Mine Fire to Be Reproduced in Sacramento

Mine Fire to Be Reproduced in Sacramento

A mine fire, possibly the most thrillingly dramatic of all industrial accidents, will be reproduced in faithful detail by the department of interior at Sacramento, Cal., on September 30, as a feature of mine-rescue maneuvers and a first-aid demonstration undertaken in connection with the annual meeting of the American Mining Congress, to be in session at that date. Several score of miners specially trained in fire-fighting and mine-rescue methods, recruited from the metal-mining companies in California, will join with the experts of the bureau of mines in staging the realistic spectacle. Students of the University of California, who have taken the Bureau’s training courses, will also participate.

Every detail of an actual mine fire has been woven into a scenario which will provide many real thrills to the audience that will witness the unusual spectacle. The demonstration will include the starting of the fire, the giving of the alarm, the rush of the entombed miners to take refuge behind hastily constructed mine barricades, the rescue of the imprisoned miners by mine-rescue men wearing oxygen breathing apparatus, the resuscitation by approved methods of miners overcome by smoke and gases, the rendering of first-aid to the wounded, the recovery of the bodies of the dead, the controlling of the mine fire by the direction of ventilation currents, and the final extinguishing of the flames.