COLLIERY AND GUARDIAN JOURNAL OF THE COAL AND IRON TRADES. Vol. CXIII. FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1917. No. 2934. Explosion at the Reserve Mine, Nanaimo, B.C. By JAMES ASHWORTH On May 27, 1916, about 4 p.m., an explosion took place in the Reserve Mine of the Western Fuel Com- pany, near Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, B.C. At the inquest, the district inspector and the whole of the colliery staff endorsed the theory of the Chief Inspector of Mines that a fall of roof coal had broken the glass of a Wolf-Marsaut safety lamp, and, as a consequence, ignited firedamp, which they assumed came down with the fall of coal. The only dissentient to this theory was the writer, who, at the request of the Premier of the Province, went over to investigate, and, if possible, ascertain, the cause of the explosion. In the course of this investigation, he found that the greatest force developed by the explosion came up out of the dip section into the main west level, and from thence went chiefly to the downcast shaft; and that some of the force and flame extended up all the cross cuts from 1 to 5 into the counter level. None of the Western Fuel Company’s witnesses was cross- examined as to the legitimacy of the theory or opinion that the explosion originated in the end of the west counter level, west of No. 5 cross cut; but later the writer obtained permission of the coroner to cross- examine the Chief Inspector. In so doing, he elicited the admission that there was also an explosion in the dip slope. The greatest force was developed in this The body of the miner at the bottom of No. 5 cross cut was very severely burned all over. . . . The coal chute was completely demolished, and blown on to the main west level; the upper, counter was heavily caved from 20 ft. in-bye of the top of No. 5 cross cut to the face. The first body (Bewley’s), with safety lamp in hand, was recovered 20 ft. from the face, badly burned on the left side of the face, from eye to chin crushed, the lower jaw fractured on the left side, and death was due to burns and injuries. Two timbermen were, found at the face, the one on the lower side with lamp close to body, and the other on the upper side. They had evidently just arrived at the face with one piece of a setting of timber. The timber lay in the centre of the track paralleling the rails, Vitter still grasping the rope attached to the timber. Vitter’s lamp showed that gas had been burning inside it. The other man, Suter, near the face, had his lamp still hanging on his belt, and it was badly damaged (fig. 2). The shield was broken, and the dent extended into the gauzes, which were also dented, but not broken. A piece of brattice cloth was carried into this dent. This cloth must have been wrapped round the board or timber which caused the damage to the shield; the glass was cracked, and two small pieces of the glass had fallen inside the lamp. One of these was a triangular piece, this being about 4 in. in glass, causing the break in the glass, as previously described, igniting the liberated gas and causing the initial explosion. This explosion was responsible for the blowing out of the 28 sets of timber and the large cave of coal (231 tons), releasing an additional large volume of gas, and that the gas released carried a large per- centage of methane; further, that there was not suffi- cient oxygen present to give complete combustion, and that the heated gases, under the pressure set up by the explosion, and seeking relief at the shafts, expanded into the slope.” “ The mixture, through incomplete combustion, was high in carbon monoxide, likely aided by distillation from the presence of small quantities of dust, was still sufficiently high in temperature to create ignition in the presence of oxygen, and it found that oxygen in the cul-de-sac formed by the slope and the lower counter heading. There was also a secondary explosion in the slope, accounting for the evidence of force coming up the slope, as seen in the debris, consisting of broken brattice boards. It has been suggested, in opposition to this theory of a secondary explosion in the slope, that there was no evidence of anyone having heard two reports, but the small area of the district would make the whole operation practically instantaneous.” Examination of the Dust. During the writer’s inspections of the mine he took many samples of dust off the timbers and other parts of the mine, and examined these under the microscope, with results which were verified by the analyses of parts of these samples by the Government analyst. These [F/ff comflonfinenfs davncasf ■/4b NOTE N° 2 SHAFI 948 6 FT N°l SHAFT 955 5 H Mt AUNG ... Soosfa- fan t zo» *>/ o / WINCH ROOM Z z Cort 4 3 eft limber I (Slower of gat outof the Floor ^Loaded Cor smashed Fig. 1.