Speculator Mine Disaster

On June 8, 1917, a cable was being lowered into the Speculator mine as part of a safety system. At this time, the Butte, Montana copper mines were at full wartime production. When the cable was caught and frayed, a foreman (approximately 2,500 feet below the surface) with a carbide lamp went to inspect the damage, and the paper insulation on the cable was ignited by the flame from his lamp. The fire quickly climbed the cable, and then turned the shaft into a chimney, igniting the timbers in the shaft. 168 miners died in the ensuing blaze, most from asphyxia. Most of the deceased did not die immediately; some survived for a day or two. Notes were written by them while they waited to be rescued.

It remains the most deadly event ever in hard-rock mining in the USA.

There is a memorial to the miners killed in the fire, near the mine's location in Butte. Some of the notes written by the miners can be viewed at the site.

External links

*http://www.his.state.mt.us/education/cirguides/buttearticharrington.asp