Fire at Canada mine traps 70 workers

[ECH1969]

ESTERHAZY, Saskatchewan - Fire broke out Sunday in a mine in central Canada, a mine official said, forcing some 70 miners trapped underground to retreat to emergency rooms with oxygen and supplies.

Marshall Hamilton, a spokesman for Mosaic Company, the Minneapolis-based firm that operates the potash mine, said the fire broke out Sunday morning nearly a mile underground in the province of Saskatchewan.

“In those refuge stations, they can seal themselves off and there’s oxygen, food and water,” Hamilton told CBC Radio. “And they can stay in there for at least 36 hours.”

Hamilton said company officials had not been able to establish a radio link with 30 of the miners.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11092859/

[applegrove]

1. My gosh. Let's all hope they are all safe. And thank god for the

safe rooms.

[KoKo]

2. Has Canada relaxed IT'S Mine Safety Laws, too???? Sheesh....

what the hell is going on here....?

[applegrove]

4. Mining is dangerous. At least it seems these guys have places to go.

If there is a fire, communication could very well not work. Let us hope. They are in contact with 40 of them. The other half not.

[merwin]

8. Exactly... I would bet that not many of our mines have emergency

rooms where they can camp out with oxygen until help arrives.

[sandnsea]

3. Is this our Triangle Fire?

It's only 95 years later. Losing 146 people was enough to move people to demand reform then. How many is it going to take this time?

This is just all so sad.

[Radio_Lady]

5. Is the MSM even covering this event this evening?

[merwin]

9. It's Canada. The USA media doesn't care about them apparently.

The Canadian elections went completely unnoticed in our media.

[Radio_Lady]

26. How accurate that is. I can't believe it -- we miss a lot when we don't

get Canadian news, never mind US news that is NEVER reported!

This is SO SICK -- Google News not reporting much even HOURS afterward (10:30 PM Pacific Time)
Here what I found:

70 potash miners trapped in Canada -- Xinhua, China - 3 hours ago
29 (Xinhuanet) -- About 70 miners are trapped after afire occurred in a potash mine in Canada's Saskatchewan province Sunday, but reports say they are safe. ...
70 miners safe but still trapped --- Australian
Fire leaves 70 Sask. potash miners trapped --- CTV.ca

Oh, one South Florida news station has this posted: (Thank you, Channel 10)

70 Canadian Miners Trapped After Fire

POSTED: 9:08 pm EST January 29, 2006

ESTERHAZY, Saskatchewan, Canada -- Fire has broken out in a mine in central Canada, forcing some 70 miners trapped underground to retreat to emergency rooms with oxygen and supplies.

A spokesman for Mosaic Company, which operates the potash mine, said the fire broke out Sunday morning nearly a mile underground in the province of Saskatchewan.

The miners reported smoke and then headed for safe refuge rooms where they're waiting for firefighters to put out the blaze and for air quality in the mine to improve.

Company spokesman Marshall Hamilton told CBC Radio the miners can stay in the refuge rooms for at least 36 hours.

Hamilton said company officials have not yet been able to establish a radio link with 30 of the miners.

[medeak]

6. gee what a concept

The miners reported smoke and then headed for safe refuge rooms where they waited for firefighters to put out the blaze and for air quality in the mine to improve.

why the hell don't we do that here?

[applegrove]

11. Coal mining is different. There are gas explotions. Here the

potash doesn't catch fire. I don't know what has.

Canada had a horrible mine incident over ten years ago called Westray Mine Disaster. Was a huge investigation. So if our mining regulations were not up to par then, they are now.

On the whole we are better at safety regulations than you are. We believe in "good government" and that means regulations on safety are expected by the vast majority of the public. Public doesn't give a shit what the corporations spew out in terms of propaganda. At least so far.

I hope everyone is okay.

[medeak]

19. we mine gold here

and they have emergency rooms as well...don't get the coal mining thing?

[applegrove]

20. Well the coal mines have huge explosions. One danger. This is a fire.

Different. All I meant.

[CHIMO]

21. Focus on Coal Mining: Safety Hazards, Health Hazards, and Mine Rescue

Among potential hazards in mines are methane, a naturally occurring gas that can ignite and explode, and carbon monoxide, a toxic gas that can occur as a byproduct from combustion. Further information and resources on preventing the risk of death and injury from these potential hazards, as well as links to additional information on other facets of mine safety and health, appear below. While great strides have been made in recent decades to reduce risks in mining emergencies, the potential for injury, illness, and death remains in this inherently challenging industry. NIOSH is committed to working with its partners to further health and safety in the industry, to enhance mine emergency response operations and to train mine rescue teams and evacuating miners in partnership with state and federal agencies and mining companies.

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/minerescue/

As methane can be found with coal, it can be one contributing factor for an explosive atmosphere.

[medeak]

24. has anyone gone underground?

pretty amazing experience.

