1925 — Dec 22, Fire, Webb Coal Mine, Bellaire, OH                                                 —       9

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-20-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

— 9  Keenan.  Historical Documentation of Major Coal-Mine Disasters…[U.S.]…, 1963, p. 28.

— 9  United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. Webb Fire.

Narrative Information

Keenan: “The fire was first noticed between 6 and 7 p.m., Tuesday, December 22, 1925. About 70 men, compris­ing the night shift, who cut the coal and distribute the supplies for the following day were underground. The fan was operating at normal speed.

 

“When discovered the fire had destroyed the 6th North door between the intake and return air on the main entries and was also well started in the coal at each side of the door. The outside was immediately notified and the fan was reversed thus placing the escape shaft on return air and the hoist shaft on intake. The night foreman, on learning of the fire, gathered the men from one of the nearby sections and conducted them to the bottom there instructing them to remain until he returned with more. Nine men from this group decided to climb the stairway in the 220 foot escape shaft, then on return air. All of these men lost their lives on the stairway at various points, while all the remaining men in the mine were con­ducted to the surface by means of the intake shaft without injury. The physician, on examining the bodies, attributed death to the carbon monoxide fumes ; however, two men, who had not attempted to climb the stairway, remained in the same gases at the foot of the shaft until the foreman returned and suffered no ill effects. To control the fire 1000 feet of fire hose was obtained from Bellaire to which was attached a pump having a capacity of 150 gallons per minute. With this the fire fighters were able, using gas masks, to surround the fire and load it out by Saturday, January 2, 1926.

 

“The exact cause of the fire is not known ; however, two possible theories are prevalent. The first is that the trolley wire became overheated igniting the door and coal on the main entries at that point.

 

“The other theory is that the fire originated from a piece of smoldering brattice cloth which had been thrown near the bottom of the door. As the mantrip was passing through the 6th North door a section boss noticed that the brattice cloth hung along the top of the door was smoldering, apparently ignited by a miner’s carbide light or arc from a trolley wheel. The section boss pulled the piece of cloth down and rubbed it vigorously between the palms of his hands to ex­tinguish the fire. He then threw the cloth on the floor where it was probably caught and held by the door in closing. In such a position any sparks that might have remained could easily have been revived by the leakage of air at the bottom of the door thereby re­kindling the cloth and ignited the door which was con­structed of wood and very dry.  This latter theory is much favored by the State Mining Department and to an extent by the mine offi­cials although they would make no statement.

 

“On January 4, 1926, the mine was entered to search for three horses and one mule, which had been in the mine since the night of the fire. It is interesting to note that all four were found alive and in no imme­diate danger. They had been loose in the mine for exactly 13 days without any food or water whatever.”  (Keenan.  Historical Documentation of Major Coal-Mine Disasters… [U.S.]…, 1963, p. 28; cites J.N. Geyer, Bureau of Mines.)

 

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States: “When discovered, the fire had destroyed the 6th North door and was also well started in the coal on each side of the door.  The night foreman, learning of the fire, gathered the men from nearby sections and conducted them to the bottom, instructing them to stay there until he returned with more.  Nine men from this group decided to climb the stairway in the escape shaft.  All these men lost their lives to carbon monoxide fumes.

 

“Cause of Fire: A piece of smoldering brattice cloth thrown out of a mantrip and caught a door on fire which ignited the coal ribs.”

 

Newspaper

 

Steubenville Herald-Star, OH. “Nine Workmen Burn to Death Near Bellaire.” 12-23-1925: “Bellaire, Oh., Dec. 23 – A.P.) – Official check today showed that nine men perished last night in a fire in the Webb Mine of the George M. Jones Coal Company, Toledo, at Shadyside, six miles south of here. The death list:

  • John Sarre, 40
  • A. O. Truax, 50
  • Edward Kennedy, 37
  • Julius Galgaett, 35
  • Alfred Zaccigini, 31
  • Sam Markabrada, 50
  • John Kura, 27
  • Tom Stezens, 33
  • Martin Szigg, 39….”

Sources

 

Keenan, Charles M. Historical Documentation of Major Coal-Mine Disasters in the United States Not Classified as Explosions of Gas or Dust: 1846-1962 (Bulletin 616). Washington, DC:  Bureau of Mines, Department of the Interior, 1963. Accessed at:  http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc12768/m1/2/

 

Steubenville Herald-Star, OH. “Nine Workmen Burn to Death Near Bellaire.” 12-23-1925. Accessed 3-26-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/webb_news_only.htm

 

United States Mine Rescue Association. Mine Disasters in the United States. “George M. Jones Coal Company, Webb Mine Fire, Bellaire, Belmont County, Ohio, December 23, 1925, No. Killed – 9.” Accessed 3-20-2025 at: https://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/webb_news_only.htm