1938 – June 2, Gas Explosion, Butler Slope Coal Mine, Volpe Coal Co. Pittston PA — 10
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 11-4-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 10 Lock Haven Express, PA. “State Commission Probes Mine Blasts.” June 7, 1938, p. 1.
— 10 Lock Haven Express, PA. “Volpe Cleared In Mine Blast Probe.” Aug 3, 1938, p. 1.
— 10 Mine Safety and Health Admin. Historical Coal Mine Disasters in the Anthracite Region.
— 10 NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life, 2nd/3rd Quarters, 1938,.” 32/2, p. 186.
— 10 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mining Disasters. 2010.
— 10 NEPA.Railfan.Net. Plymouth Miners Memorial. (Inscription on the Memorial).
— 10 PA Dept. of Environmental Protection. “Table 3: Anthracite Accidents…1847-2000.”
— 10 Philadelphia Inquirer. “10 Die, 6 Hurt in Mine Blast Near Scranton.” June 3, 1938.
— 10 Titusville Herald, PA. “Ten Killed, Six Injured By Explosion in Coal Mine.” 6-3-1938, 1.
— 10 U.S. Bureau of Mines. June 2, 1938; Butler Slope (Anthracite), Pittston, Pa.; 10 Killed.
Narrative Information
National Fire Protection Association: “June 2, 1938, near Scranton, PA. A rock fall in an anthracite mine were ignited either from miners’ lamps or sparks from motors. The explosion was fatal-to ten miners. (H-42493.)” (NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life, 2nd/3rd Quarters, 1938,.” 32/2, p. 186.)
U.S. Bureau of Mines. June 2, 1938; Butler Slope (Anthracite), Pittston, Pa.; 10 Killed:
“An explosion in a small, leased pillar section known as Permit No. 5208, Revised 10-23-37, killed or injured all the 16 men in the area; 8 were killed, and 2 of the 7 taken to a hospital died; 1 man was sent home with a dislocated shoulder.
“On the night before a nearby pillar section started to cave, and cracks appeared on a concrete highway on the surface. The fireboss kept men out of the caving section but did not find gas. A large accumulation built up because of the caving and a door left open between 1st and 2d chambers.
“At 9:20 a.m. an overcharged shot of pellet powder, fired from the powerline, ignited the gas, causing a violent local explosion that was quickly dissipated by the large area of openings in this pillar work. The mine foreman heard the explosion and felt a wind; he took the men from the working place he was in and investigated. They came across an injured man walking out and notified the management. Rescue crews were quickly assembled, and apparatus crews were used
to recover some of the bodies.”
Newspapers
June 2, AP: “Wilkes Barre, PA., June 2 (AP) – At least 17 mine workers were believed trapped or burned by a gas explosion today at the Butler slope of the Volpe Coal Company in Pittston Township, near here. One man was reported dead and seven others were in serious condition in Pittston hospital. An announcement by Attorney Charles Buffalino, speaking from the company office, at 1 p. m., declared the fate of possibly eight or nine men was still undetermined. The missing men were still in the mine at that hour, while colliery crews and United States rescue workers tried to penetrate deadly gas fumes said to have filled approaches where the men were last reported working. The name of the dead man was not announced.” (Clearfield Progress, PA. “17 Miners Are Trapped; 1 Dead After Blast.” June 2, 1938, p. 1.)
June 2, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Scranton, June 2 – Death, with flames and showering rock as its tools, claimed 10 victims today in the depths of the Butler mine at Avoca, eight miles south of here, when a coal gas explosion ripped through the upper lift of the colliery’s Red Ash Vein.
“Rescue workers in gas masks tunneling through the debris of the wrecked shaft, came upon the bodies of the last of the victims toward dusk today, nine hours after the blast, while at Pittston Hospital physicians fought to save the lives and the sight of five of the six survivors, two of them critically injured.
“All of the 16 men working in the vein at the time of the blast have been accounted for, although rescue squads reported that three of the bodies may not be brought out of the mine for another 24 hours. One of those injured did not require hospital treatment.
ONLY ONE WALKS OUT
“….But one survivor walked out of the mine today unaided. He was Joseph Musto, 45, who staggered half-conscious from its mouth after feeling his way through darkness from the scene of the explosion a quarter of a mile under the earth.
WIFE AT SCENE
“His wife, one of a milling group of 600 women and children who gathered to await word of their loved ones, rushed screaming to greet him as he was taken to the company office for treatment….
“In critical condition at the hospital were Joseph Waskiewiecz, of DuPont, and Peter Morgatini, of Pittston. Both were blinded by the explosion and physicians gave them but a slight chance to recover….
“Louis Sanner, the mine superintendent, announced that three men were still in the mine. Rescue workers said there was little doubt that all of these were dead. Deadly mine damp gas fumes filled the tunnel through which they were digging to reach the trapped men….
‘The blast occurred at 8:30 A.M. Although the mine is listed on official mine maps as non-gaseous, there seemed little doubt that the explosion was caused by ignition of gas which seeped into the shaft after a rock-fall which preceded it.
VIOLATION HELD POSSIBLE
“Mine officials said some violation of mining regulations by the workers might have been responsible, although miners entering the shaft are searched daily for matches. Officials announced it would be several days before the exact cause of the blast could be learned.
