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Show Emery County Volume 86 No. 20 Wednesday, May 15, 1985 At Wilberg mine Crews enter critical area By CHUCK ZEHNDER Managing editor Recovery crews inside the Wilberg mine could be nearing a of the First North entries on their way to recover the bodies of 27 miners entombed inside the mine since very critical area the fire on Dec. No 19. question its a critical Bob Henrie, Emery Mining Corp. spokesman, said area, junction of the Fourth Right and There point. of the mine. indicated the Hearing testimony fire raged completely out of control and was causing quite a bit of damage in the area while crews battled the blaze in the early morning hours of Dec. 20. Henrie said Tuesday that crews were expecting to breach the seals located at Crosscuts 12 in the First North entries and head north. He said it was conceivable they could reach Crosscuts 23 or 24 in this next advance. The recovery teams never move more than 1,000 feet beyond their last fresh air station, but the crosscuts in this centers section are on Henrie said, so the teams could reach Fourth Right. Jerry Ericson, a belt maintenance foreman for the company, testified that he arrived at the overcasts at the entries of Fourth Right about 1 a.m. on Dec. 20, just five hours after the 80-fo- ot fire began about 1,000 feet further north. Ericson told officials when he arrived there, that smoke was coming from both overcasts he viewed. the time Id spent approximately 30 minutes in that area, both overcasts were The Ericson said. down, intake overcast was totally melted out and fire burning right across the entry. The belt one (overcast) had had flames there, but in my opinion, it was too heavy of smoke concentrations for open flame to maintain itself. By north in First North to Crosscut 12. Now teams are advancing toward Fourth Right to reclaim the mine and recover the bodies of the miners killed in the fire Dec. 19. So far, teams working in the First North section, where the fire raged through on its way to fresh air and the portals of the Administration the fire seemed to in the fourth and fifth stay entries of First North until it reached Fourth Right and the overcasts area in question is the First North sections The area of the mine which is shaded has not been reclaimed by recovery crews working inside the Wilberg mine and the area north of the recovery crews in First North. Until early this morning, teams had only moved Health hearings, Tuesday afternoon. Emery Mining manages the mine which is owned by Utah Power and Light. The SOOBDOaEDl mine, have encountered far less fire damage than was expected, Henrie said. Because of the loss of the overcasts which directed the airflow in and out of Fourth Right from First North, the fire jumped across more entries at that point. According to the testimonies during the Mine Safety and were destroyed. are six entries at that Henrie could not speculate on conditions in those six entries looking north from Crosscut 12 where the seals were yesterday. He did say that teams, as they erected those seals earlier, could see down the tunnels more than 100 feet and the entries looked to be in good shape. In recent days, teams have been reclaiming and securing First North between Crosscuts 4 and 12 and First Right from Crosscut 10. The area has been cleaned up and the roof has been secured Henrie said. Henrie said teams also attempted to draw a tighter circle around the area where the fire still smolders in First South. They breached the connector seals to First South (from Third East) and attempted to move into First South to erect seals closer to the fire which is smoldering there, Henrie said. Henrie said the teams could not move into the area past Crosscut 8 in the connector tunnels because of heavy fire damage and had to retreat and close up the seals in the connector between Crosscuts 3 and 4. The recovery teams will try to secure all six entries as they move north in First North, but, Henrie said, they will move around some areas if the caving is severe in certain entries while others are clear. The teams will keep their escapeways and ventilation needs in mind as they advance, Henrie said. The teams will attempt to keep as many entries as possible open as they move toward the area where the bodies are located, he added. 17 years in Green River school remembered interested and that he was very happy teaching P.E. and health and coaching track, wrestling, and football at BYU Laboratory By LARRY W. DAVIS Progress editor Over the past 17 years as a principal in Green River, Thomas Burr has seen a lot of School, a high school affiliated with the college in Provo. However, after discussing the offer with his wife, who is a native of Green River, and giving it a lot of thought, We decided to take it although my wife wasnt all that thrilled about it, but she said shed try it. Looking back at those early days in the Green River school, dramatic changes. He has seen the community population when it was the largest in the county and as it exists now as one of the smallest. He has seen the school districts assessed valuation grow from less than $10 million to more than $200 million. He has seen the combined elementary, junior high, and high school programs divided and placed in separate, new facilities. He has seen the beginning of dozens of new programs in the schools geared toward improving the curriculum and eliminating problems, and discipline hes seen steady improvement in athletics and extracurricular activities. Now he sees the end. Mr. Eurr is leaving Green River, and although he doesnt know for sure where hell end Mr. up, he is convinced that nows the time for moving on. In 1968, Orson Peterson of the Emery County School District went to Mr. Burr at his Provo home and asked if he would be interested in becoming the principal of a kindergarten through 12th grade school in Green River. He said he wasnt Burr said, My first con- cerns were with the budgets. The beginning balance was just $496 and there was an outstanding debt of $2,414 with nine departments in the red amounting to nearly $3,000. The school board had also charged him with turning certain areas around in the school, including discipline, sports programs, academics, and activities. At that time, the school had a facilty of 18 and was the second largest school in the district. The whole ball of wax was mine to deal with, Mr. Burr recalls. There were a lot of days when I didnt know quite what to expect. He recalls one day when the schools team was to face a Uintah Basin school in basketball. I let the visiting team into the school when they arrived, then I swept the gymnasium floors, took tickets for the game, and when one of the officials didnt show up, I refereed. I was the last one to leave the building that night. As the visiting team was leaving, a coach said, Ive seen you do about everything here today. Just what is your job anyway, and I said, Well, Im the principal. Mr. Burr recalls a lot of days like that. He often reminisces with Carol Durrant, who is the only member of the staff who has been at the school longer than he has, 18 years, about the time he saw the frightened custodian beat her pet snake to death in the halls of the school with his broom. I didnt tell Mrs. Durrant what had actually happened, but I told her I didnt think she would be getting her snake back, he said. In 1977 the school board approved construction of Bookcliff Elementary School in Green River, and the elementary students were gone from the old facility, leaving the secondary school for grades seven through 12. At that time, the school added girls sports and wrestling. Then in 1982 the new high school was finished. One of the selling points in getting the new high school was that it would be a central location for Region 13 activities, Mr. Burr said. That proved to be the case after the school opened. Green River has hosted numerous state and regional activities in recent years. Its added a lot of extra responsibilities for us, but it has also brought a lot of people and families into Green River for school activities. Mr. Burr calls the new high one of the most school beautiful in the state, and he said it is very adequate for any future growth in the area and already has strong programs in most departments. However, he I said working and living in Green River has its frustrations. Because of its isolation. Green River is not a desirable place to live. Theres little for the young people to do, and we have a great turnover in residents, especially those in professional fields, Mr. Burr said. He pointed out that these problems have resulted in a continual turnover in teachers at the school especially in the home economics sections. But he added that because of the districts salary schedule, many come to the area because of financial considerations. In 1977, the school reached its peak population point of 365 students. Since, however, the population has been falling to the point that now just 109 students attend grades seven through 12. This is the lowest population since the split. Also, the school will graduate 15 seniors this spring, down from 26 a year ago although the school had 14 graduates one year. In leaving his position as (Continued on Page HA) |