Mine fire accidents frequently constitute a major threat to mining safety, and their potential consequences are extremely severe, which highlights the urgency of fire prevention and control research. In this study, the CiteSpace software was used to conduct a metrological analysis of 717 relevant studies in the field of mine fire prevention and control (MFPC), aiming to reveal the research trends and trends in this field. This analysis found that the annual number of MFPC articles showed a significant upward trend, indicating that it is in rapid development during the active period. China, the United States, and Australia are the main contributors in this field, and the institutional contribution of China University of Mining and Technology is particularly outstanding, reflecting the regional concentration of research activities. The analysis of cooperation networks reveals the close cross-regional collaboration among European countries. The inhibition effect and evaluation criteria and the inhibition technology under different coal characteristics have become the focus of research. Activation energy, release, and quantum chemistry have become recent hot spots, reflecting the research on the mechanism of forward physicochemical synergistic inhibition and the in-depth exploration of the molecular level. It indicates that future research will focus on the development of temperature-responsive retardant materials, the application of quantum chemistry theory, and the exploration of the microscopic mechanism of coal spontaneous combustion through molecular simulation technology to further optimize the fire prevention strategy. In summary, the findings of this study not only provide a comprehensive picture of current research activities in the MFPC field but also indicate potential directions for future research and have important guiding significance for promoting the development of this field.