1938 — April 22, Red Jacket Coal Co., Keen Mountain Mine Explosion, Hanger, VA — 45
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 11-5-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 45 Charleston Gazette. “45 Killed…Explosion…Fire…Mine…Grundy, VA,” 4-24-1938, 1.
— 45 NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life, 2nd/3rd Qtrs., 1938.” Quarterly 3/2, 184.
— 45 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 45 NFPA. U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. December 2008, p. 25.
— 45 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, CDC. Mine Disasters.
— 45 U.S. Bureau of Mines. Final Report, Mine Explosion, Keen Mountain Mine…1938.
Narrative Information
National Fire Protection Association: “April 22, 1938, near Grundy, VA. In a small mine workmen were using explosives fired from the mine power wires to break up some roof rock which had fallen, and which was too heavy to handle until it had been broken. The first blast set off a coal dust explosion that extended throughout the mine and killed every one of the forty-five men who were in it. (H-42487.)” (NFPA. “Fires in Which There Was Loss of Life, 2nd/3rd Qtrs., 1938.” Quarterly 3/2, 184.)
United States Bureau of Mines. Final Report, Mine Explosion, Keen Mountain Mine…1938.:
“Introduction. A coal dust explosion occurred at about 4:45 p.m., April 22, 1938, shortly after most of the night shift had entered the mine, in the keen Mountain mine of the Red Jacket Coal Corporation, resulting in the death of 45 men and the injury of 2 others. All of the men who were in the section or part of the mine in which the explosion occurred were killed, with the exception of one man, and 3 men were killed on the outside of the mine. Most or all of the men were killed and injured by burns and violence.
“At the time of the explosion, there were additional men (probably as many as 50 or 60) in another part of the mine which was not connected to the portion in which the explosion occurred. Had the two sections of the mine been connected, which will be done in the relatively near future, or had additional (understood to be about 12) men employed on the night shift in the affected portion and waiting on the outside, entered the mine, the loss of life would doubtless have been considerably increased.
“The explosion was caused by the simultaneous firing of 3 ‘adobe’ or ‘bulldozing’ shots in the face of 1st left off the mains. The shots were apparently fired with 250 volts direct current and are believed to have contained 6 sticks of Lump Coal C permissible explosive and 3 No. 6 electric detonators. The explosion was not extremely violent; however, all of the stoppings in the affected portion of the mine were destroyed, two small fans were demolished, and considerable damage was done to mine portals and a sand-house locomotive and cars on the outside of the mine.”
Newspaper
April 24, AP: “Grundy, Va., April 23—(AP)—Forty-five charred bodies were taken from the seared depths of the Keen mountain mine of the Red Jacket Coal company today, victims of the volcano-like explosions which greeted the night shift as it entered the mine yesterday. The U. S. Bureau of Mines officials said no further bodies were in the ‘drifts’ which extend far under the mountain.
“Members of mine rescue squads worked in 30 minute relays in the furnace-like atmosphere until they had explored every avenue of the big mine. Two members were overcome by bad air which had to be blown out before the final group of bodies could be removed.
“For many hours the crews worked grimly, without hope of finding life among the victims trapped by the blast, but unwilling to cease their efforts until every miner had been accounted for.” (Charleston Gazette. “45 Killed…Explosion…Fire…Mine…Grundy, VA,” 4-24-1938, 1.)
Sources
Charleston Gazette, WV. “45 Killed, Three Injured In Explosion and Fire at Mine near Grundy, VA,” 4-24-1938, p. 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=40395510
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 Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1
National Fire Protection Association (John Hall, Jr.). U.S. Unintentional Fire Death Rates by State. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 31 pages, December 2008.
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 Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior. Final Report, Mine Explosion, Keen Mountain Mine, Red Jacket Coal Corporation, Hanger, Buchanan County, Virginia, April 22, 1938. Accessed 11-5-2024 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/keen_mountain_report.pdf