“Those who were not incinerated in the first blast of flame were left to grope their way hopelessly in the inky darkness until the fatal afterdamp struck them down.” (TBE 12.7.07 pg. 1)
After 10:30 am
Debris continues to fall from the sky for the next 15 minutes.
Mines #6 & #8 flood with thick smoke, loud noises and continuous “lesser shocks as the unsupported galleries of the mine collapsed” for at least the next ten minutes. Toxic gases known as afterdamp and blackdamp occur naturally in these conditions and with no fan ventilation to push out poisonous air and replace it with breathable air, the deadly gases start to creep through the destroyed workings. (WED 12.7.07 pg. 8)
In the town of Monongah:
Fire Boss Lester Trader wastes no time in dressing and rushing back to #6 mine while, “Wives, mothers, and sisters of the entombed miners, living in cabins on the outskirts of the city, rushed to the shafts to find them blocked with debris. The face of the hills where the mines were located had been changed by the upheaval.” (WED 12.7.07 pg. 8) (Inquiry)
Outside #6:
A foreman from the powerhouse at #6 comes across to the engine room to tell Ed Fry that #6 has exploded. Fry follows him back to the powerhouse and sees smoke and dust pouring out of the #6 air shaft. (Inquiry)
Superintendent A.J. Ruckman could see from the office that #6 fan house is significantly damaged. He tells foreman Charlie Dean to get materials and men over to #6 while he goes to check on the fan at #8 saying, “If that fan is not damaged, we will reverse it.” (Inquiry)
Someone at the Monongah office makes a frantic call to the FCC office over 8 miles away in Fairmont where they have been waiting for notice since they first felt the impact. Though they are pretty sure of what has happened, they are not sure of exactly where it has happened until General Manager L.J. Malone answers the call. (Inquiry, News)
In the city of Fairmont:
“As soon as the explosions occurred the general manager’s office at Fairmont was notified and with all possible speed steps were taken to go to the rescue.” (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1)
Gen. Mgr. L.J. Malone receives the news and immediately calls the main offices in Downtown Fairmont to notify the higher company officials. He then gathers all available men at his office and they head down to the interurban station. (Inquiry, News, McAteer)
J.O. Watson II instantly calls to the interurban trolley barn and requests they begin to assemble all men who are available to help. He begins to race across town in horse and buggy to the company maintenance shop located on the Fairmont Avenue & 12th Street block to collect these men. (Inquiry, News, McAteer)
Outside of #6:
J.H. Leonard crawls out from under the trestle and heads back to the #6 fan house, careful to avoid any failing debris, and begins to examine the state of the fan for #6. (Inquiry)
Outside of #8:
Hyre Stalnaker wakes up a few minutes after the blast, shocked at what he sees around him. The intensity of the blast has broken out all of the windows and caused much of the iron structuring of the carpenter shop to give way. He works his way out of the ruins of the shop and immediately heads to and across the #8 trestle tracks toward the smoking mine. (Inquiry)
Superintendent A.J. Ruckman arrives at #8 to find that the explosion has wrecked the boiler and fan house, “throwing them all the way over the river…” It is clear a whole new fan and supporting structure will be needed for #8 and carpenters are immediately put to the task of building a decent structure which can temporarily house a substitute fan. (CDT 12.7.07 pg. 1) (Inquiry) (McAteer) (News)
Inside #8:
The DePetris brothers are attempting to navigate their way back to the #8 mine mouth and quickly run into Dan Dominico in the dark. The three of them continue to follow the tracks through the hallway. (Inquiry)
Outside of #6:
Charlie Dean arrives at the mouth of #6 with a team of men. Leonard informs him that the fan is still functional, but the belt keeps slipping and it isn’t doing much good anyway what with the roof and back side of the building missing. The fan cannot be repaired while it is running. Charlie Dean instructs J.H. Leonard to stop the fan then he puts a team of men to the immediate task of bringing timbers from the supply yard to restore the fan house structure. (Inquiry)
10:35 am:
In the city of Fairmont:
Gen. Mgr. J.L. Malone and his crew of men arrive at the interurban trolley barn on Beverly Road and commandeer the first interurban car they can find. They pack as many men on to the trolley as they can, including J.O. Watson II & mine foreman, Perry Vernon, and head straight for Monongah. “The first car to Monongah was crowded with people, mostly physicians and surgeons as well as newspaper men and officials and employees of the Coal Company.” Among the newspaper men is L.M. Davis, a reporter for the Fairmont West Virginian. (FWV 12.6.07 pg. 1) (Inquiry) (News) (McAteer)
In the city of Clarksburg:
“The Clarksburg Telegram is represented at Monongah by members of its editorial staff. As soon as the disaster occurred two Telegram men left immediately for the scene of the accident. The interurban trolley cars were out of operation at the time, owing to the trolley wires being down, and as the next train did not leave for several hours, the Telegram men procured a team of horses and drove through the awful mud roads to Monongah.” (CDT 12.8.07 pg. 1)
In the town of Monongah:
Virtually the entire town is already on the scene as the entire west side of town is built on top of the two mines.
