1947 — Mar 25, blasting causes dust explosion, Centralia No. 5 Coal Mine ~Centralia, IL-111

— 111 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 315.
— 111 Dixon Evening Telegraph. IL. “Tolling of Funeral Church Bells…” March 29, 1947.
— 111 Mine Safety and Health Administration, DOL. Historical Data on Mine Disasters. 2008
— 111 NIOSH, CDC. Coal Mining Disasters: 1839 to Present. 1-3-2013 update.
— 111 U.S. Mine Rescue Assoc. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Centralia Coal…”
— 110 Cole. History of MSHA, Slide 11.

Narrative Information

Bureau of Mines: “An explosion occurred in the No. 5 mine of the Centralia Coal Company 2 miles south of Centralia, Marion County, Illinois, at 3:26 p.m., March 25, 1947. The explosion resulted in the death of 111 men, of which number 65 were killed by burns and violence, and 46 by afterdamp. One of the victims of the afterdamp was rescued and died later on the surface. One hundred and forty-two men were in the mine at the time of the explosion; 24 men escaped unaided and 8, including the afterdamp victim, were rescued.

“The explosion was caused by coal dust which was raised into the air and ignited by explosives, fired in a dangerous and nonpermissible manner. It was a local explosion, although exceedingly violent in several of the working sections, and it stopped at a point estimated to be 6,400 feet from the shaft bottom. The probable point of origin of the explosion was at the face of 1 west entry.

“The mine was dry throughout, with the exception of local “swags” where it was necessary to pump water, and no measures were taken to allay the dust at its source. Parts of the main and secondary haulage roads had been rock-dusted, but no rock dusting had been done in the rooms; or within 500 feet of the faces of the working entries.” (Bureau of Mines, U.S. Dept. of the Interior (Ankeny, Gallagher, Smith, Perz, and Malesky). Final Report of Mine Explosion No. 5 Mine, Centralia Coal Company, Centralia, Marion County, Illinois, March 25, 1947.)

Cole: Contributed to passage of Public Law 80-326 by the Congress in 1947:
• First Code of Federal Regulations for mine safety for bituminous and lignite mines.
• NO enforcement provisions, law expired in one year. (Cole, History of MSHA, Slide 11)

Newspapers

March 26: “Centralia, Ill. (UP) – A poisonous blanket of carbon monoxide gas let loose by an explosion rolled through the tunnels of the Centralia Coal company mine today, threatening 114 entombed miners. Mine officials and police feared all the men still in the mine were dead…. The miners were trapped at 3:30 p. m. yesterday by an explosion which roared through the mine’s four miles of tunnels and filled them with the deadly gas. J. O. Hays, chief clerk at the Centralia Coal company’s mine No. 5, disclosed today that a recheck showed there were 143 men in the mine when it was ripped by the blast. Earlier, the company had said there were 131 miners at work.

“Twenty-eight men were rescued from the mine tunnel which is 540 feet underground…. There was little hope for those still in.-the mine. The last men rescued were brought to the surface at 10:30 last night. They were the last miners found alive in the gas-choked tunnels…. The cause of the explosion which sent the gas through the mine was not known….

“Some of the miners may have been as much as four miles from the explosion, and during the early rescue work there was hope that they had been able to throw up barricades to protect themselves from the gas and dust….

“The mine is two miles south of Centralia in the heart of the rich southern Illinois coal fields….” (Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “All 114 Trapped Miners Feared Dead.” March 26, 1947.)

March 29: “Centralia, Ill., March 29 — (AP) — Tired rescue workers today neared the end of their hopeless search for survivors of last Tuesday’s disastrous coal mine explosion which claimed an estimated 111 lives….In Washington. John L. Lewis, president of the AFL United Mine Workers — to which the disaster victims belonged — told a senate committee yesterday the miners were ‘murdered because of the criminal negligence of J. A. Krug,’ secretary of the interior and federal coal mines administrator….Sunday preparations went forward for inquiries into the disaster. Among factors to be studied are separate inspection reports made by federal and state agencies a week before the blast recommending changes or improvements in safety precautions. The inquiry also will consider a letter written by miners a year ago to Governor Dwight H. Green of Illinois termed a ‘plea to you to please save our lives . . . before we have a dust explosion at this mine’.” (Dixon Evening Telegraph, IL. “Tolling of Funeral Church Bells…” 29 Mar 1947.)

Sources

Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior (M. J. Ankeny, W. A. Gallagher, F. J. Smith, Frank Perz, J. S. Malesky). Final Report of Mine Explosion No. 5 Mine, Centralia Coal Company, Centralia, Marion County, Illinois, March 25, 1947. Vincennes, IN; Bureau of Mines. Accessed 5-30-2020 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/Centralia_1947.pdf

Cole, Jesse P. (MSHA District 4 Manager). “History of MSHA,” Leadership Intensive Course Mine Safety and Health Administration. No date. 48 slides. Accessed 1-11-2009 at: http://www.usmra.com/repository/category/mining/modified_History_of_MSHA.ppt#256,1

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

Dixon Evening Telegraph, IL. “Tolling of Funeral Church Bells Marks Centralia’s Sorrow.” March 29, 1947. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/PdfViewerTags.aspx?topic=I’ll+Never+Go+Back+Again%2c+Miner+Says&img=3554758&terms=miner&dpviewdate=03%2f25%2f2009&firstvisit=true

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

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 5-30-2020 at: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/statistics/content/coaldisasters.html

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “Centralia Coal Company Centralia No. 5 Mine Explosion. Centralia, Marion County, Illinois, March 25, 1947.” Accessed 5-30-2020 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/centralia.htm