1925 — Dec 10, Overton No. 2 Coal Mine Gas and Dust Explosion, Overton, AL — 53
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-20-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–53 Bureau of Mines, US Dept. of Int. Explosion Report, Overton No. 2 Mine…Dec 10, 1925.
–53 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
–53 NIOSH, CDC, 2008, Mining Disasters.
–53 The Sun Herald, Lime Springs, IO, “53 Men Die in Coal Mine Explosion,” Dec 17, 1925.
–53 Ulery 2008, Explosion Hazards from Methane Emissions…in Coal Mines.” NIOSH.
–53 United States Mine Rescue Assoc. Mine Disasters in the United States. Overton #2.
Narrative Information
Bureau of Mines: “General Statement: An explosion occurred at 10:10 A.M. Thursday, December 10, 1925, in the Overton No. 2 Mine operated by the Alabama Fuel and Iron Company, located 17 miles southeast of Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, resulting in the death of 52 men and injury by burns to 3 men. The 3 burned men were immediately taken to a Birmingham hospital where one died with pneumonia January 3, 1926, and the other two are recovering. In addition, 10 mules were killed and considerable damage done to property.
“The explosion originated in 6 right and was the result of gas ignition and dust propagation. The source of ignition has not been definitely determined ….” (p.1) (Bureau of Mines, US Dept. of Int. Explosion Report, Overton No. 2 Mine…Dec 10, 1925.)
Ulery: “On December 10, 1925, 53 miners were killed at Overton No. 2 Mine in Irondale, AL, from a gas explosion. The disaster report noted: “Gas was issuing from a feeder in the face’.” (Ulery 2008, Explosion Hazards from Methane Emissions…in Coal Mines.” NIOSH)
Newspapers
Dec 11: The “…explosion of gas rocked the pit from bottom to top and shook the side of Shades Mountain.” (Galveston Daily News [TX], “61 Killed in Mine Blast,” December 11, 1925)
Dec 11, AP: “The explosion took place early in the day only a short time after the day shift had started work at 8 o’clock. According to the mine superintendent 108 men checked in. At the time of the accident 27 men were performing tasks which placed them beyond the range of the explosion, leaving 81 in the danger zone. Of these 81 in the mine at the time of the explosion 15 came forth unscathed and five were hurt. The remainder are either known to be dead in the coal company’s improvised morgue in the wash house or are still on lower levels and have not been recovered. Most of the live lost were on the seventh level… Rescue workers who have returned to the surface, many of the exhausted and struggling for breath, declare they hold no hope for any man still in the workings….The seventh level is about 800 feet below the mouth of the mine.” (AP. “61 Miners Killed in Gas Explosion—Fumes Quickly Snuff Out Lives of Men Entrapped in Coal Mine at Birmingham,” The Morning News, Florence, SC, 12-11-1925.)
Dec 11: “Birmingham, Ala., Dec. 11. — Twenty-six bodies were brought up from the recesses of the Overton mine No. 2 this morning, bringing the total removed to 48. Mine officials and rescue workers believe that five bodies still remain in the mine, and have abandoned all hope that the remainder of the men would be found alive. Mine officials expressed the belief that the total death list would not exceed 53, as they estimated that all bodies except five had been recovered.
Rescue crews worked patiently all night and continued their labors today hoping to remove before nightfall the remaining bodies….
”The Overton mine is the property of the Alabama Fuel and Iron company and is considered by federal and state mine officials one of the best equipped in the Alabama field. The blast did not wreck the air machinery, and this aided the rescue party….
”Relatives of the victims were not allowed to view the bodies. Identification was being carried out with greatest difficulty….
”Wearied watchers kept an all night vigil about the pit’s mouth. The color line was obliterated. White and Negro were united in a common grief, and each tried to assume the other’s loss. Rain began falling at daybreak but women hoping to find their loved ones yet alive, never budged from the guard lines.
”[One]…miner owes his escape to his mule. Back somewhere in the pit when the gas was worst and conditions appeared darkest for the entombed men, out through the slope opening flashed a big fat mule. Clinging to the mule’s tail was the…[miner] who had become temporarily blinded by the blast and took this means of saving himself. He said he knew the mule would ‘get out if there was any getting’….
”Of the fifty-three men killed outright, only two were unmarried and most of them were parents of large families….” (Charleston Daily Mail (WV), December 11, 1925)
Dec 17: “Birmingham, Ala. With a death list of 53 believed to have been definitely determined, rescue workers were making final efforts to remove three bodies remaining in Overton Mine No. 2, which was partly wrecked by a gas explosion…” (The Sun Herald, Lime Springs, Iowa, “53 Men Die in Coal Mine Explosion,” December 17, 1925, p. 8.)
Sources
Associated Press. “61 Miners Killed in Gas Explosion—Fumes Quickly Snuff Out Lives of Men Entrapped in Coal Mine at Birmingham,” The Morning News, Florence, SC, 12-11-1925. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com
Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior. Explosion Report, Overton No. 2 Mine, Alabama Fuel and Iron Company, December 10, 1925. Accessed 3-21-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/overton_1925.pdf
Galveston Daily News, TX. “61 Killed in Mine Blast,” 12-11-1925. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=45185078&firstvisit=true&src=search¤tResult=2
National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Safety and Health Research.. Mining Disasters (Incidents with 5 or more Fatalities). NIOSH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2-26-2013 update. Accessed 3-20-2025 at:
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NIOSH-Mining/MMWC/MineDisasters/Table
The Sun Herald, Lime Springs, Iowa. “53 Men Die in Coal Mine Explosion,” 12-17-1925, 8. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?img=5233402¤tResult=8&src=search
Ulery, James P. Explosion Hazards From Methane Emissions Related to Geological Features in Coal Mines (Information Circular 9503). Pittsburgh: Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, April, 2008, 24 pages. Accessed at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/pubs/pdfs/2008-123.pdf
United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. Alabama Fuel and Iron Company, Overton No. 2 Mine Explosion, Acmar, Saint Clair County, Alabama, December 10, 1925, No. Killed – 53.” Accessed 3-20-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/overton_news_only.htm