Inside #8:
Peter and Stan Urban are still running to find an exit when Stan trips, hits his head very hard and is knocked unconscious. Peter stops to try to help him up. When Peter realizes his brother has been knocked out, he tries to move him, but finds that he cannot. Peter does not run; he stays with his brother. (Inquiry) (McAteer)
The DePetris brothers and Dan Dominico crawl along in the darkness, following the rail tracks about 20 more yards where they run into Dan’s son, Leo Dominico. There they find that they could go no further due to the dense smoke and overwhelming heat coming from the main shaft area. Leo tells them of a crack in the mine roof he discovered nearby just days prior. The team turns around, now crawling and feeling their way in the pitch dark using the tracks as their guide, back in the direction from which they came. As they crawl, they can just barely hear the screams and cries of their fellow workers in the other areas of the mine. “These cries were half stifled by the gas that threatened to choke the tour.” (McAteer) (Inquiry) (WED 12.7.07 pg. 8)
Outside of #8:
Hyre Stalnaker is rushing across the trestle as quick as he can, dodging debris and wreckage which has landed on the bridge and the debris still in free fall overhead. Out of the smoke and chaos at the mouth of the mine, emerges Joe Newton (assistant fan engineer at #8), frantically running while cupping his face and head in his hands. As he gets closer to Hyre, he moves his hands away to reveal that the entire side of his face is covered in blood from a gushing head wound and one eyeball is dangling from its socket. Hyre recoils away at the sight and they both continue on in their opposing directions. (Inquiry, News, McAteer)
Hyre Stalnaker approaches the end of the trestle to find the fan house, basically, gone. Just outside of what was left of the fan house walls he sees the body of 40-year-old, William H Bice, engine house and fan foreman, imprisoned beneath timbers and other debris. Hyre tries to free him on his own but quickly recruits help from others. (Inquiry)
At some point, Joe Newton collapses on the #8 trestle. Amidst the immediate confusion of the chaos, it is first thought that he is missing when he is not found in the debris of the fan house. (Inquiry, News)
10:40 am
Just outside of Monongah, the first trolley car of officials and rescuers is racing at almost full speed toward Monongah, skipping all designated stops along the way. It drives right past throngs of panicked women, children, and men who are running on foot to the scene. Despite their desperate pleas, the trolley stops for no one.
Inside #8:
The DePetris and Leo Dominico help the injured Dan Dominico along as they crawl past their previous working spot and continue South toward the slope of the hill which naturally brings the outside surface within 6 – 8 feet or so of the inside man-made workings. There, in the very top corner of a dead-end room, Angelo could see the morning sunlight shining through the crack in the ceiling: “…the smoke and sun and light made a light that looked like fire.” The men began to grab ahold of anything they could find along the mine wall that could help them climb up and reach the hole. As one of the DePetris brothers gets enough of a footing to reach up and grab the perimeter of the hole, the other brother and Leo Dominico help to hoist him up. (Inquiry, News, McAteer)
Outside #8:
Life-long miner and #8 pit boss, Jim Rogers, is standing on the slope just above the streetcar line. Jim is 55 years old, hails from Scotland, and this makes his second stroke of luck when it comes to avoiding death by mine explosion by simply being absent from work. He also escaped from a serious explosion in the Newburg (W. V.) mines twenty years ago. “He has figured in a number of minor accidents and has each time escaped unscathed…in both cases he has had a peculiar streak of luck as his work in the mines as overseer of a gang keeps him at his post of duty regularly.” But on this morning, “…he hardly could tell why he remained out of the mines…for he was due to go in.” The Fairmont West Virginian will later report: “Though all at Monongah are bowed down with grief over the awful disaster, the Rogers family are deeply grateful for the sparing of their husband and father.” (FWV 12.7.07 pg. 1 – noon)
As Jim is trying to see through the dense smoke pouring out of every nook of the hillside, he sees a hand, then another hand stretching up and out of the ground just downhill of him. At first, the smoke is so dense he can hardly make out the actual location of the hole and he calls out to all workers and observers within hearing range for help. Altogether, they help pull Orazio, Angelo, Dan, and Leo out from the pit. The four men take only a few stunned moments to gasp for air and get their footing before stumbling over to what should be the front of #8 but instead, they find only a mutilated hillside. Still inside of #8 is Orazio DePetris’ son, Felix DePetris, who was recently hired as a motorman just like Leo Dominico. Despite his attempts, it is simply too hot from the fires still burning inside #8 to make any immediate attempt to go back in to rescue his son. (Inquiry, McAteer, News)
A large crowd begins to gather at #8 as word of the 4 miners’ escape spreads through the town. Watchmen are immediately placed at toad holes to listen for any more survivors and to prevent others from trying to go in. (Inquiry, News)
“The fear by the rescuers if that the men who were trailing after the four who escaped—how many the four men could not tell—were caught by the deadly gas that would accumulate just back of the choked entrance and that they died there of suffocation.” (WED 12.7.07 pg. 8)
More on How Death Gloated!
The Monongah Disaster 