December 9, 1910
Bellevue #1 Explosion
On December 9, 1910 during the evening shift 42 men were scattered throughout mine’s the 9000 ft length mining coal, packing timber, cleaning track, and performing many other typical jobs. At around 8pm an explosion rocked the tunnel between chutes 84 and 124. The force of the explosion forced air out of the tunnels which was quickly replaced by a dangerous levels of carbon monoxide known as afterdamp.
During this point in history Alberta did not have a formal mine rescue team. So when the call for help was made just after 8pm to the closest rescue team, at Hosmer, BC (64 km away), it would be 2am before help could arrive. Heroic work was performed by relief crews who came from Hosmer through to Passburg. Pit bosses, fire bosses, engineers, and miners hasten to render any assistance they could.
Many men of the rescue crews were dragged from the mine unconscious as they had endeavoured to search for the trapped miners.
Sadly, thirty men lost their lives including one rescuer. As tragic as these events were it could have been much worse. Had the explosion occurred during the day shift there would have been close to 200 men working in those tunnels.
It's a result of this tragic event that legislation was passed calling for improved safety measures including trained mine rescue teams.
In Memorium
This tragic event left 20 widows and 44 orphaned children. The names of the men are as follows:
Alderson, Fred
Aged 36, Rescuer from Hosmer.
Left behind a wife and 4 children.
Beigun, josyf
Aged 53, Loader.
Left behind a wife and three children.
Basso, John
Aged 19, Loader.
Single.
Bodner, John
Aged 29, Timberpacker
Left behind a wife and two children.
Beigun, Albert
Aged 32, Loader.
Left behind a wife.
Bonato, joe (giovanni)
Aged 37, Miner
Left behind a wife and three children.
D'ercole, sebastiano
Aged 30, Miner.
Single.
Gera, mike
Aged 40, Miner.
Single.
Doskoc, john
Aged 30, Timberpacker.
Single.
Gera, peter
Aged 45, Miner.
Left behind a wife.
Dravinski, Jakob
Aged 35, Miner.
Left behind a wife and child.
Kindiatyrzyn, justyn
Aged 42, Timberpacker.
Left behind a wife and two children
Korman, mike
Aged 31, Miner.
Left behind a wife and two children.
martini, antonio
Aged 23, Miner.
Single.
kunsinen, vaino
Aged 24, Bratticeman.
Single.
ountok, august
Aged 27, Miner.
Left behind a wife.
Lehti, charles
Aged 43, Miner.
Left behind a wife and four children.
paul, peter
Aged 25, Miner.
Left behind a wife and one child.
Quintilio, antonio
Aged 38, Miner.
Left behind a wife and three children.
Robo, Gustave
Aged 32, Miner.
Left behind a wife and three children.
Quintilio, Masimino
Aged 31, Miner.
Single.
Saari, andrew
Aged 50, Track Layer.
Left behind a wife and children.
Roberts, Frank
Aged 35, Loader.
Left behind a wife and child.
simmette, samuel
Aged 30, Miner.
Left behind a wife and one child.
Srezupok, Mykuloy
Aged 27
Single.
Tripoti, Bruno
Aged 35, Miner.
Left behind a wife and three children.
Wellerg, Hans
Aged 50, Miner.
Left behind a wife and four children.
teppo, herman
Aged 32, Pit Boss.
Left behind a wife and three children.
Ulivinen, John
Aged 28, Miner.
Single.
Tripoti, Antonio
Aged unknown, Miner.
Unknown.
Ulvinen, Tom
Aged unknown, Miner.
Unknown.