1928 — May 19, Pickands-Mather Coal Mine, Gas and Dust Explosion, Mather, PA — 195

— 273 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 273 NFPA. U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. December 2008, p. 24.
— 195 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 315.
— 195 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mine Disasters.
— 195 United States Mine Rescue Assoc. Mine Disasters in the [US]. “…Mather No. 1…”

Narrative Information

U.S. Bureau of Mines: McCaa and Howarth: “On May 19, 1928, at 5:07 P.M. a gas and dust explosion occurred in the Mather mine of the Pickands-Mather and Company at Mather, Pa. This explosion occurred at a time when the day and night shifts were changing. Four hundred and sixty-two men were employed on the day shift and 151 on the night shift. Many of the day shift men had left the mine but there were about 270 mine in the mine when the explosion occurred, of these 209 were within the area involved and about 61 escaped from the unaffected area without assistance, although some of those who escaped received minor cuts and bruises. Of the 209 men in that part of the mine affected by the explosion 14 escaped safely, 2 died in hospitals after being rescued and 193 were killed outright by violence or were suffocated by afterdamp. About two-thirds of the persons killed were in the path of the explosion and were killed by violence or burned to death and one-third were overcome by afterdamp within an hour or two after the explosion. One group of 6 men, on the west side of the mine, attempted to erect a brattice cloth barricade at a point about 500 feet beyond the flame zone. Another group of 4 men congregated at another point nearby but were overcome before they had made any attempt to protect themselves. A third group of about 16 men, on the east side of the mine, were overcome at a point some distance from their working places while trying to escape; there was no evidence that these men had made any attempt to protect themselves.

“The explosion originated in the extreme northwestern corner of the mine…in solid workings where it appears that an accumulation of explosive gas was ignited by sparks or arcs from a non-permissible storage battery locomotive. This accumulation of gas may have been due to an interruption in the ventilation, possibly a door had been left open. Notwithstanding the fact that the explosion covered an area about a mile wide and a mile and half long, it should be classed as one of moderate violence. The area involved is about one-fifth of the entire mine. The greatest distance that flame traveled, as measured along the haulage roads, is about 8500 feet. Property damage consisted of the destruction of doors, stoppings and overcasts, slight damage to a number of empty mine cars, and the knocking down of timber sets resulting in extensive roof falls….” (US Bureau of Mines (McCaa and Howarth). Final Report on Mather Mine Explosion, Pickands-Mather and Company, Mather, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1928. Pp. 1-2.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

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 Fire Protection Association (John Hall, Jr.). U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 31 pages, December 2008.

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 at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/disall.htm
and http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/allminingdisasters.html

United States Bureau of Mines (G. S. McCaa, District Engineer and H. C. Howarth, Coal Mine Superintendent. Final Report on Mather Mine Explosion, Pickands-Mather and Company, Mather, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1928. Accessed 5-29-2020 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/05-19-1928_Mather.pdf

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Packands-Mather and Company Mather No. 1 Mine Explosion. Mather, Pennsylvania, May 19, 1928.” Accessed 5-29-2020 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/mather_explosion.htm