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Dixon-Pocahontas Fuel Company
Dixon-Pocahontas Shaft Explosion

Welch, McDowell County, West Virginia
July 19, 1906
No. Killed - 5

West Virginia Dept. of Mines Report PDF Format
In the News
News icon The Beatrice Daily Express, July 20, 1906
News icon The Roanoke Times, July 20, 1906
News icon The Miami Evening Record, July 21, 1906
Narrative:  A gas explosion occurred at this mine.  The immediate cause was that five men were being lowered in a bucket.  One had an open light.  When part way down, a violent explosion took place.  Five men were killed and two were injured.
Note:  This disaster is included in the MSHA Fatality Archive Database indicating it occurred on July 9.  The WV Dept. of Mines report and news articles indicate this happened on July 19.  This event was not found on the CDC/NIOSH Disaster List.


The Dixon-Pocahontas Fuel Company while engaged in sinking a shaft about 3 miles east of Welch, in McDowell County, encountered gas before the coal bed was reached.

On July 19, 1906. while the workmen were descending in the bucket the open lamp carried ignited the gas, the flame of which came to the top of the shaft.

The hoisting engineer, seeing the flame, immediately raised the bucket to the surface and found one man in it, four others having fallen to the bottom of the shaft and being instantly killed.

To prevent a repetition of such a disaster the shaft was equipped with a small ventilating fan.

Deceased:
  • Wallace H. Mitchell, 32
  • William Crew, 26
  • John Galamore, 30
  • Palmer Harris, 26
  • Landon Whiteside, 24

Source:
1907 Annual Report of the West Virginia Department of Mines
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Violent and Deadly
Explosives Disasters
NIOSH Mine
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