hinder ecological restoration, and threaten mining area safety. To address the challenges of complex propagation characteristics of coal field fires, significant differences in environmental damage caused by various fire control measures, and difficulties in ecological restoration, this study conducted a survey and theoretical analysis of the current state of coal field fires in China. The main reasons for the increasing number of fire zones were clarified: coal seam outcrop fires (coal field fires) spread from the surface to the deep underground, while mine fires develop from the deep underground toward the surface, and sporadic single-point combustion transitions into series combustion, forming a composite coal mine field fire zone that combines the characteristics of shallow coal seam outcrop fires and deep mine fires. The nonlinear gradual process of coal mine field fires from ambient temperature to the ignition point was analyzed. The two main fire control technologies used in China — “excavation and removal” and “in-situ treatment” — were summarized, clarifying that “excavation and removal” is effective but involves large engineering volume and highly environmentally damaging, whereas “in-situ treatment” has a long control cycle, low cost, and low environmental damage. Based on the formation, evolution, and propagation patterns of coal mine field fires, and considering the high environmental damage of shallow outcrop fires and the low environmental damage of deep mine fires, the fire zones were vertically divided into three parts: shallow, middle, and deep. The overall fire control strategy of “shallow excavation, middle filling, and deep containment” was established. According to the Code for Coal Field Fire Control, the lower and upper temperature limits for coal mine fire control are specified, and the combustion degree of the fire zones is classified into three levels: low temperature (< 70 ℃), medium temperature (70 ℃−ignition point), and high temperature (> ignition point). Taking into comprehensive consideration the “zoning and grading” characteristics of coal mine fires, as well as the timing and environmental damage effects of coal excavation, drilling-and-grouting filling, and covering and compaction, appropriate technologies and suitable timing are determined for fire zones of different zones and combustion degrees. A theoretical and technical system of “spatio-temporal, graded, and adaptive” environmentally loss-reduction fire control is established, and engineering application has been carried out in the Helan Mountain coal mine fire zone.