1965 Mars Mine Fire Tragedy

Date: 17 Oct 1965 to 17 Oct 1965
Location: Sardis, Harrison, West Virginia, United States

1965 Mars Mine Fire Tragedy

In October of 1965 a terrible coal mining tragedy occurred Sardis, West Virginia. Seven men died while 3 escaped from the burning mine. The event was captured in headlines across the country.

Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Monday, Oct 18, 1965, Page 1^[1]:

"Rescuers Recover First Miner Alive -- 6 Others Still Still Missing

"SARDIS, W. Va. (AP) - A missing coal miner was found "alive but in bad shape" Sunday night more than 21 hours after he and six others were trapped by a fire underground.

"An underground rescue team's telephoned report to the surface that 26-year-old Charles Lantz was alive raised hopes for survival of the other trapped men. The report to rescue headquarters shortly before 9:30 p.m. EST was the first word of any of the men since they were trapped behind a fire that broke out late Saturday night in the Clinchfield Coal Co.'s Mars mine near here. The rescue team's brief report gave no other details on Lantz's condition. He was reported found in an area where two of the other missing miners also were believed to have taken refuge. Searchers had found no trace of the two men thought to have been with Lantz or of four others believed to be at another location.

"Discovery of Lantz put new urgency into the dogged rescue effort. Teams have struggled through roof falls and smoke-filled passageways in their attempt to get through or around the fire and reach the seven men whose exit route to the surface was blocked by the blaze. Teams reached the fire - a mile inside from the mine's hill-side entrance - in early afternoon.

"Early Sunday night. W. F. Eigenbrod. director of the West Virginia Mines Department, reported the teams had gone around the fire on three sides and were moving into the area beyond where the men were belived to be. Clinchfield President George L. Judy flew here from company headquarters in Virginia Sunday to help direct the rescue.

"The Mars mine, near Sardis and six miles from Clarksburg, employs 140 men. However, officials said only 10 men were underground when the fire broke out about 11 p. m. Saturday. Three got out unharmed. An electrical short circuit was blamed for the fire. "We were moving a continuous mining machine into the mine. It got into the power line, causing a short circuit and setting the coal on fire," Judy said. The company identified the missing men as Clell Leedy, 53, of Bluefield and Charles Lantz, 26, of Buckhannon, both foremen, and Carl Banish, 45, of Lost Creek; Robert Savage, 57, of Rosemont; Isaac Moats, 39, of Moatsville; Andy Kuruscz, 44, of Galloway, and Kenneth Kerr, 53, of Belington.

"The three who escaped were Jerry Povroznik, 22; Albin Zbosnik, about 30, and Bernard Keener, 46. Povroznik later went back underground with one of the six-man teams taking part in the rescue attempt. His wife, Carmella, said, "Jerry has been at the mine ever since he got out." Six rescue teams were rotating in three-hour shifts-four teams underground and two standing by. Ventilation fans were being used to push air into the area where the seven men were believed to be and to remove smoke."

Bulletin

"SARDIS, W. Va. (AP) - One of seven coal miners trapped underground by a fire Charles Lantz was found alive Sunday night but died before he reached a hospital. Rescue teams pressed on with their search but had found no sign of the six men still missing. Mine personnel said Lantz was not burned but apparently suffered from smoke inhalation, fumes or lack of oxygen."

The Holland Evening Sentinel, Holland, Michigan, Monday, October 18, 1965, Page 1^[2]:

"Seven Miners Die in Mishap

"CLARKSBURG, W. Va. (UPI) -- Six miners trapped deep underground when fires broke out in a soft coal mine near here late Saturday night were found dead today. A seventh man was brought out alive Sunday night but died a few minutes later. "I don't believe it, I don't believe it, I have to stay here and see for myself," cried the wife of Clell Leedy, 53, when rescue workers brought word they had found the last four bodies -- those of Leedy and three miners huddled together in an area behind one of the fire areas. The miners had died of suffocation. It was a heartbreaking end to a 30-hour rescue effort. It came only a short time after rescuers found signs which spurred hopes the last four might be alive.

