NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 80

Looking Back
FIRE INCIDENTS AND
OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS
FROM SAFETY HISTORY
The Argonaut Gold Mine
in Jackson, California,
pictured before the
devastating 1922 fire
that killed 47 miners.
and rescuers didn't reach
the trapped miners
until September 18. By
then, all of the men had
perished.
Investigators discovered
that members of
the doomed crew had
scratched messages into
the rock that detailed
their final hours on
August 27. " 3 o'clock,
gas getting strong, " one
miner wrote, as it became
'GAS GETTING
STRONG'
100 YEARS AFTER CALIFORNIA'S
DEADLIEST MINING DISASTER
By Angelo Verzoni
S
hortly before midnight on August
27, 1922, a fire broke out inside
the Argonaut Mine, a gold-mining
operation in Jackson, California.
With smoke and flames blocking its
way out, a crew of 47 miners became trapped deep
within the sprawling, mile-long mine. Up top, a
rescue party was rapidly assembled.
A 2006 Los Angeles Times article detailed the
extensive rescue attempt mounted by firefighters,
townspeople, and other miners. " In dim light,
slowed by heavy oxygen tanks and plagued by
small cave-ins, rescuers laboriously cleared rock,
timber, and debris, " the article recounted. The
blaze took two and a half days to fully extinguish,
80 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2022
harder and harder for the men to breathe, choked by rapidly rising levels
of carbon monoxide. " 3:15, half knocked out, " another wrote. No messages
were recorded after 4 a.m. The 47 fatalities make the Argonaut fire
the deadliest mining disaster in California history.
Although the cause of the fire was never determined, an investigative
committee appointed by California Governor William Stephens concluded
that the mine had violated safety regulations. Even so, the owners
of the Argonaut mine never faced any penalties. " At the time, the U.S.
Bureau of Mines had little control over enforcing safety regulations, "
the Times wrote. Investigators also made several recommendations for
enhancing mine safety in the state, including installing better alarm systems,
fire doors, and ventilation fans.
But in his 2004 book 47 Down: The 1922 Argonaut Gold Mine Disaster,
historian O. Henry Mace noted that these recommendations were largely
never enforced. " Despite the death of 47 men in the Argonaut Mine, the
government of California had determined that the value of the state's
gold mines far exceeded the risk to human life, " Mace wrote.
The Argonaut Mine, along with the neighboring Kennedy Mine, closed
in 1942. Today, the combined sites are listed as a California Historic
Landmark, but only Kennedy is open to the public. The Argonaut property
has been designated as a Superfund site due to high levels of arsenic
and other metals that could pose a health risk.
THE NFPA LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE holds a rich collection of books, reports, and photographs
that document important moments in fire history. To provide better electronic access for researchers
and to preserve our unique archival holdings, work has begun to digitize the files of the Fire
Record Department, the original NFPA department responsible for collecting and analyzing information
and compiling statistics about key fires and other events. The incidents featured in " Looking
Back " are drawn from this collection and will eventually be part of NFPA's online archive. For information,
visit nfpa.org/library.
CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF MINES

http://www.nfpa.org/library

NFPA Journal - Fall 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - Fall 2022