Tragedy at Carbonado Coal Mine
Two miners are instantly killed by a massive coal slide in a Carbon Hill Coal Company operation.
John Avin and James Ross were killed instantly and significant damage was done by an immense slide of coal in the Carbon Hill Coal Company mine at Carbonado, 86 miles southeast of Tacoma. The men were working in a counter at the face of the mine when they were crushed by tons of rock and coal. Operations have been suspended pending an investigation by the state mine inspector and the coroner to determine responsibility for the accident. The mine is one of the largest in Western Washington.
“The men were buried under tons of rock and coal about three-quarters of a mile from the surface of the mountain.”
Coal mining was the dangerous backbone of Washington's early economy. This disaster serves as a reminder of the human cost of the industrial energy extraction that fueled early 20th-century growth.
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