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Events/Disaster · 1905

Stanford Merthyr fire and explosions

Disaster, 1905-10-29, Australia.

What happened

A fire was found at 2 am on 29 October 1905 at Stanford Merthyr, near Kurri Kurri, when no one was underground. At 11.30 am, while the main tunnel was being sealed, an explosion killed six people, including company director Henry J Adams. A second explosion hurt no one. The inquest jury found gas from the fire had met a flame but could not show how the fire began.1,2

Why it matters

The explosion was heard as far away as East and West Maitland.1,2

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Bulli Colliery explosion

    It followed a strike that ended in February 1887, and the inquiry blamed lax safety practice by both management and miners.3,4

  2. Dudley Colliery explosion

    The regulator describes the mine as dry and dusty, with 292 workers.5,6

  3. Greta Colliery fire

    The regulator uses it as a case study; seven earlier gob fires there had not killed anyone.7,8

  4. Courrieres mine disaster

    Courrieres mine disaster. Wikidata records 1099 deaths.9

  5. Peak year for US coal mining deaths

    The figure shows the scale of the safety problem before federal regulation.10,11

  6. Senghenydd colliery disaster

    It led to tighter mine safety enforcement in Britain.12,13,14

  7. Mineral Leasing Act

    The BLM says that since 1920 the federal government has leased fuels and certain other minerals, while locatable minerals stay under the 1872 Mining Law.15,16

  8. Mother Jones dies

    Mother Jones dies (date from Wikidata).17

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Where next

Events

An example ofGreta Colliery fireAnother fire case study: Greta in 1900 killed five.7An example ofDudley Colliery explosionDudley's 1898 explosion killed 15 near Newcastle.5ExamplesBalmain Colliery shaft bucket accidentStanford Merthyr's explosion killed six in 1905.1

Sources

  1. 1905 Stanford Merthyr Mine case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  2. Kurri Kurri (item Q1793195), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  3. 1887 Bulli Colliery Explosion case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  4. Bulli (item Q4996904), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. 1898 Dudley Colliery case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  6. Dudley (item Q5311786), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  7. 1900 Greta Colliery Fire case study (Learning from disasters) NSW Resources Regulator
  8. Greta (item Q5607629), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  9. Wikidata item Q1550228 (Courrieres mine disaster)
  10. Coal fatalities, 1900 to date US Mine Safety and Health Administration
  11. United States (item Q30), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  12. Miners' lives at 5.5p each: the Government Enquiry into the 1913 Senghenydd mine disaster Amgueddfa Cymru, Museum Wales
  13. Site dedicated to thousands of lives lost officially recognised (12 Mar 2024) Cadw (Welsh Government)
  14. Senghenydd (item Q3404686), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  15. About Mining and Minerals US Bureau of Land Management
  16. Washington, D.C. (item Q61), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  17. Wikidata item Q107082 (Mother Jones)

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Cover photos from Wikimedia Commons: Super Pit, Kalgoorlie by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0.