Mine Rescue Stations

In 1911 Alberta organized the first mine rescue station at Blairmore. This initiative was sparked by a disastrous explosion in Bellevue which killed 31 men. The disaster was made worse by the poor state of rescue equipment, and this prompted calls for improved rescue facilities.

In 1912 and 1913 Lethbridge and Coalhurst were equipped with rescue stations. Equipment in these stations included oxygen pumps, Draeger pulmotors, oxygen reviving apparatus, animal testers, electric hand lamps, a rectifier for charging lamps, storage tanks for oxygen, and various other pieces of equipment and spare parts.

Candidates for mine rescue training were required to be between the ages of 22 and 45 years old and were chosen from the various local mines. They were required to be calm and physically fit, and they had to possess knowledge of first aid. Candidates underwent vigorous training, and if found satisfactory, they were granted certificates. In 1913, 51 men had been granted certificates to work in one of two stations located in Lethbridge and Coalhurst. By 1915, three rescue stations were being operated, with 190 men trained in mine rescue work and 180 men in first aid. By this time there were also two CPR mine rescue cars. These cars were equipped to sleep 12 men and were kept in constant readiness to proceed immediately to the scene of a catastrophe. By 1919 there were three mine rescue cars and six rescue stations throughout Alberta.

Most of the work mine rescue teams performed was routine, yet essential. A true measure of their worth could be seen during disasters, such as the Coalhurst mine explosion of 1935 that killed 16 men or the Kerralta mine explosion that killed four men. News accounts of the period carried many stories of the courage shown by the mine rescue crews, as they entered the smoke filled and partially destroyed mine shafts searching for survivors and more often for the bodies of their fallen co-workers.