West Virginia Mine Rescue Hampered by Fire, Smoke
It's an agonizing wait for families as crews retreat for a third time.
MONTCOAL, W.Va., April 9, 2010 — -- Rescue and recovery teams were pulled from the Upper Big Branch coal mine early this morning after smoke from a fire somewhere deep inside the West Virginia mine made the route to a rescue chamber, where four missing miners could be holed up, impassable.
Crews managed to check one refuge for potential survivors before retreating, but they found it had not been deployed.
"It's very emotional for all the rescuers," a weary West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin said.
Officials are working feverishly to drill a third bore hole near the second unchecked rescue chamber so they can send down a camera to see whether miners got there in the first place.
"It does not look like we'll physically be able to get there," said Mine Safety and Health Administration chief Kevin Strickland, who, along with Manchin, had promised families of the missing miners they'd reach the scene within 96 hours.
Mine workers will begin pumping nitrogen, a fire suppressant, into the mine to try to neutralize the toxic air and render it inert, Strickland said. Because nitrogen eliminates oxygen, recovery teams will need to wear oxygen masks if and when they return.
"The thing that is unknown is exactly where this fire is at," he said.
For families of West Virginia coal miners killed or missing in Monday's mine explosion, it's an agonizing wait to be reunited with their loved ones.
Previous attempts to reach the chambers, and the bodies of more than a dozen fallen miners, were suspended after an explosive mix of gases in the mine made conditions too dangerous.
Efforts to ventilate the mine by drilling bore holes to release the potentially explosive air have proven tedious, and officials say air quality likely won't improve until the fire is under control.
Manchin continues to call this a "rescue" mission, although he has said that the chance of finding survivors is a "long shot." The airtight refuge chambers contain enough oxygen, food and water for men who may have made it there to survive, but it's unclear how well they withstand fire and heat.
At least 25 men were killed Monday evening when a massive explosion rocked the mine just as workers were undergoing a shift change. Rescuers recovered eight bodies in the immediate aftermath, but conditions prevented them from bringing out the others.
Manchin reiterated that the families of the miners, many of whom have huddled at the accident site since Monday night, are still clinging to a "sliver of hope."
Meanwhile, throughout the quiet mountain communities near Massey Energy Co.'s Upper Big Branch mine, people remain glued to their TV screens and radios, hungry for news updates on the tragedy even though some outside the area may have turned their attention elsewhere.
"I go home and I'm fixated on the TV, [local] channel 6 and 11," said Anthony Buzzard, 42, of Comfort, W.Va., a miner who spent years in Upper Big Branch and worked closely with many of the men killed or missing. "It's heartbreaking."
Nearby, inside Flint's Hardware in Sylvester, W.Va., a store manager fought back tears as she shelved bags of nuts and bolts while a small TV above the gun section aired a report on the mine rescue "set back."