“Inspector Owens, returning from an inspection of the ruined shaft, ordered immediate construction of a new ventilation system to facilitate the work of clearing out the wreckage.
“The 16 men in the workings at the time of the last blast were engaged in “second mining.” Taking coal from pillars and other parts of the previously worked diggings.
“….Mine officials said the explosion occurred almost directly under the new duPont-Wilkes-Barre highway…. The mine itself is in Pittston township, while the entrance is in open country, several hundred yards distant from Avoca. Residents of that little community were not aware of the blast when it occurred. The mine was leased only five weeks ago by the Volpe Co., from the Pittston Coal Co….” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “10 Die, 6 Hurt in Mine Blast Near Scranton.” June 3, 1938.)
June 2, AP: “Associated Press. Scranton, June 2. – Ten men were killed and six men were injured, two critically, in an explosion today in the Red Ash vein of the Volpe Coal company’s Butler mine, about, eight miles south of here. It was the second major mine disaster within two months in the eastern Pennsylvania anthracite field. Tonight the bodies of three of the victims remained in the debris-strewn mine. Rescue crews reported they may not be removed for 24 hours. The dead were…[ten names]
“In a critical condition in Pittston hospital were Joseph Waskiewicz, Du-Pont, and Peter Morgantani, Pittston…. Joseph Lusto, DuPont, was the only one of the 16 men working in .the mine to escape death or serious injury. He suffered a slight injury of the right wrist. He walked out unaided and was met by his wife, who screamed, then rushed into his arms.
“Survivors said a rock fall preceded the explosion, shutting off ventilation and that accumulated gases were ignited either by the miners’ lamps or sparks from motors.
“Governor George H. Earle sent his son, George H. Earle, IV by airplane to investigate. Young Earle joined the governor’s staff as an assistant secretary this week.
“The blast was the second in eastern Pennsylvania in a little more than a month. Eight were killed and ten injured April 27 by an explosion in the St. Clair Coal company mine, near Pottsville.” (Titusville Herald, PA. “Ten Killed, Six Injured…Explosion…Mine.” 6-3-1938, p. 1.)
June 7, AP: “Harrisburg, (AP). – Under instructions from Governor Earle, a three-member state commission began an investigation today of all safety regulations in Pennsylvania’s hard coal mining area. Aroused by the loss of ten lives in the Pittston mine explosion last Friday, the governor names State Senator Leo C. Mundy, Attorney General Guy K. Bard and Secretary of Mines Michael Hartneady to conduct the inquiry.” (Lock Haven Express, PA. “State Commission Probes Mine Blasts.” June 7, 1938, p. 1.)
Aug 3, AP: “Wilkes-Barre, (AP) – A coroner’s jury reported the blast that killed ten workers in the Volpe Coal Company mine June 2 was an unavoidable accident. The report found there was no negligence on the part of the company.
“State mine inspectors, officials of the Volpe Coal Company, miners and laborers in No. 1 lift of the colliery, where the explosion occurred, and half a dozen survivors of the blast, all testified that there was no gas in that area either the night before the explosion nor when the day shift started on June 2.
“After Santo Volpe, president of Volpe Coal Company, told the crowd that any person with a knowledge of the disaster was free to testify without jeopardizing his job, Michael Clark, brother of John Clark, one of the victims, interrupted the hearing with: ‘Why don’t you people tell the truth. This is being whitewashed’.” (Lock Haven Express, PA. “Volpe Cleared In Mine Blast Probe.” Aug 3, 1938, p. 1.)
Sources
Clearfield Progress, PA. “17 Miners Are Trapped; 1 Dead After Blast.” June 2, 1938, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=14941091
Lock Haven Express, PA. “State Commission Probes Mine Blasts.” June 7, 1938, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=147329907
Lock Haven Express, PA. “Volpe Cleared In Mine Blast Probe.” Aug 3, 1938, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=147330361
Mine Safety and Health Administration. Historical Coal Mine Disasters in the Anthracite Region (District 1 – Coal Mine Safety and Health). Arlington, VA: MSHA, U.S. Department of Labor. Accessed 1-3-2009 at: http://www.msha.gov/District/Dist_01/Fatals/HISTFAT.HTM
National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life, Second and Third Quarters, 1938.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 32, No. 2, October 1938, pp. 184-186.
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
NEPA.Railfan.Net. Plymouth Miners Memorial. (Inscription on the Memorial). Accessed 4/8/2010 at: http://nepa.railfan.net/breakers/pmm.php
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. “Anthracite Accidents in Which Five or More Persons were Killed 1847-2000 (Table 3).” Accessed 4-10-2011 at: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/minres/bmr/annualreport/2000/table_03.htm
Philadelphia Inquirer. “10 Die, 6 Hurt in Mine Blast Near Scranton.” 6-3-1938. Accessed at: http://www.hsp.org/sites/www.hsp.org/files/migrated/10die6hurt_fin_formatted.pdf
Titusville Herald, PA. “Ten Killed, Six Injured By Explosion in Coal Mine.” 6-3-1938, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=106020770
United States Bureau of Mines. June 2, 1938; Butler Slope (Anthracite), Pittston, Pa.; 10 Killed. Accessed 11-4-2024 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/1938_Butler_Report.pdf