1946 — April 18, Great Valley Coal Mine Methane Gas Explosion, McCoy, VA          —     12

Latest edit 11-8-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–12  Bureau of Mines. Final Report of Mine Explosion, Great Valley Coal Mine…Virginia. 1946

–12  Charleston Gazette, WV. “Virginia Blast Kills 12 Miners. 4-19-1946.

–12  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mine Disasters: 1839 to Present.

–12  United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Great Valley”

 

Narrative Information

 

Bureau of Mines: “A gas explosion occurred in the Great Valley mine of the Great Valley Anthracite Coal Corporation at McCoy, Montgomery County, Virginia, at 10:45 a.m., April 18, 1946. At the time of the explosion, 58 men were in the mine, and 46 of them escaped unaided to the surface. Eleven men were killed immediately by the forces emanating from the explosion, by the effects of burns they sustained, or from the effects of after-damp and one man died the same day in a hospital as a result of burns, injuries, end shock. The men who escaped from the mine were not injured.

 

“The explosion occurred in the 16 east level when a quantity of methane was liberated from a fault in the coal bed. The liberation occurred in a crosscut near the face of 16 east, and there is no evidence that flames extended farther than a few hundred feet from their origin; however, the forces emanating from the explosion destroyed all the stoppings in 16 east which is about 850 feet in length, a door at the mouth of 15 east, 12 stoppings in 15 east, and an undercast near the mouth of 2 east; the mouth of 2 east is about 4,700 feet from the origin, as measured along the haulageways….

 

“Representatives of the Bureau of Mines are of the opinion that the explosion was caused by the sudden liberation of a large volume of methane, released by the firing of a shot in an uncompleted crosscut, and ignited by an electric spark from an open-type battery locomotive….

 

“One hundred and thirty-three persons were employed on two shifts at the mine, and 99 of them were employed underground. The average daily production was 500 tons of coal….

 

“The mine is rated gassy by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry and by the United States Bureau of Mines.

 

“The coal in this mine is very dry, and large quantities of fine coal dust are formed during the mining operations. All surfaces, particularly those in the return airways, were covered by heavy deposits of the dust, which was not allayed at any of its source. The mine has never been rock-dusted [explosive coal dust is covered with non-explosive rock dust]….” (US Dept. of the Interior, Bureau of Mines. Final Report of Mine Explosion, Great Valley Mine, Great Valley Anthracite Coal Corporation, McCoy, Montgomery County, Virginia. 12-14-1948.)

 

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mine Disasters:

“04/17/1946…Great Valley…McCoy…VA…12…Coal…Explosion…UG [under ground].”

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States: “A rescue squad from Radford donned gas masks and made its way to the site shortly after the explosion.  Eleven were found dead of burns.  The twelfth miner, Paul Price, was brought to the surface but died without regaining consciousness at a hospital here.”

 

Newspaper

 

April 19, Charleston Gazette, WV:[1]

 

Radford, Va., April 18 – (AP) – Twelve miners operating at a low level in one of the state’s few anthracite coal diggings died today in a blast that caught them 5,000 feet from the hill slope entrance.

 

“The shattering force blew a train of 14 mine cars more than half a mile away in the mine 150 feet up an inclined track.  Mine Superintendent Cloyd Martin who was riding the cars, was knocked from the train….

 

“Eleven were found dead of burns.  The twelfth miner, Paul Price, was brought to the surface but died without regaining consciousness at a hospital here. All of the dead were residents of McCoy, a small community whose main source of livelihood is from the mine. They were:

  • Paul Price
  • Herman Sifford
  • Cecil Hancock
  • J. P. Price
  • Frank Price
  • C. R. Johnson
  • Ed Ritter
  • Frank Deweese
  • John Duncan
  • Dave Graham
  • J. L. Sarver
  • Hoge Sifford.”

(Charleston Gazette, WV. “Virginia Blast Kills 12 Miners. 4-19-1946.)

 

Sources

 

Charleston Gazette, WV. “Virginia Blast Kills 12 Miners. 4-19-1946. Accessed 11-8-2023 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/great_valley_news_only.htm

 

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 11-8-2023 at: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/NIOSH-Mining/MMWC/MineDisasters/Table

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

 

United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines. Final Report of Mine Explosion, Great Valley Mine, Great Valley Anthracite Coal Corporation, McCoy, Montgomery County, Virginia. Originating Office: Mount Hope, WV Bureau of Mines 12-14-1948. Accessed 11-8-2023 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/great_valley_1946.pdf

 

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Great Valley Anthracite Coal Company, Great Valley Mine Explosion, McCoy, Montgomery County, Virginia, April 18, 1946, No. Killed – 12.” Accessed 11-8-2023 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/great_valley_news_only.htm

 

 

 

 

[1] This transcription is found on the US Mine Rescue Association webpage devoted to the Great Valley coal mine explosion.