Dolomite, Alabama November 22, 1922 No. Killed - 90
(From Bureau of Mines report, by D. Harrington and J. J. Forbes)
The No. 3 slope on a 30 degree pitch was 850 feet long from the surface to the coal seam at the bottom where a 500-foot yard was opened for handling loaded and empty trips.
Electric locomotives hauled trips in the mine, and ropes raised and lowered 3-car trips on the double-tracked slope. About 2:40 p.m. the four-car trip became jammed in the rotary dump in the tipple on the surface. In trying to jerk them free three cars came loose suddenly and ran back down the slope, breaking through a rail stopblock and wrecking at the bottom against a loaded trip.
As usual, the runaway cars raised a dense cloud of dust, and this was ignited by an arc from the 3,300-volt armored cable in the slope caused by damage from the runaway cars. Flame from the mouth of the slope burned the tipple, but there was little violence inby the yard.
Because of the expansion into the yard the violence was confined to the yard and slope, and only heat and gasses penetrated beyond. About 475 men were in the mine; of these 90 were killed and 70 injured by burns and afterdamp. Rescue workers quickly removed the injured and dead.
Most of the uninjured survivors came out through No. 2 and No. 3 slopes after the air had cleared. About 30 men saved their lives by building a rock stopping in a heading and remaining there until the air cleared. Apparatus was used only for a short time, but rescuers equipped with gas masks found them handy and efficient.
Most of the work was done with open lights, as ventilation was quickly restored. Dust had been controlled by sprinkling, but after this explosion the use of rockdust was recommended.
Source:
Historical Summary of Mine Disasters in the United States - Volume I
