Source: The Intelligencer. Wheeling News-Register
July 13, 2024
POWHATAN POINT — Eighty years ago this month, 66 men were trapped deep beneath the ground about 6 miles outside of Powhatan Point where they met their fates – and on Friday, their successors gathered to honor and remember them.
The tragic loss of life resulted from a fire at the Powhatan No. 1 Mine, owned by North American Coal Corp., on July 5, 1944. A brief memorial service was held Friday at the Powhatan Cemetery.
“We’re here today to honor these guys on the 80th anniversary. We were going to hold it last week, but due to the Fourth of July weekend we decided to have it today so we’d get a better participation,” United Mine Workers of America Local 5497 President William Rogers said.
“There are a lot of people here today that are residents of Powhatan. A lot of people lost fathers, sons, brothers or uncles. These guys were the patriotic individuals of World War II along with the soldiers that helped defeat the Nazis and Imperial Japanese. They provided the power and steel and whatever. As most of you know they were exempted from military service due to their specification of their jobs as coal miners.”
Rogers also believes that some of the men who lost their lives in the disaster likely were World War I veterans; however, he said due to the difficulty of finding the records of the individuals, he can’t be certain.
“As we honor them, we not only honor them as coal miners but as veterans also,” he said.
Powhatan Point American Legion Post 228 members were in attendance at the memorial ceremony. They were on hand to salute the fallen miners and to serve as an honor guard.
Rogers spoke about the timeline of events that occurred on July 5, 1944. According to an official report on the fire by the Bureau of Mines, the fire broke out in the mine at roughly 1:15 p.m., beginning with a roof fall that took down a trolley wire that shorted out when it struck the tracks below and ignited the coal seam. The miners attempted to extinguish the flames until they grew to the point where they had to “brattice” themselves off, which means they had to seal themselves in to protect themselves from the fire.
“As they fought the fire, things got worse and worse. Fifteen hours later, the Bureau of Mines along with the Divisions of Mines from Ohio decided to seal the mines. The mine stayed sealed from July 6, 1944, until June 11, 1945,” Rogers said.
According to the report, large quantities of air were circulated through the mine to remove explosive methane gas. This ventilation allowed the flames to grow and spread.
A total of 190 were in the mine when the fire occurred. Sixty-six were trapped by the fire and killed; 124 men escaped unassisted. Sixty of the men killed had barricaded themselves from the flames using boards, posts, screw-type roof jacks, coal and clothing. One man began to build a barricade.
“The remaining five men apparently attempted to get around the fire and were in part of the area which was sealed,” the report states. “The seals were opened on June 9, 1945, and a great part of the area was explored. Three bodies were found and removed, but rekindling of material under a large fall made it advisable to reseal the area on June 15 and 16, 1945.”
“As they got near the seals, they noticed that smoke was still coming out and carbon monoxide was still present, so they left the area and replaced any sealing that was broke,” Rogers added.
On June 20, 1945, the mine returned to operation, using the areas not affected by the fire. In 1946 a decision was made to enter the affected areas to begin recovering the bodies. That effort lasted until 1947.
The official report indicates the doomed men left records of their time working to escape the fire. Some were simple notes about their plans to move to a different location. Others were long letters that trailed off as the writing became illegible.
Rogers closed the ceremony with words of hope for the future.
“So again, today we are here to honor these guys in remembrance and to never forget what happened here in the village and to hope that none of this ever happens again.”
Written By: Gage Vota
