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St. Bernard Mining Company
Arnold Mine Fire

Earlington, Hopkins County, Kentucky
November 16, 1920
No. Killed - 6

1920 Kentucky Department of Mines Annual Report  PDF Format


Successful Rescue

Ten miners were rescued from the burning Arnold Mine.  The rescue was effected by tunneling around the fire which had shut off the single entry of the mine and came 20 hours after the flames broke out.  Source document  PDF Format


Sixteen Trapped in Burning Mine
By Associated Press
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin
November 17, 1920

Earlington, Ky., Nov. 17 -- Nine rescue teams are working desperately today to save the lives of sixteen miners trapped in the burning Arnold coal mine near here.  The men were trapped three miles back in the mine when the fire broke out yesterday afternoon.

After all attempts to rescue the men gave out, the rescuers began to dig a tunnel into the burning mine but were forced to come out because of the denseness of the smoke and gas.

Another rescue party organized to go into the mines armed with gas masks and hope to go to the end of the mine in an attempt to find the men.

Officials of the mine and other state officials believe the men have probably already been overcome in the mine.

Of the men trapped in the mine, three are white men and thirteen are negroes.  One other negro who was near the entrance of the mine was the first to notice the fire and quickly spread the alarm and nine rescue teams from nearby coal mining cities were called as quickly as possible.  The rescue teams worked tirelessly all night.

There is a little group near the burning entrance who are the wives and families of the entrapped men.  They have watched tirelessly all night long in the hope that their loved ones would be spared to them.


Five of Sixteen Entombed Men Die in Mine
The Daily Journal, Des Moines, Iowa
November 18, 1920

Earlington, Ky., Nov. 17. -- Five of the sixteen men trapped by a fire in the Arnold mine near here were taken out dead this morning They were the victims of suffocation.

The dead are:
  • Roy Carnes, 42, white
  • Hugh Perkins, 42, white
  • Jack Bond, 44, white
  • Alexander James, negro
  • George Anderson, negro
The other eleven were rescued and are in a serious condition.  The fire was discovered in the mine last Tuesday.  A Mine Workers' car from Evansville and a rescue crew arrived on the scene early.  After unsuccessful efforts were made to enter the mine, the fire was barricaded and the work of tunneling behind it was begun.

The tunnel was pushed through the shaft and equipped with oxygen tanks and masks the rescuers entered.  The first man found was unconscious but he was revived under first aid treatment.  Nearly twelve hours after being entombed the first man was brought up.




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