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2 Coal Miners Missing Amid Underground Blaze -- Conveyor Fire in W.Va. 2 1/2 Weeks After Sago

Posted on: Saturday, 21 January 2006, 12:00 CST

By Lawrence Messina Associated Press

MELLVILLE, W.Va. - A fire broke out in an underground coal mine in southern West Virginia late Thursday and two workers were unaccounted for, authorities said. The fire was reported at the Aracoma Coal Co. in Mellville, about 60 miles southwest of Charleston.

Jeff Gillenwater, a spokesman for the mine's owner, Richmond, Va.- based Massey Energy, said the blaze began on a conveyer belt inside the mine and the mine itself was not on fire.

"It is not a raging fire. It is a belt line fire that caused smoke in the coal mine," Gillenwater told The Logan Banner newspaper. "There are two individuals we are currently trying to find in the coal mine."

Gillenwater said there is clean air in several sections of the mine. "These two guys know this coal mine well, and we're just hopeful mine rescue finds them quickly," he said.

The fire was reported to Logan County's emergency center at 8:05 p.m. and appears to be about 10,000 feet inside the mine, said Doug Conaway, director of the state Office of Miners' Health Safety and Training.

Four rescue teams had entered the mine and two were heading to the mine, he said. Gov. Joe Manchin also was at the mine site early today.

"All resources are either at the mine or on their way to the mine site," said Lara Ramsburg, a spokeswoman for the Democratic governor.

The blaze occurred less than three weeks after an explosion at the International Coal Group's Sago Mine in Upshur County killed 12 miners.

The sole survivor of that blast, Randal McCloy Jr., 26, remained hospitalized today in a light coma at a hospital in Morgantown.

Earlier Thursday, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced a $535,860 federal grant to provide safety training and retraining for miners across the state. The grant is part of a federal Mine Safety and Health Administration program that is providing $4 million to 20 states for miner safety programs.

Also, Manchin has called for several improvements to coal mine safety, including oxygen stations, wireless communication with miners and emergency locator transmitters.

The governor said full-time rescuers should augment the current volunteer force and that rescue equipment, which he said in some cases is 40 to 50 years old, should be upgraded.

The state plans public hearings on the Sago disaster this spring.

Meanwhile, a dispute between the owner of the Sago Mine and the United Mine Workers has led both sides to refrain from sitting in on interviews by state and federal investigators.

Source: Commercial Appeal, The

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