Tank's Poetry
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united states mine rescue association
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Tank's Poetry |
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Successful Rescue Some of the survivors of the blast were slightly burned by the hot air that rolled through the mine. Thirteen of them came out of the 18th heading and eight escaped from the 16th heading. Edward Bem, one of these survivors, said the men crawled on their hands and knees and finally made their way to the 'dip' where they were rescued after an undisclosed period. From the Holmes Safety Bulletin, March/April 2012 Edition An explosion occurred in the Sonman "E" mine of the Sonman Shaft Coal Company, Sonman, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, at about 10:40 a.m. on July 15, 1940. Sixty-three men were killed as a result of this
explosion, of which number about fifty-five were killed by afterdamp and 8 were killed by burns and afterdamp. Few, if any, of the men were killed outright by burns and violence and it is probable that the eventual cause of death in all cases was due to afterdamp.
Eighteen men escaped without assistance from the immediate explosion area and 12 others working on the same split of air escaped unaided. About 350 were in the mine at the time of the explosion. Thirty-four bodies were found behind a barricade (at least 700 feet inby No. 3 haulage on 16 right) which had been ineffectively erected and located. Seven others were also found back of this barricade some distance inby from the group of 34 at and near the face of room No. 3, 16 right. A note found on one of the victims indicated that at least some of them were still alive at 6:00 p.m. The explosion was not general throughout the mine, but traversed a relatively small area in Nos. 16, 17 and 18 right entries off the north dip, and the flame of the explosion did not reach the entrance to these entries on the north dip or the faces of the entries. No water was used in this mine for allaying the coal dust. Rock dust had been sparsely applied at some locations on haulage entries. The Safety Division of the Bureau of Mines at Pittsburgh, PA, was informed by telephone at about 12:45 p.m. that an explosion had occurred, by District Mine Inspector W. H. Filer when Filer arrived at the mine. He was unable to give any details but requested assistance and stated that he and Inspector Michael Thomas were entering the mine to obtain additional information. A group of Bureau of Mines employees, consisting of J. J. Forbes, G. W. Grove, M. J. Ankeny and E. J. Ristedt in a Bureau automobile and H. R. Burdelsky and J. W. Pero in a Bureau truck loaded with oxygen breathing apparatus, gas masks and accessories, left the Bureau of Mines station at 1:10 p.m. They arrived at the mine at about 4:00 p.m. and, after conferring with company officials. Messrs. Forbes, Grove, Ankeny, Ristedt, and Pero entered the mine at 4:45 p.m. Upon reaching the affected area about 45 minutes later, they found that the ventilation had been restored up 17 right to about No. 20 room. From this point employees of the Bureau of Mines participated in the recovery work until its completion at 8:30 a.m. when the last body was recovered and left the mine about 11:00 a.m., July 16, 1940. The mine is opened by two main dip systems of entries leading from the main slope. These main dip entries, known as the north dip and the south dip, are approximately parallel to each other and were driven roughly 6,000 feet apart. These main dip entries were originally driven in triplicate, but during the later life of the mine, sets of five entries were projected and driven on the main dips. Room entries are turned off the main dip entries to the right and left at about 500-foot intervals, approximately on the strike of the bed. These entries are generally driven in pairs from which the rooms, about 30 feet wide, are driven to the rise parallel to the main slopes on about 60-foot centers. In the more recently developed portions of the mine, the rooms are driven through from one pair of entries to the air course of the adjacent entries. While pillars have previously been extracted, the present system of mining, which is a modification of a mining method known as the Gary system, was laid out with a view to obtain the greatest possible recovery of coal without extracting the pillars. Instead of the total extraction of pillars whereby the roof is caused to break and cave, rooms and entries are driven with the cut-throughs at legal intervals (not less than 16 yards nor more than 35 yards apart). After rooms have been driven to their limits, additional crosscuts are driven through the room pillars, leaving stumps for the support of the roof. Also whenever entries are no longer used or needed for haulage purposes, the chain pillars are partially extracted by driving openings through them. Complete pillar mining was abandoned in order to avoid fracturing the roof, which in the past created a very serious and costly drainage problem. The present system was projected for an 80 percent recovery of coal but it is reported that only about 72 percent recovery is actually attained. Ventilation The mine is ventilated by means of an 8 by 213-foot double-inlet Jeffrey Retrovane centrifugal fan driven by a 150-horseoower