1941 — Oct 27, Stirling Coal Co., Daniel Boone Coal Mine gas explosion, Daniel Boone, KY–15
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 9-23-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 15 Bureau of Mines, Dept. Interior. Final Report, Explosion, Daniel Boone Mine…” P. 1.
— 15 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mine Disasters.
— 15 Quarterly of the NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” V35/N3, Jan 1942, 286.
— 15 United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United states. “Sterling…”
Bureau of Mines, Dept. Interior. Final Report, Explosion, Daniel Boone Mine…” 1941:
Introduction
“At about 7:15′ a.m., October 27, 1941, an explosion occurred in the Daniel Boone mine of the Stirling Coal Company, Daniel Boone, Hopkins County, Kentucky, resulting in the death of 15 men working in the affected section. At the time of the explosion there were 53 men working in the mine, 33 of whom were at work in an adjoining hand loading section and were not injured by the explosion and made their way to the bottom of the new air shaft from which they were later rescued. Three carpenters who were at work in the new air shaft installing a stairway were slightly
affected by afterdamp before ventilation was restored in the shaft by closing the explosion doors which had been blown open. The main line motorman and the man at work at the bottom of the slope made their way out unassisted. The three carpenters and the 33 men from the hand loading section were taken out through the air shaft with the aid of firemen’s ladders from the last flight of stairs to the surface (a distance of about 50 feet).
“It is believed that the explosion W2.S caused by the ignition of an accumulation of gas by a workman attempting to smoke. The gas accumulation was doubtless due largely to the shutting down of the ventilating fan the evening previous to the day of the explosion…. (p. 1.)
List of Deceased Miners
- Will Compton General Mine Foreman Married
- Obie Wells Machineman Married, one child
- Ike Whitfield Machine Helper Married, eight children
- Edgar Adams Brakeman Married, three children
- Dan Peterson, Colored Timberman Married
- Robert Dunning Driller Single
- Junior Gamblin Duck Bill Operator Married, two children
- Neely Todd Machineman Married, three children
- Robert Josie Duck Bill Head Operator Married, one child
- Elbertrice Keys Motorman Married, four children
- Otho Sisk Machineman Married
- Goldie Gamblin Duck Bill Operator Widower, two children
- Bart Cunningham Loader Married, four children
- Bennie Martin, Colored Driller Married, one child
- Gus Pryor Mine Electrician Married, four children.”
National Fire Protection Association: “October 27, 1941, Daniel Boone, Ky. Fifteen miners were trapped and asphyxiated in a coal mine following an explosion. Cause of the explosion was not immediately determined, but gas is known to have been present.” (Quarterly of the NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life.” Vol. 35, N. 3, Jan 1942, 286.)
Sources
Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior. Final Report, Explosion, Daniel Boone Mine, Stirling Coal Company, Daniel Boone, Hopkins County, Kentucky, October 27, 1941. Accessed 9-23-2024 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/daniel_boone_1941.pdf
National Fire Protection Association. “Fires in Which There was Loss of Life.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 35, No. 3, January 1942.
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 Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Sterling Coal Company. Daniel Boone Mine Explosion…October 27, 1941.” Accessed 9-23-2024 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/daniel_boone_news_only.htm