—Plan of Reserve Mine, showing Position of Bodies, and Damage. J - Ratio of fixed carbon to volatile combustible matter. (Vote.—_ should be ~p. The working positions of the men who escaped are indicated by the reference letters A, B, 0, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, R. Bodies found. Safety lamps. Bodies found. Safely lamps. Bodies found. Safety lamps. Ref: No. Lamp No. Positions, • Ref. No. Lamp No. Positions. Ref. No. Lamp No. Positions. 1 ■ ■ . 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 50 734 715 737 427 42 43 111 With body. Not found. With body. Not found. Hanging on prop at face. 15 ft. up slope from body. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 2 JD No nupiber 9 10 18 in. from body towards slope. Hanging on prop at face. 20ft. from body toward No. 5 crosscut. Hanging on his belt. With body. Hanging on prop at face. With body. 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 444 28 27 698 18 733 413 In his hand. Found beside body of Jas. McEwan. Found at ribside near Jas. McEwan. With body. In his hand. With body. Hanging on his belt. slope, and the Chief Inspector qualified his first opinion by theorising that there was another explosion caused by tke residual heat from an original explosion in the west counter level; khat is to say, an ignition of unconsumed firedamp in the dip slope section, and that such uncon- sumed firedamp originated from a fall of roof coal in the west counter level. If such an occurrence were possible, then this outburst of gas would have to push back a 25,000 cu. ft. per minute current of air, and also force it downhill for a vertical height of 200 ft., and over wet roads for a length of 650 ft., in preference to following the return air current direct to the downcast and return air shafts. Was this possible? Official Report. The Chief Inspector of Mines, in his official report to the Minister of .Mines, says :—“ The,lines of force were from the face of the upper west counter level and down cross cuts 5, 4, 3, and 2 (fig. 1) to the main west level and the shafts. There was also evidence of a- distinct force comingmp the slope off the main west heading and towards the shaft. . . . The west counter heading .inside of No. 5 cross cut extended in-bye for a distance of 95 ft. length. The other piece extended the full height of the glass from fount to gauze rings, and was about Jin. wide. The coal seam here was pitching 75degs., and from 12 to 14 ft. thick, and very soft and slickensided. Many sets of timber had been displaced, and 231 tons of coal were loaded out from the fall. . . . The explosion is admitted by all to have been primarily a gas explo- sion, and that dust played only a minor part. The forces developed would indicate that there was quite a large body of gas present when ignited.” The Chief Inspector also said he was forced to the conclusion that the gas came from a sudden outburst at the face of the upper counter west. The broken lamp on Suter’s belt could have furnished the means of ignition. He also said :—“ He was forced to think that a sudden outburst of gas did occur at the face of the west counter heading, accompanied by a displacement of coal; that this displacement of coal was sufficient to trap Suter, who was caught around the feet, both ankles being broken; and that he fell in a half-reclining, half- sitting position. The safety lamp on his belt would thus assume a partially horizontal position between his legs;; the flame1 of the lamp Would come in contact with the show, under the microscope, that, on the timber inside of the west counter level from No. 5 cross cut, and the nearest accessible point to the supposed point of origin, there were no signs of cindering. This was confirmed by the analysis : Moisture, 1*0 per cent. ; volatile combus- tible matter, 32*0; fixed carbon, 52*2; ash, 17-3; and the ratio of fixed carbon to volatile combustible matter, 1-53. A sample of normal coal gave : Moisture, 1-6 per cent.; volatile combustible matter, 36*1; fixed carbon, 52-9; ash, 9*4; and ratio of fixed carbon to volatile combus- tible matter, 1*46—which practically shows very little heat effects at this point. Going directly towards the shafts along the counter, and at the,west side of No. 4 cross cut, the microscope showed the dust to be very fine, with rounded corners, and dust adhering together in fine particles; the large grains not showing this so distinctly. The analysis gave : Moisture, 2-4 per cent.; volatile combustible matter, 21*8; fixed carbon, 50*0; ash., 25-8; and the ratio of fixed carbon to volatile com- bustible matter, 2-29, and partly coked. ■ At the top of No. 3 cross cut a sample showed signs of heat under the microscope, and more heat than the sample from No. 2 cross cut. The analysis of this