Westinghouse motor connected to the fan by means of a multiple belt drive. The fan is offset from the opening about 15 feet, but explosion doors have not been provided. It is operating exhausting and when the air was measured after the explosion, it was circulating about 100,000 cubic feet of air per minute at a water gage of about 4.2 inches. The fan is not reversible. No separate source of power is available for driving the fan in the event of failure of the regular power circuit and no auxiliary fan or auxiliary drive has been provided. A warning device has been installed on the fan whereby any stoppage or slowing down of the fan would give both a visual and audible warning at a nearby dwelling house, the residence of the mine electrician. Arrangements have been made to have some member of the family always present, and in the event of a warning being sounded, the cause of the interruption is investigated and the mine is notified by telephone. A much more reliable method would be to arrange to cut all power from the mine by means of an electric relay switch system activated by the vane in the fan duct, in the event of failure of the fan. At the same time, a visual and audible warning device should be installed at the mine surface plant or superintendent's office which would give warning in the event of failure of the fan. Explosion and Recovery Operations The superintendent immediately sent someone to check on the fan at the Portage slope and another person to check on the air movement in the Shoemaker manway, which was a main intake. He then got in touch with the mine foreman, who had just arrived at the bottom of the main slope from the south dip, and directed him to proceed to the north dip to investigate the trouble. Subsequently, the superintendent notified the district mine inspector that some trouble had occurred at the mine. The mine foreman proceeded immediately down the north dip to 14 right where he met the fire bosses who were just coming off shift, the safety inspector, four loaders, and a machine helper who had escaped from the explosion area in 16 right and 12 men who had come out of 16 left after the explosion. After checking the men who had escaped, the mine foreman, accompanied by the safety inspector and fire bosses, proceeded down the north dip, checking all stoppings between the intake and return airways as they progressed toward 17 left. At 17 left they found the air-lock doors on 17 left blown inby, causing a direct short circuit of the air from the right side of the north dip. They then removed a door which was not in use from 17 right and installed it at the location of the first air-lock door in 17 left. They then proceeded to 18 left and found the door partially damaged and noted that the forces were inby. They repaired the door temporarily and entered 18 right and found the manway door blown inby. They repaired this door and traveled in 18 right to the first door of the air lock located about 400 feet inby from the entrance to 18 right. This door was in place but had the top board blown off. After repairing this door they tried to get up to the second door of the air lock, about 200 feet inby from the first door, but were unable to reach the second door because of smoke and dust. The party then returned to 17 right, which was the main air intake for the section, and traveled about 300 feet into 17 right when someone reported that two men had come out of 18 right and that nine (actually eleven) more were on their way out. The party then returned to the air lock door in 18 right with the intention of short-circuiting the air into 18 right when they were advised that the 18 right men had reached the north dip safely through the No. 1 face entry of 18 right at about 2:00 p.m. The mine foreman and others then returned to 17 right and found that the air was short circuiting into the 17 right air course through the crosscuts. They were discussing this short circuit when Inspectors W. H. Filer and M. W. Thomas of the Pennsylvania Department of Mines arrived. From this point air was conducted up 17 right entry by closing off all openings to the left with canvas stopping. Arrangements were made to obtain additional air by cutting it off from the south dip sections of the mine. After proceeding up 17 right for some distance, the party was joined by two additional State mine inspectors, R. D. Joseph and D. J. Keenan. The first working place in 17 right, No. 15 room, was explored by apparatus crews where three bodies were recovered and a fourth located. A smoldering fire consisting of an article of clothing belonging to one of the miners was later discovered and extinguished in No. 15 room about 1.30 a.m. when the fourth body which had previously been located was removed. An advance was made toward No. 2 haulage road where it was found that a door had been blown out and the air was short-circuiting. While erecting canvas stoppings in the No. 2 haulage, the party was joined by J. J. Forbes, G. W. Grove, M. J. Ankeny, E. J. Ristedt, and J. W. Pero of the Bureau of Mines, at about 5:30 p.m. At this point, footprints were observed in the dust which had obviously been made after the dust from the explosion had settled. Shortly thereafter, the bodies of two men comprising a motor crew were found on the "tight" side alongside the first and second cars