http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon
All miners returned to surface, some after more than 24 hours underground
Miners who spent some 24 hours trapped underground at PotashCorp’s Allan mine east of Saskatoon have made their way to the surface, after a fire forced dozens of workers to seek shelter in safety stations on Wednesday.
Around 8:30 p.m. CST Thursday, the last three workers who were in safe spaces below ground were up and out. Earlier in the day, 51 of their co-workers returned to the surface.
A union leader said he was able to speak to some of the workers who were brought up and reported they were safe, but some were “grouchy and hungry”. Mike Belyk was one of the workers who returned to the surface Thursday afternoon.
“[I’m] just relieved to be back up, to get home see your family,” he said. “Other than that it wasn’t too, too bad.” Belyk said miners were in contact with rescue teams and people found ways to pass the time. “We had communication. Played cards. Played a lot of cards.”
He added some of the workers were even able to sleep for a bit. According to PotashCorp the workers were stuck in the east wing of the mine.
Larry Long, general manager of the mine, said they were safe and there were no reports of injuries.
“[It’s] just a matter now, [of] waiting for the smoke and gases to clear,” Long said. “As they clear past the refuge stations, we’ll bring the people out, bring them to surface.”
Power systems that had been down were also restored, Long said, allowing rescue crews to get more fans going to clear the smoke and gas.
Power and phone communication were knocked out at the mine in the incident, but PotashCorp said mine safety workers and oxygen masks were able to reach the trapped workers.
A PotashCorp spokesperson said the fire broke out in a water truck deep underground around 4 p.m. Wednesday. That forced 96 workers to make their way to refuge stations throughout the mine.
Some of the workers also used a specialized safety device, a large plastic sheet called a brattice, to seal themselves off in safe portions of mine tunnels.
Some miners returned to the surface overnight, beginning around 11 p.m. Wednesday. On Thursday morning, 54 were still waiting for the all-clear signal.
Whenever there is a fire, strict safety protocols dictate that miners must make their way to refuge stations underground, to ensure they are safe from the flames and have fresh air.
While no one was hurt, smoke from the fire was lingering in parts of the potash mine because the fire knocked out a couple of the fans used for circulating air underground.
“They’re just being extra cautious in terms of waiting for the smoke to dissipate,” Bill Johnson, a spokesman for PotashCorp, said Thursday.
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