NPR: Utah's Coal Towns Know the Human Cost of Mining

Utah's Coal Towns Know the Human Cost of Mining

I used to be a reporter for a public radio station in Utah and would often drive through the small town of Huntington, the scene of the mine collapse this morning. Six men are reported to be trapped underground after a nearby earthquake.

It's an area that's familiar with the dangers of coal mining. Not too far from the town is a cemetery that used to hold dozens of rotting wooden markers, honoring the dead from one of the worst mine disasters in U.S. history. On the morning of May 1, 1900, coal dust ignited in mine No. 4 outside of Scofield, Utah. More than 200 men were killed, some by the explosion itself, but many more from the toxic fumes that seeped into adjoining shafts. The disaster left 107 widows and 270 fatherless children.

I would occasionally take a detour and drive through Scofield, which is a ghost town today. The blast left deep scars on the region. Many families still talk about grandfathers and great-grandfathers who never came home from work that day.

- Robert Smith

3:02 PM ET | 08- 6-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

I was born and grew up in Eastern Utah. When I was a little kid, I remember the disaster in '84 vividly and when we'd go past Scofield, my parents would tell us about the disaster. Needless to say, today my heart is 2500 miles away..back home in Utah.

Sent by Sherpa | 4:28 PM ET | 08-06-2007

I was fishing at scofield resevoir yesturday after droping my wife at girls camp near scofield and all i could think about was not why are the fish not bitting but thoughts of the poor men trapped under the earth in huntington my thoughts and prayers go out to them and their famlies

Sent by ryan wright | 1:17 AM ET | 08-10-2007

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