Quote:
Sometime in February of 2002, Chris and Andy went looking for some mines to investigate. Coming up empty handed by about 7:00 and being close to Slope 179, they decided to try to explore the old workings. Andy was the one to point out that there was no wind blowing out of the opening this time. Every time before there was a stiff breeze blowing into the mine. We didn't know this at the time but the Coal Mine Tour uses this mine for ventilation and was sucking air from 179 to theirs. They had the fans turned off this time and the black damp was allowed to collect at the bottom of the slope. Chris and Andy, seemingly unaware of this danger, decided to enter. They were not prepared for what was about to happen next, even though they had been told about the dangers of mine gas. Proceeding through the doorway that led into the old workings, they headed down the slope. This slope splits off the main slope and is much better for walking since there is no junk in the way. On the way down, Chris noticed Andy was breathing a little hard, which was unusual for him. He attributed it to "years of smoking". So they continued into the darkness-illuminated only by the Maglites and Chris' headlight. When they reached the base of the slope, that's when everything stopped. There was a split and they decided to go right. About 2 steps into the gangway Chris noticed it was getting hard to breathe. He told Andy that they needed to get out of there fast. They both turned around to head out and Andy collapsed. When Chris bent over to help him, he couldn't get back up. Andy wanted to rest a minute but Chris knew exactly what was happening. If they didn't get fresh air soon they would surely become part of the mine. Crawling up the slope, they pushed all the way. Chris remembers, "Our chest felt so heavy you just couldn't take in enough air.". Upon safetly reaching the surface 10 minutes later, they just sat outside the opening breathing fresh air for about 15 minutes thinking about how lucky they were. "When we got back to Andy's we just laid on his floor for 2 hours with bad headaches and stomach aches. After that trip we realized how dangerous these abandond mines are. Also, we now bring a flame safety lamp and oxygen on every underground exploration we go on.
Wow guys, you were really lucky. Did you go buy a lottery ticket?
That is a pretty crazy read. Glad you guys made it out. That is most certainly a lesson one will not forget.