A team of miners undergo fire prevention
and preparedness training. |
Bentleyville, Pennsylvania
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On July 11, 2002, management and employees of Maple Creek Mining,
Inc. ("Maple Creek") began intensive training in fire prevention
and preparedness on a scale far more extensive than any such
program to date.
The safety training, which had been on the drawing board since last year,
is unique in that it is the first program to provide:
so thorough a safety training program for fire emergencies
a custom-built mobile training unit, unmatched in the United States,
to equip Mine personnel with skills to prevent and fight fires.
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The company has made it standard procedure for fire brigades
to be in place on each shift. A training exercise with a simulated
1200-degree fire at the Maple Creek Mine illustrated
the special dangers of underground mine fires.
"Our motto is 'prevention and preparation with pride and precision,'"
Mr. Robert E. "Bob" Murray, Maple Creek's chairman, told his
employees when he discussed the training session. "Our first
objective is to prevent fires altogether. But faced with a
fire we will be the best prepared to fight it."
Mr. Murray explained that because mine fires are unique, extra
precautions must be in place beyond traditional emergency
services. His investment of more than $100,000 in the mobile
safety vehicle alone, he said, reflects his commitment to
"exhausting every effort" to deal with mine fires. "From my
over four decades in coal mining, mine fires worry me the
most," Mr. Murray said.
The specially-designed, state-of-the art, 26-foot, three-tiered
"classroom on wheels" was operated by Mr. William Moser, who
Mr. Murray recruited from the veteran ranks of the Mine Extension
Service and West Virginia University's Emergency Preparedness
Center. Along with training at the Maple Creek Mine, the safety
program was dispatched to help at the PennAmerican
Coal Burrell Mine in Indiana County, Pennsylvania,
and mines in three other states, including two major coal
operations in nearby eastern Ohio.
Maple Creek is in its seventh year of operation, employing
500. Along with its New Eagle Mine, Maple Creek produces three
million tons of coal per year. The company is constructing
its High Quality Mine, one of the largest underground mines
in the East in many years.
The safety vehicle was customized by Fyda Freightliner Pittsburgh,
located in Canonsburg.
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