1940 — Jan 10, Pond Creek Coal Co. No. 1. mine gas/coal dust explosion, Bartley, WV–   91

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 10-27-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 –91  Dillon, Lacy. They Died in Darkness. 1976, p. 216.

–91  Mine Safety and Health Administration. Historical Data on Mine Disasters in the U.S.

–91  US Bureau of Mines. Final Report on a Gas and Dust Explosion…Bartley…[WV].

–91  United States Mine Rescue Association. Pond Creek Pocahontas Coal Co. Bartley No. 1.

Narrative Information

Bureau of Mines. …Gas and Dust Explosion, January 10, 1940…Bartley…West Virginia:

“An explosion of gas and coal dust occurred about 2:30 p.m., January 10, 1940, in Mine No. 1 of the Pond Creek Pocahontas Company at Bartley, W.Va., resulting in the death of 91 men from burns, violence, and asphyxiation. A total of 138 men were in the mine at the time of the explosion, of which number 37 escaped uninjured from an unaffected section of the mine and 10 men also escaped uninjured from the vicinity of the two shaft bottoms. Fifteen men gathered in one section of the mine, but were asphyxiated before they could erect barricades. In addition to the first explosion, there was at least one other explosion about 7 hours later after recovery operations had started. No one was injured in the second explosion.

“The explosion undoubtedly was initiated by ignition of gas and propagated by gas and coal dust. The exact source and point of ignition were not determined during the investigation due to complexity of conditions; however, a number of possible ignition sources were discovered. The explosion was general throughout the sections of the mine to the north and east of the shafts, but did not affect the section to the west of the shafts. The mine was generally dry and dusty and no water was used to allay the dust….”

Dillon: “The mine, a shaft sunk to a depth of about 600 feet to the Pocahontas No. 4 seam, was located at the mouth of Bartley Creek, which empties into Dry Fork River….

“One hundred and thirty-eight men were inside when the blast came but forty-seven of them were in the east entry and did not feel or hear the blast…. These forty-seven men had survived out of the 138 inside….”  (Dillon 1976, pp. 216-228)

Sources

Dillon, Lacy A. They Died in Darkness.  Parsons, WV:  McClain Printing Co., 1976.

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Historical Data on Mine Disasters in the United States. Arlington, VA: MSHA, U.S. Department of Labor. Accessed 10-5-2008 at:  http://www.msha.gov/MSHAINFO/FactSheets/MSHAFCT8.HTM

United States Bureau of Mines. Final Report on a Gas and Dust Explosion, January 10, 1940, in Mine No. 1 of the Pond Creek Pocahontas Company, Bartley, McDowell County, West Virginia. Accessed 10-27-2024 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/pond_creek_1940.pdf

United States Mine Rescue Association. Pond Creek Pocahontas Coal Company Bartley No. 1 Mine Explosion. Bartley, McDowell County, WV, 1-10-1940. Accessed 10-27-2024 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/pond_creek.htm