[applegrove]

29. Nope.

[daleo]

32. I was in a potash mine once

It is a pretty weird feeling.

[applegrove]

7. From CBC

Rescuers race to find 70 miners trapped in Saskatchewan
Last Updated Sun, 29 Jan 2006 20:30:52 EST
CBC News

"Snip....


CBC News reporter Briar Stewart, who was at the scene, said rescue teams had begun entering the mine by early Sunday evening.

Skip....

Hamilton said there have been other fires at the mine. "Most fires are relatively small: there's not a lot that can burn underground. ...A lot of fires you can put out by putting a couple shovels of potash on them," he said.

"But this fire's obviously something that's a little bit trickier to put out than that, so we're approaching it with the best equipment we have available."

The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known.

Hamilton said the miners' families had been contacted. "

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/01/29/potash-saskatchewan060129.html

[daleo]

10. I went for a tour of a Saskatchewan potash mine once

The one I was in (near Saskatoon) actually had incredibly big tunnels and "rooms" where the potash was mined. There was room to drive around quite large equipment. It wasn't like my imagination of a mine would be. That being said, it was still an eerie feeling to be a mile below the ground. I sure hope this ends well for them.

This was just a side tour during a geophysics field school during university. I can't claim to know much about potash mines or mining.

I think the Saskatchewan Potash Corporation is still a crown corporation (government owned) and the Saskatchewan government is NDP (democratic socialist), so safety rules are probably taken more seriously there than most places.

[applegrove]

12. Safety rules taken pretty seriously by Canadian population. For the

most part - the public tells the corporations to go to hell when they start nay-saying regulations so far. Especially on safety issues.

Peace, order and Good Governance are our stated values. We expect good laws.

[daleo]

13. Well, the Alberta government can be pretty lax about safety enforcement

No surprise there, of course. BC has had problems in the forestry industry since the "Liberals" came to power there. But, even at that, they may compare quite favorably to many U.S. states.

[applegrove]

16. That is what I should have said. There is always room for improvement.

Didn't know they were getting loosy goosecorporate out West.

Must get on that. There is no excuse for that!

[CHIMO]

14. THE WESTRAY CHRONICLES:

THE WESTRAY CHRONICLES:
A CASE STUDY IN CORPORATE CRIME

But this complaint is not just about the media, or about socioeconomic conditions in a marginal economy which pressure workers to work in unsafe working conditions. The Westray disaster is also a story about political interference in the way grants are given to the mining business. It is a story of laxity and ineffectiveness in the provincial department of labour, about inspectors who announced their visits, who asked workers in front of their supervisors if they had any complaints, who were told of problems in the mine but did nothing about it. It is a story about the political economy of death and profit.

http://people.stu.ca/~mccormic/westray1.htm

IIRC the provincial government and everyone down the line was guilty. Including the people that put up the money in the first instance.

Don't know that it has improved much as I believe that there aren't any more east coast coal mines operating.

[sandnsea]

15. What about the Tyson strike?

What about clearcutting and logging the old growth?

Canada has its share of problems too.

[applegrove]

17. Yup!

[HuffleClaw]

18. potash mines are pretty impressive

nothing at all like coal mines. the tunnels are way bigger and they carve these huuuuge 'rooms'. i expect it won't be long before those guys are rescued.

[Tripper11]

22. Miners found safe in Saskatchewan mine

Last Updated Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:59:34 EST
CBC News
All 70 miners who have been trapped in a potash mine in southeastern Saskatchewan since a fire early Sunday morning have been found safe, mine officials say.

CBC News reporter Briar Stewart, who was at the scene, said mine officials passed on the good news at a briefing shortly before 9 p.m. CST.



Officials said it could be several hours before the miners were able to leave safe rooms, where they've been holed up since the fire broke out.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/01/29/potash-saskatchewan060129.html

[applegrove]

23. Yippeeeee! n/t I hate to get political. But I hope Stephen Harper

was watch the news. And gets that he is lucky there were such great regulations at the mine. I hope he learnt something.

Other than that! :woohoo:

[Catchawave]

28. Very good news !

I'm surprised this isn't all over the MSM ?

[Vidar]

25. Bless the Canadians.

[burrowowl]

27. Is Canada letting

U$ company get away with U$ mining practices?
If so SHAME on Canada!

[daleo]

31. The mine was partially owned by a Minnesota company

I read today that it was 3/4 owned by a Minnesota company and 1/4 by Saskatchewan Potash Corp (a crown corporation). Apparently it is one of the oldest mines in the province, predating the formation of the crown corp in the 1970's.

Still, since the crown corp had an interest, they probably maintained good safety protocols. That is just an assumption on my part right now, though.

[420inTN]

30. Rescuers Bring Up All 72 Canadian Miners

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060130/ap_on_re_ca/canada_mine_fire