of a nine-car trip of coal attached to an electric locomotive. The exploration work was then continued and on reaching the 16 right haulage road, other footprints were observed. Upon tracing these footprints up the entry during an exploration by Messrs. Forbes, Grove, and Pero, wearing gas masks, numerous additional footprints were observed, leading to the belief that the men were probably barricaded at some inby point. As the ventilation had not been fully restored and there was still considerable carbon monoxide in the air, it was decided that a crew wearing oxygen breathing apparatus should make an exploration, if possible, to the face of 16 right. This crew, after exploring a short distance in 16 right, returned and advised that they had located a canvas stopping across the 16 right entry at about room 26. Messrs. Forbes, Grove, Pero, State Mine Inspector R. D. Joseph, and a few others then advanced to this canvas stopping, and after several calls which were unanswered, they decided to remove the stopping. After removing this stopping, a second canvas stopping, partially erected, was found 52 feet inby the first one. Two bodies were found lying outby the second brattice and 32 bodies were found inby. At about this time, the advance crews were joined by four additional State mine inspectors, G. J. Steinheiser, R. E. George, P. H. O'Neill and W. G. Knapper, who relieved the four State mine inspectors who had been on duty up to this point. Following the removal of the bodies from 16 right entry, additional explorations were made in the rooms leading off 16 right and seven additional bodies were found near the face in No. 30 room. Two bodies were found lying outby the second brattice and 32 bodies were found inby strewn along the 16 right entry throughout a distance of about 170 feet from the second brattice to where the last body was lying. While these bodies were being removed, explorations were made to the faces of 16 right heading and air course, but no additional bodies were found. Another barricade, erected by some or possibly all the men found in 16 right, was found at the entrance to No. 5 haulage road off 16 right. This barricade was well erected but the enclosed area was limited in capacity (a space 48 feet long, 17 feet wide and 4 feet 3 inches high). While the evidence indicates that at least some of the men spent several hours in this barricade, it had been abandoned before the men met their death and no bodies were found in it. At about this time, the advance crews were joined by four additional State mine inspectors, G. J. Steinheiser, R. E. George, P. H. O'Neill and W. G. Knapper, who relieved the four State mine inspectors who had been on duty up to this point. Following the removal of the bodies from 16 right entry, additional explorations were made in the rooms leading off 16 right and seven additional bodies were found near the face in No. 30 room. The locating of these bodies and the exploration of the remaining rooms completed the recovery work on 16 right. At this point, the party was joined by H. B. Lindeman and E. L. Christensen of the Bureau of Mines. The recovery crews then proceeded down No. 3 haulage road to 18 right. It was known that at least one body was lying on 18 right haulage road (No. 3 face entry) as it had been seen by some of the men who escaped from this entry. After erecting a few canvas stoppings to advance the air, it was finally decided to send an oxygen breathing apparatus crew down 18 right to recover the body that was known to be there and locate the body of the last missing man. On recovering these two bodies, the last of which was reached about 8:30 a.m. by the apparatus crews, all the missing men having been located, further work was suspended and the recovery crews returned to the surface on orders from the State Department of Mines. During the coroner's inquest the questions were raised as to why the recovery work was not conducted through 16 right, why if air had been put into 16 right it would not have reached the barricaded men and why the barricaded men were not reached sooner. The reasons why these things were not or could not be accomplished are as follows:
An investigation to determine the cause of the explosion was conducted jointly by the Pennsylvania Department of Mines, the Koppers Coal Company, the United Mine Workers of America, and the Federal Bureau of Mines, but separate reports are formulated by each of these agencies. The State's commission consisted of R. E. George, chairman, R. D. Josoph, George Steinheiser, and M. W. Thomas. The State's investigation was conducted by Richard Maize, acting Deputy Secretary of Mines. The company was represented by L. C. Campbell, John Lindley, M. A. Evans, 0. V. Simpson, Victor Duras, and J. M. Baker. The United Mine Workers of America was represented by James Hess, Joseph Yurich, and Harvey Younkers. The Bureau of Mines was represented by J. J. Forbes, G. W. Grove, M. J. Ankeny, and H. B. Lindeman. The underground inspection and investigation of the explosion area was conducted on July 18, 19, 23, and 25 and hearings of witnesses were conducted by the Pennsylvania Department of Mines, July 20, 24, and 26. State Inspectors' Findings and Conclusions