"The four bodies were found about five hours after rescue workers recovered the bodies of the two other men. The seven men were trapped at about midnight (EDT) Saturday when fires broke out in four separate passages of the Clinchfield Coal Co.'s Mars No. 2 mine. The fires were triggered by short circuit caused when an electrical cable was cut by a "continuous miner," a large machine which digs out coal and moves it into cars on a conveyor. Workers inched their way deep inside the fire-ravaged mine tunnels for nearly 20 hours before coming upon Charles Lantz, 26, of Buckhannon. He was brought out alive but died of his injuries en route to a hospital. Early today rescue workers found the bodies of Carl Banish, 45, of Lost Creek, father of 10 children, and Kenneth Kerr, 53, of Belington, father of three.

"Then the rescue crew, headed by Andrew Spotte, Vice President of the Clinchfield Company, found signs which raised their hopes for the four other men. First they found arrows and other symbols, written in chalk which all coal miners carry with them. Each symbol had a time marked on it. The last time mark found was 3:30 a.m. (EDT) Sunday. Then workers found a piece of wooden planking on which the names of the four men had been written. But less than an hour later rescuers came upon the four bodies huddled in a chamber behind the last fire area, near the extremity of a tunnel two and one-half miles from the mine entrance. The four were Leedy, of Bluefield, who was the foreman of the lost crew; Andy Kuruscz, 44, of Galloway; Isaac Moats, 39, of Moatsville, and Robert Savage, 57, of Rosemont."

Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Tuesday, Oct 19, 1965, Page 1^[3]:

"Seven Perish In Mine -- Men Write An Epitaph

"SARDIS, W. Va. (AP) -- A message scrawled in desperation..."couldn't get across"...graphically told of the last moments of seven men who died in dense, choking smoke more than two miles underground in a northern West Virginia coal mine. The message, discovered Monday also wrote the end to heroic rescue efforts of more than 100 men who had toiled since late Saturday night to save the stricken miners.

"The tragedy in the Mars mine of Clinchfield Coal Co. here left behind seven widows and 28 fatherless children. One of the victims, Carl Banish, was the father of ten children. Rescue squads fought their way through fire and smoke in the unsuccessful attempt to save the miners who apparently died of asphyxiation.

"Workers brought out the last of four bodies about 7 a.m. Monday, shortly after finding the message that gave some hope the men might still be alive. The note was signed by Clell Leedy, 53, of Bluefield; Robert Savage, 57, of Rosemont; Isaac Moats, 39, of Moatsville, and Andy Kuruscz, 44, of Galloway. The message apparently referred to the miners' efforts to bypass the fire area. Earlier Monday, the bodies of Kenneth Kerr, 53, of Belington, and Banish, 45, of Lost Creek, had been found in another section of the mine. Charles Lantz, 26, of Buckhannon, was the first victim located. He died Sunday night en-route to a hospital at Clarksburg, six miles away, minutes after he was carried unconscious from the mine. Leedy, Savage, Moats and Kuruscz were found in a smouldering passageway about three-quarters of a mile beyond the point where the fire broke out Saturday when a mining machine cut a power cable, causing a short-circuit. The other three men were found in a different section about a mile from the fire area.

"They might have made it if they had barricaded themselves and waited for us to get to them," Clinchfield president George L. Judy said. "But you don't think straight at a time like that." The accident occurred only three miles from where a methane gas explosion took 22 lives in another Clinchfield mine two years ago. Judy's hopes had risen early Monday when the message, written with chalk, was found on a wooden door near the fire area. The door is used for mine ventilation purposes. The last victims were removed about 32 hours after the fire broke out.

"Tear-stained cheeks and saddened faces of widows and children at the scene contrasted starkly with the surrounding hillsides whose fall colors seemed to glow in the bright sunshine. Red Cross work personnel tried to console the widows but their words fell on deaf ears. "I've been here for 100 years," Mrs. Pearl Banish said. Mrs. Leedy and her oldest son were the last survivors to leave the scene. Her husband was newly employed at the mine and had recently notified her that he had found a house for the family in Clarksburg. "I've got to tell the children." she said, telephoning Bluefield more than 100 miles to the south. She then began the long trip home, the same trip six other widows had made earlier."

Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Wednesday, Oct 20, 1965, Page 1^[4]:

"Probe Of Mine Disaster At Sardis Slated Friday

"SARDIS W. Va. (AP) -- A hearing will be held starting at 10 a.m. Friday to investigate the cause of the coal mine fire which took seven lives last weekend. The State Mines Department announced the hearing Tuesday. It will be held at the Rock Creek portal of the Clinchfield Coal Co.'s Compass No. 2 mine near Sardis. It was in another Clinchfield operation near Sardis, the Mars mine, that fire broke out under- ground late last Saturday night and trapped seven miners. Despite a rescue attempt which lasted until Monday morning, all seven perished, apparently from asphyxiation.

"Charles J. Lantz. 25. of Buckhannon. was brought to the surface alive but unconscious late Sunday night and died in an ambulance on the way to a Clarksburg hospital. The other six were already dead when rescue teams reached them Monday. They were Andy Kurucz, 43, of Galloway: Robert A. Savage, 57, of Rosemont: Kenneth L. Kerr. 53. of Belington: Isaac Moats, 39. of Moatsville: Carl Banish, 45. of Lost Creek. and Clell Leedy 53, of Bluefield.

"Firefighting teams underground were still trying Tuesday to subdue the blaze, centered in an area about a mile inside from the Mars mine entrance. Masonry block walls had been erected around the area to contain the blaze and the burning coal was doused with water. Separate funeral services for six of the victims have been set for Thursday in or near their home communities. Arrangements for Leedy still were incomplete."

Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Saturday, Oct 23, 1965, Page 1^[5]:

"Laxity is Blamed for Mine Deaths

"CLARKSBURG, W. Va. (UPI) -- Nine witnesses appearing before federal and state mine officials Friday generally agreed that both management and labor had been lax in observing safety regulations at the Mars No. 2 mine of Clinchfield Coal Co. at Sardis. The preliminary hearing, which lasted about six hours, was called by the Interior Department to investigate the deaths of seven miners in a fire which broke out at the mine last weekend. At the close of Friday's preliminary hearing, officials said a formal hearing would be held in about six weeks in Clarksburg. No date was set pending a formal report on the preliminary investigation and future inspection of the mine which is still being cooled down by firefighters.

"The preliminary investigation showed the fire was caused by a continuous miner being moved through a narrow passageway. It was generally agreed the tractor part of the machine came in contact with an overhead trolley line. This apparently resulted in a sparking reaction at the rear of the machine, causing coal dust to ignite, which in turn caused the rib and roof of surrounding coal to catch fire. Witnesses told the board of inquiry there was apparently an explosion shortly after the fire started, with enough force to knock a nearby mine car off the tracks.

"Witnesses testified that the seven men carried "self rescuers," cannister-type gas masks which could have protected them from poisonous carbon monoxide fumes for at least 40 minutes. But the board was told that none of the seven trapped men used the masks, although all but one miner had been instructed in how to use them. One witness said the self-rescuers open under pressure but that one cannister belonging to a victim would not open properly. Several of the witnesses said it was possible that the fumes overcame the miners before they even thought of protecting themselves from the gases.

"Ralph Wallen, a member of the safety committee at the mine, told the board that both company and employes were lax in following suggestions of safety and safety procedures. Following the testimony, each board member agreed that the U. S. Bureau of Mines, State Mine Department and United Mine Workers Union should start an intensive training program of safety in the mines and in the "self-rescue" of each miner. The board also said instructions should include the use of safety equipment."

Sources

1. ↑ Newspaper Article: "Rescuers Recover First Miner Alive", Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Monday, Oct 18, 1965, Page 1 https://www.newspapers.com/article/beckley-post-herald-rescuers-recover-fir/124620778/
2. ↑ Newspaper Article: "Seven Miners Die in Mishap", The Holland Evening Sentinel, Holland, Michigan, Monday, October 18, 1965, Page 1 https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/article/the-holland-evening-sentinel-seven-miner/124656260/
3. ↑ Newspaper Article: "Seven Perish In Mine", Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Tuesday, Oct 19, 1965, Page 1 https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/article/beckley-post-herald-seven-perish-in-mine/124620934/
4. ↑ Newspaper Article: "Probe Of Mine Disaster At Sardis Slated Friday", Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Wednesday, Oct 20, 1965, Page 1 https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/article/beckley-post-herald-probe-of-mine-disast/124621026/
5. ↑ Newspaper Article: "Laxity is Blamed for Mine Deaths", Beckley Post-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia, Saturday, Oct 23, 1965, Page 1 https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/article/beckley-post-herald-laxity-is-blamed-for/124621104/