Springhill's first mining disaster, the 1891 Fire, occurred at approximately 12:30 pm on Saturday, February 21, 1891 in the Number 1 and Number 2 collieries, which were joined by a connecting tunnel at the 1,300-foot (400 m) level (below the surface) when a fire caused by accumulated coal dust swept through both shafts, killing 125 miners and injuring dozens more. Some of these people were 10 to 13 years old.
Rescue efforts throughout that afternoon and evening were made easier by the lack of fire in No. 1 and No. 2, but the scale of the disaster was unprecedented in Nova Scotian or Canadian mining history, and the subsequent relief funds saw contributions come in from across the country and the British Empire, including Her Majesty Queen Victoria.
A subsequent inquiry determined that sufficient gas detectors in working order had been present in the two collieries; however, the ignition source of the explosion was never determined, despite investigators having pinpointed its general location.
The song La Mine from the french-canadian folk group Le Vent du Nord talks about that event.
Read more about this topic: Springhill Mining Disaster
Famous quotes containing the word fire:
“Prosecutors insist they are mounting a “thorough investigation,” which sometimes means thorough and sometimes, historically, has meant long enough to let the fire burn down in an incendiary case. A thorough investigation is fine; an interminable one is disgraceful.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)