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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, February 27-March 1, 2019 The Park Record W AY WE WERE Keeping tragedy from becoming disaster Federal bureau mitigated mine incidents Park City Storage settles into conservation Recycle Utah Park City Museum The United States Bureau of Mines was founded in 1910, partly as a response to a rash of mining disasters throughout the country in the immediately preceding years. December 1907 alone saw three major disasters in just three weeks, resulting in the deaths of over 600 miners, mostly in the mining districts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The primary purpose of the Bureau was to monitor mine safety and train rescue and response teams. As a mining community, Park City benefited from the Bureau. While some in opposition noted the fear that an increased government role in the mining industry might threaten local and state duties, most were supportive. The Bureau organized engineers, scientists, public health officials and miners to conduct research in the fields of safety, health and environmental impact analysis. For both educational purposes and to serve as disaster response teams, the Bureau organized “rescue cars” housed in remodeled Pullman train cars that traveled the country. When visiting mining communities, Bureau personnel would host workshops, lectures, and drills to train local miners and mine owners in disaster preparedness. One of these cars visited Park City for the first time in 1911 and continued to do so periodically over the Green Tips MARY CLOSSER MAHALA RUDDELL PARK CITY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM, BEA KUMMER COLLECTION A disaster response team poses to demonstrate Fluess-Proto oxygen mine rescue apparatus, a Fluess-Proto oxygen pump, Linde oxygen storage cylinders, rescue lamps, lifelines, and other equipment used in mine accident rescues, circa 1915-1925. next several years. The workshops here in town were successful. By 1920, local miners regularly held their own workshops and drills. In September of that year, the Ontario Mine Rescue Team represented Park City at the international mine rescue and first aid contests in Denver. Understanding that insufficient disaster response often contributed to increased death tolls, safety campaigns were regularly promoted throughout mining communities in Utah. This training came in handy in April 1941. Over the course of seven days, blasting powder gas had accumulated in a winze in the old Daly West section of the Judge unit at the Park Utah Consolidated Mines company. The pocket of “dead air” was discovered when miner Edmund Walker failed to return from a trip down the winze. Ted Johnson took a carbide lamp and set down the ladder to find his colleague, but recognized danger when his lamp extinguished and he felt himself get lightheaded. He ascended the ladder to sound an alarm, notifying Glen Lockhart and Wallace Perry, who were working nearby, and called for assistance. A safety crew of men rushed to the scene. They were properly equipped with breathing apparatus and masks as well as electric lights. Lockhart and Perry, who had failed to wait for the team and instead tried to rescue Walker themselves, were recovered, dead, along with Walker’s body, when the rescue crew arrived. State Mine Inspector C.W. Spence noted that, despite the loss of Lockhart and Perry, “had it not been for the training received by the mine’s rescue crew…the bodies could not have been recovered without further loss of life among rescue workers.” Preparedness had paid off and a much larger disaster was averted. A-9 Park City Storage opened its doors in 2009 with a mission to keep possessions safe and help make relocation easy. Locally owned and community focused, this down-to-earth business is an ideal fit for the green business program as they’re eager to be the best they can. Space is vast and well lighted at Park City Storage so their first move was to start replacing bulbs with LED – they’re now 100 percent complete. They have upgraded all paper products to 50 percent recyclable but better yet, reduced paper by transitioning certain documents to digital. Daily heat has been lowered to 67 from 70 and they’re soon to be audited to learn what more then can do to reduce their energy footprint. Plastic products have been replaced with paper or reusables, and communication has been enhanced to include green tips for tenants and visitors through in-house postings, emails, on receipts and more. Landscaping is water-wise, chock full of native plants intended for desert climates, procurement chains are carefully watched for excess packaging waste and cleaning materials are eco-friendly. Park City Storage is open-minded and dedicated to being involved with our community’s conservation goals we are excited to see what they come up with next! Thank you Park City Storage for your zest and desire to be green. If your business, any type, is interested in learning about Recycle Utah’s Green Business program, contact 435-6499698 x13. UTA to host two days of free rides Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY – Utah residents will be able to have free rides on public transit later this week. The Utah Transit Authority is waiving fares for public transportation on Thursday and Friday. KUTV in Salt Lake City reported Monday that the fare will be free for FrontRunner, TRAX and bus lines. Transportation officials say last year’s free-fare day saw a 23 percent jump in ridership. In addition, traffic was down. There are 200+ Restaurants in the Park City area... Narrow down your choices by cuisine, location or craving! check out the guide in today’s paper or Visit ParkRecord.com and click on the "Restaurants" tab |