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Colliery Engineering

August, 1942

Explosion and subsequent events

The Explosion. — At about 2.15 p.m., as described above, work in the Countess Bannock District was pursuing its normal course; a number of men were in or about Lowca Junction ready to ride outbye, some had already taken their places in the tubs, whilst others were about to do so; the manager, Mr. Farquhar, Mr. Dawson, and the fireman, G. Savage, were proceeding outbye on foot. They had, in fact, got rather more than half way outbye when the explosion occurred. The reactions to the explosion of the persons who were within its sphere of influence varied according to their precise situation. The party walking outbye merely felt a temporary reversal of the air-current, which, however, was of sufficient intensity to cause them to retrace their steps. At Lowca Junction the men felt a violent blast which came from inbye. All were affected to some extent by carbon monoxide. Several (8) were found dead, others (4) fatally injured; others who were seriously injured survived, and a few in the same locality seem to have been little the worse after they had recovered from the immediate shock. There was considerable heat and much dust was stirred up, but no flame seems to have been observed by anybody except as described later. The men at work in the haulage road at the top of the Countess Bannock Drift were struck also by a violent blast which came from outbye. Four out of five appear to have been poisoned by carbon monoxide in the afterdamp.

Rescue Operations. — As has been stated above, the manager, together with Mr. Dawson and the fireman (G. Savage), were well on their way to the shaft. They realised there was something seriously amiss and immediately turned to proceed inbye. Approaching Lowca Junction some 30 mins. later Messrs. Farquhar and Dawson encountered indications of violence; wires were down and some props displaced by the blast were lying about. The haulage rope was still running in the Countess Bannock Drift. Whilst the manager went to cut off the power from the haulage gear, Mr. Dawson went towards the stopping area. At the airlock he found the doors had gone and there was a hole in the brick partition from which smoke was issuing. There was also smoke ahead which stopped his further progress.

Arrangements for the relief and evacuation of the injured were speedily put in hand so that by about 4 p.m. all who were not past help were either out of the pit or well on the way in that direction. Later, with as much dispatch as possible under difficult conditions, the dead bodies were evacuated, and the pit was cleared by about 9 p.m.

The Locus of the Explosion and its Effects. — In the previous section dealing with the rescue operations a short reference is made to the damage observed by the manager and Mr. Dawson as they approached Lowca Junction and of their next movements. Mr. Dawson turned off the water which had been left running from the hosepipe at the New Front stopping. He returned to the J unction and rejoined the manager there. The separation doors in the Lowca Level were then burning fiercely. Leaving these for the moment, together they started up the Countess Bannock Drift to search for men known to be inbye. About halfway up they met some men coming out with an injured comrade. In response to a request for reviving apparatus Mr. Dawson returned to the airlock for apparatus which he knew had been left there. He found both doors had been blown out and brattice cloth on the first door frame was alight. This he extinguished and managed to get a few feet past the door. The floor, however, was littered with debris, and his search amongst it for the apparatus was unrewarded.

Rescue and recovery operations were now well under way. The fire at Lowca Level doors had been put out as well as a second fire which later developed behind some brick walling at the entrance to Delaval Level. There was a mass of wrecked tubs at the bottom of the Countess Bannock Drift, due apparently to runaways resulting from the running of the haulage rope, which had continued for half an hour or so after the explosion because those in charge of it had been either killed or too seriously injured to stop it.

At some stage of the proceedings — it was not made definite when — it was observed that at a point about 30 yds. up (see Fig. 2) from the bottom of the Countess Bannock Drift there was a hole about 5 ft. in diameter in the floor on the left-hand side. The tram rails over the hole appeared to have been displaced vertically upwards. Circumstances precluded measurement or even accurate observation — an extensive fire was raging below and dense smoke was issuing from the hole, though not in great volume at first — but it was generally agreed (1) that the locus of the hole was approximately as shown in the Section on Fig. 2, i.e., somewhere about the position of the "New Front" stopping, (2) that the thickness of strata (about 4 or 5 ft.) displaced corresponded with the thickness to be expected there having regard to the inclinations of the drift and the main coal roof below. No indications of direction of force were found to conflict with the conclusion that an explosion had occurred in the area inside the airlock.

From the available evidence it would appear that the flame from the explosion did not extend far in any direction outside the airlock. Indeed, of numerous witnesses who felt the blast, some of whom sustained injury as a result of it and were also burnt and affected by carbon monoxide, only one saw anything resembling flame. This was Joseph Fitzsimmons, the engine driver at the Countess Bannock haulage engine, which was situated up in the roof "just inbye of Delaval corner." At the engine he sat facing inbye. The motor was running when suddenly he saw "sparks" in the brow, 20 to 25 yds. inbye along the brow. He felt no blast. He had no recollection of feeling heat although he was badly burnt. He was also affected by carbon monoxide but is to be congratulated on having made a remarkable recovery.

Reference has already been made to the presence of carbon monoxide in the products of the explosion. All who were directly in its path for some distance outbye were affected by the gas to a greater or less extent, as well as those inbye who were exposed to the vitiated atmosphere which was carried inbye when the air current resumed its normal course. It is not likely, however, judging from results, that the concentration of this poisonous gas was ever very high. The deaths seem to have been due rather to a combination of causes than to the effects of any single one, those causes being initial shock of the blast, shock from burns, shock from wounds, and carbon monoxide poisoning. By 9 p.m., when all the men in the workings at the time of the explosion had been accounted for and all the dead bodies evacuated, the fire inside the airlock had reached such dimensions that any hope of combating it was abandoned. In order, as far as possible, to restrict its extension the water main in the Countess Bannock drift was broken above the hole already described. The separation doors in the Delaval Level were opened to. short circuit the intake air and, incidentally, to ease the pressure on the fire area and also to minimise the pollution of the return in view of the sealing-off operations, the need for which now appeared to be inevitable. By 10 p.m. all the workmen and officials had left the mine.

At about 2.30 a.m. on the following day, Wednesday, June 4, the managing director of the Company arrived from Glasgow, together with two mining advisors. Following a short discussion of the position, a small party, including the general manager, Mr. J. Williamson, one of the mining experts and three of H.M. Inspectors, descended the pit and proceeded to Lowca Junction. Previous opinions on the futility of attempting to combat the fire were confirmed and upon the return of the party to the surface preparations were commenced for sealing off. This operation was successfully completed by the erection of dams in the main intake and return airways at a site known as Pat's Pump, about onethird of the way out from Lowca Junction and actually a distance of 1,400 yds. from the fire area.

(To be continued.)

Drawings and Photographs accompanying the article