| Show I A Echoes ooh from th tho dust Mine explosion rocky rocks Bonanza c camp Echoes from the Dust feature 1 Is selected d from the files lUes of the II Vernal Express and printed as they appeared on the date noted I at the t top of each feature I OCTOBER 11 IMS 1945 A mine explosion at Bonanza Tuesday night at o'clock set off by a defective powder white blue-white flames skyward more mor than one thousand d feet and hurled mine timber Umber and rocks more than half a mile from the shaft Greatest danger after the initial explosion was from falling failing which crashed through homes and mine buildings Not Nota a single life liCe was lost in the calamity and very few inures injures were l inflicted Death had surely taken a holiday at the camp for rocks and timbers came crashing through the roofs of homes where mine workers and their families were resting from work and by mere inches missed crushing out th their i lives THIS TIllS Thursday morning the mine was still aglow with the dense smoke and flames boiling out from the thirteen shafts of old workings which were approximately feet deep Rocks breaking off from from the sides of the shaft because of the heat and crashing to the bottom made a constant rumbling like far-away far explosions Fine particles pf dust from the fire covered the surrounding landscape and felt like fine driven snow against the face The Ci damage mage to tl the e mine is not serious according to Sup Superintendent in L L. L D D. Barry ary who has spent two sleepless nights supervising crews who are guarding the homes and other property should the flames increase by winds or gas explosions o s. s We hope to have hav the fire out in ht a few weeks said Mr Barry and then we will begin operations again When questioned as to how they would put the UK fire out he said In a couple or three weeks the fire should subside enough to permit us to smother It with dirt which ch will be poured into th tie tRe shafts by trucks and bulldozers This work has already begun and will be stepped up with the arrival of a steam shovel and three big dump trucks from Salt Lake Thursday or Friday Damage wl which ch had been estimated at from to the millions was placed by Superintendent Barry at Greatest loss was the main conveyor main shaft head frame tipple and warehouse Fifty carpenters will be employed to repair damaged homes and start work on other buildings destroyed by bythe bythe bythe the explosion according to Mr Barry When we get going hope nope we can devise some some system so we wont won't have to use explosives said the superintendent The men have been loyal to their work and have responded to calls for long extra-long shifts There has been little hysteria or panic WHEN WIZEN the first explosion Ralph Walker was busy at ata a bench in the carpenter shop a short distance from the shaft Instinctively he dove under a bench as a pound 30 rock crashed through the roof and landed on the floor at the exact spot where he had been standing a moment before Harry Carlson was enjoying a peaceful shave in the bath bathhouse bathhouse bathhouse house feet from the vein when three foot eight-foot timbers crashed through the roof of the building wilding tearing out the water waterlines waterlines waterlines lines and plumbing fixtures He made a dive from the building still holding the open razor Several homes near the shaft were badly damaged by falling rocks and timbers Charles Bowden had just reclined on a abed abed abed bed in the corner comer ofa room of his home when a n large rock tore through the roof of the room and demolished a dresser about six feet from Mr Bowden Two timbers rs pierced the George Huber and W W. H. H Kirby homes Mr and Mrs Huber were In the tha home at the time and had narrow escapes Lloyd Devine was reading rending when a rock came through the roof taking out his reading lamp and barely missing him LAWRENCE Gurr was standing near the power house when he was struck in the side sideby sideby sideby by a rock and knocked yn- yn un- un He suffered two broken ribs Don Cobb was struck in the face Charles Hullinger nearest the shaft when the explosion was thrown 30 feet and received leg injury The blasting crew carefully placed the charges at th the foot level had come come to he surface and got back safely from the shaft before they setoff setoff set setoff off the charges Men are forbidden forbidden forbidden for for- bidden to stay in the shaft when the charges are set off according according according ac ac- ac- ac cording to Mr Barry Power lines were wrecked and telephone service interrupted But repairs were made and the services resumed MOLTON gilsonite running like burning lava from a volcano began spreading over the camp but through the quick work of men with a bulldozer the stream was diverted into a channel and conveyed along a road down the center of the camp The burning fluid extended a quarter of a mile from the shaft It was coming from the docks where ore had been stored Aid from Vernal was rushed to the scene when first reports were received but oot little help was needed H n. B B. B andRex and andRex Rex Hayes took several gallons of ot hot coffee and dozens of sandwiches to the h hungry workers George World War II veteran said It was was th the largest fire he ever bad ever seen with the Ute exception of the burning of ot Manila by the Japs Workers at the Little Eureka mine 31 miles away saw the flame shoot Into the air and figured the entire camp had been destroyed People traveling along Highway U U. S S. S 40 at Craig on the east and as west as the Strawberry valley could see sec the light of the explosion |
