Hastings mine explosion

The monument in 2021

The Hastings mine explosion was a fire at the Victor-American Fuel Company coal mine in Hastings, Las Animas County, Colorado, on April 27, 1917, in which 121 people died.[1] A small monument marks the location, on County Road 44, about 1.5 km west of the Ludlow Monument, which commemorates those who died in a massacre during the Colorado Coalfield War. In June 1912, twelve miners were killed in an explosion at the same mine.[2]

Cause

A coroner's jury found that Hastings mine inspector David Reese caused the explosion when, deep in the mine, he opened his oil-burning, key-lock safety lamp (which generated light by burning the oil on a wick) to attempt to re-light it. Reese's body was found with matches in his pants pocket, a violation of mine-safety laws.[3][4]

References

1. Clare Vernon McKanna (1997). Homicide, Race, and Justice in the American West, 1880-1920. University of Arizona Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-8165-1708-4.
2. "Mine Explosion". The Examiner (DAILY ed.). Launceston, Tasmania. 21 June 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
3. Clements, Eric L. (Spring 2017). "The one-chance men: The Hastings mine disaster of 1917" (PDF). Colorado heritage. History Colorado. pp. 16–27. ISSN 0272-9377. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
4. Paul, Jesse (April 27, 2017). "A 1917 coal mine explosion in southern Colorado killed 121, but it's just a faint memory in the state's history". The Denver Post. Retrieved January 2, 2022.

External links

• Photograph of the Hastings mine explosion monument
• Press account from Coal News
• Hastings Mine Explosion monument

37°20′0″N 104°36′0″W