The Speculator and Granite Mountain Mine Disaster
Butte, Montana was a center for the mining of copper in the early twentieth century, a period in which the demand for copper increased dramatically as the electrification of the nation proceeded steadily. It was a field of work which drew immigrants from all over the world, and the safety notices and no smoking admonitions in the mines were printed in sixteen different languages by 1915. America’s entry into World War One increased the demand for copper yet further, and the mines around Butte worked 24 hours a day, employing over 14,000 men in the extraction of copper ore from the mines. Granite Mountain and Speculator mines were part of this operation.
The continuous operation of the mines led to deterioration of equipment and machinery, since they could not be idled for maintenance. It also led to increased fatigue of the men working up to a half mile below the surface. On June 8, 1917, a work crew lowered an electric cable, insulated with lead, down the shaft of the Granite Mountain Mine. The cable was need for the completion of a sprinkler system. The cable slipped from its clamps and ended up at the bottom of the shaft in a tangle, with part of the cable entangled in the shaft. It was basically a gigantic candlewick . As it fell some of the lead insulation broke away, exposing the inner insulation which was of oiled paper. That evening a shift of 410 men entered the mine.
At about eleven-thirty that night a party of four men were lowered to inspect the cable, and one of the men allowed his carbide lamp to brush against the cable, igniting the oiled paper. With the mine shaft acting as a 2,400 foot chimney, toxic fumes and smoke shot up the shaft. The support beams and timbers were soon ignited, and the shafts of Granite Mountain and the connected Speculator filled with smoke, toxic gases, and flames. The conditions made it difficult to both breathe and see, and the men in both mines were unable to orient themselves and find their way out of the mine. The flames also sucked oxygen from the air.
The mines were an underground maze of workrooms, crosscuts, manholes, and drifts. Rescue operations began immediately, as the fire was still burning, and some men in the mine took steps to isolate themselves from the toxic fumes by building temporary bulkheads. Some succeeded in surviving the fire, others were found days later, dead from the inhalation of the poisonous gases, or from oxygen deprivation. One group of more than two dozen men barricaded themselves in a side room for 38 hours before they were able to be removed to safety. Another of eight was found alive, though two of these died within a few hours of being rescued from the mine.
The Granite Mountain and Speculator disaster led to a death toll of 168 men, including two men who entered the mine early in the fire and succumbed to toxic gases. It was the largest death toll in a metals mine accident in American history. The mine was returned to operation despite the heavy damage caused by the fire, ironically caused by the attempt to install a fire suppression system. The mine’s excellent ventilation system, normally a safety feature, also helped the fire and smoke to spread quickly. The Granite Mountain and Speculator mines remained in operation until 1923, when they were closed as the ore ran out.