Page 18 Page 16 The East Malartic gold mine lo cated about 70 km east of Rouyn Noranda began operations in 1938 and proved to be a highly productive gold mine W orld W ar 2 slowed production but by 1947 the mine was increasing output and work resumed on completing a fourth shaft On April 24 1947 a fre broke out shortly after midnight on the 10th level The mine was 1760 feet deep Although the cause of the fre was attributed to a tossed cigare tte the true source was never identifed Sixteen miners attempting to fee the fre tried to escape up shaft Malartic Fire served as major turning point for Ontario Mine Rescue By Frank Giorno 4 Four of the miners made it to the surface The remaining 12 miners attempting to avoid the ris ing smoke decided to move down shaft A rescue team arrived from RouynNoranda With the use of McCaa breathing masks the res cue was able to shut the ventila tion doors on all the levels except for the 6th level where the fre and smoke made it impossible for them to do so After twelve hours the trapped men were still not found A call for help went out to mine rescue teams from Kirkland Lake T im mins and Sudbury Mine rescue teams from Ontario brought more McCaa breath ing apparatus A team of 1 1 mine rescuers from T immins arrived on Friday April 25 and broug ht with them six sets of McCaa masks Later that day 27 mine rescuers arrived from Sudbury with 10 sets of McCaa masks Rescuers struggled to reach the trapped miners and many be lieved it was only a matter of time before the men would be rescued In the attempt to starve the fre the rescue teams shut the ventali ation shafts Despite the eforts of rescue squads and equipment brought in from mines in Rouyn Noranda Kirkland Lake T immins and Sud bury they were unable to reach the missing men On Saturday April 26 a major fail ure of the air compressor meant the air was not reaching the min ers but it was feeding the fre di Contd on Pg 18