<p>Water inrush is the second greatest threat among the most frequent accidents associated with mine production. To address the changes in permeability and stability in the burnt area of the Shennan mining area, in this study, triaxial compressive and permeability tests were conducted on burnt rocks with whose acoustic emission (AE) characteristics were collected. Further analysis was conducted on the correlation among the strength properties, permeability evolution and AE characteristics of the burnt rocks under fluid–solid coupling conditions to reveal the permeability evolution of the burnt rocks. The testing results indicate that the four stages of permeability changes are related to different regions of the stress-strain curves. The AE damage variable begins to increase, and the effects of cracks on permeability, stress-strain curves, and AE ringing counts gradually increase with the development of cracks. The permeability increases rapidly in near the initiation stress (<i>σ</i>_<i>ci</i>), revealing that crack initiation and growth induce an increase in the permeability of the burnt rock. Specifically, the permeabilities of the burnt rock at yield stress (<i>σ</i>_<i>cd</i>) are 3.24, 3.21 and 3.04 larger than these at initiation stress (<i>σ</i>_<i>ci</i>) with the confining stresses of 2, 5 and 8&#xa0;MPa. Consequently, monitoring the stress and AE signals of burnt rock masses with mining stress disturbances and preventing and controlling water inrush risk in the hidden burnt rock area in the Ningtiaota coal mine of the Shennan mining area are important.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>