SOMERSET, Pa. — When nine coal miners were trapped underground at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, they spent four days in a cold, dark air pocket of the flooded mine while teams of men and women pulled together every resource they had to bring them home.
Saturday morning, some of the tools critical to freeing the miners were donated to the Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation on the 14th anniversary of the mission.
The 26-inch drill bit and hammer manufactured by Ingersoll-Rand, used to drill the rescue shaft, were unveiled by Somerset-based Keystone Drill Services, Inc. at the memorial off state Route 985, about four miles north of Somerset.
Representing the company were Tom Walker, president, and Scott Slater, CEO, who shared only brief words at the ceremony.
“I was here at the time of the rescue,” said Mr. Walker. “We are happy we are able to donate this to the place where it belongs.”
“This was a modern day miracle, and thank God for the outcome,” Mr. Slater added.
On July 24, 2002, miners broke through an abandoned, water-filled mine, flooding the Quecreek Mine with over 150 million gallons of water. Nine miners scrambled to safety. Nine others were trapped until a rescue chamber was lowered to them through the shaft.
Tom “Tucker” Foy spend 77 hours trying to survive underground. He said it’s hard sometimes to return to the site, but he wanted to see the friends who helped him and others escape.
“It’s hard to explain what it’s like to go through something like this,” Mr. Foy said. “We knew we couldn’t get out, so we had to barricade ourselves in. We were worried that we were going to run out of oxygen.”
One of the engineers who helped determine the location of the rescue shaft was Dave Zwick of Musser Engineers.
“We just tried to stay very focused because we were worried that if we make a mistake, people would die,” he said. “You have to block out everything else, because it’s easy to get distracted.”
“If they had drilled 20 feet in another other direction, we wouldn’t have made it,” added Mr. Foy. “It’s one hell of a miracle.”
Barry Carlson was working in the mine that day when he got the call. “They said to get out because there’s water coming.” He and others raced through the mine, reversing course when one escape route was blocked. “We could hear the roar of the water.”
The hardest part was not knowing immediately if his fellow miners survived, he said. That night, he went home and tried to sleep, but couldn’t.
“I came back to start working again,” Mr. Carlson said.
For William Arnold, executive director of the Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation, it’s natural that so many people connect with a story of humans coming together to bring about something good from a disaster.
And the incident happened months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In fact, the rescue site is 11 miles from the spot where hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 crashed, killing 40 passengers and crew.
“We were all still reeling from the attacks,” Mr. Arnold said. “And at Quecreek, we saw that Americans can do brilliant things when they pull together and have faith in God. This can lift your spirits.”
Stephanie Ritenbaugh: sritenbaugh@post-gazette.com or 412-263-4910.
This story was updated to correctly identify Tom Walker as present at the time of the rescue.
First Published: July 23, 2016, 8:06 p.m.
Updated: July 24, 2016, 2:23 a.m.
