1928 — Feb 20, Kinloch Coal Mine (Valley Camp) gas & dust explosion, Parnassus, PA– 12
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-18-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–12 Bureau of Mines, U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Report on Gas and Dust Explosion…1928.
–12 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mining Disasters.
–12 United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. Kinloch.
Narrative Information
Bureau of Mines, US Dept. of Commerce. Report on Gas and Dust Explosion at Kinloch:
“Introduction.
“A gas and dust explosion occurred at 9:30 p.m. February 20, 1928 at the Kinloch mine of the Valley Camp Coal Company, Parnassus, Pennsylvania. Ten men were killed in Kinloch mine and two suffocated in the Boyd mine which holes into the Valley Camp No. 1 mine, which is directly connected to the Kinloch mine. Of the ten men killed in the Kinloch mine, five met instant death, 2 traveled a distance of about 450 feet before they were overcome by afterdamp and three traveled about 100 feet before they were overcome by afterdamp. One of the two men suffocated in the Boyd mine had traveled outby a distance of about 400 feet after realizing that something was wrong. Nine men escaped without assistance from the Kinloch mine. Two escaped without assistance from the Boyd mine. Two escaped without assistance from the Valley Camp No. 1 mine. One man was rescued from Valley Camp No. 1 mine by a gas mask crew furnishing him with a self-rescuer and then directing him through the return airway up the shaft. One man in the Boyd mine was rescued by two others making their way out of the mine.
“The origin of the explosion was at No. 16 room 17 N.E. off 11 face. The explosion was started when a cutting machine ignited an accumulation of explosive gas. Machine men were moving a Goodman closed type non-permissible cutting machine towards the face under its own power and obtaining the same from the trolley wire by sliding one terminal of the cable along the trolley wire, when sparks from the trolley wire ignited gas which had accumulated. This gas tailed back from the face of the entry a distance of 260 feet to No. 16 room. The face of the butts 17 and 18 N.E. was in a clay vein that was generating methane. The complete explosion forces were confined to the Kinloch mine except a short distance through connecting openings of the Valley Camp No. 1 mine. All flame was confined to the Kinloch mine. The explosion traveled over an area of approximately one by one and a quarter miles. The vast area for expansion with the damp basin relieved the pressure and helped to prevent propagation through the mine. Propagation was due to coal dust and an atmosphere more or less charged with methane. The mine was not systematically rock-dusted. About a year prior to the explosion the haulageroads were rock-dusted but no attempt was made to maintain the incombustible contents of the dust at any definite standard. There were a number of local depressions in the coal bed and as a general rule the mine was wet at such places but water was not used on the cutter bars of the coal cutting machines, or for sprinkling the roadways to allay the dust….” [pp. 1-2]
“Probable Cause of the Explosion.
“In the judgment of the bureau investigators, the cause of the explosion was a failure or interruption of the ventilation allowing methane to accumulate in the face of 17 butt off 11 face and tailing outby a distance of 260 feet. This accumulation of methane was ignited by sparks or arcs from a non-permissible coal cutting machine….” [p. 20]
United States Mine Rescue Assoc. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Valley Camp…”:
“The Deceased (official):
“These ten miners died in the Kinloch mine:
- Parley Bell, 34
- West Blackman, 38
- Thomas Burtoft, 47
- William Casey, 23
- John Clark, 30
- William Ivory, 30
- Kinzy Nice, 21
- John Pool, 27
- Andrew Stroder, 21
- Charles Wise, 23
“These two miners died in the adjacent Boyd mine of the H. W. Boyd Coal Company, several miles from the scene of the explosion. These men were killed by blackdamp which swept through to the connecting mine after the explosion.
- Newton Beck
- Louis Wentzel
“Source: The Pittsburg Press, Feb 21, 1928.”
Sources
Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of Commerce. Report on Gas and Dust Explosion at the Kinloch Mine, Valley Camp Coal Company, Parnassus, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1928. Accessed 2-18-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/kinloch_1928.pdf
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 2-18-2025 at:
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NIOSH-Mining/MMWC/MineDisasters/Table
United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Valley Camp Coal Company, Kinloch Mine Explosion, Parnassus, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, February 20, 1928, No. Killed – 12.” Accessed 2-18-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/kinloch_1928_news_only.htm