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Disasters - Names | ||
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| Date: | 4th October 1875 |
| Colliery: | Croxdale |
| Company: | Weardale Iron and Coal Co., Ltd. |
| Cause: | Explosion of firedamp |
| Lives Lost: | 1 |
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| Description | |
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No 96 accident took place at Sunderland Bridge, now "Croxdale" Colliery, by an explosion of gas in the sinking pit. Two pits were in the course of sinking to the lower seams and were situated about 38 yards from each other, the east pit had reached a depth of 90 yards from the surface, or about six yards below the Hutton seam; in this pit is fixed the main set of pumps, and a drift driven in the coal over to the west pit which had only reached a depth of 64 yards, when a feeder of water was met with and a two and a half inch bore hole put down into the drift for the purpose of taking this water to the pumps; however, the hole was found to be too small to contain the feeder, and the water usually stood about 12 feet deep in the west pit, and it was determined to enlarge it to six inches diameter, and was holed into the drift about 3 o'clock in the morning, and at 7.30 a.m. it had run all the water out of the west pit, and thus relieving the pressure from the fissures met with in the bore hole, a large quantity of gas was given off and carried down by the force of the waterfall into the drift, where it was ignited at the deceased's candle, causing a serious explosion, blowing him across the east pit into the sump, where he was shortly afterwards taken out quite dead ; both pits had been examined that morning by the master sinker before work commenced, and found to be all right. On the day of the accident I examined both pits, and found the west pit quite free from gas, and the deceased's father, who was charge man in that pit, and at work at the time of the explosion, told me he had never seen any gas in it, but on descending the east pit I found it foul back into the shaft, although they had a 33-inch fan running at the rate of 520 revolutions per minute; another of 45 inches diameter was put on and run at the rate of 500 revolutions per minute, with the air pipes up to within six yards of the face. After running this way for over a week, I again went down but could get no further than the end of the air pipes, so strong was the feeder of gas coming off. The west pit was eventually sunk to the drift level, partly without lights at all, and partly with safety lamps; the shots were all fired by electricity, and whenever any feeder of gas was ignited the pumps were stopped in the east pit, and the water allowed to rise until the flame was put out; the gas was at last collected behind cement walling and conducted to the surface in two four-inch iron pipes, where it burns with a flame several feet in length, and serves to light up the place at night.
| Source: | 1875 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 1499), Durham by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines, Page: 9 Where to find this report |
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| Fatalities | |
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 | Wood, William, aged 19, Sinker, explosion of firedamp |
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