January 2, 2006 is a day that people of Sago, West Virginia will never forget. 14 of their own went deep into the bowels of the earth to mine coal when an explosion took place. After searching for nearly two days only one man came out alive. Randal McCloy will bare the scars of that fateful day for the rest of his life. But, sadly these were not the only victims of that tragedy.
It seems that two men whose jobs included safety at the Sago mine have committed suicide within the past month. John Boni, whose job that day was to maintain water pumps, shot himself on Saturday, Oct. 21, at his home. William "Flea" Chisom, the dispatcher responsible for monitoring the carbon monoxide alarms and communicating with the crews, shot himself Aug. 29 at his home. Read more here.Neither man had been blamed for the disaster. Each had responded to the situations as required. As of yet there has been no official determination as to the cause. Mine owners believe lightning somehow ignited the methane gas that had accumulated naturally in a sealed- off room within the mine.
Coal mining is a hard, often thankless job that has many known risks but it is a way of life for many and it lights the way for all of us. Please stop and say an extra prayer for the miners and their families the next time you turn on a light or open the fridge door. These things are made possible by a coal miners sweat and sometimes even their blood.
Technorati : Sago Mine, coal mining
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