Four years ago today — on Jan. 19, 2006 — a fire broke out in the belt take-up storage unit for the longwall conveyor belt at Massey Energy’s Aracoma Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County, W.Va.

A crew of workers, including Ellery Hatfield and Don Bragg (above, left to right), ran into thick, black smoke in their escape tunnel and had to find another way out. Ten men from the crew escaped. Bragg and Hatfield somehow became separated from the group, got lost and eventually succumbed to the smoke.

Federal investigators cited a variety of major safety violations that led to the fire, including “prolonged operation” of a misaligned conveyor belt and allowing large spills of combustible coal dust and grease to build up on the belt. Serious safety problems at Aracoma built up over time, and an independent report found that a lack of tough enforcement by state and federal agencies contributed to those problems. In an internal review, MSHA found its own performance at Aracoma unacceptable.  (Not for nothing, but a Department of Labor review conducted after the Crandall Canyon disaster found that MSHA still had a long ways to go in fixing these problems).

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Four years ago today, an explosion ripped through a small underground coal mine in Upshur County, W.Va. Soon, the nation’s eyes were focused on the Sago Mine, as a frantic rescue effort was waged to try to save 13 coal miners trapped deep underground.

Twelve of those miners never made it home to their families. They were (left to right and top to bottom, above): Tom Anderson, Terry Helms, Marty Bennett, Martin Toler, Marshall Winans, Junior Hamner, Jesse Jones, Jerry Groves, James Bennett, Jackie Weaver, Fred Ware, and David Lewis.

Of the 13 workers who did not escape immediately after the explosion inside a sealed area of the International Coal Group mine, only Randal McCloy (right) was alive by the time rescuers reached the crew more than 40 hours later.

It was the worst mining disaster in West Virginia in nearly 40 years, and brought a renewed focus to the nation’s mine safety efforts, which had suffered major budget and staffing cuts — along with an industry-friendly focus on “compliance assistance” — during the Bush administration.

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On Dec. 1, 1907, an explosion at the Naomi Mine in Fayette City, Pa., killed 34 coal miners.

The Web site of the U.S. Mine Rescue Association provides this summary of what happened:

About 7:45 p.m. Sunday, an explosion of firedamp augmented by coal dust resulted in the death of 34 miners, all that were in the mine. A large quantity of gas must have been ignited. The gas was not detected before anyone was allowed to enter the mine. For some time previous to the explosion, only the working places were being examined before the mine was allowed to be entered.

The cause of the gas being present was an open door. The explosion was caused by an open light or electric arc from the wires. The system of ventilation was fauty having too many doors.

They commenced to sink a shaft but very little progress has been made. It was evident that the fireboss had been trying to get the men together preparatory to leaving the mine. 

The association has also posted front pages of local newspapers with coverage of the disaster.

Forty-one years ago today, 78 miners were killed in an explosion at Consolidation Coal Co.’s No. 9 Mine in Farmington, W.Va. The famous photo above was taken by longtime Gazette photographer Lawrence Pierce.

Readers might be interested to go back to last year’s Gazette, when my friend Paul Nyden wrote this story  to mark the Farmington disaster’s 40th anniversary. There’s also video, the front page of the Gazette from the day after the disaster, and we posted a copy of the official government investigation report and some analysis from Dr. Nyden’s dissertation of the Farmington disaste, all here.

And in today’s Gazette, new MSHA chief Joe Main has an op-ed commentary about Farmington, discussing the mine safety reforms that followed, and the other reforms that followed other disasters. Main concludes:

Each one of these remarkable legislative actions has saved countless lives and reduced the number of accidents, illnesses and injuries in the mining industry. Further improvements are needed, though, to achieve the health and safety goals that this nation’s miners deserve. We must continue our efforts to keep miners safe and healthy each and every day. The sacrifices of our fallen miners must never be forgotten.

Later today, we might get a glimpse from Joe Main about what “further improvements” he plans, when he holds his first discussion with the media since being confirmed by the Senate.

Stay tuned …

A postcard shows the ruins of the fan building at the Cherry Mine.

One hundred years ago tomorrow, 259 coal miners were killed in a fire at the Cherry Mine in Cherry, Ill.

This was one of four major mining disasters that claimed the lives of more than 1,000 workers in a two-year period, and helped lead to creation of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in 1910.

Karen Tintori wrote a book, Trapped: The 1909 Cherry Mine Disaster, about the tragedy, and Jeff Biggers wrote a piece this week for The Huffington Post about the disaster. There’s also been coverage in the regional media, including the Peoria Star and the Chicago Tribune.

A Coal Tattoo reader was kind enough to point me toward a story in the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., about today’s 90th anniversary of a mine disaster that killed 92 workers.

The explosion in the Delaware and Hudson Coal Co.’s Tunnel No. 2 is listed among the worst mining disasters in the Anthracite region, according to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration.  Oddly, it doesn’t appear to be listed in the MSHA book, “Historical Summary of Mine Disasters in the United States.”

But with a quick search, I did find some more information here,  as well as some historical photos on this Flickr site maintained by Susan Kane, whose grandfather was apparently among those killed in the disaster.