Fifteen Believed Dead After Gas Blast Turns Roslyn Mine Shaft Into a Furnace
A Sunday explosion at the Northwestern Improvement Company’s Mine No. 4 ignites a roaring underground fire, cuts off pumps and water, and threatens Washington’s coal supply.
Roslyn, Wash., Oct. 4. — Fifteen men are believed to have been killed or fatally injured in an explosion of gas in the shaft of Mine No. 4, of the Northwestern Improvement Co., Sunday afternoon.
The mine in the neighborhood of the shaft is burning fiercely, flames rushing through the shaft with an awful roar. The electric pumps are cut off and the water supply in the city is very low. It is thought the fire in the shaft will not affect the other mines, but it may be six months before the shaft can be put in working condition again.
The cause of the explosion is unknown. The fire bosses had just left the mine and had reported all well. Had the accident occurred on a working day, loss of life, it is feared, would have been appalling.
The mines of the Northwestern Improvement Company are the largest in the state and have a producing capacity of 8,000 tons a day and employ 1,000 men. The loss of the shaft will materially affect the coal supply of the state.
The calamity is the worst that has befallen the city of Roslyn since the big explosion on May 10, 1891, when 50 lives were lost. The loss to the mine and buildings is estimated at $80,000.
“Had the accident occurred on a working day, loss of life, it is feared, would have been appalling.”
The Roslyn disaster was the worst to strike the town since the 1891 explosion that killed 50, a reminder that company towns absorbed repeated risks for the coal that powered the state. The story still echoes in today’s debates over workplace safety and energy transitions: who bears the danger when an industry is essential and the company controls the conditions.
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