The explosion which occurred was initiated by the ignition of explosive gas in the mine atmosphere, by an arc or spark from a trolley locomotive operating at or near the junction of the No. 3 haulage road and the 16 right heading, and was propagated by gas in the mine atmosphere. The ignition was indirectly brought about by the failure of the system of mining, which failure might have been anticipated, yet was not expected. Coroner's Inquest A coroner's inquest was conducted by Patrick McDermott, coroner of Cambria County, which included the testimony of witnesses before a coroner's jury of five men at Portage, PA on August 13, 14, and 15. After hearing the testimony of mine officials, inspectors, survivors and others, the jury rendered the following verdict: Freeman George and sixty-two others came accidentally to their death by asphyxiation and first and second degree burns in slope of Sonman Shaft Coal Company at Sonman by gas explosion on July 15, 1940, gas being ignited by a trolley locomotive. The ignition was superinduced by the failure of system of mining and negligence of officials directly in charge of mine management at time of explosion: Victor Duras, Superintendent; Leslie Steele, Mine Foreman; Guy Wahl, Assistant Mine Foreman. 63 Perish in Flash Explosion at Portage Mine Daily News, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania July 16, 1940 The bodies of 63 workers were removed from the mine by gas-masked rescue workers and taken to a temporary morgue at this town's municipal building. The last body to be taken from the mine was that of Thomas Shaw, a wireman trapped deep in the 18th entry. A coroner's inquest will be held as soon as state and federal mine inspectors have completed their probe. As rescue crews broke into heading No. 16, the death toll rose sharply this morning. In the 16th entry, the bodies of Section Foreman James Monteeth and several members of his crew were found behind a barricade they had thrown up in a desperate attempt to save themselves from the deadly gas. As the blast tore through the north dip section of the 50-year-old mine at 11:15 a.m. yesterday, a tongue of flame burned the bodies of some of the miners. No bodies were crushed, however, as there were no cave-ins as usually occur in mine explosions. Company officials estimated that state compensation payments to widows and other dependents of the 63 killed will approximate $500,000. Under a voluntary group insurance plan maintained by the company, beneficiaries of 42 of the victims who carried the insurance, will draw $500 for each of the 42. This insurance is being paid today by the company. Because the victims lived in widely scattered communities, no mass funeral is planned for the dead. This was Pennsylvania's worst mine disaster in more than a decade. On March 21, 1929, an explosion at Parnassus, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, killed 46 while 195 died in a blast at Mather, Pennsylvania, Greene County, on May 19, 1928. Wives, children and relatives of the entombed miners, standing at the shaft entrances and soaked to the skin by a heavy rain, silently watched the bodies being removed. They were not permitted to view the dead early today. Twenty-one men escaped a few minutes after the explosion believed caused by gas or rock dust had rumbled through the north dip, trapping the men working almost 8,000 feet from the headings of entries 16, 17, and 18. The disaster at Portage, a town of less than 1,000, some 80 miles east of Pittsburgh, was the third mine explosion in the Ohio-Pennsylvania-West Virginia soft coal district this year. Ninety-one miners were killed at Bartley, W. Va., Jan. 10, when an explosion ripped the No. 1 mine of the Pond Creek Pocahontas Company, and 72 were killed in an explosion at Willow Grove No. 10 mine, owned by the Hanna Coal Company, at Neffs, Ohio, March 16. Sheriff C. W. Davis of Cambria county and 100 special deputies, aided by state police, established a temporary morgue in the municipal building here. Thirteen of the bodies were recovered last night. To prevent scenes and avoid confusion, the remaining victims were being identified at the bottom of the drift some 500 feet from the mine entrance, by fellow workers and company officials. Coroner Patrick McDermott said the bodies were only slightly burned. He said the cause of death was probably gas, as air circulation in the blasted area was stopped when the battens, cross pieces used as supports between the entries, were blown out. The explosion occurred approximately 12,000 feet back from the mouth of the slope entrance. About 225 miners were working in the entire "E" seam at the time of the blast, but only 33 were believed in the three headings affected. Some of the 21 men who escaped were slightly burned by the hot air that rolled through the mine. Thirteen of them came out of the 18th heading and eight escaped from the 16th heading. The majority of those killed were trapped in the 17th heading. "I saw a flash and I heard a loud noise and rumbling," Edward Bem, one of the survivors, said. "Then things started to fall all around and I yelled 'explosion.'"The Sonman mine, one of the largest in Cambria county, rich bituminous field, employs 1,200 miners, 400 to a shift. The mine is the livelihood of the stricken town. Listing of Miners Killed In the Portage Mine Explosion From the Johnstown Tribune July 16, 1940
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