Page 14 By Frank Giorno The horrifc Hollinger Mine Fire was a watershed moment in the Ontario mining industry The tragic event led to dramatic and improved mine safety and the creation of Ontario Mine Rescue Mine safety was a concern long before the 1928 Hollinger Fire but it took the magnitude of the trag edy for improvements to be made Right after the fre a coroner s inquest and a Royal Commission examined the causes of the Hol linger Fire and recommendations were made for preventing future fres The coroner s inquest held in T im mins found that the Holling er Mine was grossly negligent for having allowed the accumulation of fam mable waste underground In the frst report on the causes of the Hollinger Fire released in May 1928 Royal Commission headed by T E Godson found a break down in the chain of command lead to the improper accumula tion of waste on level 550 setting up the conditions that started the Great Hollinger Fire of 1928 Godson found for example or ders calling for a layer of rock to be placed over fammable waste were not followed The exposed waste provided the right condition for the fre to start Godson also found that some mine captains did not fully understand the regula tions The miners who were aware of the waste pile didnt understand it was a dang erous situation and never reported it to management The greatest contribution to im proving mine safety came with the second Royal Commission re port on September 28 1928 The Commission made 15 recommen dations on how to preven t mine fres and manage mining rescue operations Fire Proof Underground Struc tures and Removal of Flamma ble Rubbish Godson calle d for the use of fre proof undergr ound structures and the removal of fammable waste to the surface Explosives were to be stored above ground and only what was required for the days work brought underground W arning Systems Since it was impossible to warn all men personally a warning system using the release of stench gas to let workers know of an emergency was recommended by Godson Mine Rescue The chief recommendation called for the creation of a mine rescue station in T immins Kirkland Lake and Sudbury Ontario In 1929 the W orkmen s Compen sation Board passed Regulation 98 which created Mine Rescue Stations and with mine rescue of fcers to over see training across the province T oday the responsi bilities for mine rescue in Ontario are set out in Regulation 854 of the Occupational Health and Safe ty Act The frst mine rescue station was opened in T immins in 1929 Soon other stations were also opened in Sudbury and Kirkland Lake The T immins Mine Rescue Station Investigations into the Hollinger Mine Fire and Recommendations T immins mine rescue volunteers 1929 Page 12